Electronic Commerce Act, electronic contracts and electronic agents
archived copy
Read from a public archive copy, not the publisher directly. The publisher does not serve this page to automated readers, so a direct fetch was not an option here; how we access sources. Archived . Publisher's page: https://www.nunavutlegislation.ca/en/file-download/download/public/502In force since .
A contract terms of service (ToS) rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Contract terms
As of .
What it requires
- Treat an offer, an acceptance or another matter material to the formation or operation of a contract that is expressed electronically, including by touching or clicking an appropriately designated icon or place on a computer screen, as capable of forming a contract, unless the parties agree otherwise (s. 16(1)).
- Do not assume that a contract is invalid or unenforceable solely because it is in electronic form or because an electronic document was used in its formation (s. 16(2)).
- Treat a contract formed by the interaction of an electronic agent and an individual, or by the interaction of electronic agents, as capable of binding the parties (s. 17).
- If your electronic agent deals with individuals, give them an opportunity to prevent or correct a material error; where it does not, the transaction is not enforceable by you if the individual promptly notifies you of the error, returns or destroys any consideration as you instruct or otherwise deals with it reasonably, and does not benefit materially from it (s. 18).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
What this law does
Unless the parties agree otherwise, an offer, the acceptance of an offer or any other matter that is material to the formation or operation of a contract may be expressed by means of electronic information or an electronic document, or by an action intended to result in electronic communication, such as touching or clicking on an appropriately designated icon or place on a computer screen.
A contract is not invalid or unenforceable solely because it is in electronic form or because an electronic document was used in its formation. A contract may be formed by the interaction of an electronic agent and an individual or by the interaction of electronic agents.
An electronic agent is a computer program or any other electronic means used to initiate an act or to respond to electronic documents or acts, in whole or in part, without review by an individual at the time of the response or act.
If an individual makes a material error in the course of an electronic transaction with an electronic agent belonging to another person, the transaction is not enforceable by the other person where the agent does not give the individual an opportunity to prevent or correct the error and the individual meets the notice and consideration conditions of the section. The Act binds the Government of Nunavut. The Act came into force on .
When LexLint raises it
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