The Law Commission published a consultation paper with proposals for law reform on 5 June 2025.
The consultation focuses primarily on wholly decentralised applications of DLT, which the Law Commission has identified as posing “very particular and novel challenges to the current rules of private international law.”
In the context of international jurisdiction, the consultation considers how the existing jurisdictional gateways for property and tort can be applied in the context of crypto litigation. It proposes the creation of a “new free-standing information order to help claimants who have lost crypto-tokens through fraud or hacking obtain information about the perpetrators or the whereabouts of their tokens without having to go through the existing gateways.”
In the context of applicable law, the consultation identifies wholly decentralised uses of DLT as being “particularly problematic for private international law”, and suggests that a different approach is required that would “no longer require courts to identify a single applicable law.” Rather, “the courts would take into account a range of factors to determine a just outcome of the dispute, including the legitimate expectations of the parties.” The consultation notes that this might involve taking into account the terms of a protocol that participants have signed up to.
The consultation includes proposals to modernise section 72 of the Bills of Exchange Act 1882, a private international law provision that identifies the law applicable to particular contractual issues arising in connection with bills of exchange and promissory notes. These proposals, if implemented, would apply to relevant documents in both paper and electronic form.
Deadline for comments is 8 September 2025.