A step in the right direction: commentary on the Law Commission’s proposals for digital assets’ reforms

Written by Marianna Ryan and Nick Phillips at Edwin Coe LLP

The Law Commission’s approach

“We should try to avoid the creation of a new legal and regulatory regime that will discourage the use of new technologies rather than provide the foundation for them to flourish.” Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls (speaking extra judicially).

The Law Commission’s goal is to make England and Wales “a global hub for digital assets”. At the heart of the Law Commission’s proposals is therefore an acceptance of Sir Geoffrey Vos’s words and a recognition that the common law of England and Wales is, in general, sufficiently flexible to accommodate digital assets. The Law Commission does, however, propose some fairly fundamental reforms which are seeking to lay down an appropriate framework for the Courts to be better equipped to tackle the specific challenges of digital assets. In doing so, the Law Commission is seeking to build on and expand the existing principles of personal private property law.

Summary

The Consultation Paper’s main proposals can be broadly…