Law Commission’s final report on digital assets

Written by Professor Sarah Green - Law Commission for Commercial and Common Law of England and Wales

English law is the source of domestic law in over 80 jurisdictions across the world and around 80% of global trade is based on English common law. Given the growing importance of the digital world and the creation and transactions involving digital assets, it is important to have legal clarity in relation to digital assets.

The Law Commission of England and Wales published its Final Report on Digital Assets on 28^th June 2023.  This follows the publication of its Consultation Paper on the same topic in July 2022 and the subsequent analysis of the responses to that earlier paper. The Report addresses the question of how the law of England and Wales needs to adapt or change in order to accommodate the increasing use of digital assets by organisations and individuals. In essence, it concludes that the common law is well-suited to making the necessary developments and sets out which issues, principles and analysis the courts could usefully take into account when doing so. The Report, which …