TFL Vsebine / Revija Slovenska arbitražna praksa

This article deals in theory and in practice with the international legal framework regulating both electronic commerce (‘e-commerce’) and online mediation (‘e-mediation’), considering that both online mediation, as part of online dispute resolution techniques (‘ODR’), and e-commerce, as part of the digital economy, are connected in practice. This is attributed to the fact that e-mediation is mainly used for resolution of disputes arising out of, or in connection with, e-commerce transactions. This international legal framework includes both hard laws and soft laws, i.e. the EU Regulation on Online Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes of 2013, the Technical Notes on Online Dispute Resolution adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (‘UNCITRAL’) in 2016, and the UNCITRAL Model Laws on both electronic commerce and electronic signatures. This article concludes with findings regarding the main ideas of the topic, along with recommendations that provide practical solutions for facing the new challenges of the digital economy, including the need for amendment of the international legal framework regulating e-commerce, and national laws on mediation, including e-mediation. Apart from that, this article recommends using e-mediation as a mechanism for resolution of disputes resulting from e-commerce transactions between contracting and non-contracting parties.