Electronic Offer and Its Legal Regulation

The digitalization of commerce has changed the nature of traditional legal concepts like offer and acceptance that govern contractual relations. As communication technologies have developed, the electronic offer has become a cornerstone of 21st-century contract law, necessitating a rethinking and a reworking of the law. We aim to shed more light on the theoretical and practical nature of electronic offers in the legal framework of Uzbekistan and foreign countries, confirming that the legislator failed to distinguish the legal nature of the formed electronic offer, as well as the limits of the possibility of its execution, the application of an electronic offer in the case of automated transactions and cross-border transactions, which we consider a topic not fully studied. The study uses comparative and analytical methods based on the national legislation of Uzbekistan (Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Electronic Commerce of 2022, Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Electronic Digital Signature of 2022, etc.) and international legal acts (UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce of 1996, Draft of the Model Law on Automated Contracting of 2024, UN Convention on Electronic Communications of 2005). The results show that although electronic offers have the same meaningful characteristics as traditional offers, they are also different in terms of the form of making an offer, its implementation, and legal consequences, because they are remote, online, and global. The findings suggest that effective regulation needs to be technology-neutral, functionally equivalent and recognize in certain instances the electronic expressions of will. The significance of this research highlights the necessity of adjustment in Uzbekistan legislation through the addition of a precise legal definition of the term “electronic offer”, as well as raising the market agents’ awareness and improvement of digital trust mechanisms. Such measures would generate legal certainty, provide parties with protection, and contribute to e-commerce sustainable development.