선하증권에 블록체인을 채택함에 있어서의 법적 함의에 대한 연구

With the development of IT technology, e-commerce is increasing, internet communication network technology is developing dramatically, and the way of international commodity transaction is changing with the development of artificial intelligence and high speed computer data processing technology. However, the shipping industry is still dealing with inefficient paper-based transactions. Bills of lading, one of the most important documents used in international transactions today, are still paper documents that must be physically delivered with the goods shipped. The main reason for this is that the paper bill of lading, which has long been legally recognized as a negotiable paper document, plays a key role in international shipping. The practical problems of paper bills can be solved with technological solutions that digitize the transaction process carried out by bills of lading. Nevertheless, in reality, various efforts to dematerialize (digitalize) bills of lading have not been successful due to the rigidity of related laws and commercial practices. The use of digital bills of lading has been delayed by the lack of legal basis to support the use of digital bills of lading and the obsession with registration systems to identify holders of electronic bills of lading. This paper reviewed whether a digital bill of lading applied with blockchain could be feasible under the current legal environment. To this end, the limitations of existing bills of lading and electronic bills of lading were first analyzed, and basic principles and technologies of blockchain were examined. In addition, as a precondition for the use of blockchain bill of lading, this paper reviewed whether blockchain based bill of title can be used under the current legislation, and then derived legal implications of blockchain bills of lading including those in Korean Commercial Code, English common law, and other international laws.