Legal smart contracts in ethereum block chain: Linking the dots

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Source of Publication

Proceedings - 2020 IEEE 36th International Conference on Data Engineering Workshops, ICDEW 2020

Publication Date

4-1-2020

Abstract

© 2020 IEEE. Block chain technology provides a decentralized and secure platform for executing transactions. Smart contracts in Ethereum have been proposed as the mechanism to automate legal contracts securely without the involvement of third parties. Yet, there are still several issues to be resolved especially regarding the updating of smart contracts in blockchain as well as the use of blockchain as part of a legal smart contracts system. In this work we propose a methodology and an architecture for building and deploying legal contracts in the blockchain. As the blockchain is immutable, we cannot update the code of the smart legal contracts, but in real life applications updating of contracts is a requirement that cannot be ignored. In this paper we address the problem of contract update by introducing a new versioning system that keeps track of the changes and links the different versions using a linked list. Moreover, we propose a system architecture where the user interface, the application logic and the blockchain are smoothly integrated in a manner that each part of the system contributes for producing a flexible and transparent execution. We show the applicability of our approach by implementing a system for the case of a rental agreement.

ISBN

9781728142661

Publisher

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

First Page

18

Last Page

25

Disciplines

Computer Sciences

Keywords

Blockchain, Empirical study, Legal smart contracts, Smart contract modification

Scopus ID

85085726957

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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