The Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, has delivered a speech setting out upcoming plans for the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (“UKJT”).

The UKJT, chaired by Sir Geoffrey, was established in 2018 as one of several taskforces within the wider LawtechUK initiative which is dedicated to driving digital transformation in the legal sector.

Already, the UKJT has published three Legal Statements aimed at clarifying the law in nascent areas. First, in 2019, was a statement that smart contracts are capable of being legally binding contracts and that cryptoassets are property. Work on cryptoassets has since developed, including a Law Commission report on Digital Assets (commented upon here) and the resulting Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill (discussed here) which is making its way through Parliament. Later, the UKJT published two further statements, one on the issuance and transfer of digital securities, and the other on the application of insolvency law to digital assets.

Looking further ahead, the taskforce has three new projects on the horizon:

• Control in relation to third category digital assets

First, the taskforce has established an expert group – chaired by Lord Justice Zacaroli – which will produce non-binding guidance on the legal concept of ‘control’ in relation to third category digital assets. As Sir Geoffrey explained in his speech, the work is “intended to facilitate the development of the common law and will be vital in providing the market confidence needed for the adoption of English law in transactions involving digital assets”.

• Liability for harms caused by AI

The taskforce will produce a legal statement on harms caused by AI to third parties, addressing whether the existing law of torts is equipped to handle such cases or if statutory intervention is necessary. In his speech, Sir Geoffrey explained that work in this area is necessary not only because it is a natural complement to the work that is continuing apace on establishing appropriate legislative or regulatory frameworks for AI in the UK, but also because similar projects have been launched in the EU and UK. Also – and, for Sir Geoffrey, most importantly – he explained that “there is genuine market uncertainty about how and when developers of AI tools and those that utilise them might incur legal liability when things go wrong”.

• The International Jurisdiction Taskforce

Finally, the taskforce will establish an International Jurisdiction Taskforce which would “bring together some of best legal thinkers in the digital space from the main private law jurisdictions around the world, with a view to understanding how much common ground exists between their approaches to digital assets and digital trading”. According to Sir Geoffrey, “private law is key to the mainstream and wholesale adoption of digital assets and digital trading”. Therefore, in order to minimise market uncertainty and mitigate the risk of complex private international law issues arising, he is of the view that it is important to consider whether alignment can be achieved between the laws in the most common commercial jurisdictions, citing New York, England, Singapore, Dubai law, France, and Germany as examples.

To read the speech in full, click here.