The use of data messages to form contracts may raise numerous questions that can be expressly addressed in an electronic transactions law. First, is such a contract valid? Some types of contracts are subject to specific requirements of form, designed to protect particular interests or persons, as discussed in the previous section. While national law may permit certain types of contract to be formed electronically, in the same way that oral contracts has been recognised as valid in many legal systems, for other it may be required that they continue to be executed in physical form, e.g. wills concerning succession. Second, can a data message be viewed as the expression of a party’s will (a requirement in many jurisdictions), especially where there has been no human review or intervention? eCommerce applications, such as the transactional webs sites, will often enable the information system to carry out all aspects of the contract formation process without any human intervention. As such, doubts may be raised as to whether such contracts exhibit an expression of the party’s will. Express provision can recognise the validity of such completely automated processes, although it is only required where national contract law includes such a requirement. Third, what terms are incorporated into the contract? Traditional contract law generally enables the incorporation of terms by reference, provided the party asserting such terms has given the other party an opportunity to refer to such terms prior to contract formation. In a web transaction environment, there may be uncertainty whether techniques such as hypertext links satisfy the requirements of law. Express reference in an electronic transactions law can therefore mitigate any such uncertainty. Fourth, when and where can a contract be deemed to have been formed? While strictly an issue of contract formation, issues of when and where something occurs are generally addressed under separate provision in respect of the communication process. The Task Force recommends that these issues of contract law be expressly addressed in the electronic transactions law and recommends the wording used in the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts (2005)4 (R.6). • Record-keeping and evidential requirements Many of the advantages of eCommerce techniques (including the ability to keep large amounts of information electronically for storage, searching and manipulation) are lost if a business is required to keep paper copies of every document or communication. Yet, legal systems often require businesses to retain certain records, and particularly written records, for accounting, revenue or audit purposes for a given period of time, often reflecting the needs of public administrations. In addition, organisations will retain records for evidential purposes, such as during the period in which a contractual or tortious action may be brought under national limitation statutes, or to evidence ownership of intellectual property rights. Many of these requirements are written in such a way that they appear to contemplate retention of a 4 Articles 8, 11-13. 9