Abstract— Contracts have become so common in daily life that most of the time we do not even realize that we have entered into one. In the electronic age, the whole transaction can be completed in seconds, with both parties simply affixing their digital signatures to an electronic copy of the contract. There was initially an apprehension amongst the legislatures to recognize this modern technology, but now many countries have enacted laws to recognize electronic contracts. Malaysia has enacted legislations on e-commerce in compliance with international organisations. This paper seeks to identify the recent trends and developments on electronic contracting globally and in Malaysia and an overview of e-commerce developments in the neighbouring land, Singapore, which was the first country to adopt the UNCITRAL model law on ecommerce. The paper also examines relevant Malaysian legislations on e-commerce and the adequacy of the existing law in protecting e-consumers.

Index Terms— E-commerce, e-contracting, e-transactions.

Ayyappan Palanissamy is with FBD, Swinburne University, Malaysia (e-mail: apalanissamy@swinburne.edu.my).

Cite: Ayyappan Palanissamy, " Legal Issues in e-Commerce and e-Contracting – An Overview of Initiatives in Malaysia," International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 173-177, 2013.