Smart Contracts: Legal Interpretation of the Parties’ Actions in the Light of the Principle of Good Faith

Abstract

The article is devoted to the debatable issues of application of the principle of good faith in interpreting the terms of a smart contract, clarification of the meaning and content of the preliminary agreements of the parties that take place before the conclusion of a smart contract. Among the key factors of interpretation, the authors consider the volitional element of the participants of civil turnover, the nature of the performed obligation within the programme code. Also, in this part the peculiarities of interpretation of smart contracts by courts from the point of view of compliance of the application of provisions from a smart contract with the principle of good faith were especially studied. The researchers have modelled and analysed examples demonstrating particular cases of application of the principle of good faith arising on or before the conclusion of a smart contract (pre-contractual stage of relations).