Lord Hodge: Consensus on cryptoassets as property rights needed
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Lord Hodge
International legal consensus on the nature of cryptoassets as property rights will be required if they become widely used, Lord Hodge has said.
The Deputy President of the Supreme Court said this was “the most pressing” property law issue in relation to cryptoassets.
Delivering the Dover House Lecture 2020 in London last month, he said: “The law of property will also need be adapted to take account of emerging technologies. For instance, if computers using AI generate intellectual property, who owns that property? If machines act autonomously to create new contracts, should there be copyright, and who should own it?”
In Scotland, the judge said the law would need to recognise a new form of intangible moveable property.
“However, if cryptoassets become widely used in cross-border commercial transactions, it will be necessary to achieve a degree of international legal consensus on their nature as property rights.”
Lord Hodge, who co-chairs the Working Group on Crypto-assets and Related Technology in Scots Law with the Lord Advocate, said the group intends to consult stakeholders this year on these questions.
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