About
For e-commerce to succeed and spur development gains it must be trusted by both buyers and sellers of online goods and services. This well-established programme helps you develop the most appropriate legal, institutional and policy frameworks to build confidence in e-commerce.
The wide range of areas covered includes consumer protection, cybersecurity, intellectual property and electronic signatures. Ultimately, the aim is to help you build a legal environment that promotes secure online business and economic wellbeing.
For whom
Services offered
- Learn how to draft legal frameworks through online and face-to-face training sessions, organized by region and by country
- Exchange and learn about e-commerce legislation harmonization through regional training activities
- Gain access to expert reviews and inventories of e-commerce legislation
- Get help assessing, revising and drafting legal and regulatory frameworks
- Participate in validation round tables with national stakeholders to discuss and finalize draft legal frameworks
- Get expert advice for parliamentarians on enacting effective laws
Meet the beneficiaries
Since its beginnings, E-Commerce and Law Reform has introduced the legal dimension of ICTs to:
20
LDCs worldwide
21
developing countries in Africa
10
developing countries in Asia
32
developing countries in Latin America & the Caribbean
Under the programme’s guidance, the East African Community became the first African region to adopt a harmonized framework for cyberlaws.
Through its services, the programme has also helped bring about the following:
6 laws, acts or bills
revised in 3 countries between 2014 and 2016
6 regional reviews
published about e-commerce legislation harmonization
500 participants
at Expert Group Meetings on cyberlaws and data protection in 2015 & 2016
Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration, Trinidad and Tobago
The UNCTAD Global Cyberlaw Tracker, allows you to map laws on e-transactions, cybercrime, data protection and online consumer protection. It helps you to know where you stand thanks to Comparative Regional Reviews – and plan your next steps accordingly.
Check here to know where you stand!
Programme in a nutshell
Year of creation
2002
Type of business
Capacity buildingPolicy advice
Maps/program scope











Donors
FinlandRepublic of Korea
Number of activities carried out
over 60