Henrique Delgado Lourenço publishes scientific article entitled Smart Contracts: Frameworks and challenges

Leite Borges Law Firm is delighted and proud to announce the first scientific article publication of Henrique Delgado Lourenço.

"The purpose of this article aims is to analyse and address the legal framework of smart contracts, an emerging figure intrinsically linked to the disruptive advance of blockchain technology. The study begins with the necessary conceptual definition of this new contractual model, highlighting its main characteristics, including automaticity, which enables the autonomous execution of contractual clauses, and immutability, an attribute that prevents the modification of its provisions once inserted into the network. With this starting point, we seek to examine the inclusion of smart contracts into Portuguese Civil Law, which inevitably leads us to question the compatibility of these technological mechanisms with the classical contractual regime, particularly concerning the autonomy of will, consensus, and form. The analysis prompts reflections on whether the current law is sufficiently capable of embracing such innovations or whether a legislative reform is necessary to better accommodate this new reality. After delimiting the concept and its legal framework, the study critically explores some of the issues raised by the use of smart contracts, with particular emphasis on the friction zones between the technological rigidity that characterises them and the flexibility required for balance in contractual relationships, underscoring the need to rethink the regulatory framework so that technological innovation aligns with the fundamental principles of law, thereby ensuring the protection of rights and justice in contemporary legal relations."

For more information on the subject, we recommend reading the article.