Competencia judicial internacional y ADR enmateria de contratación electrónica o a distancia

E-commerce is well established in the European Union. The creation of a regulatory framework favourable to online procurement by the European Union legislator in recent decades has generated greater confidence in this online market not only among economic operators but also among users themselves. Similarly, the technological advances of recent times - moving from the rudimentary web 1.0 to fully interactive pages or from desktop computers to any electronic device connected to the network - have ensured that the online procurement of goods and services in the territory of the European Union has become more established, thus allowing for economic growth and the well-being of European consumers. In this respect, two types of contracts should be distinguished in the context of e-commerce: electronic contracts concluded between professionals (B2B) or between a professional and a consumer (B2C). This is an important distinction because the legal system grants greater protection to the consumer than to the professional/businessman, as will be seen throughout the chapter. On the other hand, it is highly likely that these contracts for goods and services concluded online are international in nature, given the nature of the network which very easily connects any relationship with more than one legal system, in which case the rules of private international law have to be taken into account. This chapter first deals with the determination of international jurisdiction in matters of electronic contracting between professionals. The aim is to determine which fora are the most suitable for bringing this type of (essentially contractual) claims from an institutional, conventional and domestic perspective. It also studies the possibility of settling the dispute arising from the B2B electronic contract by some alternative (or complementary) mechanism to state justice, in the event that the parties have so opted. Secondly, it analyses which court has international jurisdiction in the field of electronic contracting when a consumer is involved, as well as the possibility of resorting to alternative dispute resolution in the field of consumer disputes in electronic commerce.