智能合约及其法律质疑（I）

智能合约是可以自动监管和执行法律协议的计算机代码。契约性条款和功能结果被映射为区块链上的代码。自动地执行合同，能降低交易成本，并减少对另一方履约的依赖。
A smart contract is computer code that can automatically monitor, execute and enforce a legal agreement. Contractual clauses and functional outcomes are mapped as code on the blockchain. By having contract execution automated, transaction costs and dependencies on the other party's performance can be reduced.
智能合约的一个重要特征是区块链技术阻碍了溯及性变更，因此智能合约是不可修改的且是最终的。这也意味着自动交易无法撤销或重来。当合同或根据基础合同履行的行为无效时，这智能合约就可能受质疑。
An important feature of smart contracts is that blockchain technology impedes retroactive alteration: hence, smart contracts are unmodifiable and final. This also entails that an automated transaction cannot be reversed or rolled back. This might be a challenge when a contract or an action performed under the underlying contract needs to be declared void.
运用明确规则的和可量化聘用条款的十分适合采用智能合约。例如，区块链技术和智能合约技术已被应用于:
Matters which utilise clear rules and quantifiable terms of engagement are well suited to implementing smart contracts. For example, blockchain and smart contract technology is already being utilised:
在物流领域——能减少第三方代理链，缩短交货时间，跟踪货物运输，潜在地降低面向消费者的价格和被盗窃的几率；
in the logistics sector – to shorten the chain of third party agents, shorten delivery timeframes, track the transportation of goods and potentially reduce the price to consumers and chances of theft;
在食品和葡萄酒领域——追踪产品的来源，更好地防止食品领域欺诈；
in the food and wine sector – to track the provenance of products to better prevent food fraud; and
在金融服务业——金融服务几乎是无穷无尽的，例如支付处理（包括跨境支付）、金融工具的清算和结算、贸易融资和柜台交易衍生品合约的自动化，及监管技术如简化的“了解客户”认证。
in the financial services sector – the opportunities are almost endless for financial services and include, for example, payment processing (including cross-border payments), clearing and settlement of financial instruments, trade finance and automated over the counter derivatives contracts, as well as regulatory technology such as streamlined 'know your customer' certification.
使用智能合约的好处
Advantages of using smart contracts
智能合约有许多共同的优点。这些包括:
There are a number of common advantages which smart contracts can offer. These include:
准确性和透明度：由于撰写的条款对所有相关方都是完全可见并可获取的，一旦智能合约成立，就没有任何争议。这一设施增加了交易透明度，并消除（或至少降低了）任何操纵、偏见或错误的可能性，从而给予合约相关方更充足的信心履行合约。同时，这降低了监控成本和机会主义行为的风险。
Accuracy and transparency: As the codified terms are fully visible and accessible to all relevant parties, there is no way to dispute them once the smart contract is established. This facilities complete transactional transparency and removes (or, at the very least, reduces the likelihood) of any manipulation, bias or error which in turn encourages greater confidence in the execution of the smart contract. This, in turn leads to decreased monitoring costs and risks of opportunistic behaviour.
效率：智能合约可提高商业安排的效率，原因如下：
Efficiency: Smart contracts are able to improve the efficiency with which commercial arrangements are carried out due to:
自动执行；
automated execution;
绕过官僚机制；
the bypassing of bureaucratic mechanisms;
区块链应用中使用数学算法代替官僚机制，执行速度快；
the high speed of execution thanks to the use of mathematical algorithms in blockchain applications instead of bureaucratic mechanisms;
不需要人工处理文件；
there being no requirement to process documents manually; and
由于编纂术语的明确性质而杜绝错误传达。
a lack of miscommunication due to the explicit nature of the codified terms.
许多智能合约提出的例子都假设智能合约将从“外链”资源处接收信息或参数。这可能导致两个问题。首先，智能合约不具备从链外资源提取数据的能力；相反，这些信息必须被“推送”到智能合约中。其次，如果存在问题的数据不断变化，并且由于代码在多个节点之间不断复制，那么网络上的不同节点可能会接收到不相同的信息。由于验证环节需要跨节点达成一致，因此这些波动可能会妨碍满足条件。然而，缔约双方可以通过使用“预言机”以一种简化和透明的方式解决这个问题。预言机是可信的第三方（可能是软件或实际的人)，他们检索链外信息，然后在预定的时间将信息推送到区块链。
Many smart contract-proposed use cases assume that the smart contract will receive information or parameters from 'off-chain' resources. This can cause two major issues. Firstly, smart contracts do not have the ability to pull data from off-chain resources; rather, the information must be 'pushed' to the smart contract. Secondly, if the data at issue is in constant flux, and since the code is replicated across multiple nodes, different nodes across the network may be receiving slightly different information. As consensus is required across the nodes for a transaction to be validated, these fluctuations may prevent the condition from being satisfied. Contracting parties can, however, solve this issue in a streamlined and transparent way by using an 'oracle'. Oracles are trusted third parties (which may be software or actual people) that retrieve off-chain information and then push that information to the blockchain at predetermined times.
安全性：智能合约具有区块链技术基础上的去中心化数据存储的可靠性和抗篡改性。特别是，由于区块链的分布式特性以及一致机制和散列算法，一旦信息被记录到区块链中，要更改或删除就变得异常困难。除非代码中有规定，否则一方无权修改或回滚存储在区块链上的信息，也无权在智能合约部署后停止执行。
Security: Smart contracts are afforded the reliability and tamper-resistant nature of the decentralised data storage which underpins blockchain technology. In particular, because of the distributed nature of a blockchain, along with consensus mechanisms and hashing algorithms, once information has been recorded to a blockchain, it becomes incredibly hard to change or delete. A party does not have the ability to modify or roll back information stored on a blockchain, or halt the execution of a smart contract once it has been deployed, unless provided for in the code.