Writing suggestions for a smart contract

If you want to embed a smart contract into your model contract you have to follow some rules while drafting the clauses:

1) Imprecise data does not compute

Contracts will no longer be able to accommodate vagaries, redundancies or ambiguity; clauses require a plain language, a logical approach in writing.

You have to write the clause making explicit the process of the action that the party has to perform: instructions, action, consequences, conditions must be clear and made explicit.

Participants need to agree on “specific data”.

2) Creating logic parameters

All parameters should be identified within the legal prose. The identification of a parameter entails identification of its name, value, type.

For example, if you have to use a smart contract for recurring payments these are the parameters you have to insert in the clause:

• Amount of the rate/installment
• Time of the payment
• Who has to make the payment
• Who receives the payment
• The sum has to be converted in Wei and the time/days in seconds.
• Creditor and debtor are identified by the Wallet.

Here below an example of how to write a recurring payment clause with all the necessary parameters:

Payments

The Licensor shall issue invoices for the Charges to the Licensee monthly.

The Licensee must pay:

1. the amount of Ether lump sum fee which corresponds to Wei upon signing the contract signing date; and
2. a fixed amount of fixed amount Ether, which corresponds to Wei every payment interval days, which corresponds to seconds. The Licensee shall start to pay the fixed amount from the contract signing date this agreement and until agreement termination.

If the Licensee does not pay the fixed amount properly due to the Licensor under this Agreement, the Licensor may charge the Licensee interest on the overdue amount at the rate of rate percent. The interest will run from the day after the payment deadline which will be calculated as the following: payment interval plus 1 day, which correspond to a total amount of 86400 seconds. The Licensee shall pay the overdue sum of Ether which correspond to Wei within time to pay overdue sum days, which corresponds to seconds. The days will run from the payment deadline.