Online Business in Peru

Rossana Rodriguez
Estudio Aurelio García Sayán-Abogados
Publised in World Online Business Law, January 2008, Oxford University Press

I. The Legal Framework.

A. Sources of Law:

Government System

Peru is a republic divided in 25 departments.   It is a country organized under a unitary and decentralized government in a system where The Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary are separate powers.

The President, who is elected by suffrage the same as the Congress representatives are, represents the Executive Power.  The Legislative Power is represented by the Congress of the

Republic and is the Supreme Body for the approval of laws, which are applicable throughout the Peruvian territory.

Finally, the Body in charge of administering justice is the Judiciary.  Our judicial system is based on the application of laws, as we have as most Latin American countries chosen the Romanic Germanic system.

So that decision-taking process may be decentralized, regional governments have been created with autonomy within the circumscription of a department.  Each department is in turn divided into provinces and provinces into districts, which are subject to local governments. Regional and local governments have restricted competence in laying down rules, as they have limited powers under the Political Constitution, the Organic Law of Regions and the Organic Law of Municipalities.

Power to propose and approve rules

Although the Congress of the Republic is the Supreme Body entitled to propose and approve rules, there are also decentralized bodies depending from the central government which have capacity to issue rules ranking below the Laws enacted by Congress on specific issues within their competence.   Precisely these bodies have approved a number of provisions to regulate the use of electronic means for the operations within their sector and for some of the procedures, as we shall see below:

B. Scheme of Online Business Regulation:

Although On-Line contracting in Peru has not been regulated by specific rules, a number of provisions have been issued during the last years recognizing the validity of the agreements and operations entered into through these means, as follows: Read the rest of this entry »