跨境电商平台的责任划分及法律适用问题
The Division of Responsibilities and Legal Applicability Issues in Cross-Border E-Commerce Platforms

跨境电商平台因其跨国属性，在国际投资争端中面临复杂的责任划分及法律适用问题。首先，平台的法律主体资格在国际投资协定中尚未明确，导致其在争端中的法律地位模糊。其次，平台作为中介，是否应对第三方卖家的违约或侵权行为承担连带责任，以及其在数据合规、知识产权保护和消费者权益保护中的具体责任边界，仍存在争议。此外，平台可能同时受到母国和东道国法律的约束，导致法律适用冲突。最后，现有国际投资争端解决机制在适用于跨境电商平台时存在局限性，未能有效处理平台的责任划分问题。本文旨在通过分析典型案例和国际投资协定相关规定，提出通过多边协定明确平台的法律地位，完善国际投资协定中的责任划分规则，并加强各国政策与监管的协调，以促进跨境电商的可持续发展，同时也为国际投资法的完善提供实践指导。
Cross-border e-commerce platforms, due to their transnational nature, face complex issues of liability allocation and legal applicability in international investment disputes. Firstly, the legal status of these platforms remains undefined in international investment agreements, leading to ambiguity in their legal standing during disputes. Secondly, there is ongoing debate over whether platforms, as intermediaries, should bear joint liability for the default acts of third-party sellers, as well as the specific boundaries of their responsibilities in data compliance, intellectual property protection, and consumer rights protection. Additionally, platforms may be subject to the laws of both their home country and the host country, resulting in conflicts of legal applicability. Lastly, existing international investment dispute resolution mechanisms have limitations when applied to cross-border e-commerce platforms, failing to effectively address the issue of liability allocation. This paper aims to analyze typical cases and relevant provisions of international investment agreements, proposing the clarification of platforms’ legal status through multilateral agreements, the improvement of liability allocation rules in international investment agreements, and the enhancement of policy and regulatory coordination among countries. These measures are intended to promote the sustainable development of cross-border e-commerce and provide practical guidance for the refinement of international investment law.