Legal Ambiguity and Meaning-Making in Cross-Border Electronic Contracts
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Abstract
The growing complexity of cross-border electronic contracts has transformed civil law, challenging conventional notions of legal certainty in the digital era. Despite this shift, limited research has examined how advocates experience and interpret legal ambiguity in transnational contexts. This study addresses that gap by employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the lived experiences of advocates handling ambiguity in cross-border e-contracts. Through semi-structured interviews with eight international contract advocates, the study identifies three core processes of meaning-making: interpretative reasoning, ethical reflection, and contextual adaptation. Findings reveal that legal ambiguity is not merely a source of uncertainty but a generative space that enhances interpretative creativity and ethical awareness. Advocates engage in a dynamic sense-making process bridging formal legal norms with real-world contexts, positioning law as a lived, interpretative practice rather than a rigid system. This research advances understanding of legal interpretation as a human-centered process and underscores phenomenology’s contribution to modern legal theory and global digital practice.
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