What are smart contracts?

Ieva Giedrimaite published an interesting article for IP Kat that focuses our attention on the so called smart contracts. But what are they?

In a nutshell, these contracts are based on the blockchain technology and in that regard can represent a huge development in the area. Although they can offer a secure and fast way for making deals, there are some questions that have to be answered before using them on a regular base. For example, how law considers them or to what extent they can be enforced?

Ieva tries to give some answers to those questions in her article, which can be found here.