First in the country! Judicial Application of Judicial Blockchain Smart Contract Technology in E-commerce Dispute

Source: Hangzhou Internet Court

Today, the judicial block chain smart contract technology was applied to the first case in the country in civil litigation trials, and the first case in the e-commerce field where the entire process of the on-chain deposit certificate was pronounced online!

Case brief

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"The defendant rented a mobile phone from the plaintiff through the e-commerce platform operating electronic product leasing. The two parties signed the" User Lease and Service Agreement ", which agreed on the value and rent of the goods. If the defendant defaulted on the rent, the plaintiff had the right to unilaterally declare the leased property. The lease was resold. Later, the defendant paid only the first installment rent. After the plaintiff's notice to the defendant expired, the legal relationship between the two parties changed from a lease contract relationship to a sales contract relationship. Therefore, the plaintiff requested the defendant to pay the purchase price and overdue payment breach of contract.

After the trial, the court held that the "User Leasing and Service Agreement" signed by the plaintiff and defendant through the platform was the true intention of the parties, and the content did not violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations and was legal and valid. The plaintiff delivered the lease to the defendant in accordance with the contract, and the defendant should perform the obligation to pay the rent in accordance with the contract. The defendant only pays the first rent. According to the contract, the plaintiff has the right to announce that the lease term expires early and the product is resold from the lease. The defendant should continue to perform its obligation to pay the purchase price and pay the liquidated damages. " The case is simple, isn't it an online shopping contract dispute? What are the characteristics?

The behaviors of the two parties in the transaction are recorded in the judicial chain in real time through the smart contract system, and the entire process of the transaction link is automatically stored and executed.

Referee summary

"The main point of the trial of this case lies in the judicial determination of the on-chain storage of the smart contract throughout its life cycle. Article 11 of the" Supreme People's Court's Provisions on Several Issues in the Trial of Internet Court Cases "states: The Internet court shall confirm if the authentic time stamp, hash value verification, blockchain and other evidence collection, fixing, and tamper-resistant technical means or certification through electronic evidence collection and certification platform can prove its authenticity. "

In this case, the automatic information system used by the platform was connected to the judicial block chain of the Hangzhou Internet Court. All parties involved in the online ordering, signing of the contract, delivery of the target, overdue payment of rent, and sending notifications were automatically performed on the judicial block chain Depositing certificates ensures the reliability of electronic data full-link credibility, full node witness, and full process records. The plaintiff submitted the above-mentioned relevant evidence and the hash value of the judicial blockchain certificate as evidence. The court determined that the electronic data could be used as the basis for the factual determination of the case on the premise that the hash value was verified to be consistent and could be mutually verified with other evidence. . "

Judge's statement

The rise of e-commerce has injected new vitality into the Chinese economy, but the virtual nature of the Internet has increased transaction risks and trust costs. The Hangzhou Internet Court's investigation and statistics on e-commerce disputes show that e-commerce disputes are characterized by a large number of cases, small amount of litigation, geographical dispersion of parties, and low defendant attendance rate, which has increased the time cost and Economic cost.

Judicial chain smart contracts with blockchain as the underlying technology, on the basis of solving the credible transfer of electronic data, build an efficient mutual trust and cooperation mechanism for the parties, the people's court and other participants in business activities. Taking this case as an example, the parties' offers, commitments, contracts, performances, breaches, reminders, and other actions are recorded in the judicial chain in real time through the smart contract system, which enables automatic certification and execution of the entire process of the transaction link. Once a party's breach of contract reaches the standard preset by the procedure, the smart contract system automatically transfers to the judicial process of dispute resolution, achieving no manual intervention and no external factors.

In addition to e-commerce, judicial chain smart contracts have been used in other commercial fields such as finance. For compliance parties, judicial remedies are within reach; for potential defaulters, the high-hanging sword of justice creates judicial deterrence. The judicial chain smart contract is connected with the people's court's pre-litigation multi-mediate mediation process. Through the demonstration effect of benchmarking cases, a large number of potential disputes are resolved before the lawsuit, which helps "governance of the source of lawsuits." It is helpful to achieve cross-industry, cross-region and cross-platform multi-party collaboration and data sharing, build and advocate integrity values ​​in cyberspace, and effectively promote the construction of a social integrity system.

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