Sichuan and Inner Mongolia are two regions that recently announced their first cases using blockchain-stored evidence, local media reports.

See related article: How blockchain technology is shaking up courtrooms in Asia

Fast facts

• The Saihan District People’s Court of Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia, admitted a contract stored on a blockchain as evidence in a case where the plaintiff and the defendant had a dispute over a loan contract.

• The court used the contract to examine the plaintiff’s and defendant’s evidence and reached its judgment with no objection from either side.

• In Sichuan, the province’s Free Trade Zone Court admitted blockchain-stored evidence in a copyright infringement case. The plaintiff accused the defendant of plagiarizing musical work and using it for commercial profit.

• The court accepted the evidence provided by the plaintiff, which the defendant did not provide evidence to disprove, and reached an infringement verdict, ordering the defendant to compensate the plaintiff 20,000 yuan (US$3,142).

• Last August, the Supreme People’s Court confirmed the validity of evidence stored on blockchain in a regulatory document Cyber Litigation Regulations.

• China’s Supreme People’s Court said in its 2022 work report that 1.71 billion pieces of evidence are already stored on blockchains for judicial trials.

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