Rules announced by the Supreme People’s Court on September 7, 2018 recognize the use of blockchain technology to establish the authenticity of electronic evidence. They form part of broader procedural rules for China’s internet courts and took effect immediately.
Internet courts must recognize submitted electronic data where its authenticity can be established through methods such as electronic signatures, trusted timestamps, hash verification, blockchain-based collection and preservation, or an electronic evidence platform. Recognition depends on proof of authenticity, rather than on blockchain use alone.
Hangzhou established an internet court in August 2017 to hear internet-related disputes through an online platform. On June 28, 2018, it publicly announced a judgment recognizing the legal effect of electronic evidence preserved using blockchain technology.
Internet courts conduct filing, service, mediation, evidence exchange, pretrial preparation, hearings and delivery of judgments online. The 2018 expansion also included internet courts in Beijing and Guangzhou.
The source article also discusses the wider potential of blockchain and smart contracts in legal practice. Immutable, timestamped records can provide an auditable trail, while smart contracts interact with those records under predefined rules.
Original source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/chinas-supreme-court-rules-that-blockchain-can-legally-authenticate-evidence
Court report confirming the first Hangzhou judgment: https://www.court.gov.cn/zixun/xiangqing/104552.html