China’s supreme court proposes to integrate blockchain into the judicial system

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Supreme People’s Court of China, China’s highest court, has released a proposal to onboard the entire judiciary system to blockchain technology. The supreme court says the proposal is being made based on a comprehensive investigation, extensive consultation, and sufficient argumentation.

In the document released on May 25, the supreme court outlined that the proposal could accelerate the transformation of the local judicial system. This is because blockchain technology can help promote the “in-depth integrated development of the rule of law and technology, as well as the higher-quality intelligent rule of law.”

The court further stated that the proposals will “strengthen blockchain application in the judicial field and give full play to blockchain’s role in cementing judicial credibility, facilitating social governance, preventing and resolving risks, promoting high-quality development, etc.”

The proposal’s plan will see China’s judiciary carrying out all its operations on the blockchain by 2025. It touches on six major aspects, including tamper-proof verification and sharing of judicial data, legal documents, and reports.

The judiciary’s blockchain will also be able to connect with other government agencies’ blockchains, including law enforcement, regulators, and social services. This will immensely improve the efficiency of the judiciary system across the board, the Supreme People’s Court highlighted.

China continues blockchain technology adoption despite digital currency ban

China’s judiciary has been increasingly dabbling with blockchain technology. In recent times, Chinese courts have been making landmark rulings involving digital assets, including NFTs and Bitcoin. In one NFT ruling, the court held that digital collectibles are protected by intellectual property (IP) laws.

Another court ruling also established Bitcoin and digital currencies as property and liable to protection by the law. This has been despite a blanket ban placed on digital currencies last year in China.

Meanwhile, the adoption of blockchain technology has been gaining momentum in China recently. This month, China’s state-backed blockchain company, Blockchain-based Services Network (BSN), announced that it was ready to launch internationally.

The CEO of the startup, Yifan He, told CNBC that the global project is called the BSN Spartan Network and will offer the perks of blockchain technology to businesses without any of the associated digital currency risks.

China is also one of the pioneer countries in developing central bank digital currencies (CBDC). China has successfully carried out several tests of its e-CNY.

Watch: Lise Li talks Bitcoin SV’s rapid growth in China