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Jianing Sang / Internet Court on Solving Online Consumer Contract Disputes: Case of China
procedure,shallbeannouncedinthecourt,inprinciple.Forcasesthathavenotbeenannounced in court, the Litigation Platform announcement should be made. At the time of the announcement, the judge would upload the judgment document to that platform, make sure each party could review it. Meanwhile, a hard copy of the judgment document would be sent to the parties by postal mail.74
Judgment is automatically generated. The judge uses artificial intelligence technology to make the judgment document. All or part of the documents are automatically generated in the Litigation Platform and then can be revised and modified by the judge.75 If a judgment is announced in court, the judgment document can be simplified appropriately. A civil case judgment document is not needed with the consent of all the parties if the judgment has been immediately implemented incourtandtherelevantinformationhasbeenrecordedasatranscript.76
Enforcement of Judgments
Service of Documents
Service methods and electronic service
In general, electronic service is adopted in an online trial process. However, if the location of the party is unknown, or the party does not have any response in the Litigation Platform, or if a document could not be served through the methods mentioned above, this document shall be servedbypublicannouncement.Accordingly,thecaseshallbetransferredtoatrialoffline.77
With the consent of the parties, the Internet courts shall use electronic means such as the China Trial Process Information Disclosure Network, the litigation platform, mobile phone text messages, fax, e-mail, and instant messenger accounts78 to serve litigation documents and evidentiary materials submitted by the parties. Whereas there is no express consent, the parties may still be viewed as having consented to the electronic service under the following two situations. First, parties have agreed, when the dispute arises, to use electronic service during litigation. Second, by completing behaviors such as confirming receipt or taking corresponding procedural action as accepting themethodofelectronicservice.79
Confirmation of the service address
The specific method for services and the address shall be confirmed if the electronic service is adopted. In lack of a valid service address, the Internet courts shall make the preferred method of service through mobile phone numbers, e-mail accounts, instant messenger accounts, and other routine electronic addresses that can be confirmed as being in a state of regular activity by the personsreceivingserviceforthepastthreemonths.80
74Supra,n.10,Article38.
75Supra,n.10,Article36.
76Supra,n.10,Article37.
77Supra,n.10, Article 24.
78Tobemorespecifically,theHangzhouInternetCourtlistsseveralservicetoolsforreference,suchas:thepasty’spersonal account in the Litigation Platform, mobile phone number, email, Aliwangwang and WeChat (an instant communication softwarethatsupportsdocumenttransformaswell,itisnowbeingfrequentlyinChina).(Supra,n.10, Article 22)
79Supra,n.14, Article 15.
80Supra,n.14, Article 16.
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Following the Judicial Interpretation, Hangzhou Internet Court also stipulates rules concerning confirmation of the service address in detail. In the situation when the party refuses to provide a valid service address, the following options could be chosen by the Internet court: the address agreedbythepartiesforthedeliveryofmailregardingthelitigationofcontractdispute;theaddress used by the court to contact the party in the litigation or the address used by the party to submit the materials to the court; the address provided by the party for his or her other litigation or arbitration case within a year; a frequently used address for the party’s civil activities within a year, theaddressusedbytheparty’sonlineshopforthedeliveryofgoodsor;theaddressforthebulletin usedbytheparty.
If,throughallaforelistedaddresses,theserviceaddressisstillfailedtobeconfirmed.Iftheparty is a natural person, the residence address registered with his or her household register, or his habitual residence address, could be regarded as the service address. Where a party is a legal person, its business address registered and kept on record in the department of industrial and commercial administrationorotheradministrativedepartmentsshallbedeemedtheserviceaddress.81
Proof of a successful service
Theproofisneededforasuccessfulservice;twosituationscouldbediscussedhereindetail. First, suppose the service is conducted via the address proactively provided or confirmed by the service recipient. In that case, it is viewed as served when the information reaches the recip-
ient’sdesignatedsystem.
Second, if Internet courts conduct service to the service recipient’s regular electronic address or other electronic address that could be obtained, the completion of the service is determined based onthefollowingcircumstances:
1. Where the recipient of service responds that he has already received the materials served or actedbasedonandcorrespondingtothematerialsserved,serviceisviewedascompleted.
2. Wheretherecipientofservice’smediasystemreportsbackthattherecipienthasalreadyread it, or where there is other evidence showing that the recipient has already read it, or where there is other evidence showing that the recipient has already received it, there is a presumption that effective service has been completed. Except where the recipient can prove they did not receive the served content due to situations like an error in the storage media system, the service address notbeingtheirownorusedbythem,orthatitwasnotthemthataccessedit.
Where effective service was completed, the Internet courts shall draft an electronic service receipt.Theelectronicreceiptiseffectiveasproofofservice.82
Online Judgment Enforcement
Requirements and procedure of online judgment enforcement
The parties’ real interests in dispute could not be finally realized until the judgment is enforced andexecuted.Anonlinejudgmentis,innature,thesameasanofflinejudgment.Theonlydifference anonlinejudgmentappearswhencomparedtoanofflinejudgmentisthatitisissuedthroughanonline litigation process, which is facilitated largely by using Internet technologies. Therefore, an online judgment can also be viewed as a technology-supported judgment. Enforcement of this kind
81Supra,n.10, Article 21.
82Supra,n.14, Article 17.
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Jianing Sang / Internet Court on Solving Online Consumer Contract Disputes: Case of China
of judgment remains similar to that of an offline judgment. Existing rules and regulations on judgmentenforcementalsoapplytoonlinejudgmentenforcement.
A final and effective judgment is enforceable under Chinese law. After the judgment comes into effect, the parties can directly apply online for enforcement without being required to be physically present in an offline court. No specific requirements thereof could be found in the Trial Procedure nor the Judicial Interpretation on Internet Court. However, it is stipulated in the Trial Procedure that the CivilProcedureLaw is the basis for the two legal documents. Therefore, I would principally refer to this law and discuss the requirements and the procedures of enforcing a domestic online judgmentandaforeignoneseparately.
Domesticonlinejudgmentenforcement.Whenadomesticjudgmentisissued,itshallbeenforced bythepeople’scourtofthefirstinstanceorthepeople’scourtwherethepropertyisexecuted,which isatthesamelevelasthepeople’scourtofthefirstinstance.83
Foreignonlinejudgmentenforcement.Whenthejudgmentisaforeignone,apeople’scourtshall review such judgment or ruling under:
1.InternationaltreatiesconcludedoraccededtobyChina;or 2.Bytheprincipleofreciprocity.
Suppose, upon such review, the people’s court considers that such judgment or ruling neither contradictsthebasicprinciplesofthePeople’sRepublicofChina’slawnorviolatesState sovereignty, security,andthepublicinterest.Inthatcase,itshallruletorecognizetheeffectivenessoftheforeign judgment.84
In 2019, the Hague Conference on Private International Law (“HCCH”) has established the Convention of 2 July on the Recognition and Enforcement in Civil or Commercial Matters (“HCCH
2019 Judgments Convention”) that sets forth commonly accepted conditions for recognition and enforcementofforeignjudgments.ThisConventionisasingleconventionthatonlyregulatesjudgment recognition and enforcement. If jurisdictional bases set up in article 585 are fulfilled, the judgment issuedisthereforedeemed“eligibleforrecognitionandenforcement”undertheConvention.Under the obligation of mutual recognition and enforcement indicated in article 4(1) of the Convention, onceaforeignjudgmentisregarded“eligibleforrecognitionandenforcement”,therequestedState shallrecognizeandenforcethatforeignjudgment.
The Convention does not indicate that it also applies to online judgments. Nevertheless, considering that online judgments are in nature the same as offline judgments, there is no reason tostopapplyingtheConventiononenforcingonlinejudgments.Sofar,thisConventionhasnotyet been in force, only Israel (March 3, 2021), Ukraine (March 4, 2020), and Uruguay (July 2, 2019) have signed the Convention. However, it is undeniable that it is a good attempt on enhancing access tojusticeincross-bordercircumstancesandonfacilitatingthecirculationofforeignjudgments.It would constitute a solid legal base for recognizing and enforcing foreign online judgments once it has been in force.
83Supra,n.15, Article 224.
84Supra,n.15, Article 282.
85Article 5 contains a list of rules that indicate the necessary connection between the judgment and the country of origin where that judgment was issued. Specifically, article 5(2) regulates that under certain conditions consumers can enjoy the protection rendered by the Convention. For more details regarding consumer protection and this Convention, please referto:Nielsen,P.A.(2020).TheHague2019 JudgmentsConvention:FromFailuretoSuccess?JournalofPrivateInternational Law. 16(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/17441048.2020.1759854; Araujo N., Nardi M. (2020) Consumer Protection under the HCCH
2019 Judgments Convention, NetherlandsInternationalLawReview.67(1).https://doi.org/10.1007/s40802-020-00156-5.
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Figure 4
Enforcementplatform86
The enforcement platform: methods for enforcement
Oncethejudgmentenforcementhasbeenaccepted,thepartycoulddirectlyaccesstheEnforcement Platform from the Hangzhou Litigation Platform. The Platform uses three specific methods for enforcement, these methods can be categorized into:
1.Blockchain+5G+Enforcement.
2.Socialnorms:electronicrewardorderandheadlinesofenforcement.86
Blockchain+5G+Enforcement: A technology-supported enforcement method. By using the blockchain and 5G technology,thismethodcanprovideaconfidential,transparent,secure,instantaneous, andneutralserviceforallInternetusers.Thismethodnormallyinvolvesthreeparties:thecommand center, the executed person, and the executive officers. By using the 5G blockchain judicial enforcement recorder, the executed items can be presented to the executed person remotely, the latter can witness the entire execution process and confirm the execution results. The entire procedure is operatedtransparentlythroughmulti-party,real-timeinteraction.87
Social norms: electronic reward order and headlines of enforcement. Additionally, Hangzhou
Internet Court also uses social norms as a method by either issuing an electronic reward order or publishing detailed information about the dishonest party. These two enforcement methods apply in the situation where the person against whom enforcement is sought refuses to comply with thejudgment.
86HangzhouInternetCourt.(n.d.).RetrievedSeptember13, 2021 from https://www.netcourt.gov.cn/#lassen/executionPlatform
87Zhejiang News. (2019, June 20). TheInitiativeInternet-RelatedEnforcementMechanism of “5G+Blockchain” byHangzhou InternetCourt.https://zj.zjol.com.cn/news/1225303.html
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Conclusion
Internet court is not an occasional innovation on dispute resolution method, but an inevitable result of the evolving Internet technology. Just as it has been commonly admitted that the concept of Internet Law88 is developing rather than being fixed, our acknowledgment towards Internet court shallnotbestuckintothecurrentstage.Therefore,insteadofdiscussingwhethertheInternetcourt belongs to ODR, focus shall be put on how to refine this solution to better collaborate with other disputesolutionsandprotectthelegalinterestsofInternetusers.
Rules adopted for governing Internet courts in China consist of laws and regulations estab - lished by the legislature and internal rules set up separately by each litigation platform. This articlewoulddeemChina’slegalpracticeasreasonableforthecurrentdevelopmentstagesince cyberspace does not exist in isolation. It has a close connection with the real physical world. People who use or control the Internet come from the real world, and their online behaviors eventually locate to the physical world and have effects on it. Therefore, at the infancy stage of the development of the Internet, the current measure is proper. It could help best real - ize justice without hampering the development of the Internet. The only concern here that is worth further consideration is integrating the three litigation platforms’ existing rules. Since the Internet is a global network with everyone involved, fragmented regulations may create chaos and even injustice results.
Even though China was the first country that has successfully established the Internet court system,Chinaisnottheonlycountrythathaseverattemptedtodoso.UKandUShavesetupwebsites that provide resolutions for small claims: “Online Civil Money Claims”89 and “Franklin County Municipal Court: Small Claims Courts 2.0”90. Nevertheless, these two online services need further improvement to fully function as an Internet court we discussed here. These two courts only provide monetary claims that fall within certain limits (£ 10 000 and $ 6 000). Not all Internet-related types of disputes are covered in this regard. Besides, the Small Claims Courts 2.0 indicates that it is not a trial. Its purpose is to solve the case before it goes further through the legal system.91 The mainmethodadoptedintheprocessisnegotiation.Notrialprocessgetsinvolved,ifnoagreement could be reached through the negotiation, the dispute will continue, and the parties shall have to seek other legal options. However, it is undeniable that those efforts could help release part of the court’s burden, which uses the Internet to realize the parties’ interests quickly. Therefore, they could be deemed as the initial development of the Internet court. With the improvement of technology and modification of laws and regulations, Internet courts are hopefully to be found in countries outside of China.
88Lodder, A. R. (2018). Internet law: A brief introduction. In B. Warf (Ed.), Sage Encyclopedia of the Internet (p. 1). Sage PublicationsLtd.https://ssrn.com/abstract=3191751
89UK Government. (n.d.). Making a money claim online. Retrieved September 13, 2021 from https://www.gov.uk/make- money-claim.
90Online Dispute Resolution Franklin County Municipal Court. (n.d.). Welcome page. Retrieved September 13, 2021 from https://sc.courtinnovations.com/OHFCMC.
91Online Dispute Resolution Franklin County Municipal Court. (n.d.). Welcome page. Retrieved September 13, 2021 from https://sc.courtinnovations.com/OHFCMC/help.
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