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PROCEDURAL ASPECTS OF THE USE OF SMART CONTRACTS IN CIVIL TRANSACTIONS UNDER LAW OF RUSSIA AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
PROCEDURAL ASPECTS OF THE USE OF SMART CONTRACTS
IN CIVIL TRANSACTIONS UNDER LAW OF RUSSIA
AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
L.G. EFIMOVA,
Doctor of Legal Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Banking Law,
Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL)
I.E. MIKHEEVA,
Candidate of Legal Sciences, Deputy Head of the Department of Banking Law,
Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL)
D.V. CHUB,
Candidate of Legal Sciences, Senior Lecturer, Department of Banking Law,
Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL)
DOI: 10.24031/2226-0781-2020-10-4-235-253
This article is devoted to solving some problems of the application of procedural legislation
on disputes arising from smart contracts. Based on the author’s definition of the smart
contract, an adequate way to enforce a court decision on foreclosure on the property of
a smart contract is determined, and the problem of ensuring the admissibility of evidence
when considering disputes arising from their smart contracts is resolved. It was found that
in law a smart contract can be used for various purposes, including as a way of execution
of a traditional contract, as a civil contract, and as a way of execution of a court decision to
recover property from a smart contract account. In the latter case, the smart contract should
be created by the Russian Federal Bailiff Service on the basis of an executive document issued
by the court. The Federal Bailiff Service activates the “destruction switch” of the controversial
smart contract and transfers the property of this smart contract to the account of the bailiff
service. In the form of the computer code, a smart contract cannot be directly perceived by
both the parties to the contract or the court, and, accordingly, cannot be considered as valid
evidence in a lawsuit. The article proposes to oblige software developers to provide such
a smart contract algorithm that will allow you to create a plain text file that reflects all the
conditions of the contract immediately at the time the smart contract is first downloaded to
the user’s computer, including the judge. This will further eliminate any disputes about the
identity of the content of the smart contract in the form of computer code and in humanreadable
form. Corresponding changes to the legislation are proposed.
Keywords: smart contract; blockchain technologies; electronic form; digital technology;
algorithmic code; computer program; admissibility of evidence in civil proceedings;
enforcement proceedings.
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Information about the author
L.G. Efimova (Moscow, Russia) – Doctor of Legal Sciences, Professor, Head of the
Department of Banking Law, Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL) (9 Sadovaia-
Kudrinskaia St., Moscow, 125993, Russia; e-mail: [email protected]).
I.E. Mikheeva (Moscow, Russia) – Candidate of Legal Sciences, Deputy Head of the
Department of Banking Law, Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL) (9 Sadovaia-
Kudrinskaia St., Moscow, 125993, Russia; e-mail: [email protected]).
D.V. Chub (Moscow, Russia) – Candidate of Legal Sciences, Senior Lecturer,
Department of Banking Law, Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL) (9 Sadovaia-
Kudrinskaia St., Moscow, 125993, Russia; e-mail: [email protected]).
Recommended citation
Efimova L.G., Mikheeva I.E., Chub D.V. Protsessual’nye aspekty ispol’zovaniia smartkontraktov
v grazhdanskom oborote po pravu Rossii i zarubezhnykh stran [Procedural
Aspects of the Use of Smart Contracts in Civil Transactions Under Law of Russia and
Foreign Countries]. Vestnik grazhdanskogo protsessa – Herald of Civil Procedure, 2020,
vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 235–253. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24031/2226-0781-2020-10-4-
235-253
L.G. EFIMOVA, I.E. MIKHEEVA, D.V. CHUB
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