Court orders: how blockchain can ensure authenticity

Recently, the public has been deeply concerned about the authenticity of court orders because of reports of increased forgery of these orders.

Court orders are legally binding documents that courts issue to settle disputes between parties. However, with the rise of digital technology, it’s become rather easy for bad actors to forge or tamper with these documents, which can have severe consequences for the parties involved and the legal profession.

How can we respond to this problem?

One solution is to use blockchain technology to verify the authenticity of court orders.

What is blockchain technology?

Developers design blockchain technology—a distributed ledger system—to be secure and transparent. It consists of a computer network that records and verifies transactions. Each transaction is recorded as a block and linked to the previous block, creating a chain of blocks, hence the name “blockchain”.

The information stored on the blockchain is tamper-proof, as any attempt to alter the data in one block will result in invalidating the entire chain.

How blockchain can authenticate court orders

Using blockchain technology to authenticate court orders involves creating a digital record of the order on the blockchain. Once the record exists, you can verify that the order is genuine and unaltered.

The process of blockchain-backing a court order involves the following steps:

1. Creation of the digital record. The court order is converted into a digital format, such as a PDF document, and hashed. Hashing is a process that takes the data and produces a unique digital fingerprint. The technology then stores the fingerprint on the blockchain as a transaction.
2. Verification of the digital record. Anyone who wishes to verify the authenticity of the court order can do so by accessing the blockchain. They can retrieve the hash of the court order from the blockchain and compare it to the hash of the court order that they have. If the hashes match, then the court order is authentic.
3. Updating the digital record. A new hash is created and added to the blockchain if the court order is amended or updated. This step ensures that the digital record remains up-to-date and accurate.

The benefits

There are three main benefits to blockchain court orders. First, the technology provides a secure and transparent way to authenticate court orders, reducing fraud risk. Second, it minimises the time and cost of verifying the authenticity of court orders, as you can automate creating records. Finally, it provides a way to track the history of court orders, which is helpful for auditing.

Case studies

There have been several case studies of governments using blockchain technology to verify the authenticity of legal documents. Here are two examples:

1. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Court System. In 2018, the UAE’s court system announced it would begin using blockchain technology to verify the authenticity of court orders and other legal documents. The “Court of the Blockchain” system uses blockchain technology to create a secure and transparent record of court orders and other legal documents.
2. The Cook County Recorder of Deeds. The Cook County Recorder of Deeds in Illinois, USA, began using blockchain technology in 2019 to create a secure and transparent record of land and property records. The “Land Title and Asset Record System” system uses blockchain technology to create a tamper-proof and immutable digital record of property transactions.

These case studies demonstrate the potential of blockchain technology to improve the authenticity and transparency of court records. As more courts and legal institutions adopt blockchain technology, we expect more innovation in this area.