Smart contract disputes: where and how they are resolved
A smart contract is an agreement executed by code: the terms are written into program logic and performance happens automatically. Georgia has no separate procedural statute for smart contracts — disputes over them are heard under the general rules of the Civil Procedure Code. This is good news: the court is not helpless before technical matters — the Code contains instruments that suit precisely such disputes.
The distinctiveness of a smart contract dispute lies in three things: the evidence is mostly electronic; the decision was made by an algorithm, and assessing its behaviour requires special knowledge; and interim measures matter because assets move. All three matters are regulated by norms of the Procedure Code.
Electronic evidence
Under Article 134, written evidence comprises acts, documents, and business and personal letters containing information about circumstances relevant to the case. The corresponding part of the same article establishes that an electronic document, and a document confirmed by electronic signature and/or certified, has evidentiary force. For a smart contract this means: transaction records, code versions and system logs are submitted to the court as written evidence.
Where a party cannot obtain evidence from the person who holds it, it may apply to the court for its requisition; the application is possible even for homogeneous documents without indicating specific requisites, if it is substantiated that circumstances relevant to the case may be established through them.
Expertise and its assessment
Under Article 162, where a judge lacks special knowledge on a question connected with the examination of a case, the court may, on its own initiative, appoint an expertise at any stage of the examination, if the interpretation of the question has essential significance for deciding the case and a decision cannot be made without it. The parties may also independently ensure the conduct of an expertise and submit the conclusion to the court.
In a smart contract dispute the classical questions of expertise are: what the code did in the given conditions, whether its behaviour corresponded to the parties' agreement, and whether the executed result could have been different. Article 172 regulates the outcome: the expert's conclusion is not binding on the court, but its rejection must be substantiated in the decision or ruling. Expertise thus does not replace the judge — it gives him a reasoned foundation.
The claim and interim measures
Article 178 defines the content of a claim: the names and addresses of the parties, the subject of the dispute, the price of the claim, concrete facts and circumstances, evidence, the plaintiff's demand and legal grounds. In a smart contract dispute the correct formulation of the subject is particularly important: a demand about what the code should have done differs from a demand about what obligation the parties had towards each other.
Article 191 regulates the securing of a claim: the plaintiff may apply to the court indicating circumstances under which the non-application of measures will complicate or render impossible the enforcement of the decision, or cause irreparable harm. For assets connected with smart contracts this instrument gives timely protection — including in the form of restricting transactions over digital assets, where it rests on the payment of state duty and substantiation.
The staged picture of the dispute
The process is imagined in three stages. First — preparation: collecting evidence, fixing the electronic documentation, and where necessary commissioning an independent expert's conclusion. Second — filing the claim: formulating the subject of the dispute and the demands, preparing an application for securing the claim over digital assets. Third — the hearing: submitting written evidence, participating in the expertise appointed by the court and assessing the conclusion. Observing the procedural deadlines is decisive at each stage, and the specificity of a smart contract changes only the form in which each fact is recorded.
Reading these instruments together builds the strategy of a smart-contract dispute: electronic evidence creates the factual base, the expert examination assesses the conduct of the code, the structure of the claim formulates the demand, and securing protects enforceability. Skipping any step leaves the architecture of the dispute incomplete — which is precisely why the preparation stage must be scheduled with the time it deserves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below we answer the questions most frequently asked about smart-contract disputes.
May the records of a smart contract be submitted in court?
Yes — an electronic document, as well as a document confirmed by electronic signature and/or certified, has evidentiary force: transaction records, code versions and system logs are adduced as written evidence (Article 134).
Who assesses the conduct of the code in a dispute?
An expert: on a question where the judge has no special knowledge, the court may appoint an expert examination on its own initiative; the parties may also independently secure the submission of a conclusion. The conclusion is not binding on the court (Articles 162 and 172).
How are digital assets protected before the claim?
By an application for the securing of the claim: where non-application of a measure will complicate or render impossible the execution of the decision or cause irreparable harm, the claimant applies to the court (Article 191).
What must be written in the claim?
The names and addresses of the parties, the subject of the dispute, the price of the claim, the concrete facts and circumstances, the evidence, the claimant's demand and its legal grounds (Article 178).
How We Help on Legal.ge
Preparing a smart contract dispute begins in the design of the contract itself: where a written agreement exists alongside the code, its interpretation will be the court's starting point. Keeping documentation — code versions, tests, update history — is the evidentiary base. And readiness to request interim measures ensures rapid protection of assets. The Legal.ge team will help you prepare and conduct a dispute over a smart contract — with the precise use of the instruments of the Procedure Code.