English version translated by XU Xinyuan (Wayne)

In the afternoon of November 18, 2022, the first Metaverse Moot Court in completely virtual space in China was successfully held. The event was jointly sponsored by the Law School of Tongji University, Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center of AI Social Governance, the People's Court of Huashan District of Ma’anshan City, and Shanghai LANDING Law Offices.

In order to conduct a pure metaverse moot court, the event completely abandoned the offline scene and transferred all trial activities into the carefully-customized metaverse courtroom, which has been regarded as a bold attempt. It is reported that the simulated courtroom is the most realistic courtroom scene currently in use. The overall layout and details are designed completely similar to the real courtroom scene, which can make all litigants acquire a stronger immersive experience to the solemn trial.

This Metaverse Moot Court features dual metaverse elements, a metaverse legal dispute heard in a metaverse courtroom. The plaintiff, Yun Xiaoruo, has filed a tort lawsuit against Zhang San for being sexually harassed by Zhang San in the metaverse game, The World of Truman. Does the metaverse world need the rule of law? Can the laws of the real world break through the limitations of time and space to extend to the virtual world? The plaintiff and defendant and their representatives had a fierce confrontation in the Metaverse Moot Court.

In order to ensure the professionalism and authority of the trial, the moot court specially invited high-profile legal experts from universities, courts and law firms to form a five-member panel. JIANG Huiling, the dean of Tongji University Law School, Tongji University distinguished professor, former vice president of the National Judges College (presiding over the work) was originally appointed as the Chief Justice. However, due to his urgent business trip, this position was transferred to SHANG Jiangang, associate professor of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, as well as the first senior judge selected from the lawyering industry in China. The other members of the panel were GUO Bing, distinguished associate professor of the School of Law and Politics of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology and Vice President of the Hangzhou Yangtze River Delta Big Data Research Institute, HUANG Liqin, associate dean of Tongji University Law School, WU Haijiao, president of the Digital Ecology Court of the Huashan District Court of Ma’anshan city (the first court of its kind in China), and Dr. WU Bin, Director of the National Specialized Committee on Dispute Resolution of Shanghai LANDING Law Office.

The intense but wonderful trial lasted for two and a half hours. When the court was over, the five panel members made wonderful comments on the case issue and the performance of the plaintiff, the defendant and their representatives respectively. In order to strengthen the recognition of legal issues in the metaverse world, the panel decided that the judgment would be ordered later after careful discretion, and a written judgment would be delivered.

This activity is the first Metaverse Moot Court in completely virtual space in China, aiming to provide benefits for exploring innovative legal talents training mode, court trial mode and promoting metaverse social governance. The activity has received wide attention from all walks of life, with more than a hundred people auditing in the courtroom from more than 50 universities at home and abroad, courts, law firms and other organizations. More than 3,000 people watched the live broadcast of the trial online.