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Jiangxi High People’s Court said on Friday that an Emoji was used ascourt evidence in a debt dispute in Dingnan county, Jiangxi province. The debt
battle started a year ago.
The defendant with the last name Liu, whose son borrowed about 160,000
yuan ($22,285) from Guo, the plaintiff with the last name Guo, chatted with Liu
on December 22 and asked him to serve as the debt guarantee.On December 24, two days later, Liu responded with an OK hand sign
Emoji.On Jan 6, Guo sued Liu as the guarantor and his son for the overdue
debt, demanding a payment of the money with an interest of 7,907.88 yuan.During trial, Liu expressed his objection to his responsibility of
being the guarantor to his son’s debt, believing that the OK hand Emoji was a
reply and not an agreement, so he shouldn’t be liable for the debt.▲Source: Jiangxi High People’s CourtThe people’s court in Dingnan county, however, decided that Liu’s use
of the OK hand sign Emoji in his reply indicated his willingness to stand in as
the loan’s guarantor and assume responsibility for repaying the bill when it
became overdue.In the end, the two parties came to a reconciliation agreement in which
Liu and his son agreed to share responsibility for the past-due debt and to pay
it back within a set amount of time.According to a report on China Judgements Online, the Supreme People’s
Court’s official website that publishes judgement documents, the number of
cases employing Emoji as court evidence has steadily increased in recent years,
going from eight in 2018 to 61 in 2021 across the country.However, considering an Emoji might be used in various occasions, the
specific meaning behind an Emoji can be subjective, which poses difficulties
for a court to decode the real intentions of the parties, according to the
Jiangsu High People’s Court in its official WeChat account, adding that emojis
have also been used as encrypted language to deliver message in some case related
to prostitution, gambling and drugs.
*The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author.* Follow Us
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