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Majority of American Citizens are worried about the skyrocketing costs of legal services. Since the promise of blockchains is one that lies at the intersection of almost all industries. 

With the introduction  of  blockchain came wallets and smart contracts.  Now, according to Investopedia, a smart contract is a self-executing contract that has terms of the agreement between the buyer and seller written into lines of code. The code and the agreements that make up the smart contract exist in the blockchain network with code controlling the execution. The transactions are traceable and irreversible. The main keyword here is irreversible.

Smart Contracts in Decentralized Justice

Smart contracts will, therefore, serve as a key legal tool in this era. Indeed, the blockchain will facilitate business negotiations, as well as terms of resolutions, and agreements of both parties. A public record of immutable contracts will ensure a detailed and traceable record that will be used in any dispute. The indisputable nature of which will offer mediators in decentralized justice edge against agreement defaults. 

Therefore, smart contracts will provide a fast, transparent, and inexpensive means for dispute resolution. Admission of these contracts into the blockchain judicial system will not only enforce integrity but reinforce all aspects of a resolution of claim.

“The resolution of disputes under a decentralized scheme could enhance the adoption of smart contracts in sectors of the economy where, due to the same dynamics, it is currently difficult to use them.”

Introducing the Blockchain Judicial System

The blockchain judicial system offers decentralized justice through an adjudication process made up of 7 elements:

• Contract

• Securing evidence

• Jury selection

• Analysis

• Voting

• Appeal

• Token redistribution

There are two main platforms that have created an ecosystem where decentralized justice can thrive, namely Kleros and Jur.io. Let us take a look at Kleros.

Kleros is a voluntary opt-in system and parties must have a contract that states that any dispute will be adjudicated in Kleros. The next thing is to agree on a contract template, modify it to your liking and also agree to pay the arbitration fee in case there is a dispute. So, for instance, the work is delivered but the customer is not satisfied with the quality, they raise the issue with Kleros.

The next step is to gather evidence and sending it to Kleros. The evidence is secured by public-key cryptography. The jury is then selected either through self-selection or sortition. Users who are selected as jurors will have access to the evidence and analyze it before they vote on a decision. It should be noted that these jurors have never met and carry out their duty independently. 

After the evidence is analyzed, jurors vote and are required to provide a justification for their decision. Once they have done so, this decision cannot be reversed and is not made visible to other jurors. Once all the votes are cast, the winning option is the median one. Appeals can be made if a party is not satisfied with the outcome but once the dust settles, token redistribution takes place.

A decentralized justice system will bring in the much-needed paradigm shift when it comes to online work ethic. Blockchain impact on the legal system is one case of the technology’s penetration. Its decentralized network, accessibility and compelling technology will make it critical in courtroom proceedings.