Why credible adjudications need (simple) posted rules

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Jamie Palisades
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Why credible adjudications need (simple) posted rules

Post by Jamie Palisades »

Any court or arbitration system on Earth in any half-developed country publishes its methods.
Think: "How to get a Dispute Solved for Dummies".
People rely on adjudication to reduce the worst risks in a place, by being a reliable, predictable tempering influence.

It's not like we'd need much.

"No thanks" to a judiciary with lots of gold braid. Let's be clear. Nothing like the complex system proposed in 2006 is needed in CDS. You can see, even from the post-hoc summary thread, that those debates were a fractious, pompous, overheated mess. The tone of those debates seemed unprofessional and ineffective on all sides. (Much worse than what I went through in 2008, and had to ride like a rodeo cowboy as LRA, with the disputes between ThePrincess, Gwyneth and Alexicon.) All the same, I think the RA reached the right conclusion. That 2006 overdesigned system was too unwieldy and Baroque for an 80-citizen virtual micronation.

Think in terms of two pages. Rather, this is what I'd have hoped the SC would do: one or two pages of simple explanatory procedure, publicly posted, would be plenty. How to file a complaint? Where? What the panel can do. Is there an appeal? What rules are applied. etc. But something simple to set expectations is essential. Go look at the brochure for any arbitration agency.

Imagine that you are a citizen with a dispute ... not a lawyer! ... maybe you have been banned by a mean Chancellor, or the Estate Owner's secret alt, and want to get back in. There is at present NO way to get ANY idea how to proceed ... if you don't know the SC ... except to throw yourself on the mercy of a connected buddy ...or find the unknown, great & powerful Oz ... who has no rules ... if you can find them ... and might be your opponent's cousin. Or alt. C'mon.

Those basic fairness issues have been a real problem in some other micronation sims ... where some owners or mayors are said to ban their rivals, critics, old girlfriends, whatever. Surely we can be more transparent, accountable and approachable. Not just to our buddies ... but to strangers and new citizens who can't decode our methods using the buddy system.

Regards Jamie

== My Second Life home is CDS. Retired after three terms
== as chancellor of the oldest self-governing sims in SL.
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Jamie Palisades
I need a hobby
I need a hobby
Posts: 639
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:56 pm

Re: Why credible adjudications need (simple) posted rules

Post by Jamie Palisades »

Thanks, those are excellent points for the CDS SC and policymakers to consider.
Evidence standards might be difficult to efficiently adduce fully, in a low-attention, micro-payment virtual world where people will comit a lot of time, but very little or no money, to their pursuits.
However, it seems to be that clear burdens of proof, and a requirement of advance notice of the principal bases for requested relief, should be feasible requirements.
The history of "adjudication" in CDS often involved a sole SC 'equity lord' making determinations with no notice and no rules about the right to present arguments. It would be nice to see that process made more reliable & mature.
Regards JP

== My Second Life home is CDS. Retired after three terms
== as chancellor of the oldest self-governing sims in SL.
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