Paths to Microsecession: Online Courts

Economics Political Theory
1

I’ve been looking into private courts, mediation, and arbitration, and I found a random example that seems like an interesting seed for discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxZjI9NBbws

http://www.virtualcourthouse.com

Skeptics would note that the site is only for certain types of cases, and of course that it is the fact that the verdict is legally binding (in actual US law) that makes it work.

Be that as it may, what happens when online courts and other non-state arbitration agencies expand to consume a substantial portion of the market for legal dispute resolution?

A case that could take over a year in a normal court being resolved in hours and for far cheaper sounds extremely attractive. And what if these courts gained a reputation for much more satisfying verdicts for all sides? Why wouldn’t they, given this is a free market and even LvMI could start a private court?

What if some communities then decided to have even their criminal cases resolved in these courts?

If we imagine all this came about, where would be people’s faith in the rule of law of the state? Where would be the legitimacy of the state in the eyes of the people?

I envision a day when disputes tried in private courts, when (rarely) appealed, would be appealed not to a state court but to another private court. It seems to me that the state would be in a pickle then.

2

That is not microsecession, that is competition with the state, and since the state’s service is funded with taxes it can drive out the competition at any time.

Microsecession, let me reiterate, is a small, completely sovereign territory within the borders of an established state (for example, the Vatican city). It works by being a center of wealth creation that forms relationships with its neighboring non-free region and eventually serves as evidence that freedom works.