27 In Chapters 3 and 8 I discuss the example of using cryptocurrencies for self-enforcement.
See also Riikka Koulu, ‘Blockchains and Online Dispute Resolution: Smart Contracts as
an Alternative to Enforcement’ (2016) 13 SCRIPTed 40.
28 For example, Lister et al. acknowledge the neo-liberal agenda behind the promotion of
ICTs both by state and corporate actors. Martin Lister and others, New Media: A
Critical Introduction (2nd edn, Routledge 2009) 11.
29 Lisa Bernstein, ‘Opting out of the Legal System: Extralegal Contractual Relations in
the Diamond Industry’ (1992) 21 Journal of Legal Studies 115; Lisa Bernstein,
‘Private Commercial Law in the Cotton Industry: Creating Cooperation through
Rules, Norms, and Institutions’ (2001) 99 Michigan Law Review 1724; for case
studies of private governance from the perspective of economics, see Edward Peter
Stringham, Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life (Oxford
University Press 2015); Dixit (n 18) 25–29; on the relationship between public policy
and private governance, see Catherine E Rudder, ‘Private Governance as Public Policy:
A Paradigm Shift’ (2008) 70 Journal of Politics 899.
30 However, it is unclear how autonomous the medieval private regime actually was. See
Gralf-Peter Calliess, ‘Lex Mercatoria’, ZenTra Working Paper in Transnational Studies
No. 52 / 2015, available at ssrn.com/abstract=2597583 (accessed 15 June 2018).
31 For example, The Dutch East India Company was granted sovereign rule over
Indonesia. See e.g. Wieze van Elderen, ‘The Dutch East India Company’ (europeanheritage.org) available at http://european-heritage.org/netherlands/alkmaar/dutcheast-india-company (accessed 15 June 2018).
32 Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protection (Harvard
University Press 1993).
33 The emergence of private governance within the legal system, although not necessarily
called governance, has received much attention in legal literature. The discussion is linked
to the emergence of alternative dispute resolution, the decline of civil cases in the courts
known as the vanishing trial phenomenon, and the apprehension about renewal of case
law without precedents. These phenomena are discussed in the following chapters. For an
overview on privatisation of justice, see e.g. Fabien Gélinas and others, Foundations of
Civil Justice: Toward a Value-Based Framework for Reform (Springer International
Publishing 2015) 81–104; Tracy Walters McCormack, ‘Privatizing the Justice System’
(2006) 25 Review of Litigation 735; Trevor CW Farrow, ‘Public Justice, Private Dispute
Resolution and Democracy’ in Ronalda Murphy and Patric A Molinari (eds), Doing
Justice: Dispute Resolution in the Courts and Beyond = Règlement des conflits: la justice
n’appartient-elle qu’aux tribunaux? 2007 (Canadian Institute for the Administration of
Justice/ Institut canadien d’administration de la justice 2007); For an overview on private
governance from the perspective of economics, see Stringham (n 29).
34 It is possible to argue that this is also the case within reputation-based industry
regimes. However, technology-enabled private regimes are potentially significantly
more inclusive and extensive than small professional communities, though participants
also shape the social norms and best practices in the latter.
35 Some applications of private enforcement go further than others. For example, the
rationale behind cryptocurrencies was to form trustless public networks where transactions do not rely on the past or future behaviour of the parties or the authority of
central banks or other intermediaries. The architecture of cryptocurrencies is examined
in more detail in Chapter 9.
36 The etymology of crisis comes from the Greek word krisis, which can be literally
translated as ‘judgment’, ‘result of a trial’, ‘selection’. See ‘crisis (n.)’ ‘Online Etymology Dictionary’ available at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=crisis
accessed 15 June 2018. Communication theorists Seeger, Sellnow and Ulmer define
organisational crises as follows: ‘specific, unexpected, and nonroutine events or series
of events that [create] high levels of uncertainty and threat or perceived threat to an
24 Theoretical implications of dispute resolution technology
See also Riikka Koulu, ‘Blockchains and Online Dispute Resolution: Smart Contracts as
an Alternative to Enforcement’ (2016) 13 SCRIPTed 40.
28 For example, Lister et al. acknowledge the neo-liberal agenda behind the promotion of
ICTs both by state and corporate actors. Martin Lister and others, New Media: A
Critical Introduction (2nd edn, Routledge 2009) 11.
29 Lisa Bernstein, ‘Opting out of the Legal System: Extralegal Contractual Relations in
the Diamond Industry’ (1992) 21 Journal of Legal Studies 115; Lisa Bernstein,
‘Private Commercial Law in the Cotton Industry: Creating Cooperation through
Rules, Norms, and Institutions’ (2001) 99 Michigan Law Review 1724; for case
studies of private governance from the perspective of economics, see Edward Peter
Stringham, Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life (Oxford
University Press 2015); Dixit (n 18) 25–29; on the relationship between public policy
and private governance, see Catherine E Rudder, ‘Private Governance as Public Policy:
A Paradigm Shift’ (2008) 70 Journal of Politics 899.
30 However, it is unclear how autonomous the medieval private regime actually was. See
Gralf-Peter Calliess, ‘Lex Mercatoria’, ZenTra Working Paper in Transnational Studies
No. 52 / 2015, available at ssrn.com/abstract=2597583 (accessed 15 June 2018).
31 For example, The Dutch East India Company was granted sovereign rule over
Indonesia. See e.g. Wieze van Elderen, ‘The Dutch East India Company’ (europeanheritage.org) available at http://european-heritage.org/netherlands/alkmaar/dutcheast-india-company (accessed 15 June 2018).
32 Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protection (Harvard
University Press 1993).
33 The emergence of private governance within the legal system, although not necessarily
called governance, has received much attention in legal literature. The discussion is linked
to the emergence of alternative dispute resolution, the decline of civil cases in the courts
known as the vanishing trial phenomenon, and the apprehension about renewal of case
law without precedents. These phenomena are discussed in the following chapters. For an
overview on privatisation of justice, see e.g. Fabien Gélinas and others, Foundations of
Civil Justice: Toward a Value-Based Framework for Reform (Springer International
Publishing 2015) 81–104; Tracy Walters McCormack, ‘Privatizing the Justice System’
(2006) 25 Review of Litigation 735; Trevor CW Farrow, ‘Public Justice, Private Dispute
Resolution and Democracy’ in Ronalda Murphy and Patric A Molinari (eds), Doing
Justice: Dispute Resolution in the Courts and Beyond = Règlement des conflits: la justice
n’appartient-elle qu’aux tribunaux? 2007 (Canadian Institute for the Administration of
Justice/ Institut canadien d’administration de la justice 2007); For an overview on private
governance from the perspective of economics, see Stringham (n 29).
34 It is possible to argue that this is also the case within reputation-based industry
regimes. However, technology-enabled private regimes are potentially significantly
more inclusive and extensive than small professional communities, though participants
also shape the social norms and best practices in the latter.
35 Some applications of private enforcement go further than others. For example, the
rationale behind cryptocurrencies was to form trustless public networks where transactions do not rely on the past or future behaviour of the parties or the authority of
central banks or other intermediaries. The architecture of cryptocurrencies is examined
in more detail in Chapter 9.
36 The etymology of crisis comes from the Greek word krisis, which can be literally
translated as ‘judgment’, ‘result of a trial’, ‘selection’. See ‘crisis (n.)’ ‘Online Etymology Dictionary’ available at http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=crisis
accessed 15 June 2018. Communication theorists Seeger, Sellnow and Ulmer define
organisational crises as follows: ‘specific, unexpected, and nonroutine events or series
of events that [create] high levels of uncertainty and threat or perceived threat to an
24 Theoretical implications of dispute resolution technology