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An adversarial dispute resolves a conflict between two opposing parties through neutral human judgment and on-chain execution. It is the primary dispute type supported in the current version of Justly.

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Overview

An adversarial dispute involves:
  • a Claimer, who initiates the case,
  • a Defender, who responds to it,
  • and a panel of jurors who evaluate the evidence.
Both sides of the dispute must be fully funded before adjudication starts. Those amounts may be paid by the parties themselves or by a sponsor or platform on their behalf. Jurors evaluate the record and produce a binary outcome. If no effective vote exists at finalization, the defender is the default outcome.

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When to use an adversarial dispute

Adversarial disputes are suitable when:
  • responsibility or fault is contested,
  • the outcome is binary,
  • and a clear winner must be determined.
Typical use cases include:
  • marketplaces and peer-to-peer transactions,
  • freelancer and contractor platforms,
  • fintech and payment disputes,
  • and protocol-level human arbitration.

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Participants

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Claimer

The claimer is the party that initiates the dispute. The claimer is responsible for:
  • opening the dispute,
  • submitting evidence during the evidence window,
  • and ensuring the claimer side of the dispute is funded.

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Defender

The defender is the party responding to the claim. The defender is responsible for:
  • submitting counter-evidence during the evidence window,
  • and ensuring the defender side of the dispute is funded.

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Jurors

Jurors are independent participants selected through protocol-defined assignment. Jurors:
  • review the evidence,
  • commit and reveal votes,
  • and are economically incentivized to vote coherently.
Jurors are never parties to the dispute.

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Dispute flow

  1. The dispute is created in Created.
  2. Both sides are fully funded.
  3. The dispute moves to Evidence and evidence can be submitted.
  4. Evidence closes and the dispute moves to Commit.
  5. Juror assignment begins and selected jurors commit votes.
  6. The dispute moves to Reveal and jurors reveal votes.
  7. The dispute finalizes in Finished.
All steps follow predefined rules enforced by smart contracts.

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Appeals

The current live version resolves adversarial disputes in a single finalized round. Appeals are planned for a later version and are not part of the current implementation.

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Guarantees

Adversarial disputes in Justly provide:
  • Neutrality: jurors are independent and randomly assigned.
  • Economic alignment: incentives reward coherent voting and penalize incoherence.
  • Deterministic execution: outcomes are enforced by smart contracts.
  • Predictable structure: all rules are defined upfront by the protocol.
Justly does not interpret evidence, influence jurors, or intervene in outcomes.

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Status

Live (Current Implementation)