Smart Courts, Smart Contracts, and the Future of Online Dispute Resolution

Abstract

This article presents a critical assessment of online dispute resolution ("ODR"), (particularly in its evolved form involving smart courts and smart contracts) ("ODR+"), which is a mechanism that China may consider for settling its Belt & Road Initiative ("BRI") disputes. As the first article to address the emerging dispute settlement technologies in the BRI context, it suggests guidance for policy makers and practitioners. Furthermore, the article asks the key question of whether ODR+ can result in a more convenient and efficient processing of BRI disputes and hence be assimilated into (and potentially fill some of the gaps of) the current BRI dispute settlement framework. Additionally, whilst attention is also given to recent proposals for such ODR+ (and the implementation of ODR+) in China and certain other States who participate in the BRI, it is more significant to address whether the BRI as a whole should (and can) embrace ODR+ as regards dispute settlement; alternatively, whether embracing ODR+ might merely be an artificial capitulation to the apparent conditions of modern society (a vanity project) more than a superior system for administering dispute settlement.

Keywords: Belt and Road Initiative, Online Dispute Settlement, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Smart Courts and Smart Contracts