In the age of decentralization and open-source community participation, every industry around the world has put its steps forth to embrace the change. However, due to its nature, the legal sector has not yet openly advocated (no pun) the new turn as the very essence of a legal system is that it is backed by a powerful centralized authority, i.e., the government or the judicial body.
This breeds the question that what are the remedies for a common man when the rule of law can no longer be trusted? The concentration of power in the hands of the few does not guarantee transparency and honesty. It’s about time that the legal infrastructure experienced a change in its paradigm, and Ulex might be what the industry needs.
What is Ulex?
Ulex is an open-source legal system created by Tom W. Bell of the Institute for Competitive Governance. The legal system is aimed explicitly at particular jurisdictions, ZEDEs, online markets and other startup communities all around the globe.
The system has no tie-ups with any official body or nation, but instead makes use of trusted and tested rules from private and international organizations keeping in view the dynamic nature of environment it targets to serve.
Ulex safeguards the personal and property rights of people by incorporating a simple, fair and efficient resolution process to its mechanism to settle disputes.
The upside to the legal infrastructure provided by Ulex is that the rules and laws it uses are not imposed by any government or a judicial entity, but are adopted by the mutual consent of people which it governs.
Idea behind Ulex
Ulex believes that individuals should have the freedom to choose the legal system they wish to be governed by, based on the quality of service the system provides for the betterment of the community. Just like how people have the option to choose from various operating systems like Windows, Linux or Apple OS, they should also have a substantial say in deciding the laws that govern them.
The legal system offered by Ulex is based upon long-established practices from private, nongovernmental, and international organizations with a good repo in the society. Majority of the substantive rules of Ulex 1.1 have their original roots in select American Law Restatements of the Common Law, Model Rules, and the Uniform Codes.
How Does an Independent Judicial System Work?
So, by now we are sure you have serious concerns as to how can a legal system without the backing of powerful central authority can even establish itself as a legitimate body. We don’t blame you for having doubts; they are entirely justified and have ample reasons to be.
To draw a line between a utopian idea and ground reality, Ulex defines itself as an alternative law system for areas where the established legal mechanism doesn’t hold enough trust value from the individuals it governs. Ulex is a dynamic legal tool with a focus on strengthening and giving impetus to universal human rights. The company views itself as an entity that offers disputing parties the option to resort to a fairer legal system outside the jurisdiction of their inefficient, often corrupt governmental legal infrastructure.
Ulex v. 1.1 comprises the following procedure for resolving dispute cases. The mechanism consists of three elements:
- Judges: Each party selects a judge, who then collaborate to pick a third.
- Remedies: The judges select a remedy proposed by one of the parties.
- Costs: The losing party pays the winning party’s legal fees.
What Lies Ahead?
Tom W. Bell, the creator of Ulex, views the platform as a means to promote competitive governance. The concept of competitive governance is a relatively new idea, and Ulex aims to be a pioneer of this fresh idea in the legal space.
Ulex has an on-going crowdfunding campaign, with a target to raise 50,000 dollars in a month. As per the official website, the proceeds from the funding will be utilized as follows:
- Technical white papers for Ulex software development.
- Global partnership outreach to legal organizations, special economic zones, and entrepreneurs.
- Social media promotion and community engagement.
- Legal research, counsel, and documentation about best practices in international, private legal systems to incorporate into Ulex.
- Ulex Hackathon events to scout and unite talent internationally.
No doubt, the idea still looks nascent at this stage, but that’s how all revolutionizing ideas come to be. As the campaign garners more backing from people trusting the service Ulex provides, it won’t be long before you, and I get the luxury to choose from among the legal systems to abide by.
While the law is just one of the facets of the human ecosystem, the next idea we will discuss looks at the societal infrastructure as a whole. It considers the people, transport, job opportunities, property and the like. Let’s delve deep into the idea of “Free Private Cities.”
Imagine an environment which allows you to make choices among things you could never conceive you’d be allowed to. Liberty, property, protection of life are some of the dimensions of life we often take as they are, because of nil alternatives available in the society.
We do not get to choose which police or constitution protects us in a country. They are vested upon an individual right from his birth, until his eventual demise.
What are Free Private Cities?
“Free Private Cities” is an open-sourced endeavor that plans to change just that. In exchange for an annual membership fee, you are offered essential services of a state, the protection of life, liberty, and property in a well defined geographical territory within a host country.
The rights and obligations are slated down in an agreement between the individual and the provider. As all the points are cleared out beforehand, the customer is free to do anything of his choosing.
Signing the contract puts the signatory on an equal footing with a safe, legal position, and not be a subject to uncertain political dynamics within a country.
The Need for Free Private Cities
Of course, some of us might be of the opinion that the current administration system works just fine. Well, that’s where Free Private Cities aim to make a change, as “just fine” is not good enough anymore. Conflicts around the globe about inefficient legal systems, public hate and migration crisis are some of the pivots which bred the need for free private cities.
Some of the advantages that free private cities bring to the table are:
- Legal Certainty:
Once a resident has signed the rights and obligations contract with the provider, the contract cannot be changed unilaterally. This ensures equal footing for all individuals in the ecosystem irrespective of the socio-economic status.
- Guaranteed Security:
As the customers pay for the protection of their life, liberty, and property, they are entitled to a claim against the operator. In case of any crime, customers are eligible for compensation as per the rules laid down in the agreement.
- Infinite Scope for Innovation:
The team behind free private cities views innovation as a chance, not a risk. As long as the customer does not inflict any harm on his neighbors or the environment, he is free to bring in new products or services without any license.
- Goodbye Migration Crisis:
The current international political scenario is cluttered with large-scale migration crisis. Individuals are suffering from lackluster political and economic conditions due to their government’s failures. As a result, these people choose to immigrate putting the added burden on the pro-immigration countries. Free private cities will prove to be a viable and feasible alternative for such unfortunate individuals.
Concluding, the concept of free private cities might sound eerily similar to a dystopian society ala 1984. However, the differentiating factor is that the cities will be operated by professionals with a profit motive, thus eliminating any scope for a totalitarian form of governance. The profit motive will encourage the operators to provide the best services to their customers, and thus usher in a new era of free living.
