Part 1 · Choose the court
The application chooses the court before the case starts
It sets the jury route, the terms and the funding windows. DemoThemis checks them and draws the jurors.
Application settings
One court, a route chosen by the application
A jury route lists the first jury and every possible appeal. The requesting application chooses that complete route before submitting the case. A person filing directly makes these choices through the court website. DemoThemis checks the terms, collects payment and draws the jurors. Neither the application nor the person submitting can choose the jurors.
What the application configures
The application-side dials, fixed before a case is accepted.
YOUR APP5
- Case and evidence termsthe question and what jurors may consider.
- Jury routethe jury size at each stage and every possible appeal.
- Result handlingescrow attached for automatic execution, or a signed ruling only.
- Maximum authorized spendthe most the case will ever pay in fees.
- Appeal-funding schedulean initial window of up to one year, every later window at least 15% shorter, and an optional 24-hour minimum. All fixed before the case is accepted.
What DemoThemis handles and is non-configurable
The protocol side no application can reach.
DEMOTHEMIS5
- Juror selectionevery juror is drawn at random, and every stage uses fresh jurors.
- Identity and eligibilityidentity checks, eligibility and party exclusions.
- Rewards, punishments, and reputationfor every juror.
- Juror privacysealed ballots and private records.
- Enforcementthe agreed payment and deadline rules, the vote count, the final ruling and later audits.
Precommit the appeal-funding schedule
The complete jury route and this schedule are locked together when the case is accepted.
Jury size for this stage
You set 5 → 5 → 31. Each stage runs only if fully funded in time. DemoThemis draws every stage at random from fresh jurors, excludes anyone who already served on the case, and never lets the requester reroll.
How this court worksSet before filing · payment · decisions
What is set before the case opens
- Every necessary party accepts the court, result handling and settlement terms.
- The requesting application precommits every appeal stage. No stage may be added after jurors or a ruling are known.
- Every stage draws fresh jurors. Nobody can choose identities or reroll a draw.
How each stage is paid
- The full payment for a stage arrives before its jurors are drawn.
- Each appeal price is calculated and locked when its funding window opens.
- Accepted pay and funded terms never change.
How a round decides
- Within each panel, YES or NO needs more than half of all its answers.
- With several panels, YES or NO needs more than half of the panel results.
- Otherwise the round returns Insufficient information.
Once accepted, the case keeps its route and terms. A new pricing policy cannot change them. Later appeals receive their own quotes under the case’s agreed pricing policy.
Appeal panel configuration routes are set before the draw
The appeal panel configuration route is set before the first draw. The requesting application follows the route it precommitted. A route may repeat a panel size, but every stage draws fresh jurors.
Read a route from left to right
- First jury: 5 peoplePaid when the case opens.
- First appeal: 5 fresh peopleRuns only if fully funded in time.
- Last appeal: 31 fresh peopleIts ruling ends this route.
Following all three stages uses 41 different people before replacements. A route can repeat sizes or decrease, such as 31 → 3. A later jury does not reuse earlier jurors.
Large rounds use separate 31-person panels. A 93-seat round has three panels. A 155-seat round has five. Each person serves once on a case, including across appeals.
How does a round with several panels decide?
Within each panel, YES or NO needs more than half of all its answers. Otherwise the panel returns Insufficient information. Then each panel contributes one result. YES or NO needs more than half of all panel results to win the round. Otherwise the round returns Insufficient information.
Missing answers are unfinished work, not Insufficient information votes. Replacements continue from the case’s committed random sequence. The protocol does not shrink a promised jury or give the requester another draw.
Experience requirement
Each 31-person panel requires experienced jurors
Every 31-seat panel requires experienced jurors. Their experience requirement is 100 separate cases where they voted against their own round’s ruling and a later appeal produced a final ruling matching their vote. The vote can come from the initial round or an earlier appeal round. It must have been cast before that round’s ruling and the later appeal, not after learning the answer.
A YES vote in a round that ruled NO counts if a later appeal finally rules YES. A YES vote in a round that already ruled YES does not count. With several parallel panels, compare the vote with the overall round ruling. Count each case once per juror across their service, not only within Beta’s recent-case window. There is no separate years-of-service wait. Also require a Beta lower 95% endpoint of at least 90%, 100 scored cases in its current window, and completed work in the past 30 days. Count people who actually meet these requirements when forming a panel.
Before paid jury work: applicants answer 10 separate cases without pay or influence on the rulings. Each answer must be submitted before that case’s ruling is revealed. All 10 must match the final rulings, whether or not anyone appeals. These trial answers do not count toward the experience requirement above.
Part 2 · Pay for work
Jurors are paid from recent demand
Prices follow a published formula. Accepted pay never changes.
New work uses recent demand
Daily demand = (90 + 60 + 30) ÷ 3
= 60 funded jury seats per day
All periods end at the same one-minute pricing cutoff. This example has no audit work. Current available jurors and waiting work are separate inputs, not historical averages.
The formula is fixed at filing. Each appeal price is calculated and locked when its funding window opens. Accepted pay and funded terms never change. The minute is a shared cutoff, not a promised quote-delivery time.
How this becomes a pay offer
Demand, available jurors and waiting work feed the published pricing formula. Jury work and auditor assessments are priced separately. Running totals update at each one-minute cutoff. The example explains the history weighting, not a fixed dollar rate.
A replacement reuses unpaid seat money
Replacement accepts $11$10 reused + $1 from the shared pool
Replacement accepts $9$9 reserved + $1 saving to the shared pool
If the $11 replacement earns nothing, the next $11 replacement reuses that money. These are example prices. Accepted pay is never cut.
No replacement cap, administrator approval or extra reserve is added. Money promised elsewhere cannot be spent. If the difference cannot be funded, the case and its remaining money wait. Weekly rewards use only money not already owed or committed.
Part 3 · Reach a final ruling
Each appeal is funded in full before its deadline
When no funded appeal remains, the ruling is final and any connected escrow settles.
From ruling to finality
Appeal finality and later accountability use separate clocks
The initial appeal-funding window can be up to one year. Each later window is at least 15% shorter, with an optional 24-hour minimum. These are payment windows, not the time jurors have to answer. The complete schedule is fixed when the case is accepted.
Finality clock · precommitted appeal panel configuration route
Shown time is appeal-funding time. The last stage is final immediately because no later appeal exists.
Juror accountability · after finality
No final ruling or completed settlement is held open.
Connected escrow then follows the agreed result rules. Later juror audits and proven collusion can change penalties and eligibility. They do not reopen that customer ruling or hold its settlement open.
Keep the work payment and the appeal bond separate
Each appeal pays for its new jury, applicable charges and the immediately previous round’s possible audits. Its quote also shows any refundable appeal bond separately. The application may collect contributions, but the court accepts only the full payment.
At finality, compare the final ruling with the ruling each appeal challenged. If they differ, return that appeal’s bond to its requesting account. If they match, send that bond to the shared pool. The application handles payments back to its contributors.
Possible audit funding covers up to three auditors per assessed juror, one operating charge and the hidden-test contribution. Unused audit money goes to the shared pool. It is not an appeal-payer refund.
- Initial round: NO
- First appeal: YES
- Final appeal: NO
Appeal bonds: first appeal forfeits its bond. Second appeal recovers its bond.
Audits: second appeal funds the middle round’s YES voters who matched its ruling. Initial NO voters are not audited. Their unused audit money enters the pool.
Each appeal funds only the matching voters in its immediately preceding round. The last jury has no later paid appeal to trigger its audit. Apply the same comparisons to an Insufficient information ruling.
Part 4 · Audit juror work
Auditors assess juror work after the ruling is final
Audits can change pay and eligibility. They never reopen the customer’s ruling.
Appeal-triggered audit
Audit the juror’s work, not just the answer
A juror may attach a private explanation to their ballot. If their work is later audited, the auditors read that explanation alongside the case evidence. An overturned answer or a missing explanation alone does not prove carelessness.
Audits start only after the case is finalized. The appeal route must end, or an appeal-funding deadline must expire without full payment, and the contract must record the final ruling. Earlier appeals can reserve money for possible audits, but they do not start them. Audits assess juror work and never reopen the final customer ruling.
Auditors are randomly selected jurors who assess someone else’s work. They must meet the identity, quality and auditor-test requirements, be available and have no involvement in the case. There is no owner-selected list. They can research the question and see later evidence, rulings and any repeat-audit defence. They judge what the juror could reasonably know when answering, not with hindsight.
Auditors answer Reasonable, Careless or Insufficient information to judge the work. Two auditors assess each juror first. If they disagree, a third decides. Three different answers give Insufficient information. Missing answers leave the audit unfinished.
Count jurors whose votes matched the previous round’s ruling. For each, reserve enough to pay up to 3 auditors. Add one operating charge for that round’s audit. Add the contribution that funds hidden auditor tests.
Auditor fees follow current pricing, not a fixed dollar amount. If no jurors matched, there is no audit charge. Keep earlier audit money reserved until finality. Unused money goes to the shared pool, not back to the appeal payer. New-jury pay and the refundable appeal bond are separate.
A Careless notice starts 90 days to request and fully pay for one repeat audit by three fresh auditors. The payment covers their work, the operating charge and a refundable deposit. The deposit returns for Reasonable or Insufficient information. Careless sends it to the shared pool. The separate careless-work deduction applies only after this challenge process ends.
Try one juror’s audit below. The example uses $4 per auditor assessing one juror and $1 to operate the whole audit. These are illustrative prices. The separate contribution for hidden tests is explained after the examples.
- WHEN the final case ruling is recorded
- IF ALL
- An appeal was paid for after Maya's round.
- Maya's answer matched her round's ruling.
- That ruling differs from the final case ruling.
- THEN audit Maya. That following appeal pays.
- Original evidence
- Juror’s decision
- Optional explanation
- Later evidence and appeal reasons
- Later rulings, not a public vote history
- Prior audit and repeat-audit defence
- An appeal confirms an earlier minority vote. That case adds quality credit.
- Missing required evidence is different. The audit stays unfinished. A completed uncertain assessment is not a substitute.
Original evidence, Maya’s answer and explanation.
Later evidence and rulings are also visible.
- The case is final. Maya voted NO, her round ruled NO and the paid appeal made YES final. Start to examine her work.
Were the logo images delivered as promised?
Submitted by the two sides under evidence rules fixed before the jury was drawn. The jury judged from this record, and the audit reopens it.
- Contract: five logo images in PNG and SVG, due 12 May.
- All ten files arrived on 11 May.
- The buyer disliked the colours. The written requirements did not specify colours.
NO. Her round also ruled NO. The final appeal ruled YES.
No explanation was supplied. That alone is not evidence of carelessness.
Was Maya’s work Reasonable, Careless, or impossible to assess from the available information?
A penalty capped by what active jurors earn
After the challenge process, charge the smaller of twice the juror’s accepted pay or the median monthly earnings of active jurors, once. To calculate that median, include only jurors with an active arbitration in the last week and at least seven arbitrations in every week of a continuous month. Sort their monthly earnings and take the middle amount, or the average of the two middle amounts.
Use the careless juror’s available money. Any unpaid amount becomes debt against their future earnings. Never take another person’s protected money. This deduction is separate from the bond for answering on time.
One paid chance to challenge the audit
The refundable deposit equals that same median monthly earnings amount, not the penalty being challenged. Pay it together with the three fresh auditors’ fees and the operating charge. For the example below, suppose the median is $300. With $12 for auditors and $1 for operations, Maya pays $313.
- Press Start Maya’s repeat audit. Her first audit ended careless, this is her one allowed re-check, and at step 4 you sit as one of the three fresh auditors who decide it.
Were the logo images delivered as promised?
This separate example also ended NO → final YES. Maya voted NO. The first audit called her careless because the buyer used the PNGs. Maya challenges that assessment: the contract required both formats by 12 May. All auditors see that first assessment, her defence and both rulings, while judging the information available when she answered.
- Contract: 5 logo images in PNG and SVG, due 12 May
- Delivery folder: all 5 PNGs uploaded 11 May. The SVGs arrived 14 May
- The buyer refused the late SVGs and kept using the PNGs
NO, the images were not delivered as promised
“Half the promised formats came two days late. On this contract I read the deadline as part of the promise.”
Was Maya’s work Reasonable, Careless, or impossible to assess from the available information?
Hidden tests keep checking the auditors
The software mixes past cases with final Reasonable or Careless assessments into auditors’ work without labelling them as tests. Nobody manually chooses an answer key. Tests measure agreement with those past assessments, not independently proven truth.
Extra percentage = tests’ share of all audit work + 10 percentage points Example: tests are 20% of all audit work. Add 30% to the appeal’s audit charge, not to the whole appeal.
The shared reward pool receives this contribution and pays for tests. The extra ten percentage points leave room for costs above the estimate. Money already owed or reserved cannot be spent again.
How auditors qualify and remain qualified
| Past assessment | Different cases per auditor | Upper disagreement limit |
|---|---|---|
| Reasonable | 35 | 10% |
| Careless | 16 | 20% |
Use a separate Beta calculation for each row, starting at 1 and 1. Add one to its disagreement count for each nonmatching answer, including Insufficient information. Add one to its agreement count for each match. The upper end of its middle 95% disagreement range must meet the listed limit. At these minimum sizes, all 51 answers must match.
Each set excludes cases the auditor already took part in. Until a complete usable and funded set exists for that person, otherwise qualified auditors can take customer work without it. Once available, they must pass before accepting new customer audits.
After qualification, each new audit task has a 10% chance of being a hidden test. Check the latest 35 and 16 test results. A failed complete set stops new audit assignments. Fresh passing sets restore access. Accepted work stays protected. This 10% task chance is not the total test share used to calculate funding above.