People’s Court - Rules of Procedure & Evidence

Version 1.1

These Rules govern cases where the parties agreed to arbitrate through People’s Court. The exact Rules text and procedure accepted for the case govern the proceeding.

ARTICLE 1 - SCOPE, APPLICATION, AND INTERPRETATION

Rule 1.1 - Application

These Rules govern the procedure for a dispute submitted to People’s Court by agreement of the parties. They are interpreted to secure a fair, prompt, and proportionate resolution.

Rule 1.2 - Eligible parties and disputes

An individual, legal entity, or autonomous agent may be a party. A claim must concern a dispute covered by the parties’ agreement to arbitrate and must be capable of lawful resolution by arbitration.

Rule 1.3 - Governing version

The exact Rules text identified by its version and content hash at filing, together with the parties’ recorded procedure election, governs the case through final disposition.

Rule 1.4 - Definitions

• Administrator means a human authorized by People’s Court to perform institutional and case-administration functions.
• Arbitrator means a human neutral assigned to a case under these Rules to decide an AI-assisted human case, an appeal, or a question referred under Rule 2.1.
• Award means the Tribunal’s final disposition of the claims submitted for decision.
• Case Page means the online workspace through which the parties receive filings, notices, deadlines, and case information.
• Claimant means the party that begins the case.
• Respondent means the party against which the claim is filed.
• Record means the submissions and evidence the Tribunal may consider.
• Tribunal means the assigned decider: one AI arbiter in AI-only fast, the three assigned AI panelists in AI-only standard, or the assigned human Arbitrator in AI-assisted human.

Rule 1.5 - Good faith and forfeiture

Each party must participate in good faith. A party that knows of a procedural departure and fails to object promptly forfeits the objection to the extent permitted by applicable law.

ARTICLE 2 - THE TRIBUNAL AND HUMAN ARBITRATORS

Rule 2.1 - Composition

Parties choose between two tiers, AI-only and AI-assisted human, in their arbitration agreement or when the case opens. AI-only applies unless every party chooses AI-assisted human. Before consent, People’s Court automatically assigns the AI-only procedure from the amount and the requested relief: an eligible monetary case below $100 uses one AI arbiter and the simpler text-only procedure in Rule 4.12; a case of $100 or more, a ruling-only case, or a case seeking relief outside the micro-claim procedure uses three AI panelists. The case-opening terms state the resolved procedure, its Record limits, and the fee. The internal names AI-only fast and AI-only standard identify these two AI procedures; they are not separately priced tiers.

Every party confirms the tier by accepting the case-opening terms. A change to AI-assisted human requires every party’s acceptance of the same exact procedure and fee terms. An appeal waiver additionally requires each party’s separate express acceptance under Rule 9.2. An API, protocol referral, or standing authorization does not replace exact agreement to the resolved case-opening terms. A party that accepts People’s Court’s protocol arbitration terms when paying or creating a job thereby agrees to the protocol terms, Rules, and fees in effect when a dispute is referred. After confirmation, the accepted procedure remains fixed except for a change authorized by these Rules.

• AI-only: the assigned AI arbiter or panel decides the case. Humans administer the case, fix technical problems, and may correct clerical and formatting errors. If the AI Tribunal cannot decide a question, People’s Court may refer it to a human Arbitrator under Rule 2.4, who decides it. Humans do not otherwise decide the merits.
• AI-assisted human: an AI panel assists with a draft; the assigned human Arbitrator decides, may revise or reject the draft, and issues the Award in the Arbitrator’s own name. The Rule 11.1 fee covers the Arbitrator’s work, with no hourly charge.

Rule 2.2 - Jurisdiction

Subject to the parties’ agreement and applicable law, the Tribunal may decide its jurisdiction, including the scope and arbitrability of the claims and the formation, existence, or validity of the arbitration agreement. The arbitration provision is treated as separate from the remainder of the parties’ agreement.

Rule 2.3 - Decision and procedure-specific finality

In each AI-only track, the assigned AI Tribunal decides and serves the Award without human merits review before service, except for a question referred to a human Arbitrator. In AI-assisted human, no AI draft is an issued Award: the assigned human Arbitrator must decide and sign before service. After bounded drafting attempts, that Arbitrator may decide from the complete frozen Record with a partial draft or no usable AI draft; unresolved Record or consent defects must still be cured. Every track permits one human appeal under Article 9 unless every party separately and expressly waives that appeal.

Rule 2.4 - Appointment

When these Rules provide for a human Arbitrator, People’s Court appoints an impartial Arbitrator from its roster, ordinarily by random selection subject to conflicts, availability, and capacity. The parties will receive the Arbitrator’s identity and material disclosures and may promptly raise a conflict.

For a question referred in an AI-only case, People’s Court identifies the Arbitrator and any material disclosures only in the Award, which explains that the AI Tribunal could not decide the question. Within seven calendar days after service, a party may object to that Arbitrator for a conflict. A timely objection stays execution, even after an appeal waiver. If People’s Court sustains the objection, another Arbitrator decides the question again and People’s Court serves a revised Award.

Rule 2.5 - Neutrality

A human Arbitrator must be impartial and must disclose any circumstance that could reasonably raise doubt about impartiality. A party must raise any challenge promptly and state the specific grounds. The Arbitrator must recuse when required by the applicable standard.

Rule 2.6 - Administrator authority

An Administrator may perform institutional and case-management functions, including notices, access, scheduling, Record maintenance, and technical administration. An Administrator may decide routine or unopposed procedural requests that do not require a determination of the merits, credibility, admissibility, or substantive rights. An Administrator may not decide the merits.

Rule 2.7 - Interpretation and basic fairness

The Tribunal interprets and applies these Rules in deciding the case, subject to the institutional authority expressly reserved to People’s Court or an Administrator. The parties must receive reasonable notice, equal treatment, and a fair opportunity to present their cases.

Rule 2.8 - Proprietary adjudication system

The parties have no right to disclosure of People’s Court’s proprietary models, software, prompts, source code, internal deliberative materials, or other nonpublic adjudication technology, except as required by applicable law and subject to appropriate protective or confidential treatment.

ARTICLE 3 - COMMENCEMENT, NOTICE, AND AUTHORITY

Rule 3.1 - Commencement

A Claimant begins a case by identifying the parties and dispute, stating the material facts and requested relief, providing the required information establishing consent to arbitrate, and paying any required filing fee.

Rule 3.2 - Notice

The parties agree that notice of a proceeding may be given by email to an address designated in the parties’ agreement, associated with a verified account, or otherwise reliably established for the recipient. Notice by email is presumed effective when sent unless available delivery information or other credible evidence shows that the notice did not reach the recipient. After a case is commenced, notices and case materials may also be provided through the Case Page.

Rule 3.3 - Consent and scope

The case may proceed only if the required consent to arbitrate the dispute is established. The Tribunal may decide only claims within the scope of that consent and applicable law.

Rule 3.4 - Representation

A party may appear personally or through counsel or another authorized representative to the extent permitted by applicable law. People’s Court may require reasonable proof of the representative’s authority.

Rule 3.5 - Withdrawal and termination without an Award

Before the Respondent files the Answer, the Claimant may withdraw the claim and terminate the proceeding. After the Respondent files the Answer, the proceeding may terminate by agreement of all parties. After an Award is served, the proceeding may not be terminated by withdrawal or party agreement.

ARTICLE 4 - WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS AND SCHEDULE

Rule 4.1 - Written process

The case ordinarily proceeds through Complaint, Answer, simultaneous evidence and argument, any permitted rebuttal, Record confirmation, decision, and any permitted review. The parties may consent to more or fewer evidence and rebuttal stages before the Record opens. The Case Page displays the current phase and controlling deadline.

Rule 4.2 - Complaint

The Complaint must state each ground for relief, the material supporting facts, the requested disposition, and the evidence the Claimant expects to rely on.

Rule 4.3 - Answer

The Respondent must address each material allegation, state any defense or permitted counterclaim, identify requested relief, and provide the required truthfulness declaration or agent certification. A Respondent may assert in the Answer any counterclaim within the scope of the parties’ agreement to arbitrate, except under Rule 4.12. The counterclaim must state the material supporting facts and requested relief and is subject to any applicable fee.

Rule 4.4 - Simultaneous exchange

During a simultaneous sealed phase, neither party may view the other party’s filing until both filings are submitted or the phase closes. The filings are then disclosed to both parties at the same time.

Rule 4.5 - Length and form

Submissions must be concise, legible, and comply with the filing requirements. A nonconforming filing may be returned or required to be corrected without altering its substance.

Rule 4.6 - Schedule

The Case Page displays the controlling deadlines, and the default schedules appear in Appendix A. A phase closes when all required filings are received or its deadline expires. An early filing does not shorten another party’s filing period. The Tribunal or an Administrator acting within Rule 2.6 may extend a deadline for good cause.

Rule 4.7 - Amendments and corrections

Before a filing is disclosed to the opposing party, a correction may be permitted without revealing the opposing submission. After disclosure, a substantive amendment requires permission and a fair opportunity for the other party to respond.

Rule 4.8 - Party confirmation

Before the Record closes, each party may review a system-generated summary of its own submissions and identify any material omission or misstatement within the stated period. Record confirmation does not permit new claims or evidence without leave.

Rule 4.9 - Default and nonparticipation

Failure to respond does not automatically establish liability. After effective notice and expiration of the applicable deadline, the Tribunal may proceed and must determine from the Record whether the requested relief is warranted.

Rule 4.10 - Agent lane

A case may use the Agent Schedule in Appendix A only when the recorded consent authorizes it, both parties are autonomous agents, and any agent acting for a principal has that principal’s consent to the compressed schedule. The schedule and the parties’ identities do not select the decider, price or appeal waiver. Any eligible parties may choose either offered tier under Rule 2.1.

Rule 4.11 - Written submissions

The proceeding is ordinarily decided on written submissions. People’s Court does not ordinarily conduct an evidentiary hearing.

Rule 4.12 - Micro-claim procedure

The AI-only micro-claim procedure applies automatically before consent to an eligible case below $100 with one claimant monetary claim and one requested monetary remedy. The parties accept this resolved procedure as part of their case-opening terms. A Respondent files any counterclaim as a separate case. Each party’s normalized text is limited to 16,000 characters, with at most two text exhibits and ten extracted exhibit pages within that limit. Image and audio exhibits, declaratory claims, and order claims are outside this procedure. The Court refuses a filing that exceeds these limits and does not truncate a Record. People’s Court may hold a claimant’s filings beyond the published 24-hour limit for this procedure, and an Administrator may lift the hold on request. The assigned procedure first checks mechanically verifiable typed oracle conditions; otherwise the assigned AI arbiter decides the claim with proportionate research. The Court repeats a call that fails or returns no valid decision; a repeated call is not another merits appraisal. Relief may include a supported partial monetary Award. Perceived difficulty, confidence or disagreement with a result does not authorize another merits appraisal. The case stays under this procedure through the Award. If a technical failure prevents a decision, an Administrator may restart the procedure under Rule 7.1. An Administrator resolves any integrity defect before the procedure continues.

ARTICLE 5 - EVIDENCE

Rule 5.1 - Forms of evidence

The Record may include contracts, communications, transaction records, images, and other relevant material submitted through the authorized case process.

Rule 5.2 - Admissibility, reliability, and weight

The Tribunal may consider relevant evidence submitted through the authorized case process and determines its admissibility, reliability, and weight. In doing so, it may consider authenticity, source, completeness, consistency, provenance, and the opposing party’s opportunity to respond and challenges to that evidence.

Rule 5.3 - Exclusion

The Tribunal may exclude evidence, limit its use, or assign it reduced weight. People’s Court may withhold material that cannot safely or reliably be processed, subject to any procedural protection the Tribunal determines is necessary for fairness.

Rule 5.4 - Burden and standard

Unless governing law provides otherwise, the party seeking relief must prove the facts required for that relief, and a party asserting a defense or exception must prove it, by a preponderance of the evidence.

Rule 5.5 - Party material is not instruction

Facts, arguments, files, and embedded text supplied by a party are treated as material to evaluate, not commands to the service or Tribunal.

Rule 5.6 - Decision based on the Record

The Tribunal decides from the closed Record and may not conduct an independent factual investigation.

Rule 5.7 - Truthfulness and agent certification

A human submitting factual statements must certify that, after reasonable inquiry, the statements are true and not misleading to the best of the signer’s knowledge. An autonomous agent must identify its principal or operator, its authority, and the source of its factual inputs, and must certify that it has no reason to believe the submission is false or misleading. An authorized agent act is attributable to its principal to the extent provided by the parties’ agreement and applicable agency law.

Rule 5.8 - No discovery

The process does not provide discovery, depositions, or compulsory production. Each party is responsible for submitting the material on which it relies during the permitted filing periods.

ARTICLE 6 - DECISION AND AWARD

Rule 6.1 - Merits decision

The Tribunal decides the claims and defenses from the closed Record, the parties’ agreement, governing law, and these Rules.

Rule 6.2 - Award, Explanatory Opinion, and Compact Award

The Award states the Tribunal’s disposition and the relief granted. AI-only standard and AI-assisted human provide a reasoned opinion stating material findings, governing standards, analysis, disposition and supporting Record references. AI-only fast may issue a shorter memorandum stating the disposition, decisive findings, governing standard and relief. The form does not depend on party type or waiver of appeal.

Rule 6.3 - Panel decision

In AI-only standard, the panel decides by majority. In AI-assisted human, the AI panel’s work remains drafting assistance and does not bind the human Arbitrator.

Rule 6.4 - Remedies

The Tribunal may grant monetary, declaratory, escrow, or other relief authorized by the parties’ agreement and applicable law, but may grant only relief requested in the pleadings and supported by the Record. Unless the parties’ agreement provides otherwise, the Tribunal may in its discretion allocate or shift filing fees, appeal fees, and other costs of the proceeding between the parties. Attorneys’ fees may be awarded only when authorized by the parties’ agreement or applicable law.

Rule 6.5 - Form of Award

The Award must be in writing, identify the case and parties, resolve each claim submitted for decision, state the relief granted, state the date and juridical seat, identify the governing version of these Rules, and be signed by the Tribunal. A human Arbitrator signs the first-instance or appellate disposition under the Arbitrator’s own name and title. The signature binds the final disposition and the frozen Record considered by that Arbitrator.

ARTICLE 7 - HUMAN PROCEDURAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT

Rule 7.1 - Administrative or technical intervention

People’s Court may administer, manage, or intervene in a proceeding as reasonably necessary to address notice, conflicts, authority, scheduling, access, security, technical integrity, legal compliance, or other nonmerits matters affecting the fair administration of the case. An Administrator may take appropriate procedural, technical, or institutional action to resolve those matters. Administrative or technical intervention does not authorize People’s Court personnel to decide, approve, edit, or substitute the Tribunal’s merits decision. If a case cannot fairly or lawfully proceed under the applicable procedure, People’s Court may suspend or terminate the proceeding without an Award.

Rule 7.2 - Procedural communications

A party may send procedural communications through the Case Page. Merits-related communications are visible to all parties and become part of the procedural history, but are not evidence unless properly submitted into the Record. A confidential communication may be used for a technical, accessibility, safety, security, or privacy matter that cannot reasonably be raised openly. No confidential communication may affect the merits or a party’s procedural rights unless its material substance and any resulting direction are disclosed to the parties.

Rule 7.3 - No private merits communications

A party may not communicate privately with the Tribunal, an Arbitrator, or an Administrator concerning the merits of the case.

ARTICLE 8 - FINALIZATION, CORRECTION, AND EXECUTION

Rule 8.1 - Service and finalization

An Award is served when it is released to both parties through the Case Page. Unless all parties expressly waived the internal appeal under Rule 9.2, execution is stayed for seven calendar days after service. Execution also remains stayed while a timely correction, additional-Award or permitted appeal request is pending, or another applicable hold exists. A bilateral appeal waiver makes the Award eligible for execution immediately after service, but supplies no funds authority and overrides no other applicable hold or execution requirement.

Rule 8.2 - Execution

People’s Court may execute an Award only through funds or mechanisms within its lawful and technical control, including authorized escrow mechanisms. When People’s Court does not control the means of performance, the Award states the parties’ obligations but is not automatically executed.

Rule 8.3 - Correction

Within seven calendar days after service, a party may request correction of a clerical, typographical, computational, or similar nonsubstantive error. The other party may respond within seven calendar days. A correction may not reopen the merits or change the substantive disposition of the case. A timely request stays execution until decided. An appeal waiver does not remove this procedure.

Rule 8.4 - Additional Award

Within seven calendar days after service, a party may request an additional Award if the Tribunal inadvertently failed to decide a claim that the requesting party submitted for decision. The other party may respond within seven calendar days. An additional Award may decide only the omitted claim. A timely request stays execution until decided. This procedure does not apply to the micro-claim procedure in Rule 4.12, whose Award decides its single claim; a party may instead request a correction under Rule 8.3 or, unless waived, appeal under Rule 9.1. An appeal waiver does not remove this procedure.

ARTICLE 9 - APPEAL

Rule 9.1 - Appellate human review

On every track, a party may file one appeal within seven calendar days after service unless all parties expressly waived that appeal under Rule 9.2. An appeal is subject to the applicable appeal fee. The appeal must identify a material error of fact, law, procedure, or remedy and explain why the error likely affected the outcome. The other party may file an answering brief within seven calendar days. No reply is permitted. The appeal proceeds on the existing Record, and new evidence is not permitted. A timely appeal stays execution.

Rule 9.2 - Express appeal waiver

Any parties on any track may separately and expressly waive the internal human appeal when consenting to the case. The waiver is not preselected, implied by party type or payment, or inferred from use of an agent, API or wallet. It is effective only when every party accepts the same exact waiver. It does not waive a right that applicable law makes nonwaivable.

Rule 9.3 - Standard of review

A human Arbitrator decides the appeal on the issues raised in the briefs and the existing Record. An appeal from AI-assisted human must be assigned to a different human Arbitrator from the one who issued the first-instance Award. A factual finding may be disturbed only if clearly erroneous. A legal conclusion may be disturbed only for a clear and material error of law. A procedural ruling or remedy may be disturbed only for abuse of discretion or if it exceeds the parties’ agreed mandate. Harmless error is not a basis for relief.

Rule 9.4 - Appellate disposition

The Arbitrator may affirm, modify, vacate, or issue a reasoned substitute Award. Unless good cause requires additional time, the appellate disposition must be served within fourteen calendar days after the answering brief is filed or the deadline for that brief expires. Execution remains stayed until the appellate disposition is served. The appellate disposition becomes the operative Award to the extent it modifies, vacates, or substitutes the first-instance Award. No second internal appeal is permitted.

Rule 9.5 - Final and binding effect

Subject to the parties’ agreement, any timely correction, additional-Award request, permitted internal appeal, and nonwaivable judicial rights, the operative Award is final and binding on the parties. Judgment may be entered on the Award in any court having jurisdiction.

ARTICLE 10 - CONDUCT, SANCTIONS, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND PUBLICATION

Rule 10.1 - Prohibited conduct

A party may not harass, obstruct, impersonate another party or participant, manipulate the proceeding, destroy relevant evidence, submit malicious material, or knowingly mislead the Tribunal.

Rule 10.2 - Sanctions

The Tribunal or an assigned Arbitrator may impose a proportionate sanction for misconduct, including excluding affected material, drawing an appropriate adverse inference, or dismissing a claim or defense when permitted by law. The sanction and its reasons must be stated. People’s Court may separately take reasonable institutional measures to protect the integrity, security, or availability of the service.

Rule 10.3 - Confidentiality

Case filings and nonpublic case materials are available only to the parties, the Tribunal, assigned Arbitrators, Administrators, and service providers reasonably necessary to administer the proceeding, except as required by law or authorized by the parties. Case evidence is not public by default.

Rule 10.4 - Publication

People’s Court may publish Awards and may deidentify, redact, or generalize identifying details before publication. Publication does not make case filings or evidence public.

ARTICLE 11 - FEES

Rule 11.1 - Applicable fees

Filing, appeal, and other applicable fees are stated on the People’s Court Fees page or in a case-specific written quote. The applicable fee is disclosed before the relevant filing is made and does not change for that filing because of a later fee change. The fees are: AI-only, 5.67% of the amount in dispute, with a $1.67 minimum, for either internally assigned AI procedure; AI-assisted human, $310 plus 5.67% of the amount in dispute; and a ruling-only case, which has no monetary amount, $105 for AI-only or $520 for AI-assisted human. The case fee covers the whole case, with no hourly or other charge for an Arbitrator. The fee for a human appeal in a monetary case is 15.67% of the amount in dispute with a $520 minimum and no maximum; the $520 minimum is not an additional charge. The fee for a ruling-only appeal is $520. The appeal fee may be lower than the initial case fee. A case requiring an individually agreed fee outside the supported schedule is not admitted without that agreement. Payment of a fee does not itself establish arbitration consent. A bank payment remains pending until successfully paid. People’s Court may waive or sponsor fees. Fees charged by People’s Court are separate from disputed or escrowed funds and do not depend on which party prevails. People’s Court does not refund an appeal fee because the appellant succeeds. A later payment return does not alter a served Award. A referral to a human Arbitrator and an Administrator’s actions under Rule 7.1 add no fee.

ARTICLE 12 - SEAT, GOVERNING LAW, AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS

Rule 12.1 - Arbitral seat

The case file identifies the arbitral seat. If the parties have not agreed on a seat, the seat is Wilmington, Delaware. The proceeding may be conducted remotely or from another location without changing the juridical seat.

Rule 12.2 - Governing law

The Tribunal applies the substantive law validly selected by the parties. If the parties have not validly selected substantive law, the Tribunal applies the law it determines has the most significant relationship to the dispute, together with any principles of equity properly applicable under that law.

Rule 12.3 - Arbitration law and judicial proceedings

These Rules and the parties’ recorded agreement govern the arbitral procedure. Unless the parties validly agree otherwise, the Federal Arbitration Act governs the arbitration agreement and proceedings concerning recognition, confirmation, modification, correction, or vacatur of an Award to the extent applicable. For a case using the default Delaware seat, the parties do not adopt the Delaware Uniform Arbitration Act. Unless the parties validly agree otherwise, any judicial proceeding must be brought exclusively in the Delaware Court of Chancery or, if that court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction, another state or federal court located in Delaware, and the parties consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in those courts.

ARTICLE 13 - GENERAL PROVISIONS

Rule 13.1 - Language

English is the default language. The parties may jointly choose another language if People’s Court supports that language. Otherwise, a party submitting material in another language must provide an English translation.

Rule 13.2 - Amendment

People’s Court may amend these Rules prospectively. Amendments do not alter pending cases.

Rule 13.3 - Severability

If a provision cannot lawfully be applied, the remaining provisions continue to the extent they can operate consistently with the parties’ agreement and applicable law.

APPENDIX A - DEFAULT SCHEDULES

The Case Page displays the controlling deadlines for each case. The schedules below apply unless the parties have agreed to another permitted schedule or a deadline is modified under these Rules.

Standard schedule

The day that triggers a period is not counted. Intermediate weekends and federal holidays are counted. If a deadline falls on a weekend or observed U.S. federal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Standard-schedule deadlines fall at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

Agent schedule

Agent-schedule deadlines are exact elapsed hours without weekend or holiday adjustment.