An awful lot of big arguments start off as small arguments. A dispute about a garden gnome can turn into a full-on Montague and Capulets-style feud if you allow it to spiral, and most of us have lost friends to this kind of escalation.
That’s why we’re intrigued by Jury, an ingenious new app that looks set to revolutionise small scale conflict resolution using the basic apparatus of real legal proceedings.
The idea couldn’t be simpler. Let’s say you’re having a dispute with your best friend over money, or your neighbor over parking, or a relative over holidays, or your kids over car access, or your partner over chores. We could keep coming up with examples all day..
Rather than debating ad nauseum or resorting to the civil courts in a situation like one of these, you can pick a jury of your peers through Jury and let them rule in an impartial way.
These jurors can be hand-picked by you and your opponent, or chosen randomly from a pool of engaged, fair-minded Jury users.
Once your jury is in place, both the defendant and the plaintiff can submit arguments and evidence through the app within a set timeframe, after which the jury votes and collectively determines the winner.
Needless to say, rulings in Jury carry no legal force. If you’re in a dispute with serious financial or civic implications you’ll still need to do things the old-fashioned (and expensive) way.
But for those minor disputes that just won’t go away, and in some cases have the potential to become major disputes if left to fester, Jury is a perfect release valve. Legal force notwithstanding, everybody appreciates the basic fairness of the jury system.
And if, god forbid, you should find yourself in need of Jury’s conflict resolution powers, you’ll be pleased to note that it’s a joy to use, with a clear, intuitive interface and an array of handy options. You can see the invitations you’ve sent and received, edit your profile, review your notifications, and more.
Download Jury right now on Google Play and the App Store.
