Simplified Arbitration: Difference between revisions

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! colspan="2" style="background:#3366cc; color:white; text-align:center; padding:6px; font-size:110%;" | Simplified Arbitration

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| colspan="2" style="text-align:center; padding:4px;" | ''WikiDeal's Conflict Resolution Framework''

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! style="background:#eaecf0; padding:4px;" | Legal basis

| Théo Bondolfi

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! style="background:#eaecf0; padding:4px;" | Status

| Framework — Draft

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Part 3 of the '''Civil Procedure Code''' (CPC / ''Code de procédure civile'') governs domestic arbitration in Switzerland, in force since 2011. It provides procedural guidance and includes explicit protections for weaker parties (employees, tenants) — which is precisely why certain domains cannot use simplified arbitration (see the Eligibility section below).

 

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! Mechanism !! Binding? !! Nature

| '''Mediation''' || ❌ Non-binding || Facilitator helps parties reach agreement; either party may walk away at any time.

| '''Arbitration''' || ✅ Binding || Arbiter's decision is enforceable, equivalent in effect to a court ruling. Requires prior explicit consent.

WikiDeal's approach is unambiguously '''arbitration''': consent is given at contract signature, making each contract subject to this framework where arbitration is enabled.

# '''Default Activation''' — If the opposing party does not respond within the deadline, compensation is automatically activated. Appeals remain possible in cases of proven unavailability (illness, unreachability, force majeure), ensuring the process remains equitable without allowing indefinite delay.

* '''Guarantor requirement''' — Insolvent parties must find a guarantor before any contract becomes active — even for low-stakes exchanges such as a bicycle loan. This ensures that compensation commitments are always backed by real capacity to fulfill them.

* '''Concrete example:''' ''"I can lend my bicycle knowing that if it comes back broken, an affiliated repair shop will fix it within 3 days — I don't have to chase the borrower myself."'' The burden of enforcement is lifted from the individual.

* '''Enables high-trust, high-risk offerings''' — Even for complex or higher-risk situations (e.g., pool access, shared housing, expensive equipment loans), the framework provides clarity and fairness that would otherwise require expensive legal contracts.

The specific list of compensatory measures — what is owed, in what form, and within what timeframe — will not be imposed top-down. Instead, it will be debated and co-created with two groups of influence:

This participatory process ensures the measures are fair, balanced, and grounded in real use cases and concrete situations — not abstract legal theory. Each User Group and Community of Practice on WikiDeal may adapt the framework to their domain, subject to platform-wide minimums.

Not all domains or contract types can activate Simplified Arbitration. Swiss law mandates specific protections in certain domains that cannot be contractually waived — including by an arbitration clause. Each WikiDeal contract will explicitly display a clear indicator:

* '''Residential lease contracts''' → covered by Swiss ''droit du bail'' (Titre VIII CO, Art. 253–274g). Special tenant protections cannot be waived by an arbitration clause.

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| '''Temporary / Interim Arbitration''' (''Arbitrage provisoire'') || Fast, short-term compensation decisions while a longer process may run in parallel (e.g., during an ongoing mediation).

Complex disputes, or those exceeding the scope of the Simplified process, may escalate to higher arbitration chambers. WikiDeal operates a '''3-level arbitration system'''.