Tribyounal.com - Internet Courtroom: You are the Judge

Tribyounal is Web 2.0’s equivalent of the gavel. It takes crowd wisdom to the courtroom. If you have a beef to settle, but haven’t exactly got the funds for expert opinion, Tribyounal’s there to help. Basically, the community plays judge and jury. You, as defendant can post your complaints and allegations, along with evidence—be it photographic, textual, aural, or of the filmic sort. Let the people handle it from there. Now, of course, judging a case means you shouldn’t have any personal interest invested, nor should you demand any sort of compensation. You should however, read all the details and carefully weigh the evidence; theatrics of the Larry Seidlin sort aren’t recommended. Cases are classed by type, e.g. student, employee, intellectual property, etc. Once a case is submitted and judged, Tribyounal really only works if all parties agree to stick with the judgment.

“Tribyounal is where you are the law and go to law. As a member of the Tribyounal community, you'll be able to publish and collectively settle disputes. Tribyounal's primary goal is to make justice and legal advice available for free, to anyone, rich or poor, who has access to a computer and internet. Thanks to initiatives like the "one hundred dollar laptop" and cheap internet accesss, even the poorest regions in the world might benefit from Tribyounal in the near future. Rendering slow-paced and more expensive initiatives, such as the South African law train, superfluous.”

Tribyounal is a somewhat extreme extension of the 2.0, what the crowd says goes phenomenon. While at first it may sound odd, it is a true people’s court. Court and lawyer fees are prohibitively expensive. With Tribyounal you’ll get free legal advice and resolution. There’s less chance of favoritism or prejudice as the web is open to everyone.

Can the crowd really make sound legal decisions, especially without having studied law? Will plaintiffs in the trial even respect the people’s verdicts? How are judges screened? Will this site be taken seriously?