The Genesis of Online Dispute Resolution in Ukraine

Procedural pluralism can be understood as the existence of several legal regimes operating within a single sphere of justice (in the broad sense), or as the coexistence of norms and legal institutions of different legal systems (in the narrow sense) that are applied when resolving relevant disputes (conflicts). One manifestation of procedural pluralism can be considered the right of interested parties to choose the method and procedure for resolving/settling a dispute (conflict) between them. Such methods and procedures include online justice. It has been established that online dispute resolution (ODR) has a number of advantages over traditional court proceedings, including efficiency, accessibility, inclusiveness, and flexibility. These characteristics help to reduce the burden on national courts and increase access to justice. The national judicial system has not remained aloof from the introduction of the principles of online justice, within which the direction of digitization of justice was chosen through the introduction of the phenomenon of electronic courts. Unfortunately, Ukraine has not yet developed special procedural rules for online justice, as a result of which the relevant processes remain complex and oriented primarily towards legal professionals. It has been determined that one form of alternative dispute resolution, which mainly arises in the context of smart contracts, is Blockchain arbitration, which combines the speed of consideration with high efficiency of settlement. In addition, Blockchain technology makes it possible not only to automate the consideration of cases, but also to ensure the automatic enforcement of decisions, which helps to increase confidence in such dispute resolution procedures and reduces dependence on centralized institutions. It has been concluded that the transition of the judicial process to an online environment fundamentally changes its nature, requiring not only the adaptation of traditional instruments of classical justice, but also the development and implementation of new mechanisms that take into account modern technological achievements. At the same time, the experience gained during this transformation process can serve as a basis for improving the legal system as a whole and contribute to the effective prevention of future conflicts.