Third Letter of Reprisal

Scales Of Justice

Tsar Date: 45.609.766

The Crown portrays pirates as vengeful captains and thieving crews, and pledges to bring us to justice. Every pirate recognizes this as propaganda, borne of the fear that if the customs of pirates were known, landlubbers may view our decentralized systems as viable alternatives to the Crown's morally bankrupt hegemony. Pirates largely ignore the Crown's backward justice system, except perhaps to nullify it by noncompliance, preferring always the social software of their own design. So, on every ship the questions emerge, what is allowed? What is forbidden? And what are the consequences?

Pirate society lays its foundation on contracts, and customs, not on statutes. A contract is valid when it is voluntarily entered and does not violate the rights a third party. Whether by oath or by written agreement, it is incumbent on every pirate to live by their word. Written agreements both reduce disputes and help resolve them after they occur.

In the absence of a contract, conflicts are resolved by observing familiar protocols that have emerged spontaneously from the behavior of many pirates over time. The Crown would have you believe that pirate captains rule their crew like a warlord, but this is simply not the case. Pirate society is a loosely organized decentralized network where justice is the ruling principle. Individuals have no obligation that's not contractual. Antisocial behavior only results in ostracism, and individuals are free to leave their crew at any time, and join another or launch their own ship. But even among the most honorable pirates, disputes arise.

Lady Justice is typically depicted as carrying the sword and the scales. Punitive justice, symbolized by the sword, is an approach where statutory law is enforced through punishment. Alternatively, restorative justice, symbolized by the scales, focuses on making the victim whole again, and incentivising offenders to take responsibility for their actions.

Among pirates all justice is restorative, not punitive. So if there is no victim, there is no crime. Custom requires only that victims be compensated for violations of their life, liberty, and property. When two pirates can't settle a dispute amicably, the custom is to approach a third party to investigate the conflict and offer a resolution. Such a mediator is only tasked with balancing the scales between the individuals, not with rectifying some imaginary debt to society.

Obviously dispute resolution systems develop differently on every ship, often without the involvement of the captain. They can vary in complexity from the informal reputation of potential arbiters, to fully decentralized autonomous organizations with communal funds and smart contracts. The most important feature of these systems is that judges only hold their position by the consent of the disputing parties. In fact, no one is prohibited from arbitrating a dispute, and multiple members of a crew may compete to fulfill this role. Pirates widely discuss and negotiate about the disputes that most affect them. If a mediator loses the confidence of the crew they will likely never be asked to settle future conflicts. That way judges are constantly subject to open competition.

The consensual structures of pirate justice are far superior to the bias of the Crown's court. Because social change precedes political change, and forcing the Crown to adapt to social change is an arduous process requiring mass movements, civil disobedience, and even civil war. Customs, on the other hand are described and shared as they coevolve with social change. Pirate arbiters discern their verdicts by observing the normative behavior of a living crew. Customs are amended only by voluntary adoption, not by the edict of the Crown. Without access to a just process for individuals, there can never be a just society.