Dispute Resolution

Dispute resolution is a first-class protocol primitive, not an afterthought. Every on-chain record (IntegraRecord in the reference implementation) can have a dispute resolution resolver attached that defines the process, jurisdiction, and rules for resolving disagreements.

Dispute Lifecycle

FILED -> EVIDENCE_SUBMISSION -> REVIEW -> HEARING -> RULING -> ENFORCED
                 |                                      |
             WITHDRAWN                               APPEALED
                                                        |
                                              APPEAL_REVIEW -> FINAL_RULING -> ENFORCED

FILED -> REJECTED (if filing requirements not met)

State Encoding

Terminal states: ENFORCED, WITHDRAWN, REJECTED.

Automated Resolution

For transactions below a vendor-defined threshold, disputes MAY be resolved automatically using pre-defined rules encoded in the dispute resolution resolver.

Requirements for automated resolution:

• MUST be disclosed in the terms
• MUST be described in the dispute resolution process returned by the API
• The threshold MUST be clearly stated (e.g., "Disputes under $1,000 are resolved automatically")

Automated resolution enables high-volume, low-value transactions to have dispute resolution without the cost of human mediation.

Escalation

For transactions above the threshold, or when automated resolution fails, disputes MUST be escalable to a human-mediated process. The dispute resolution resolver specifies:

• The institution (e.g., American Arbitration Association)
• The rules (e.g., Commercial Arbitration Rules)
• The jurisdiction (e.g., New York, USA)
• The filing endpoint

The API returns all escalation details via GET /v1/records/{recordId}/dispute.

Evidence Anchoring

All evidence submitted during a dispute MUST be content-addressed. Each piece of evidence is hashed (SHA-256) and the hash is anchored on-chain via the dispute resolver.

The evidence chain provides tamper-evident proof of:

• What was submitted (the hash identifies the exact content)
• When it was submitted (the block timestamp)
• By whom (the submitter's address)

Initial evidence can be included at dispute filing time via evidenceHashes in the POST /v1/records/{recordId}/disputes request body. After filing, additional evidence is submitted via the on-chain resolver's submitEvidence(disputeId, evidenceHash) function.

Agent Participation

AI agents MAY participate in dispute resolution processes -- filing claims, submitting evidence, and responding to inquiries -- within the bounds of their authorization scope.

The dispute resolution resolver determines whether agent participation is permitted for each dispute category and stage. For example:

• Filing: Agents MAY file disputes on behalf of their principals
• Evidence: Agents MAY submit evidence (content-addressed documents)
• Response: Agents MAY respond to inquiries within their authorization scope
• Resolution: Some stages may require human participation (e.g., hearings)

The authorization scope (defined by the tokenizer and terms policy) constrains what the agent can do at each stage.