Policy writing guide

A well-written policy is the cornerstone of an effective and secure dispute resolution setup

Here are a number of tips on how to write a fair, clear and secure policy for your curated registry or dispute resolution process:

Disambiguation

If there are several parties involved in a dispute, it is important to define the terms used to refer to each of them at the start of the policy.

Example: "For the purposes of this document, the party that purchases a service or goods will be referred to as the Client and the counter-party that offers the service or goods will be referred to as the Provider."

Clarifying the usage of modal verbs

Define how modal verbs should be interpreted in the context of the dispute, as they can lead to ambiguity around obligations and permissions.

Example: "The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119."

Make explicit what is allowed and not allowed

Be clear and specific about what should and should not be admissible. If the policy is for a curated registry, also state what are the criteria for removing an entry from the list, as there might be other reasons (other than the absence of the criteria for inclusion) that needs to be made explicit.

Where possible, give examples.

Example: "Submissions on either chain must be considered independently and on their own merits. To be explicit, each pair of submissions in the following two examples must not be considered duplicates:

• Tagging 0xdc6…3A35 as “Curve.fi: EURS/sEUR” on ETH Mainnet and in Gnosis.

• Tagging 0xdc6…3A35 as “Curve.fi: EURS/sEUR v2” on ETH Mainnet and “Curve.fi: EURS/sEUR (v2)” on Gnosis."

When it comes to choices, less is more

To reduce the chances of vote-splitting, it is important to reduce the number of choices available for jurors to pick. If possible, limit it to just 2 for most cases.