> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kleros-mintlify-6ebc7975.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Court Hierarchy > How the Kleros court tree organizes the General Court and specialized subcourts, with parameters like minStake, alpha, feeForJuror, and hidden votes. Kleros courts are organized in a hierarchical tree structure, allowing disputes to be handled by jurors with appropriate expertise while maintaining a clear appeals path. The hierarchical model is the same in both protocol versions. V1 uses the term **subcourts** and its court tree runs on Ethereum Mainnet; V2 uses the term **courts** and runs on Arbitrum. The tree, parameters, and examples below reflect V2. Curation for the Curate products also runs on **Gnosis Chain** using V1 courts. Governance proposal **KIP-87** created a new Gnosis Chain Curation Court with hidden voting, which went live in June 2026. *** ## Court Structure The court tree forms an arborescence with the General Court as the current root. New courts can be added by governance as Kleros is adopted for additional dispute types. ```mermaid theme={null} graph TD FC["Forking Court (ID: 0)
Reserved for future use"] GC["General Court (ID: 1)
Root Court"] BT["Blockchain
Technical"] CU["Curation"] EL["English
Language"] ON["Onboarding"] DA["Data
Analysis"] VP["Video
Production"] SP["Corte General
en Español"] HC["Humanity
Court"] SOL["Solidity"] NT["Non-Technical"] TL["Token
Listing"] CM["Curation
(Medium)"] SM["Statistical
Modeling"] FC -.-> GC GC --> BT GC --> CU GC --> EL GC --> ON GC --> DA GC --> VP GC --> SP GC --> HC BT --> SOL BT --> NT NT --> TL CU --> CM DA --> SM style FC fill:#e8e8e8,stroke:#999,stroke-dasharray: 5 5 style GC fill:#9b59b6,color:#fff,stroke:#7d3c98 style BT fill:#a569bd,color:#fff style CU fill:#a569bd,color:#fff style EL fill:#a569bd,color:#fff style ON fill:#a569bd,color:#fff style DA fill:#a569bd,color:#fff style VP fill:#a569bd,color:#fff style SP fill:#a569bd,color:#fff style HC fill:#a569bd,color:#fff ``` This diagram reflects the court tree from the Kleros yellow paper (Figure 5). The live court tree on [v2.kleros.builders](https://v2.kleros.builders) may differ as courts are added or modified through governance. *** ## Court Types **The Root Court (ID: 1)** The General Court currently serves as the root of the entire court system. It handles appeals from all specialized courts and has the broadest juror pool because staking in any specialized court automatically stakes you in all parent courts up to the General Court. Every juror in the Kleros system is, by definition, a General Court juror. **Domain-Specific Expertise** Specialized courts focus on specific domains and require relevant expertise from jurors. Each has its own policy document defining rules and requirements. Examples from the live court tree: * **Blockchain Technical**: Smart contract disputes, protocol-level technical questions * **Solidity**: A sub-court of Blockchain Technical for Solidity-specific disputes * **Curation**: Token lists, address tags, registry disputes * **English Language**: Translation quality, content disputes * **Data Analysis / Statistical Modeling**: Data-related disputes * **Video Production**: Video content quality disputes * **Humanity Court**: Proof of Humanity registration challenges * **Corte General en Español**: Spanish-language disputes **Reserved for Future Use (ID: 0)** Court ID 0 is reserved for the future Forking Court, which will handle protocol-level disputes and serve as the ultimate escalation point. It currently cannot be used for regular disputes. Court ID 0 is reserved and cannot be used. Attempting to create disputes in the Forking Court will fail. * Currently serves as the root of the court system * Handles appeals from all specialized courts * Has the broadest juror requirements * Includes every juror in the system (due to automatic parent staking) When you stake in any specialized court, you are automatically staked in all parent courts up to the General Court. **AI-Optimized Resolution** V2 only * New court type designed for AI agents * Optimized dispute resolution parameters * Suitable for high-volume, lower-stakes curation tasks *** ## Court Parameters Each court has parameters that define how it operates. These are set during court creation and **can be changed by governance** so always check [v2.kleros.builders](https://v2.kleros.builders/) for current live values. | Parameter | Description | Spec Example | | ------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | | **Minimum Stake** (`minStake`) | Minimum PNK required to stake in this court | 2,300 PNK | | **Alpha** (`alpha`) | Basis points controlling how much PNK is locked per vote | 10000 (100%) | | **Fee For Juror** (`feeForJuror`) | Payment per juror per dispute round | 0.005 ETH | | **Jurors For Court Jump** (`jurorsForCourtJump`) | Juror threshold that triggers escalation to parent court | 511 | | **Hidden Votes** (`hiddenVotes`) | Whether commit-reveal voting is used | true / false | | **Times Per Period** (`timesPerPeriod`) | Duration of each dispute phase in seconds | \[280800, 583200, 583200, 388800] | Court parameters are adjusted through governance and may differ from any static source. Always verify current values at [v2.kleros.builders](https://v2.kleros.builders/). ### Mainnet Court Parameters (Arbitrum One) The following table shows the production court configuration as deployed. Values are governance-controlled and may have changed since this was written - always cross-check with [v2.kleros.builders](https://v2.kleros.builders/). | ID | Name | Parent | minStake (PNK) | feeForJuror (ETH) | jurorsForJump | hiddenVotes | | -- | --------------------------------------- | -------- | -------------- | ----------------- | ------------- | ----------- | | 1 | General Court | 1 (root) | 2,300 | 0.005 | 511 | Yes | | 2 | Blockchain | 1 | 7,000 | 0.0069 | 63 | No | | 3 | Non-Technical | 2 | 7,000 | 0.003 | 31 | No | | 4 | Token Listing | 3 | 70,000 | 0.064 | 47 | No | | 5 | Technical | 2 | 33,000 | 0.033 | 31 | No | | 6 | Marketing Services | 1 | 7,800 | 0.0062 | 15 | No | | 7 | English Language | 1 | 9,000 | 0.0074 | 3 | No | | 8 | Video Production | 1 | 7,500 | 0.0062 | 3 | No | | 9 | Onboarding | 1 | 2,300 | 0.0007 | 255 | No | | 10 | Curation | 1 | 2,600 | 0.0024 | 30 | No | | 11 | Data Analysis | 1 | 15,000 | 0.018 | 64 | No | | 12 | Statistical Modeling | 11 | 19,000 | 0.019 | 32 | No | | 13 | Curation (Medium) | 10 | 2,900 | 0.0023 | 30 | No | | 14 | Spanish-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.0031 | 128 | No | | 15 | French-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.0031 | 128 | No | | 16 | Portuguese-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.0031 | 128 | No | | 17 | German-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.0039 | 128 | No | | 18 | Russian-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.0039 | 128 | No | | 19 | Korean-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.005 | 128 | No | | 20 | Japanese-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.005 | 128 | No | | 21 | Turkish-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.005 | 128 | No | | 22 | Chinese-English Translation | 7 | 9,000 | 0.005 | 128 | No | | 23 | Corte General en Español | 1 | 5,100 | 0.005 | 128 | No | | 24 | Humanity Court | 1 | 5,300 | 0.0024 | 31 | No | | 25 | Development Court | 1 | 9,500 | 0.011 | 63 | No | | 26 | Solidity Court | 25 | 9,500 | 0.011 | 63 | No | | 27 | Javascript Court | 25 | 9,500 | 0.011 | 63 | No | | 28 | Corte de Curación en Español | 23 | 5,100 | 0.0024 | 30 | No | | 29 | Corte de Disputas de Consumo y Vecindad | 23 | 8,400 | 0.0054 | 15 | No | | 30 | Oracle Court | 1 | 5,000 | 0.0069 | 31 | No | | 31 | Automated Curation | 10 | 2,600 | 0.00017 | 3 | No | | 32 | Corte de Defensores del Cliente | 29 | 8,400 | 0.0054 | 15 | No | Courts 29 and 32 (Argentina Consumer Protection courts) use `DisputeKitGated` and require specific SBT eligibility tokens. See [Deployment Addresses V2](/reference/contracts/deployment-addresses) for SBT contract addresses. ### Testnet Parameters (Arbitrum Sepolia) Testnet court parameters are deliberately different from mainnet to allow faster testing: | Parameter | Mainnet (General Court) | Testnet (General Court) | | ---------------- | ----------------------- | ----------------------- | | minStake | 2,300 PNK | 150 PNK | | feeForJuror | 0.005 ETH | 0.00001 ETH | | timesPerPeriod | \~3 days each | 12 hours each | | Courts available | 32 | 6 | Do not use testnet parameter values to estimate mainnet costs or draw probabilities. ### Understanding Alpha The `alpha` parameter determines how much of your stake is locked when drawn as a juror: ``` pnkAtStakePerJuror = (minStake × alpha) / 10000 ``` **With minStake = 2,300 PNK and alpha = 10000 (100%)** Your locked amount per vote = 2,300 PNK If alpha were 5000 (50%), your locked amount would be 1,150 PNK per vote. The `alpha` parameter effectively sets the economic risk of participating as a juror higher alpha means more PNK at stake per vote. ### Time Periods Each dispute progresses through four key periods, with durations defined per court: 1. **Evidence Period**: Time for parties to submit evidence 2. **Commit Period**: Time for jurors to commit votes (when `hiddenVotes = true`) 3. **Vote / Reveal Period**: Time for voting or revealing committed votes 4. **Appeal Period**: Time to fund appeals *** ## Automatic Parent Staking **Critical Concept**: When you stake in a specialized court, you are automatically staked in all parent courts up to the General Court. What this means in practice: * Staking in the **Solidity** court = also eligible for **Blockchain Technical** and **General Court** cases * Staking in **Curation (Medium)** = also eligible for **Curation** and **General Court** cases * The General Court includes every juror in the entire system This ensures sufficient juror availability at each level and maintains a proper appeals path where parent courts always have a broader jury pool than their children. *** ## Multi-Court Staking You can stake in multiple courts, but there are important constraints: ### Court Limit There is a `MAX_STAKE_PATHS` limit on how many courts a single juror can stake in simultaneously. This exists for gas efficiency many sortition operations scale linearly with the number of staked courts. Verify the current `MAX_STAKE_PATHS` value on-chain or in the [Sortition Module contract](https://github.com/kleros/kleros-v2). If you attempt to stake in more courts than allowed, the transaction will revert with `CannotStakeInMoreCourts`. ### Choosing Courts Consider these factors when selecting courts: 1. **Your Expertise**: Match courts to your knowledge areas, read each court's policy before staking 2. **Minimum Stake**: Ensure you meet the court's `minStake` requirement (check live values) 3. **Activity Level**: More active courts = more earning opportunities 4. **Policy Alignment**: Understand and agree with court rules before committing PNK *** ## Court Policies Each court has a policy document that defines: | Section | Description | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ | | **Purpose** | What types of disputes the court handles | | **Rules** | Guidelines jurors must follow when evaluating evidence | | **Required Skills** | Knowledge or expertise jurors should possess | | **Special Procedures** | Any court-specific requirements | Policies are managed through the `PolicyRegistry` contract and can be updated by governance. Child courts inherit policies from their parent courts so General Court policies apply everywhere. **Critical for Jurors**: Always read the court policy before staking or voting. Failing to follow court policies may result in incoherent votes and lost PNK. Visit Kleros Court, click on "Courts" and review the policy for any court that interests you. *** ## Court Transparency Features The V2 interface provides enhanced transparency for each court: * **Top Jurors Staked**: See who has the largest stakes in each court * **Latest Stakes**: Monitor real-time staking activity * **Court Statistics**: View dispute history and resolution rates * **Court Parameters**: All parameters are viewable on-chain and in the Court UI *** ## What's Next? Learn how cases escalate through the hierarchy Understand the full dispute resolution process Step-by-step guide to staking in courts