Stephenson:Neal:The Diamond Age:33:Common Economic Protocol...(Mike Lorrey)
From the Quicksilver Metaweb.
Stephensonia
This equestrian had several prominent scars on his cheeks. "Sir," the man said, smiling, "I accuse you of violating certain provisions of the Common Economic Protocol, which I will detail at a more convenient time, and I hereby place you under personal arrest. Please be aware that any one who has been so arrested is subject to deadly force in the event he tries to resist -- which -- ha! ha!-- does not seem very likely at present-- but it is a part of the procedure that I am to say this. As this territory belongs to a nation-state that recognises the Common Economic Protocol, you are entitled to a hearing of any such charges within the judicial framework of the nation-state in question, which in this case happens to be the Chinese Coastal Republic. This nation-state may or may not grant you additional rights; we will find out in a very few moments, when we present the situation to one fo the relevant authorities. Ah, I believe I see one now." The chief of the Ashantis bowed to the constable and graciously spun out another lenthy quotation from the fine print of the Common Economic Protocol. The constable kept making a gesture that was somewhere between a nod and a perfunctory bow. Then the constable turned to Bud and said, very fast: "Are you a member of any signature tribe, phyle, registered diaspora, franchise-organized quasi-national entity, sovereign polity, or any other form of dynamic security collective claiming status under the CEP?" "Are you shitting me?" Bud said.
Basic Definition
The Common Economic Protocol was how the international/interpersonal legal system of The Diamond Age was organized. It was accepted by all non-outlaw phyles and Franchise-Organized Quasi-National Entities in that world, and seems to have been a form of global common law, enforced by a non-sovereign FOQNE known as Protocol Enforcement.
Background
The Common Economic Protocol has parts that resemble constitutional protections of the American Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta and is apparently an evolution of the Common Law upon which both were based that evolves to deal with providing a system of law to people in a world of rapidly devolving nation-state fealties. The Common Law, as opposed to Roman Empire derived civil law (which treats the state as sovereign), evolved in the middle ages in northern europe where there was a distinct lack of stable legal systems and a general indifference on the part of what sovereign authorities existed for the every day legal needs of common persons, merchants, traders, etc.
In a future where the concept of the nation state as a monopolistic authority over a single continguous geographic area has become obsolete (a future which was assumed by the crypto-nerd cyberpunk digerati of the early 90's to be all but inevitable) and state-operated legal systems are seen as corrupt, obstructive, and slow when and where they do happen to exist, common people are still going to need a common system of law and ajudication for their everyday legal needs.
Even today, the majority of the legal profession in the United States operates entirely in areas of private law, in which the state has no part, except as a form of final arbiter in the event that parties cannot reach agreement, and this market is only expected to grow in order to minimize costs to consumers and provide the right to speedy justice which today is the exception to the rule in the government courts.
In the world of private law, many states have standardized protocols of contract law, known as Uniform Commercial Codes, or UCCs, which were created by vested legal interests cherry-picking the Common Law for those rules that best benefitted the PTB. Internationally, there is the [Principles of International Commercial Contracts or ICC, or UNIDROIT, which has been an evolution of the medieval and renaissance period Law Merchant.
In order to regularize the legalization of documents from one sovereign legal system into that of another sovereign entity, the Hague Conference on Private International Law located at The Hague established in the 1960's The Hague Service Convention, which standardizes a method by which people can legalize legal documents from one nation to another, such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, or supoenas, summonses, or other court writs for the service of process across international boundaries.
In a world where nations and other sovereign entities are incredibly balkanized, like the world of Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, such Conventions take on increased importance and become part of a Common Economic Protocol that defines how millions of sovereign individuals or minor groups can do business and socially interact on a daily basis without resulting into the sort of total chaos that critics of anarchism accuse it of.