Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee

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The Arbitration Committee is a panel of experienced users that exists to impose binding solutions to Wikipedia disputes that neither communal discussion, administrators, nor mediation have been able to resolve, and to consider certain cases where exceptional factors such as privacy preclude a public hearing.

Arbitration is the last step in the dispute resolution process–it is a last resort, only to be employed when all else has failed. Try other steps first, including discussion between disputants and, where appropriate, mediation. The Arbitration Committee only deals with the most serious disputes and cases of rule-breaking.

Until the beginning of 2004, Jimbo Wales dealt with all serious disputes other than simple vandalism (straightforward vandals could be blocked by any administrator). He was also the only person with the authority to ban users. His role in dispute handling has now largely been delegated to the Arbitration Committee. Wales wrote in January 2004:

The Arbitration Committee [...] can impose a solution that I'll consider to be binding, with of course the exception that I reserve the right of executive clemency and indeed even to dissolve the whole thing if it turns out to be a disaster. But I regard that as unlikely, and I plan to do it about as often as the Queen of England dissolves Parliament against their wishes, i.e., basically never, but it is one last safety valve for our values.

In April 2007, Wales confirmed that the committee could overturn any decision he makes in his traditional capacity within Wikipedia. To request that a dispute be Arbitrated, see Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration. The Arbitration policy details the rules and procedures involved. The Arbitration guide provides a guide to the Requests for arbitration process. Completed requests provides an index to all previous Committee decisions.

Any private material intended for the Committee's attention should be sent to "arbcom-llists.wikimedia.org" (mailing list info).

Current members

The number of active Committee members affects the number of Arbitrators needed to reach a ruling. For example, if seven Arbitrators are active on a given case, then four votes are needed to reach a majority decision. If ten are active, then six votes are needed, etc. (In general, if an even number of members vote on a proposal and there is a tie vote, the proposal is not adopted. In this circumstance, the Arbitrators may ask Jimbo Wales to cast a tie-breaking vote, but this has yet to occur.)

The Arbitration Committee does not have a Chairperson. At certain times, Arbitrators may be temporarily unavailable for duty; the current status of the members is detailed in the list below. Arbitrators will either be Active, or Inactive—this includes members who are away on wikibreak, who have not participated in arbitration in the last two weeks, or who have posted a statement noting their absence.

List accurate as of 24 July 2008:

Active Arbitrators

1. Blnguyen (talk • contribs • email)
2. Charles Matthews (talk • contribs • email) (charles.r.matthewsntlworld.com)
3. Deskana (talk • contribs • email) (djgwikigooglemail.com) (ill)
4. FayssalF (talk • contribs • email) (Fayssal Fertakh, szvestgmail.com)
5. FloNight (talk • contribs • email)
6. FT2 (talk • contribs • email) (public inbox: ft2wikipedia.inboxgmail.com)
7. Jdforrester (talk • contribs • email) (James Forrester aka "James F.", jdforrestergmail.com)
8. Jpgordon (talk • contribs • email) (Josh Gordon, user.jpgordongmail.com)
9. Kirill Lokshin (talk • contribs • email) (kirill.lokshingmail.com)
10. Morven (talk • contribs • email) (Matthew Brown, morvengmail.com)
11. Paul August (talk • contribs • email)
12. Sam Blacketer (talk • contribs • email) (sam.blacketergmail.com)
13. Thebainer (talk • contribs • email) (Stephen Bain, stephen.baingmail.com)

Inactive Arbitrators

1. UninvitedCompany (talk • contribs • email) (Steve Dunlop, uninvitednerstrand.net)

History

Selection process

The original Arbitration Committee was appointed in 2004 by Jimmy Wales, primarily chosen from people who volunteered to help with the mediation and Arbitration processes. Since then, Arbitrators have been appointed based on the results of advisory elections held annually. Jimbo does not consider himself bound by the results of the elections, but generally has appointed Arbitrators from among the candidates with the highest percentage of positive votes (Jimmy has stated he will not appoint someone having under 50% support). On occasion, users with past experience have been appointed for continuity. Several vacancies due to mid-term resignations have been filled by direct appointment.

Arbitrators serve three-year terms on a rotating schedule, such that a "tranche" of five positions is up for reappointment each year. In case of early departures, new Arbitrators are appointed for the balance of the unexpired terms.

Click [show] to display a chart of Arbitration Committee members since January 2007; see #Full history for the complete list.

There have been five elections to date: July 2004 (this election was only to fill two vacancies), December 2004, January 2006, December 2006, and December 2007. The next election is scheduled to take place in December 2008.

Former members

Full history

Click [show] to display a chart of the Arbitration Committee composition since its inception in 2004.

Mailing list

The Wikimedia Foundation maintains a private mailing list for Arbitration Committee business, known as "Arbcom-l". Private discussion on matters under the Committee's remit will take place on this list. The subscribers to the mailing list, as of 24 July 2008, are:

• Present members (including members on leave): Blnguyen, Charles Matthews, Deskana, FayssalF, FloNight, FT2, Jdforrester, Jpgordon, Kirill Lokshin, Morven, Paul August, Sam Blacketer, Thebainer, UninvitedCompany;
• Past members: Rebecca, David Gerard, Jayjg, Kat Walsh aka Mindspillage, Sam Korn, Sean Barrett aka The Epopt, Theresa Knott, Dmcdevit, Fred Bauder, Mackensen, Raul654, Newyorkbrad;
• Other: Jimbo Wales.

The standing convention of the Committee is to allow former Arbitrators in good standing to remain on the list indefinitely. The interface page for the Mailing List is located here. Although the mailing list is private, editors who are not subscribed may still post to the list, where their email will receive the attention of, and be discussed by, the current subscribers. To do so, compose your email to arbcom-llists.wikimedia.org; please use a descriptive subject line. Your email will not be visible to any but the subscribers in the above list.

Other roles

In addition to its role in the dispute resolution process, the Arbitration Committee also selects which editors have access to the Checkuser and Oversight permissions, pursuant to the checkuser and oversight policies. Editors who wish to have access to these permissions should contact the Committee directly, via their private mailing list, after reviewing the relevant description pages (see: Help:CheckUser and Wikipedia:Hiding revisions) in their entirety.

Clerks

The Arbitration Committee Clerks assist the Arbitration Committee in procedural aspects of its work, such as opening and closing case pages, maintenance of requests for arbitration, and issuing notifications of decisions. Parties with procedural questions about the arbitration process may consult a Clerk for assistance. For further information on the Clerks and their functions, please see Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Clerks.