Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Greeves (talk | contribs) at 20:09, 8 December 2007 (+current election at top). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

• WP:AC
• WP:ARBCOM

WP:AC redirects here. You may be looking for Misplaced Pages:Admin coaching (WP:ADMINCOACH).

For the current Arbitration Committee election, please see Misplaced Pages:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2007.

The Arbitration Committee is a group of users that exists to impose binding solutions to Misplaced Pages disputes, which may be anything up to and including a ban from editing Misplaced Pages.

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 and was the only person with the authority to ban users who were not engaging in simple vandalism (straight-forward vandals could be blocked by any administrator). This role has now largely been passed to the Arbitration Committee. Wales wrote:

"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." – January 2004

In April 2007, Wales decreed that the committee could overturn any decision he makes in his traditional capacity within Misplaced Pages.

To request Arbitration, see Misplaced Pages:Requests for arbitration. The Arbitration policy details the rules and procedures involved.

Any private material intended for the Committee's attention should be sent to arbcom-llists.wikimedia.org.

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 Committee has also decided against having a chairperson.

Status of members is either Active or Inactive (no Arbitration activity in the last two weeks, or a statement indicating inactivity).

As of 5 December 2007:

Active

• FloNight (talk · contribs · email)
• Fred Bauder (talk · contribs · email)
• Jdforrester (talk · contribs · email) (James Forrester aka "James F.", jdforrestergmail.com)
• Jpgordon (talk · contribs · email) (Josh Gordon, user.jpgordongmail.com)
• Kirill Lokshin (talk · contribs · email)
• Mackensen (talk · contribs · email)
• Morven (talk · contribs · email) (Matthew Brown, morvengmail.com )
• Paul August (talk · contribs · email)
• Raul654 (talk · contribs · email) (Mark Pellegrini)
• UninvitedCompany (talk · contribs · email)

Inactive

• Blnguyen (talk · contribs · email)
• Charles Matthews (talk · contribs · email) (charles.r.matthewsntlworld.com)
• Flcelloguy (talk · contribs · email)
• Neutrality (talk · contribs · email) (Ben)
• SimonP (talk · contribs · email)

History

Selection process

The original Arbitration Committee was appointed 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. 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 to display a chart of Arbitration Committee members since 2006; see #Member history for complete list.

There have been five elections to date: July 2004 (only to fill two vacancies), December 2004, January 2006, and December 2006. The December 2007 election is currently ongoing.

Former members

Full history

Click 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. The subscribers to the list (as of 30 Nov, 2007) are:

• Misplaced Pages dispute resolution
• Misplaced Pages Arbitration Committee
• Misplaced Pages functionaries