Knowledge (XXG):Arbitration Committee/Procedures

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sanction imposed should be commensurate with all circumstances of the case at hand, including the seriousness of the violation and the possible recidivism of the editor in question. When dealing with first or isolated instances of borderline misconduct, informal advice may be more effective in the long term than a sanction. Conversely, editors engaging in egregious or sustained misconduct should be dealt with robustly.

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ordinarily be six months, unless the decision provides for a different time or the Committee subsequently determines otherwise. In considering such a request, the Committee will give significant weight to, among other factors, whether the editor in question has established an ability to edit collaboratively and in accordance with Knowledge (XXG) policies and guidelines in other topic-areas of the project.

1397:. A grace period of twenty-four hours is usually observed between the fourth affirmative vote and the enactment of the injunction; however, Arbitrators may, in exceptional circumstances, vote to implement an injunction immediately if four or more Arbitrators express a desire to do so in their votes, or if a majority of Arbitrators active on the case have already voted to support the injunction. 2947:("ARCA")) are used for the fair, well-informed, and timely resolution of individual and page restrictions. Editors participating in enforcement cases must disclose fully their involvement with parties (if any). While good-faith statements are welcome, editors are expected to discuss only evidence and procedure; they are not expected to trade insults or engage in character assassination. 4433:

committee member will initiate a discussion on one of the alternate mailing lists, with the committee member who is the subject of the complaint unsubscribed from the list for the duration of the discussion. Over the course of the investigation, the Arbitration Committee may draw upon the experience of members of the functionaries team to aid in the investigation.

60: 1869: 1697:. Prior routine enforcement interactions, prior administrator participation in enforcement discussions, or when an otherwise uninvolved administrator refers a matter to AE to elicit the opinion of other administrators or refers a matter to the committee at ARCA, do not constitute or create involvement. 2968:

Contentious topics may be designated either as part of the final decision of an arbitration case or by Arbitration Committee motion. When it becomes apparent that a particular contentious topic designation is no longer necessary, the Committee may rescind it. Any editor may request that the Committee

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While asking the enforcing administrator and seeking reviews at AN or AE are not mandatory prior to seeking a decision from the committee, once the committee has reviewed a request, further substantive review at any forum is barred. The sole exception is editors under an active sanction who may still

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Administrators are free to modify sanctions placed by former administrators – that is, editors who do not have the administrator permission enabled (due to a temporary or permanent relinquishment or desysop) – without regard to the requirements of this section. If an administrator modifies a sanction

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or the edit summary). If a sanction has been logged as an arbitration enforcement action but has not been clearly labelled as an arbitration enforcement action any uninvolved administrator may amend the sanction (for example, a null edit or reblocking with the same settings) on behalf of the original

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The Arbitration Committee will, for the time being, hear appeals from editors who are (a) blocked for reasons that are unsuitable for public discussion, or (b) blocked or banned by Arbitration and Arbitration Enforcement decisions. Examples of reasons that are unsuitable for public discussion include

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Remedies specify the actions ordered by the Committee to resolve the dispute under consideration. Remedies may include both enforceable provisions (such as edit restrictions or bans) and non-enforceable provisions (such as cautions, reminders, or admonitions), and may apply to individual parties, to

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If a party fails to respond within a reasonable time of being notified, or explicitly refuses to participate in the case, or leaves Knowledge (XXG) just before or during the proceedings, the Committee may, at its discretion: (i) dismiss the case either in its entirety or only insofar as that party is

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The timetable and structure of the case may be adjusted (e.g. a phase may be extended, closed early, added or removed) by the initiative of the Committee, at the discretion of the drafting arbitrator(s) during the case. Drafting arbitrator(s) shall also have broad authority to set case-specific rules

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Removal is protective, intended to prevent harm to the encyclopedia while investigations take place, and the advanced permissions will normally be reinstated if a satisfactory explanation is provided or the issues are satisfactorily resolved. If the editor in question requests it, or if the Committee

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If an editor is subject to any sort of Arbitration Committee parole or restriction, and wishes to start a new account or to change their username with a suppressed redirect from the old name, they must notify the Committee of this before they proceed with editing under said new account/name. Failure

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Arbitrators are presumed active unless they are on a wikibreak, have not participated in arbitration within the past week, or have informed the Committee of their absence. An inactive arbitrator may become active by voting on any aspect of a proceeding. An active arbitrator may become inactive by so

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A final consideration period of at least 24 hours will usually elapse between the casting of the fourth net vote to close the case and the implementation of any remedies. However, closure may be fast-tracked if (i) all clauses pass unanimously or (ii) there is an absolute majority vote in the motion

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Submissions of evidence are expected to be succinct and to the point. By default, submissions are limited to about 1000 words and about 100 difference links for named parties, and to about 500 words and about 50 difference links for all other editors. Editors wishing to submit evidence longer than

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Once a case has been accepted, the Arbitration Committee will instruct the clerks on the name, structure, and timetable for a case so they may create the applicable pages. The name is for ease of identification only and may be changed by the Committee at any time. The Committee will designate one or

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In the event of there being more candidates meeting this standard than there are vacancies, candidates will be ranked by percentage of support. If this still results in a tie for the last available place(s), the number of support votes will be used to break the tie. If this does not break the tie, a

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Holders who do not comply with the activity and expectation requirements – or who mark their accounts "semi-retired", "retired", or "inactive", or who announce their effective retirement by other means – may have their permissions removed by the Arbitration Committee. Prior to removal of access, two

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tools in order to carry out their responsibilities. Historically, community appointees to the AUSC were discouraged from routine or regular use of either tool. Since appropriate procedures exist for excluding arbitrator or community AUSC members from cases in which they may be involved, there is not

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The Committee may apply the "Reliable source consensus-required restriction" to specified topic areas. For topic areas with this restriction, when a source that is not an article in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, an academically focused book by a reputable publisher, and/or an article published

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When no actual violation occurred, or the consensus of uninvolved administrators is that exceptional circumstances are present, which would make the imposition of a sanction inappropriate, administrators may also close a report with no action; if appropriate, they may also warn or advise the editor

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These provisions apply only to contentious topic restrictions placed by administrators and to blocks placed by administrators to enforce arbitration case decisions. They do not apply to sanctions directly authorized by the committee, and enacted either by arbitrators or by arbitration clerks, or to

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Enforcing administrators are expected to exercise good judgment by responding flexibly and proportionately when they intervene. Except for the cases when the Arbitration Committee has predetermined the set of escalating sanctions to be imposed for violations of a final decision, the severity of the

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The Committee sometimes needs to act urgently and it may do so as an interim measure, without a formal vote of the entire Committee, once a resolution proposing urgent action and explicitly stated as such has been unanimously supported by a quorum of the Committee, comprising a third of all active

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If, at any time, the Committee determines by an absolute majority that (i) issuing a formal decision serves no useful purpose; (ii) a majority decision is not achievable; or (iii) a case may best be resolved by a single motion rather than a full decision; it may close, dismiss or otherwise resolve

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Editors named as parties to an arbitration case, and duly notified of it, are expected to participate in the proceeding. Any editor named as a party to a case, or whose conduct otherwise comes under scrutiny during the course of a case, will be notified of this by the Committee or its clerks, and,

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The initiating arbitrator will contact the account via e-mail asking the account to contact arbcom-en and leave a message on the account's talk page alerting the account to the email. If email contact is not possible, the initiating arbitrator will leave a message on the account's talk page asking

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An arbitrator, on becoming aware of the situation, will send a message to arbcom-en (a) stating the name of the account, (b) briefly describing the issue, providing examples of inappropriate conduct, (c) recommending removal of permissions, and (d) specifying why removal should occur under Level I

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If an enforcing administrator clearly intends to impose a contentious topic restrictions but forgets to label their action, other administrators may label the action (such as through a dummy edit or reblocking with the same settings) on behalf of the administrator. When this happens, the original

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An editor who is indefinitely topic-banned or otherwise restricted from editing in a topic area under an Arbitration Committee decision may request an amendment to lift or modify the restriction after an appropriate time period has elapsed. A reasonable minimum time period for such a request will

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Submissions must be posted on the case /Evidence pages; submission of evidence via sub-pages in userspace is prohibited. Unapproved over-length submissions, and submissions of inappropriate material and/or links, may be removed, refactored, or redacted at the discretion of the clerks and/or the

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If an administrator who is a party to a case resigns their permissions just before or during the case affecting them, they are not entitled to reinstatement under standard resysopping procedures, but are required, unless otherwise directed by the Committee, to submit a new request for adminship.

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All actions designated as arbitration enforcement actions, including those alleged to be out of process or against existing policy, must first be appealed following arbitration enforcement procedures to establish if such enforcement is inappropriate before the action may be reversed or formally

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topics that have attracted more persistent disruptive editing than the rest of the project and have been designated as contentious topics by the Arbitration Committee. Not all topics that are controversial have been designated as contentious topics – this procedure applies only to those topics

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Complaints regarding CheckUser or Oversight use can be forwarded to the Arbitration Committee via the Arbitration Committee mailing list (arbcom-en). In the event of a committee member being the subject of the complaint, the complaint may be forwarded to any individual committee member. That

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In cases where an administrator account was compromised, the committee will review all available information to determine whether the administrator followed "appropriate personal security practices" before restoring permissions. Factors used to make this determination include: whether the

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When an account with advanced permissions appears to be harming the project, the Committee may authorize expedient removal of these permissions via the procedures below. If the account in question has multiple sets of advanced permissions, removal will generally apply to all of them.

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regarding the running of the phases (e.g. enforce threaded discussions, set a word limit for participants in the workshop phase) to enforce the expectation of behavior during a case. Parties to the case may also petition for changes to the timetable and structure for a case.

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Any restrictions imposed under the prior discretionary sanctions procedure to date remain in force. Any changes to or appeals regarding previously-imposed restrictions will be governed by the current contentious topics procedure, subject to the following transitional rules:

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If the Committee determines the administrator failed to secure their account adequately, the administrator will not be resysopped automatically. Unless otherwise provided by the committee, the administrator may regain their administrative permissions through a successful

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Accordingly, the minimum activity level for each tool (based on the preceding three months' activity) shall be five logged actions. Consideration will be given for activity and actions not publicly logged, such as responding to requests on the CheckUser or Oversight

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administrator used a strong password on both their Knowledge (XXG) account and associated email account; whether the administrator had reused passwords across Knowledge (XXG) or the associated email account and other systems; and how the account was compromised.

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Administrators wishing to dismiss an enforcement request should act cautiously and be especially mindful that their actions do not give the impression that they are second-guessing the Arbitration Committee or obstructing the enforcement of their decisions.

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are as unacceptable in enforcement discussions as elsewhere on Knowledge (XXG). Uninvolved administrators are asked to ensure that enforcement cases are not disrupted, and may remove statements or restrict or block editors to address inappropriate conduct.

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Appeals may be made only by the editor under sanction and only for a currently active sanction. Requests for modification of page restrictions may be made by any editor. The process has three possible stages (see "Important notes" below). The editor may:

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Level I procedures may be used if (a) an account appears to be obviously compromised, or is intentionally and actively using advanced permissions to cause harm in a rapid or apparently planned fashion, or (b) multiple accounts are actively wheel-warring.

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Within a reasonable time of a complaint having been referred to it, the committee shall decide the matter. The committee may determine what constitutes a reasonable time for this purpose, which should not be less than one week, nor more than three weeks.

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Non-extended-confirmed editors may not create new articles, but administrators may exercise discretion when deciding how to enforce this remedy on article creations. Deletion of new articles created by non-extended-confirmed editors is permitted but not

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Administrators do not need explicit consensus to enforce arbitration decisions and can always act unilaterally. However, when the case is not clear-cut they are encouraged, before acting, to seek input from their colleagues at arbitration enforcement.

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A central log of all page restrictions and sanctions (including blocks, bans, page protections or other restrictions) placed as arbitration enforcement (including contentious topic restrictions) is to be maintained by the Committee and its clerks at

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Principles highlight key provisions of policy, procedure, or community practice which are relevant to the dispute under consideration; and, where appropriate, include the Committee's interpretation of such provisions in the context of the dispute.

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placed by a former administrator, the administrator who made the modification becomes the "enforcing administrator". If a former administrator regains the tools, the provisions of this section again apply to their unmodified enforcement actions.

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The use of these procedures by the Committee is not intended to constrain the authority of the Wikimedia Stewards to undertake emergency removal of permissions on their own discretion, pursuant to the relevant policies governing Steward actions.

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A request for removal of advanced permissions may be made when three or more arbitrators agree that a situation warranting the use of Level I procedures exists, and that removal of permissions is required, with no dissenting opinions from other

4005:" is in effect, an edit that is challenged by reversion may not be reinstated by the editor who originally made it until the editor (a) posts a talk page message discussing the edit and (b) waits 24 hours from the time of the talk page message. 2327:

Administrators should clearly and unambiguously label their actions as contentious topic restrictions (such as in the block summary, page protection summary, edit summary, or talk page message announcing the action, whichever is appropriate).

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Former administrators – that is, editors who have temporarily or permanently relinquished the tools or have been desysopped – may neither act as administrators in arbitration enforcement nor reverse their own previous administrative actions.

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by a reputable institution is removed from an article, no editor may reinstate the source without first obtaining consensus on the talk page of the article in question or consensus about the reliability of the source in a discussion at the

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Any arbitrator who has not given prior notice of absence and who fails to post to the usual venues for seven consecutive days is deemed inactive in all matters with, where practical, retrospective effect to the date of the last known post.

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Arbitrators and arbitration clerks may, after consultation with the Arbitration Committee, update and maintain templates and procedural documents related to arbitration enforcement processes (including the contentious topics system).

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If an uninvolved administrator (including the original enforcing administrator) decides that a page restriction is still necessary after one year, the administrator may renew the restriction by re-imposing it under this procedure and

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Proposed decisions will be posted with a separate vote for each provision. Where several substantive matters are combined in a single provision, they will be split into separate provisions for voting at the request of any arbitrator.

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On any page where the restriction is not enforced through extended confirmed protection, this restriction may be enforced by other methods, including page protection, reverts, blocks, the use of pending changes, and appropriate edit

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Informational notifications and comments which are determined by the coordinating arbitrator or their deputy to require no further action from the Committee shall be closed; no further action shall be taken unless requested by an

1308:, describing the procedure to be followed in the event that an editor subject to a remedy violates the terms of that remedy. Enforcement provisions may be omitted in decisions that contain no independently enforceable remedies. 750:

An arbitrator's service as an auditor is part of their official service as an arbitrator, and therefore shall not constitute grounds for recusal in a subsequent matter involving the complainant or the subject of the complaint.

2096:(special rules on how particular pages can be edited). Some of these abilities may be exercised by a single administrator, while others require a consensus of administrators. All editor and page restrictions may be appealed. 1664:

administrator. Labelling a sanction which has been logged does not make the administrator who added the label the "enforcing administrator" unless there is confusion as to who intended the sanction be arbitration enforcement.

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Permissions removed for unannounced inactivity will normally be restored once (a) a satisfactory explanation for the unannounced inactivity has been given and (b) satisfactory assurances about future activity levels have been

2973:("ARCA"). Unless the Committee specifies otherwise, after rescinding a designation, all restrictions previously-issued under that designation remain in force and continue to be governed by the contentious topics procedure. 3259: 3228: 1353:

Once voting on a proposed decision appears to have ended, an arbitrator will move to close the case. To be adopted, a motion to close requires the support of the lesser of (i) four net votes or (ii) an absolute majority.

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Administrators who fail to meet these expectations may be subject to any remedy the committee considers appropriate, including desysopping. Administrative actions may be peer-reviewed using the regular appeal processes.

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Nothing in this section prevents an administrator from replacing an existing sanction issued by another administrator with a new sanction if fresh misconduct has taken place after the existing sanction was applied.

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Findings of fact summarize the key elements of the parties' conduct in the dispute under consideration. Difference links may be incorporated but are purely illustrative in nature unless explicitly stated otherwise.

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Edits made before an editor was aware of a contentious topic designation may still be considered as part of a pattern of behavior in future enforcement processes if those processes primarily concern post-awareness

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The initiating arbitrator will then send a message to arbcom-en (a) stating the name of the account, (b) briefly describing the issue, providing examples of inappropriate conduct, and (c) recommending removal of

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request an easing or removal of the sanction on the grounds that said sanction is no longer needed, but such requests may only be made once every six months, or whatever longer period the committee may specify.

3264: 3233: 1771:"Should any user subject to a restriction in this case violate that restriction, that user may be blocked, initially for up to one month, and then with blocks increasing in duration to a maximum of one year." 4347:

requests or appeals pursuant to community-imposed remedies which match the contentious topics procedure, if those requests or appeals are assigned to the arbitration enforcement noticeboard by the community.

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permissions is given sparingly. The permissions reflect the high trust placed in the holder. They are not granted in perpetuity and holders are expected to use them regularly for the benefit of the project.

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The following standard enforcement provision shall be incorporated into all cases which include an enforceable remedy but which do not include case-specific enforcement provisions passed by the Committee:

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This procedure applies to edits and pages in all namespaces. When considering whether edits fall within the scope of a contentious topic, administrators should be guided by the principles outlined in the

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Level II procedures may be used if (a) the account's behavior is inconsistent with the level of trust required for its associated advanced permissions, and (b) no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming.

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As such, members of the AUSC are explicitly permitted to use their advanced permissions for non-AUSC-related actions as allowed by the appropriate policies surrounding each permission, as members of the

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Any administrator who revokes or changes a contentious topic restriction out of process (i.e. without the above conditions being met) may, at the discretion of the Arbitration Committee, be desysopped.

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Other administrators may log the contentious topic restriction on behalf of the original administrator. When this happens, the original administrator is still considered the "enforcing administrator".

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Administrators should seek to create an acceptable collaborative editing environment within contentious topics. Administrators are expected to use their experience and judgment to balance the need to

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in a contentious topic. Page restrictions prohibit all editors on a particular page from making edits described in the restriction and may be imposed to minimize disruption in a contentious topic.

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Once incoming mail has cleared list moderation, each message shall be acknowledged with a standard message and processed by the coordinating arbitrator or their deputy within 24 hours of receipt:

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Any administrator, if the administrator who first imposed the contentious topic restriction (the "enforcing administrator") affirmatively consents to the change, or is no longer an administrator;

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An administrator who imposes an editor restriction must provide a notice on the restricted editor's talk page specifying the reason for the restriction and informing the restricted editor of the

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determines that a routine reinstatement of permissions is not appropriate, normal arbitration proceedings shall be opened to examine the removal of permissions and any surrounding circumstances.

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When a consensus of uninvolved administrators is emerging in a discussion, administrators willing to overrule their colleagues should act with caution and must explain their reasons on request.

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related to articles within the topic area, provided they are not disruptive. Should disruption occur on "Talk:" pages, administrators may take enforcement actions described in "B" or "C" below.

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If the enforcing administrator believes that an editor was not aware that they were editing a designated contentious topic when making inappropriate edits, no editor restrictions (other than a

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This criterion does not apply if the original action was imposed as a result of rough consensus at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard, as there would be no single enforcing administrator.

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Previously-enacted single-admin page restrictions are now subject to renewal, modification, and revocation in the same way as ordinary administrator actions after one year in accordance with

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In all other circumstances, the request shall remain open until 24 hours after the above circumstances apply, or until the case can be accepted or declined through the procedures outlined in

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to a minimum. Before imposing a contentious topic restriction, administrators must consider whether a regular administrative action would be sufficient to reduce disruption to the project.

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by the administrator who takes the action. Administrators who renew, change, or revoke a contentious topic restriction must append a note recording the amendment to the original log entry.

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except in exceptional circumstances, will be given a minimum of seven days to respond, calculated from the date the case opened or the date on which they are notified, whichever is later.

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To be valid, sanctions must be clearly and unambiguously labelled as an arbitration enforcement action (such as with "arbitration enforcement", "arb enforcement", "AE" or "WP:AE" in the

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The committee shall distribute copies of the final report to the subject of the complaint and the complainant, unless doing so would substantially jeopardize the security of the project.

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Dismissed requests may not be reopened. However, any interested users may, after discussion with the administrator in question, appeal the dismissal to the Arbitration Committee at "

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Dismissed requests may not be reopened. However, any interested users may, after discussion with the administrator in question, appeal the dismissal to the Arbitration Committee at "

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Resolutions intended for public dissemination will be published to the Arbitration Committee noticeboard. Internal resolutions will be retained in the Committee's internal records.

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The administrator who originally imposed the contentious topic restriction (the "enforcing administrator") affirmatively consents to the change, or is no longer an administrator; or

580:; (b) holders using the permissions for audit purposes; or (c) holders who have temporarily relinquished access, including CheckUsers or Oversighters who accept appointment to the 4376:

Requests and appeals at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard may not be closed with a "rough consensus" or "clear consensus" outcome without at least 24 hours of discussion.

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Requests and appeals at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard may not be closed with a "rough consensus" or "clear consensus" outcome without at least 24 hours of discussion.

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Any available arbitrators will respond using whatever communication medium is available, and will update the thread on arbcom-en to keep the remainder of the Committee informed.

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A consensus of administrators at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard may refer an arbitration enforcement request to the Arbitration Committee for final decision through a

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A consensus of administrators at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard may refer an arbitration enforcement request to the Arbitration Committee for final decision through a

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If the committee report indicates that a breach of Wikimedia Foundation policy occurred, the committee shall forward the report to the Foundation Ombuds Commission for review.

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Full clerks will be asked to confirm their desire to stay a clerk every 2 years, from the date they were appointed as a full clerk. There are no term limits for full clerks.

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Before imposing a delegated enforcement action, administrators must consider whether a regular administrative action would be sufficient to reduce disruption to the project.

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The fourth ranked candidate passing criteria (1) and (2) will remain an alternate, to be appointed if one of the appointed candidates retires before the end of his/her term.

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governmental regulation of firearm ownership; the social, historical and political context of such regulation; and the people and organizations associated with these issues

2236:. Warnings that are logged in the arbitration enforcement log may be appealed like other editor restrictions. An editor may be warned even if the editor was not previously 2427:

A rough consensus of administrators at AE or editors at AN may specify a period of up to one year during which no appeals (other than an appeal to ARCA) may be submitted.

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The Arbitration Committee shall investigate the matter and determine whether any breach of applicable Wikimedia Foundation or English Knowledge (XXG) policies took place.

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Administrators may not adjudicate their own actions at any appeal. However, they are encouraged to provide statements and comments to assist in reaching a determination.

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Editor restrictions prohibit a specific editor from making edits described in the restriction and may be imposed on editors who do not follow the expectations listed in

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Notifications of secondary and alternate accounts shall be recorded on the private wiki and closed; no further action shall be taken unless requested by an arbitrator.

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Editors should exercise caution before re-alerting an editor to the same contentious topic as a previous alert, as there is a presumption that an editor remains aware.

1656:. Whenever a sanction or page restriction is appealed or modified, the administrator amending it must append a note recording the amendment to the original log entry. 3727: 3703: 3468: 2145:("AE") may impose any restriction from the standard set and any other reasonable measures that are necessary and proportionate for the smooth running of the project. 591:

Remain active on the English Knowledge (XXG) unless they have previously notified the Arbitration Committee of a significant expected absence and its likely duration.

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Submissions of private evidence in an open case shall be recorded on the private wiki and closed; no further action shall be taken unless requested by an arbitrator.

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For all other matters, including content disagreements or the enforcement of other community-imposed sanctions, editors should use the other fora described in the

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For all other matters, including content disagreements or the enforcement of other community-imposed sanctions, editors should use the other fora described in the

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are by default appealed on-wiki; however, the Arbitration Committee may hear appeals of such blocks if there are compelling reasons to hear an appeal in private.

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Trainee clerks will have a term of up to 1 year after their appointment as a trainee to be promoted to full clerk. This term may be extended by the Committee.

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On pages where "consensus required" is in effect, an edit that is challenged by reversion may not be reinstated without affirmative consensus on the talk page.

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template. Only the officially designated templates should be used for an editor's first contentious topic alert, and these templates may not be placed using a

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Once removal has been approved, an arbitrator will (a) directly request removal from a bureaucrat, or steward if necessary, (b) make a formal statement on the

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Additionally, sitewide blocks become ordinary administrator actions one year after imposition, whether or not imposed by a consensus of administrators at AE.

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During the investigation, the committee should keep the complainant and the subject of the complaint informed of its progress and expected date of completion.

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requests for administrative action against editors violating a remedy (not merely a principle) or an injunction in an Arbitration Committee decision, or a

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requests for administrative action against editors violating a remedy (not merely a principle) or an injunction in an Arbitration Committee decision, or a

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An administrator may only modify or revoke a contentious topic restriction if a formal appeal is successful or if one of the following exceptions applies:

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other restrictions that have been specifically designated by the Arbitration Committee for use by a single administrator in a particular contentious topic.

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other restrictions that have been specifically designated by the Arbitration Committee for use by a single administrator in a particular contentious topic.

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more arbitrators to be drafting arbitrator(s) for the case, to ensure it progresses, and to act as a designated point of contact for any matters arising.

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Administrators are authorized to impose contentious topic restrictions in contentious topic areas. Those contentious topic restrictions take the form of

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A proceeding may be opened earlier, waiving provisions 2 and 3 above, if a majority of arbitrators support fast-track opening in their acceptance votes.

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If a page (other than a "Talk:" page) mostly or entirely relates to the topic area, broadly construed, this restriction is preferably enforced through

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The committee shall determine findings by majority vote. Members of the committee disagreeing with the majority findings may attach dissenting views.

4499: 4270: 3879: 3396: 2922:". Petitioners who forum shop by resubmitting denied enforcement requests without good reason may find themselves cautioned or sanctioned in return. 1740:". Petitioners who forum shop by resubmitting denied enforcement requests without good reason may find themselves cautioned or sanctioned in return. 933:

Once removal has been approved, an arbitrator will post a notice, including the text of the motion and the names of arbitrators endorsing it, to the

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the default limits are expected to obtain the approval of the drafting arbitrator(s) via a request on the /Evidence talk page prior to posting it.

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The Committee may apply the "extended confirmed restriction" to specified topic areas. When such a restriction is in effect in a topic area, only

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When an editor first begins making edits within any contentious topic, anyone may alert the editor of the contentious topic designation using the

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The following editor restrictions constitute the standard set of editor restrictions which may be imposed by a single uninvolved administrator:

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without the prior approval of the Arbitration Committee. When alerting an editor who has previously received any contentious topic alert, the

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ask the administrator who first made the contentious topic restrictions (the "enforcing administrator") to reconsider their original decision;

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The following page restrictions constitute the standard set of page restrictions which may be imposed by a single uninvolved administrator:

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An uninvolved administrator who enforces a restriction by reversion is performing an administrative action and does not thereby become

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A majority of the Arbitration Committee voting on a motion in response to a request for amendment filed with the Arbitration Committee.

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A request for removal of advanced permissions may be made once a motion to do so has been endorsed by a majority of active arbitrators.

866:, and the user's talk page, including a brief explanation of the reason for removal and the names of the arbitrators who authorized it. 1039:

and any other non-disclosure agreements required for access to privileged communications before assuming office. All arbitrators are:

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genetically modified organisms, commercially produced agricultural chemicals and the companies that produce them, broadly construed

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Where there is good reason to believe that engaging in the earlier steps of the dispute resolution process would not be productive.

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The committee shall announce the results of the investigation on-wiki in as much detail as is permitted by the relevant policies.

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The committee shall be responsible for requesting statements, documents, and any other material of interest to the investigation.

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The current topic areas under this restriction are listed as having the "extended confirmed restriction" in the table of active

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The closing arbitrator should include a summary of the rough consensus when closing the request for clarification or amendment.

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A formal appeal is successful only if one of the following agrees with revoking or changing the contentious topic restriction:

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If the filing party of a request for an arbitration case withdraws said request, the request may be removed after 24 hours if:

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A resolution will be considered to have passed when it is endorsed by an absolute majority of active, non-recused arbitrators.

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have their CheckUser and Oversight permissions removed unless the outgoing arbitrator requests to retain one or both of them.

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The restriction applies to all edits and pages related to the topic area, broadly construed, with the following exceptions:

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the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process),

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the action was inconsistent with the contentious topics procedure or applicable policy (i.e. the action was out of process),

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When used in arbitration motions or remedies, the words below should be considered to have the following order of severity:

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Knowledge (XXG):Arbitration Committee/Procedures § Referrals from Arbitration Enforcement noticeboard to the full Committee

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Any other restrictions designated by the Arbitration Committee for use by a single admin in a particular contentious topic.

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For standard hearings, decisions are posted in the form of "Principles", "Findings of Fact", "Remedies" and "Enforcement".

2387:) may be appealed. Only the restricted editor may appeal an editor restriction. Any editor may appeal a page restriction. 721:

The committee shall provide the subject of the complaint with a reasonable opportunity to respond to any concerns raised.

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All sanctions and page restrictions must be logged by the administrator who applied the sanction or page restriction at

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groups of parties collectively, or to all editors engaged in a specific type of conduct or working in a specific area.

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Editors must comply with contentious topic restrictions. Editors who disagree with a contentious topic restriction may

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Where the case involves allegations of administrator misconduct or an unusually divisive dispute among administrators;

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Temporarily relinquished permissions will normally be promptly restored provided no issues have arisen in the interim.

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as appropriate, to confirm that the request is based on the authority of the Committee, and (c) post a notice to the

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granted CheckUser and Oversight permissions by the WMF are outside of the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Committee.

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by the clerks when first proposed; and shall remain open for at least 24 hours after those announcements are made.

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requests for page restrictions (e.g. revert restrictions) on pages that are being disrupted in contentious topics,

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requests for page restrictions (e.g. revert restrictions) on pages that are being disrupted in contentious topics,

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Reply within seven days to email communications from the Arbitration Committee about their use of the permissions.

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An editor who has not received an alert may also be presumed to be aware of a contentious topic if the editor:

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the renewal. The administrator renewing a page restriction then becomes the enforcing administrator. This does

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prior affirmative agreement for the modification at (a) AE or (b) AN or (c) ARCA (see "Important notes" below).

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Editors who breach an editor or page restriction may be blocked or subjected to further editor restrictions.

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the clear and substantial consensus of (a) uninvolved administrators at AE or (b) uninvolved editors at AN or

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non-recused arbitrators. Such resolutions will be interim measures, pending review by the entire Committee.

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The administrator may indicate consent at any time before, during, or after imposition of the restriction.

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Indefinite; reversible by any uninvolved administrator after one year. However, page restrictions may be

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Any other reasonable measures that are necessary and proportionate for the smooth running of the project.

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Contentious topic restrictions may be imposed for any fixed length of time, or for an indefinite period.

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To avoid any potential conflicts of interest, current arbitrators may not serve as members of either the

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Administrators modifying sanctions out of process may at the discretion of the committee be desysopped.

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concerned; (ii) suspend the case; (iii) continue the case regardless; or (iv) close the case by motion.

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The committee shall determine what further action, if any, is to be taken in the matter. At a minimum:

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Ever participated in any process relating to the contentious topic (such as a request or appeal at the

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The community has its own version of a contentious topics system. These are most often referred to as

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While contentious topic restrictions give administrators necessary latitude, administrators must not:

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The final decision will consist of all proposed provisions which were passed by an absolute majority.

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template may be used, but any message that conveys the contentious topic designation is acceptable.

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No serious concerns in relation to privacy violations or other breach of trust have been raised; and

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attempts will be made to contact the holder using the email address they provided to the Committee.

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Refraining from use of tools is optional for Ombuds Commission appointees, effective February 2013.

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All proposed resolutions will be posted for voting on the discussion board of the arbitration wiki.

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Consider temporarily relinquishing their permission(s) for planned prolonged periods of inactivity.

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The rough consensus does not require a vote to implement (e.g. modifying the remedy to a case).

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the action was not reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption when first imposed, or

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A clear consensus of uninvolved administrators at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard; or

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However, breaches of a page restriction may result in a block or editor restriction only if:

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and to edits adding, deleting, collapsing, or removing verifiable information from infoboxes

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apply to page restrictions imposed by consensus at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard.

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Requests for reinstatement for any other reason will be considered on a case by case basis.

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the action represents an unreasonable exercise of administrative enforcement discretion, or

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access to the functionaries-en mailing list will remain absent a request to be removed; and

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The procedure for handling complaints related to CheckUser or Oversight use is as follows:

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The contentious topic restriction was imposed (or last renewed) more than a year ago and:

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if you are unsure whether making a particular edit is consistent with these expectations.

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No administrator may modify or remove a sanction placed by another administrator without:

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More than 24 hours have elapsed since the request came to satisfy the above provision; and

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An administrator who imposes a page restriction (other than page protection) must add an

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Where there has already been extensive discussion with wide community participation; or

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a compelling reason to continue to prohibit use of the CheckUser or suppression tools.

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A rough consensus has been reached among arbitrators participating in the request; and

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of the proposal, and is responsible for sending any subsequent reminders as necessary.

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The appeal process has three possible stages. An editor appealing a restriction may:

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A proposed decision which is published within one week of the workshop phase closing.

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Knowledge (XXG):Arbitration Committee/Procedures § Dismissing an enforcement request

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and to allow responsible contributors maximum editing freedom with the need to keep

572:; and responding to CheckUser or Oversight requests on administrative noticeboards, 3919: 1072:

access to the clerks-l mailing list will be removed absent a request to remain, and

511:. This is without regard to the presence of a backlog or time-sensitive situation. 23: 4605:(d) The rationale for the requested amendment, comprising no more than 1000 words. 1195:

The standard structure of a case will include the following phases and timetable:

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Any request which does not comply with these criteria will be summarily removed.

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Knowledge (XXG):Requests for arbitration/Editing of Biographies of Living Persons

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Reverts made solely to enforce this restriction are not considered edit warring.

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Unless the restriction is a block, in which case the maximum length is one year.

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A special set of rules applies to certain topic areas, which are referred to as

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may make edits related to the topic area, subject to the following provisions:

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An evidence phase that lasts two weeks from the date of the case pages opening;

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of contentious topic restrictions. A rough consensus of administrators at the

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the action is no longer reasonably necessary to prevent damage or disruption.

2498:("AN") should revoke or modify a contentious topic restriction on appeal if: 1156:

A case is eligible to be opened when it meets all of the following criteria:

3869: 1859:("ARCA"). If the editor is blocked, the appeal may be made by email through 1393:

An injunction is considered to have passed when it is supported by at least

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A request for amendment of a closed case must clearly state the following:

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Amended on 15 November 2015 (reference to Ban Appeals Subcommittee removed)

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Knowledge (XXG):Arbitration/Requests/Case/Article titles and capitalisation

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Knowledge (XXG):Arbitration/Requests/Case/Article titles and capitalisation

2896:. It applies to all enforcement decisions, including in contentious topics. 2864:. It applies to all enforcement decisions, including in contentious topics. 2836:. It applies to all enforcement decisions, including in contentious topics. 2757:. It applies to all enforcement decisions, including in contentious topics. 2609:

A clear consensus of uninvolved editors at the administrators’ noticeboard;

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Non-extended-confirmed editors may use the "Talk:" namespace only to make

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Has otherwise made edits indicating an awareness of the contentious topic.

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is required. If consensus at AE or AN is unclear, the status quo prevails.

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stating, in which case their votes will be struck through and discounted.

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Knowledge (XXG):Arbitration/Requests/Case/Civility in infobox discussions

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Knowledge (XXG):Contentious topics/Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Knowledge (XXG):Contentious topics/Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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a majority of the Arbitration Committee, acting through a motion at ARCA.

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the explicit prior affirmative consent of the enforcing administrator; or

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All other messages shall be flagged for further action by the Committee.

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Referrals from Arbitration Enforcement noticeboard to the full Committee

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Knowledge (XXG):Arbitration/Requests/Case/Genetically modified organisms

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Referrals from Arbitration Enforcement noticeboard to the full Committee

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to disclose this, if discovered, is grounds for a ban from the project.

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Enforcement contains instructions to the administrators responsible for

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