Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Clerks/Procedures

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This page documents procedures used by the Clerk's Office in assisting the Arbitration Committee.

These procedures, while not policy, are intended for the use of Arbitration clerks and should mainly be edited by them or by members of the Arbitration Committee. Others may edit them, but should not make substantial changes to them without discussing them with the Arbitration Committee first.

Contents 1 Opening a case 2 In progress 3 Closing a case 4 Closing motions in prior cases

[edit] Opening a case

1. A case should be opened one day after the fourth (net) arbiter has accepted it.
2. Open Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Template and by editing it, copy its contents.
3. Make a new page Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/(Name of case).
   • Choose a non-offensive name that does not telegraph an opinion. Try to name the case after the issue or article at the center of the dispute. If there is no clear central issue other than the behavior of the involved editor/s, use their name/s, but avoid adversarial terms like "Fred vs Barney."
4. Paste the contents of the template and save.
5. Copy the case from WP:RFAR to the new case page, following the template.
   • Replace party names with {{Userlinks|name}} or {{Admin|name}} where appropriate.
   • Copy the statements of the parties to the main page and the statements of "uninvolved" editors to the talk page. Make sure to adjust the section headers. (WP:RFAR uses ====Sections=== for statements but the case template uses ==Sections==.
   • If there is way too much stuff pick the most relevant parts and put the entire original on the talk page.
6. Don't forget to uncomment the case opened timestamp at the top.
7. Save.
8. Delete the section off of Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration.
9. Next go to Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Template/Evidence and copy the contents.
10. Follow the "evidence" link from the page created above and paste the template.
11. Do not subst the template; this will screw up the ~~~~~ timestamps in HTML comments.
12. Go back to the main page and then follow the "Workshop" link from the main page created above.
13. Go to Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Template/Workshop and copy the contents to the new Workshop page.
14. Repeat for Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Template/Proposed decision.
15. On Proposed decision, calculate recused and active Arbitrators and calculate number of votes required.
16. Notify parties and commentators on their talk page:

    {{subst:ArbComOpenedParty|My new case}}

    {{subst:ArbComOpenedComment|My new case}}

17. Then update Template:ArbComOpenTasks:

    {{Evidence|My new case|The date}} (don't subst: the templates)

[edit] In progress

Generally, the clerk who opens a case should follow the progress of the case, watchlist the case page, and be available to answer questions from the parties. Clerks have the same rights as other editors to offer proposals on the workshop page; recusal is generally not necessary.

[edit] Closing a case

1. Go to the proposed decision page. Click "edit" next to the big "Proposed final decision" header.
2. Copy everything in the edit window, replace all votes with tally numbers, and delete any motions that do not pass or are superseded by other motions.

   Don't forget to remove the "none yet" from the final decision header and "proposed" from the section headers.

3. Go to the main case page, click "edit" next to the big "Proposed final decision" header, and paste.
4. Remove the commented and no-wiki'ed "case closed" notice at the top of the main case page.
5. Notify all parties to the case on their talk pages.
6. Post on WP:AN and WP:CN.
7. Post on "Admin Enforcement Requested" (shortcut WP:RFAr/AER) if appropriate.
8. If the decision bans any user(s) from editing Wikipedia for a substantial time (not including short-term bans or bans from a particular article(s) or subject(s)), add the appropriate entry to Wikipedia:List of banned users#Banned by the Arbitration Committee.
9. Add a link to the closed case to Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Completed requests.
10. Update Template:ArbComOpenTasks. It may be a good idea, if you're using clerk tags (see Template:Wpc) to tag the case so people can see who closed the case in addition to when it was closed.

    Remember to prune older closed cases from the list of recently closed cases.

11. If applicable, stick {{subst:User article ban arb|UserName|Duration|Case name}} at the top of the talk pages of articles from which the party or parties is banned.
12. If applicable, stick {{Article probation}} on articles on which article probation has been ordered.

[edit] Closing motions in prior cases

1. A motion passes if a majority of the arbitrators listed as active on Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee support it. This majority is calculated in the usual manner (total number of active arbitrators divided by two, then plus one).
2. Archive the motion, voting, etc. from WP:RFAR to the proposed decision subpage of the case in question.
3. Add only the motion, with the usual tally indicating by how many votes the motion was passed, to the main subpage of the case.
4. Notify the parties on their talk pages.
5. Post to WP:AN.
6. If applicable, modify WP:RFAR/AER as appropriate.