Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/Header

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A Request for Arbitration is the last step of dispute resolution on Wikipedia. The Arbitration Committee considers requests to open new cases and review previous decisions. The Arbitration process is governed by the Arbitration policy.

The committee accepts cases related to editors' conduct (including improper editing) where all other routes to agreement have failed, and makes rulings to address problems in the editorial community. However it will not make editorial statements or decisions about how articles should read ("content decisions"). Please do not ask the committee to make these kinds of decisions, as they will not do so.

Requests for Arbitration can also be used to present questions and requests related to previous closed cases. These include clarification of the intent and scope of a decision, appeals of past sanctions, and requests to amend remedies and enforcement measures.

For information about requesting arbitration, and how cases are accepted and arbitrated, please see Wikipedia:Arbitration guide, which contains important information. You may also wish to review the following:

• Arbitration enforcement noticeboard – Request help here if it involves the violation of a Committee decision
• Administrator enforcement requested – Summary of cases and remedies which are currently in force
• Case Archives — closed cases and rejected requests

Prior steps

The Committee will generally accept these types of cases without any previous formal dispute resolution measures being followed:

• Reviews of emergency actions to remove administrator privileges
• Unusually divisive disputes among administrators
• Matters directly referred to the Arbitration Committee by Jimbo Wales

Otherwise, it is expected that other avenues of dispute resolution will have been exhausted before a case is filed—Arbitration is the last resort for conflicts, rather than the first.

Requesting arbitration

Before requesting arbitration, you should read and familiarize yourself with the Arbitration guide, which covers when cases will be accepted, presenting a case, and what to expect. To make a request, please follow these steps: Copy the request template. Click here to edit this page, and paste the template below the line. Fill in the names of the involved parties, and provide links to any prior attempts to resolve the dispute (such as formal or informal mediation or talk page discussion). State your request in 500 words or fewer, citing supporting diffs where necessary. You are trying to show the Arbitrators that there is a dispute requiring their intervention; you are not trying to prove your case at this time. If your case is accepted for Arbitration, an evidence page will be created that you can use to provide more detail. You are required to place a notice on the user talk page of each person against whom you lodge a complaint. Once you have done this, post diffs of the notification to the Confirmation section of your request. This is not a page for discussion. It may be to your advantage to paste the template into your user space or use an off-line text editor to compose your request before posting it here. The main Requests for arbitration page is not the place to work on rough drafts. Arbitrators or Clerks may summarily remove or refactor discussion without comment. Please do not open cases; only an Arbitrator or Clerk may do so. Requests from banned users should be made by e-mail directly to the Committee. Only Arbitrators and Clerks may remove requests from this page. Do not remove a request unless you are one.

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Contents 1 Prior steps 2 Requesting arbitration