Arbitration Committee

On Wikimedia Foundation projects, an Arbitration Committee (sometimes abbreviated as "ArbCom") is a small group of trusted users who serve as a means of dispute resolution that have been initiated on some individual Wikimedia Foundation projects. Rulings, policies and procedures differ between projects depending on local and cultural contexts. According to the Wikimedia Terms of Use, users are not obliged to have a dispute solved by an ArbCom.^[1] The first Wikimedia project to use an arbitration committee was the Swedish Wikipedia.^[2] The English Wikipedia ArbCom was created by Jimmy Wales as an extension of the decision-making power he formerly held as CEO of site-owner Bomis Inc., to take over his role in resolving complex disputes between users.^[3] Arbitration Committees are now used on 12 Wikipedia versions.

Composition

Committees typically have five to fifteen members, who are known as Arbitrators. Terms vary in length, with some as long as three years.

Projects with Arbitration Committees

Wikipedia projects

Project	Native name	Established	E-mail	Private wiki	Notes
cs – Czech	Arbitrážní výbor	2006	arbcom-cs lists wikimedia org	arbcom-cs.wikipedia.org
de – German	Schiedsgericht	2007	arbcomde-l lists wikimedia org	arbcom-de.wikipedia.org
en – English	Arbitration Committee	2004	arbcom-en wikimedia org	arbcom-en.wikipedia.org
fa – Persian	هیئت نظارت	2010			Limited purview, mainly a supervisory council for complaints against admins
fi – Finnish	Välityslautakunta	2007		arbcom-fi.wikipedia.org
hu – Hungarian	Wikitanács	2009
it – Italian	Commissione arbitrale	2024	wikipedia-it-arbcom lists wikimedia org	wikipedia-it-arbcom.wikimedia.org	Deals with complaints regarding the UCoC enforcement and appeals to block following a community procedure for problematic users (note: this procedure applies also to admins and could lead to deflag by community)
nl – Dutch	Arbitragecommissie	2007	arbcom-nl lists wikimedia org	arbcom-nl.wikipedia.org
pl – Polish	Komitet Arbitrażowy	2007	wikipedia-pl-arbcom lists wikimedia org
ru – Russian	Арбитражный комитет	2005	arbcom-ru wikimedia org	arbcom-ru.wikipedia.org	New every half-a-year
uk – Ukrainian	Арбітражний комітет	2009
zh – Chinese	仲裁委员会/仲裁委員會	2025	wikipedia-zh-arbcom lists wikimedia org		The idea was rejected for several times, until the recent discussion in 2024 which reached a consensus to establish it, and the first election of its members was held in November 2024

Projects with inactive, trial or dissolved Arbitration Committees

Wikipedia versions

Arabic (inactive)
Bulgarian (there is a page on arbitration policy; an ArbCom hasn't been established yet)
Croatian (inactive)
- (First version) An ArbCom that was proposed (and discussed) in May 2007, never reached consensus
- (Second version) Existed from 7 June 2009 to 23 January 2010
Spanish (dissolved April 2009)
Korean (No arbitrators elected since December 2015, arbcom function suspended as of 18 March 2017.)
Occitan (A setting up was proposed in 2006, an election has been planned in December 2008 but was never realized)
Portuguese (dissolved January 2012)
Swedish (inactive)
Slovenian (deleted, with a redirect to Wikipedija:Mediacija). The page exists only as a framework for eventual setting up. The mediation wasn't needed so far, so the rules for the election process haven't been established yet.
Thai (term expired in January 2016, no elections held since)
French (No arbitrators elected since September 2021)

Wikivoyage versions

Spanish Wikivoyage (proposal rejected)

Wikinews versions

English Wikinews (established in 2006, inactive since 2021)

References

↑ "Wikimedia Terms of Use - # 13 Disputes and Jurisdictions". Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
↑ Hoffman, David A.; Salil Mehra (2010). "Wikitruth Through Wikiorder". Emory Law Journal 59 (2010). SSRN 1354424.
↑ Wales, Jimmy (December 4, 2003). "[WikiEN-l] Wikiquette committee appointments". lists.wikimedia.org. Wikimedia Foundation. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2022.

[1] "Wikimedia Terms of Use - # 13 Disputes and Jurisdictions". Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2022.

[2] Hoffman, David A.; Salil Mehra (2010). "Wikitruth Through Wikiorder". Emory Law Journal 59 (2010). SSRN 1354424.

[Wales1-3] Wales, Jimmy (December 4, 2003). "[WikiEN-l] Wikiquette committee appointments". lists.wikimedia.org. Wikimedia Foundation. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2022.

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