Hypixel SkyBlock Wiki:Arbitration Committee

The Arbitrator Committee (ArbCom) is a panel of editors who are responsible for conducting the arbitration process. Both parties will submit evidence to the committee, and the committee will decide on a result, and deputize staff members and other arbitrators to enforce the decision.

Structure
The members of this committee shall consist of all current administrators, and all non-admin elected candidates. All staff and non-staff editors can participate in the vote, and thus be a member of the committee.

Responsibilities

 * To act as a final binding decision-maker, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve;
 * To handle requests (other than self-requests) for removal of administrative tools;
 * To close controversial RFCs, where a consensus is unclear;
 * To act as an alternative to consensus discussion, if deemed necessary

Voting System

 * Non-admin elected candidates shall be selected via a vote
 * There shall be 3 different voting options, each for every candidate, with Yes, Not Voting, and No
 * All member spots shall be filled after each election, and the results should be publicly announced
 * "Popularity" should be calculated with $(Yes/(Yes+No))*100$
 * 60 or more "popularity" is required for entry of the Committee
 * Public votes and results can be viewed on Project:Arbitration Committee/Elections

Basic Terms of ArbCom Membership

 * 1) A non-admin arbitrator (NAA) should serve for 6 month terms after an election
 * 2) An admin is automatically an admin arbitrator (ADA). An ADA should serve the same 6 month terms
 * 3) If an editor or an NAA became an administrator, they would automatically become an ADA and would serve the rest of the term as an ADA
 * 4) If an ADA resigns from their admin position, they would serve the rest of the term as an NAA
 * 5) Resignations of arbitrator can be requested at any time at will. Resigned arbitrator will not be able to rejoin the NAA for the term, but would still become an ADA if they became an administrator. Resigning from the Committee is independent from resigning from staff positions
 * 6) An administrator can resign and join the Arbitration Committee at any time
 * 7) An arbitrator can request to be on break at any time for any amount of time. They are encouraged to first notify the committee about their leave
 * 8) Only NAAs are given an badge of arbitration beside their username
 * 9) Members of the Arbitration Committee are given certain Discord role(s)
 * 10) Members of the Arbitration Committee are encouraged to be active during AC hearings and votings
 * 11) Members of the Arbitration Committee are expected to be mature, responsible and impartial. Their conduct shall be constantly monitored

Current Term
The current arbitrators are:
 * None; Project Retired

How to start a case
For a case to begin, an involved editor would post a message in the "ArbCom" category on the discuss pages. ArbCom then decides what cases to hear; this requires 50% approval. Both sides will be notified, and then they must submit evidence to ArbCom, via the thread, or over Discord. ArbCom will then vote. For a resolution to pass, a majority consensus is required. The percentage required is determined at the beginning of each case, by the ArbCom members. At least 50% approval is required to determine the amount of support that is necessary to pass a motion.

When posting, use this format:

Involved Parties   Reason of making this request  Evidence  Requested action 

Types of proceedings
Generally, ArbCom proceedings should be in public, because that they are elected. In certain circumstances where privacy is needed, it may be held in private.

Use of Discord
Most proceedings should be conducted through discord, with evidence posted by both parties on the wiki. There should be 3 channels: one for private conversations and for holding private proceedings, one public channel for most proceedings, and a private chat channel, for unrelated communication with arbitrators. For sensitive evidence, one should message an arbitrator, via Discord.

Appeals
The ArbCom's decision is final. However, an appeal may be made after a certain amount of time has passed from the date of the resolution. The exact length of time shall be communicated at the end of the case.

Bans
Bans may be implemented by the committee as a result of a decision. The a committee has a choice to make bans non-appealable, or to a certain group or persons after a set amount of time.

When arbitrators should not vote
Arbitrators should NEVER vote when either:
 * They have a conflict of interest with one of the involved parties and/or the situation, or
 * Whenever deemed necessary by the arbitrator, themselves.

Disbanding Reasons
The Arbitration Committee was disbanded on 14 February 2022. Reasons are:
 * The low usage of Arbitration Committee - Some editors suggested the Arbitration Committee is not useful
 * Usage of Arbitration Committee is usually for wikis with high usage and a large amount of editors - This wiki does not have enough editors for the Arbitration Committee to be effective
 * Additional duties in other staff roles can substitute the procedures of the Arbitration Committee with little to no consequences on the fairness, accuracy and transparency of such procedures

Formation
User:ThatIPEditor suggested the Arbitration Committee, with regards to the Wikipedia Arbitration Committee. They made a forum post on 9 February 2021. After getting the support from staff and administrators, the Arbitration Committee was formed on 10 February 2021. On the Discord, five channels were set up in a new category Arbitration Committee, they are:

The 1st Arbitration Committee of the Hypixel SkyBlock Wiki
The First Arbitration Committee of the Hypixel SkyBlock Wiki committee was formed by an election. Term began on 16 February 2021.

References:
 * Nomination Thread
 * Voting Thread
 * Results Thread
 * Results Page

Non-admin Arbitrators:
 * Cloaked4
 * CreeperSPG
 * Thecrazybone

Admin Arbitrators:
 * Eejit43 (User became ADA during the term)
 * Fewfre (User left the position on 28 February 2021)
 * Dreamlogic (User became ADA during the term)
 * GloriousCraft
 * GrammarMatters
 * Joker876
 * Pa3ckP7
 * Specter Elite (User left the position on 28 February 2021)
 * ThatIPEditor
 * Thundercraft5
 * WooperIsBest (User became ADA from NAA during the term)

The DivaSlift Case
The DivaSlift Case was a combination of cases against a previous staff member User:DivaSlift, after the user displayed rogue behaviour that concerned the staff team. Investigations were launched after the staff member allegedly:
 * Created sockpuppet accounts, which have caused disruption;
 * Provided false information about being hacked;
 * Committed disruptive editing;
 * Created deception of having support;
 * Attempted to request for rights again immediately after a rejection;
 * Committed a potential breach of trust;
 * Used rollback to reverse "Assume good faith" edits, which is not permitted;
 * Asked about a block, which, was not on their account, but on a suspected Sockpuppet's account, using their main account.

This case was considered to be a heavy load for Arbitrators at the time, which has reportedly caused stress among members investigating the case.

The events on or before 8 February 2021 was well documented on the thread RfC - Potentially on-going incident regarding DivaSlift. This decision was made prior to the formation of Arbitration Committee.

User:InABit was suspected to have links to DivaSlift due to similar behaviour. A case was launched against InABit when further evidences were gathered. On 25 Februrary 2021, WooperIsBest requested a motion to ban the user. The Arbitration Committee passed the resolution.

User:Random Hypixel Fan was suspected to have links to User:DivaSlift. A case was launched against Random Hypixel Fan and investigation pursued. On 27 February 2021, with further evidence, the Arbitration Committee passed the following resolution:
 * 1) A interaction ban against Random Hypixel Fan, towards DivaSlift
 * 2) A 3 day wait for a statement, and assume silence is guilt, and automatically enter a site ban

In the same procedure, it was decided that amount of support votes needed to pass a final resolution would be 60%.

On 27 February 2021, further testimony was taken on DivaSlift. ThatIPEditor requested motion to unban DivaSlift. The resolution was taken that DivaSlift is unbanned and permitted to remove sockpuppetry and blocking notices.

User:DeceptChains02 was suspected to have links to DivaSlift and was banned. On 27 February 2021, Thundercraft5 requested a motion to unblock such user. Two days later, the Arbitration Committee decided that the account should remain banned.

References:
 * RfC - Potentially on-going incident regarding DivaSlift
 * Request for Arbitration - Random Hypixel Fan

Immaturity and Block Actions
On 22 February 2021, ThatIPEditor requested a motion that immaturity should be non-blockable by itself. This motion was related to an existing rule in the Blocking Policy.

As it was one of the earliest votes, procedures were unclear and reactions was used to cast vote. It was recorded that Discord users that are not in the Committee also voted. Without further discussion, the motion was implied to be withdrawn.

The SamOki27 Case
User:SamOki27 was suspected to have multiple sock accounts. A case was launched against SamOki27. On 9-10 April 2021, with further evidence, resolution was taken by the Arbitration Committee that the account should be banned.

Autoconfirmed Changes
On 23 May 2021, after asking Fandom staff to confirm its possibility, ThatIPEditor requested a motion to modify autoconfirmed to 4 days and 10 edits. Opposition was based on doubts on the effectiveness of such action, since a new "extended confirmed" status was in the planning. Without further discussion, the motion was implied to be withdrawn.

The plan for "extended confirmed" status was later dropped because Fandom did not allow it.

The 2nd Arbitration Committee of the Hypixel SkyBlock Wiki
Due to structural changes to the Arbitration Committee and the grown size of community, it was decided that a second committee is to be formed. The Second Arbitration Committee of the Hypixel SkyBlock Wiki was formed by an election. Term began on 7 June 2021.

References:
 * Nomination Thread
 * Voting Thread
 * Results Page

Non-admin Arbitrators:
 * 7t (User left the position on 8 July 2021)
 * Anonyviz
 * Cloaked4
 * CreeperSPG
 * DuskitHD
 * Eejit43 (User became NAA from ADA during the term)
 * Hunterjd27
 * OfTheAsh
 * ThatIPEditor (User became NAA from ADA during the term)
 * Wardalicious
 * WooperIsBest
 * XXLOLCOOLCATXx
 * Some non-administrators resigned from the Arbitration Committee before the term began

Admin Arbitrators:
 * Fisssion (User became ADA during the term)
 * GloriousCraft
 * Joker876
 * MonkeysHK (User became ADA during the term)
 * Pa3ckP7
 * Thundercraft5
 * Some administrators resigned from the Arbitration Committee before the term began

Arbitration Committee Continuation Problem
Arbitration Committee Continuation Problem was a chain of events that were aimed at improvements of the Arbitration Committee, to avoid a shortage of Arbitrators, which occured before due to a mass resignation of Arbitrators after the DivaSlift Case.

On 29 May 2021, Pa3ckP7 posted RFC - AC member quit policy on forums. The proposal aimed at adding resignation restrictions, and making members think twice before accepting to be an Arbitrator. The RfC led to no conclusion. On 16 June 2021, a motion was requested on the Arbitration Committee.

Oppositions suggested worries about the added complication of the proposed system and stated the potential problems forcing people to stay would bring. The motion was later replaced by another motion, and was implied to be withdrawn.

After further internal discussions, on 20 June 2021, Pa3ckP7 replaced the aforementioned motion with two options:
 * 1) Have a reserve system. When an ac member quits a member from reserve will take their place. As to how to fill the reserve it will be disscussed at a later date if this option is chosen; or
 * 2) Have a mid-term election for temporary AC members if the following condition is not met: the amount of non-admin arbitrators must be higher than the amount of admin arbitrators.

On 27 June 2021, the Arbitration Committee decided that the second option will take effect immediately.

References:
 * RFC - AC member quit policy

Discretionary Sanctions on Page
On 20 June 2021, ThatIPEditor requested a motion to apply "discretionary sanctions" on Shiny Relic due to its controversy. Included in the sanctions were:
 * 1) All unsourced information regarding the current status of the relics may be removed by any editor if there are reasonable doubt:
 * 2) The page shall be under one-revert rule protection;
 * 3) All information added to the page regarding the current status of the relics must not be inserted;
 * 4) If the terms above are violated, any uninvolved administrator in good standing may block the user up to 36 hours for the first incident.

Oppositions suggested that "discretionary sanctions" are too bureaucratic and that a page protection would be better. On the next day, the motion was withdrawn.

The VillagerDude Case
The VillagerDude Case is a unique administrative case that called for the involvement of the Arbitration Committee for supervision, discussion and discretion.

The then Discussion Moderator User:VillagerDude was flagged for potentially "hat collecting" when they requested for the rollback right after two failures. After some observations on such user's behaviour, reviewing administrators deemed the user too immature. The admin team planned a consented and recorded interview monitored by all Arbitrators to decide the action taken for the user.

On 22 July 2021, an admin voting was passed to initiate the action. Subsequently, VillagerDude and Arbitrators were invited by Pa3ckP7 to the interview at set time.

On 28 July 2021, the interview took place, after which a motion was decided based on their testimony. This was the longest Arbitration Committee decision, and the last ever decision that involved voting. On 8 August 2021, the following motion was passed:
 * 1) VillagerDude does not get rollback;
 * 2) VillagerDude keeps Discussion Moderator; and
 * 3) VillagerDude should not be allowed from applying for staff for the unforeseeable future.

Dissolution and Aftermath
Due to various reasons, it was brought up by Pa3ckP7 that the Committee should be disbanded. On 29 January 2022, he made an announcement to the forum, where a public discussion took place. After further internal discussions and with large support, the Committee was disbanded on 14 February 2022. The person who gave original suggestion, User:ThatIPEditor, has yet to leave their opinion on this matter.

Actions taken upon disbanding the Committee:
 * The script for adding badge of arbitration is removed. Revision
 * 4 related Discord channels are archived
 * Related Discord roles is removed. All users with such roles are removed from the roles
 * Related userboxes are removed
 * Related pages are either deleted or retained for historical purposes

References:
 * Should we disband the arbitration committee