User:Ryan Postlethwaite/Mediation-Arbitration Referrals Subcommittee

Preface: This proposal is a preliminary attempt to establish a mechanism for reaching a solution to content disputes where user conduct problems are partly hindering attempts at dispute resolution. The proposal couples content dispute resolution, through formal mediation by the Mediation Committee, and user conduct regulation, through arbitration.

The Mediation-Arbitration Referrals Subcommittee (MARS) comprises members of the Mediation Committee who mediate disputes referred to them directly from the Arbitration Committee.

Purpose

The Mediation-Arbitration Referrals Subcommittee is responsible for mediation of cases referred by the Arbitration Committee in which parties have chosen mediation as an alternative to an ArbCom decision and agreed to referral to the Subcommittee in the place of conduct sanctions passed as a full arbitration case. The Subcommittee is a branch of the Mediation Committee, but operates as a separate entity.

Membership

The Mediation-Arbitration Referrals Committee comprises members of the Mediation Committee. Any member of the Mediation Committee is eligible to take cases as part of the subcommittee, but the cases will be kept seperate from the main committee work.

Procedure

The procedure for receiving referrals from the Arbitration Committee is as follows:

1. The Arbitration Committee refers a case to the Mediation-Arbitration Referrals Subcommittee by way of vote.
2. The Subcommittee will seek the agreement of the parties to the dispute. (If one or more of the parties disagree, then the matter will be directed back to the Arbitration Committee—with the understanding that an unwillingness to participate in the mediation of the content dispute will be viewed dimly in the subsequent proceedings).
3. One—or more than one, if appropriate—member of the Subcommittee will be nominated to mediate the case.
4. The mediation shall last one month, after which the subcommittee member who is mediating the case will advise the Subcommittee, the Mediation Committee, and the Arbitration Committee regarding the current status of the dispute. At this point, the mediator may recommend the mediation stay open or be closed. At no point will the mediator report on the conduct of parties - that shall be left to the Arbitration Committee to decide.
5. Upon the conclusion of the mediation, the Arbitration Committee may choose to enact additional remedies as it sees fit (or to open a full case if the matter was referred to the Subcommittee in place of a full case).
6. Unlike conventional Mediation Committee cases, with arbitration referrals the privileged nature of mediation is modified to the extent that conduct in an arbitration referral mediation is admissible in arbitration proceedings, and may therefore be used by the Arbitration Committee as the basis for remedies with respect to user conduct. In addition, the Arbitration Committee will receive advice regarding the current status of the dispute from a member of the subcommittee.