Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee code of conduct

This is a code of conduct for members of the Arbitration Committee, Wikipedia's final dispute-resolution body. Its members are expected to have integrity, behave honestly, and be fair and neutral in their dealings with other editors. Editors should not stand for membership of the Committee if they are not willing to abide by this code of conduct, which should be honoured in spirit as well as in letter.

User accounts

• Candidates are expected to disclose all previous accounts and current alternate accounts during their candidacy. If there are privacy concerns, they should declare the number of accounts they have operated, the period during which the accounts were active, and whether they had clean block records. They should pass the names of the accounts to the sitting Arbitration Committee or the functionaries mailing list with an explanation as to why the information cannot be made public. Those in receipt of this information will assist the candidate in explaining the accounts to the community by documenting non-private information about the account(s) on the nomination page.
• Candidates are expected to declare any other matter they believe the community might regard as an impediment to their election and service.

Identification

• Members must confirm their real identities to the Wikimedia Foundation, regardless of whether they gain access to checkuser and oversight.

Conflict of interest and recusal

• Members must recuse from cases in which they could be said to have a conflict of interest that would cause their impartiality to be questioned by uninvolved users. This includes holding strong views on the topic of the request for arbitration, and non-trivial involvement with one of the parties, current or past, favourable or unfavourable.

Workload

• Arbitrators are expected to do their utmost to perform their duties to the best of their ability without fear or favour and to prioritize their responsibilities as arbitrators over other Wikipedia commitments. They are neither expected nor required to prioritize their arbitration role above real-life commitments and responsibilities.
• Arbitrators are reminded that the attrition rate among arbitrators is high and are encouraged to pace their work load and participation accordingly. A stressed arbitrator is unlikely to be performing at their best.

Working environment

• Arbitrators are encouraged to report to the committee (i) all instances of hounding and stalking by disaffected litigants, and (ii) persistent attempts by any editor to engage in compromising communication, either publicly or privately, in any medium.
• In the instances above, the Committee may, by majority vote, require the editor to desist.
• Arbitrators are never expected to regard harassment as a normal part of their role.

Upholding site rules and policies

• Members are expected to apply Wikipedia's policies and the Committee's decisions equally to all editors, and to uphold the rules themselves, on- and off-wiki.
• The primary responsibility of an arbitrator is to preserve the encyclopedia and to protect it from harm. In so doing, abritrators may provide informal advice with a view to reducing potential problems. When a Committee member knows of a serious violation of policy, or of any violation of the Committee's sanctions, that member is obliged to, at a minimum, consult promptly with another Committee member, and where appropriate, inform the rest of the Committee.

Leaving before the end of office

Leave of absence

• Arbitrators temporarily unable to perform their duties – because of, for example, on- or off-wiki harassment, heavy workloads or real-life commitments – should take a leave of absence.

Resignation

• Arbitrators who have resigned and who wish to regain a position on the Committee must go through the normal channels by standing for election. Resignation will include removal from all Arbitration Committee mailing lists and channels.
• An arbitrator who has persistently or seriously violated this code is expected to resign or be removed by the Committee.