Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee code of conduct

The following is a proposed Wikipedia policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption.

This is a code of conduct for members of the Arbitration Committee. The Committee is Wikipedia's highest dispute-resolution body. Its members are expected to have integrity, to be honest, and to be demonstrably 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, and should resign if they violate it.

• Candidates are expected to declare their previous accounts publicly during their candidacy.

• If there are privacy concerns, they should declare the number of accounts, the period in which the accounts were active, and the number of edits made, or made with anonymous IPs. They should pass the IP addresses and names of the accounts to at least two Committee members, Foundation employees, or members of the Board of Trustees, together with an explanation as to why the information cannot be made public. Those in receipt of this information must satisfy themselves that there is a genuine privacy concern. If they are unable to do so, they must make a declaration to that effect on the candidate's page.

• Candidates are expected to declare any other matter they believe the community might regard as an impediment.

• Members must confirm their real identities to the Foundation, whether or not they gain access to checkuser and oversight.

• Members must recuse from cases in which they could reasonably be said to have a conflict of interest. This includes holding strong views on the topic at hand, and being involved with one of the parties, either as a friend or opponent.

• If recusal is requested by an editor in good standing, it should almost always be granted.

• 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.

• Where a Committee member becomes aware of a serious violation of policy or of the Committee's decisions, he is obliged to inform the rest of the Committee, and they are expected to act on it.