TWP Arbitration Proposal
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Arbitration Proposal
Proposed 12/20/01 by Maryia, Speaker
Due to the sore need for some kind of Arbitrating organization active within our community, I have chosen to place before the Assembly two items of business for approval.
1) A new Arbitration structure to be presented on this board within the next few days 2) To form and monitor this new organization under my authority and the authority of the whole Grand Assembly, I wish your acclamation for the appointment of Syrina as Chief Arbitrator should the structure be agreed upon in part or all.
Arbiter's Proposal posted by Syrina, Chief Arbiter - 12/26/01
Arbiter Proposal
First let me say the majority of this proposal comes from Tara of OES in her original Great Assembly proposal. The basis is entirely hers and only some minor tweaks have been made to the formal procedure.
That said, let's get started! There are two parts to this proposal; have some fun with it.
Given Article (1): All Representatives in the Great Council vow to promote and follow two simple rules of roleplaying between guilds.
1) Do not create fiction which would alter the character of another player without acceptance by all the players in question. (For example, Vampire X of the Order of the Ebon Skull may not "infect" Dayel Stormcrow with vampirism without the express written consent of the player of Dayel Stormcrow. IRC, ICQ and email logs work.)
2) Guilds should work together on projects that create cross guild fiction. To facilitate this, representatives should be chosen by each guild who speak with the full authority of the guild to create said fiction. It is then expected that the representative to that plot will inform the guild leadership who may then choose to disseminate to its membership. (And we would highly recommend at least telling them that there was a plot involving Guild X.)
Proposed:
Representatives of the Great Assembly will act as arbiters to mediate between guilds in OOC disputes involving territory, possessions, housing, members, or when guilds are unable to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion to ongoing plots.
Types of Arbitration:
A. Informal Arbitration (aka "we need a decision NOW" option) When disputes arise, one guild leader from each guild involved in the dispute agree to meet with either one arbitrator or a panel of three arbitrators pulled from the Great Assembly membership. All parties must agree to arbitration and to the number of arbiters. Each leader is allowed 15 minutes to present their case to the arbiter/panel. After all parties have been heard, the arbiter/panel may ask questions to clarify points and will be given 20 minutes to review the material presented before rendering a decision. Should the parties not agree to the proposed course of action, they may then request to be heard by a formal arbiter panel.
B. Formal Arbitration (aka "this is going to take some time" option.) The Great Assembly will appoint a three judge panel to arbitrate the matter, upon the request of both parties. The panel must be chosen from the available pool of arbiters and must not be involved personally or by guild membership in the dispute. The disputants must agree to meet with the arbiters in IRC and to accept the outcome of the arbitration. Before the scheduled IRC meeting, each party should submit their case in writing with all accompanying emails, IRC logs and ICQ histories to support their position. At the scheduled mediation, each complainant has ten minutes to present their initial case. After the initial presentation, each party will, in turn, have two opportunities to rebut the arguments of the other. These rebuttals will last no more than five minutes each. The presentation of the entire case will last no longer than one hour. The panel will then recess to discuss the case and decide its outcome based solely on the material presented by email and in IRC. The results of each case will be posted publically on the message board of the TIP and each complainant.
Summary:
The major difference between these two types of mediation are the number of arbiters required, with the informal option allowing for only one arbitor or a panel (parties choice) and the chance to appeal, the use of chat logs and histories and rebuttals with the more formal option.
If any of this is unclear (what?! It makes perfect sense to me!), please ICQ (#79520293), email, or pm me in IRC for clarification. I cannot attend the meeting Friday night but I hope this will at least lead to discussion of the matter. I look forward to hearing your ideas.
Vote for Arbitration Proposal posted by Maryia, Speaker - 12/28/01
3) The Arbitration system proposed by Syrina was passed with no opposition.
Abritration Changes Proposed by Maryia - 01/04/02
Arbitration
Out of Character Arbitration
Out of Character Arbitration falls into three categories: Battlefield Arbitration: Due to the nature of some offenses that may occur on the battlefield, OOC questions and statements may be required. Battlefield arbitration is when a TWP arbitrator must decide whether or not an individual has broken a rule as agreed by both guilds before the battle. All decisions are considered immediately binding, but may be appealed afterwards (see Appeals below).
Formal Arbitration: arbitration of inter-guild conflicts at their request. To request arbitration, both guilds must notify an arbitrator and present a summary of their problem. The arbitrator will then take them to a private IRC room at the approved time and, after listening to any elaboration on the summary plus the answers to any questions they may ask, issue a compromise they feel both parties could accept. Neither would be required to accept this proposal.
Judgment: if a guild is felt to have violated the spirit of the TWP severely, an OOC Great Assembly may be called by a petition of no less than five guilds. The representative of the accused will be deemed its defense and the guilds that issued the call may choose a representative from among them who will be deemed the prosecutor. Within a meeting of no less than half the guilds in the TWP, the prosecution and defense will be given time to present evidence and each side�s views in that order. After they both have spoken, the remaining representatives will vote on the innocence or guilt of the accused. If they are voted guilty by a majority decision, the Speaker will issue the punishment. This punishment will then be accepted or denied by simple majority unless it is a decision to remove the guild from the Project. Such a decision will require two-thirds majority to be accepted.
In-Character Arbitration
Diplomacy: Very similar to Formal OOC Arbitration, it is the seeking of resolution to in-character conflicts. The only difference is that such a meeting will be at a neutral location in-game, not IRC.
Judgment: A group of three Arbitrators will act as judges for in-character crimes. Both parties must consent OOC to abide by the judgment of this tribunal. It will be held in a format similar to RL courts, although it may be abbreviated by presenting evidence before the trial, and therefore simply skipping to the �closing argument� stage of presenting the interpretation of both sides� evidence. While binding punishments may occur, they do not have to. However, a simple pronouncement of guilt or innocence can be great fodder for one�s enemies.
Appeals
The appeals process is simple: If one feels, either OOC or IC, that they were judged wrongly, they may appeal to the Speaker of the Great Assembly. If the Speaker�s judgment is not to their satisfaction, they may bring their case before the Great Assembly itself. What is decided there cannot be appealed. Appeals can only be made of IC judgment and OOC Battlefield Arbitration. OOC Judgments are absolutely final.
Vote for Revised Arbitration - 01/28/02
Nujel'm Votes Aye
Wilmeth votes Aye
MTC votes Aye
KOS votes aye
Caina votes Aye
DA! votes: Aye
Regency votes AYE
Orc Blah Yub
HoA votes Aye
Kos abstains....
G*B votes aye
RK sends a vote of no confidence
NB votes *AYE*
OES votes aye.
Britain Votes Aye
Windemere votes Aye
Rivendell votes aye
Ncr votes aye
Vmc votes aye
stormhaven votes yay
The vote passed.
Resolution
This topic is being revised yet again to more closely reflect the original terms of Arbitration.