User:Dark Obsidian/Wikiversity:Inquisitor Committee

The Inquisitors are a last resort for situations where other methods of resolution have failed. All other options should be exhausted prior to a dispute being brought to the Inquisitors stage.

The Inquisitors exists to provide binding remedies to Wikiversity disputes.

The Inquisitors is the last step in the dispute resolution process — it is a last resort to be turned to when all else has failed. Other steps, including discussion between users and, where appropriate, mediation, should be tried first. The Inquisitors exists to deal with only the most serious disputes and cases of rule-breaking.

How does it work?
Cases may be brought to the Inquisitor Committee by any wikiversity editor. The Inquisitors will vote to accept cases; once accepted a case passes through stages of evidence, determinations, and remedies before being archived for use as a future reference or precedence.

Hearing a case
The Inquisitors chooses to accept a case by simple majority. Cases which do not gain a simple majority within 5 days (120 hours) are rejected. The Inquisitors will attempt to remedy cases where efforts at Dispute resolution have failed.

Which Inquisitors will hear requests
All Inquisitors will hear all cases, barring any personal leaves or refusals. If an Inquisitor believes they have a conflict of interest in a case, they shall refuse themselves immediately from participation in the case. Users who believe Inquisitors have a conflict of interest should post an appropriate statement during the Inquisitorial process. The Inquisitor in question will seriously consider it and make a response. Inquisitors will not be required to refuse themselves for trivial reasons – merely reverting an edit of a user involved in a case undergoing Inquisitorial, for example, will likely not be seen as a serious enough conflict of interest to require refusal.

Determinations
Parties in a dispute provide evidence and basis for the dispute to the Inquisitors, who will vote on determinations. In making determinations, the Inquisitors is not bound by the strict letter of policies but may determine by their perception of the spirit of both the policy and the motivations of people they are reviewing. These determinations will form the basis for the remedies.

Term Changes
Going forward, until need dictates a reintroduction of staggered tenures:
 * Inquisitorial elections will be held during July of each year for the seats which end July 31
 * These elections will be for all six seats
 * Editors are expected to have the trust of the community and know how to handle cases.

Members
The following is a list of current Inquisitors members, sorted alphabetically: The Inquisitors  does not have a Chairperson.

Clerks
The Inquisitors clerks may assist in the aspects of its work, such as opening and closing case pages. Each Parties involved may consult a Clerk for assistance, but are forbidden to be directly involved in the discussion process.