Arbitration Procedure

The following text describes the arbitration board's code of procedure. This code of procedure is necessary to ensure a fair and equal procedure for all cases and participants. It protects you from biases or arbitrariness and ensures that you can rely on an independent and experienced group of arbiters to be there for you. They all have particular expertise in dealing with sensitive conflicts.

We are aware that there is no perfect solution to the various cases we deal with. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please share them with us.

Composition

The members of the arbitration board are appointed by the board of the CCC. These are people who are trusted by the community and have experience in mediating difficult conflicts.

Three members of the arbitration board take on a particular conflict and decide on the necessity of measures.

Experts from the awareness team and CERT can be heard in an advisory capacity, if they had no prior involvement with the case (experts with prior dealings are witnesses).

Independence

If an arbiter is not able to make an independent and impartial decision then they will recuse themselves from the case. Another member will take their place.

Every party involved can request an arbiter's disqualification on the grounds of bias. The arbitration board will decide on the motion immediately.

Rights of the Parties Involved

Nobody is required to participate in a proceeding. The arbitration board will however bring every case presented to it to a close with the information provided to it.

All parties are allowed to be accompanied by a confidant. Those will be informed by the arbitration board in parallel but they are not their legal representative.

If a matter of sexual violence is being heard then the arbitration board will communicate with the initiating party via an arbiter of the same gender on request if at all possible.

All reproaches and the information discovered during the course of the investigation will be made available to the initiating party, the accused party and their designated confidants. Both parties will be heard regarding all reproaches and the discovered information. Contact data can be excluded from the information forwarded to the opposing party. After due consideration, facts of the case can be communicated in a summarized fashion only as well.

Course of Proceedings

The procedure is always conducted by one person from the arbitration board. They will contact the involved parties, determine the exact schedule and dates. The following procedure is generally applied:

1. The initiating person (the affected person or their trusted person) contacts the arbitration board. The arbitration board conducts an initial informational meeting with the affected person and, if applicable, their trusted person, in which the procedure is explained. Afterwards the affected person alone decides whether to open a case or not.

2. The arbitration board asks the initiating person for the exact accusation, including any evidence, names and contact details of the accused person, and their desired outcome (e.g., restraining order, exclusion). At the same time, the arbitration board informs the accused person about the specific composition of the board and the further procedure.

3. The arbitration board contacts the accused person and provides a summary of the accusation and any evidence. The arbitration board also informs the accused person about the specific composition of the board and the procedure.

4. The accused person is given the opportunity to comment on the accusation. They can also submit exculpatory evidence.

5. The arbitration board summarizes this information and sends it to the initiating person for comment. Both the initiating person and the accused person can provide the arbitration board with witness statements related to the allegations.

6. The arbitration board deliberates the case and makes a decision. The decision is communicated to the parties with reasons. The board of the CCC and the event managers receive a summary.

During events, the procedure is conducted verbally and in direct contact. The board should make a decision within 24 hours. Outside of an event, the procedure is preferably conducted by e-mail. In these cases, the board should make a decision within 3 months.

In urgent cases, the arbitration board can make an immediately applicable, provisional decision at any time. However, the procedure will still be carried out and completed as described above.

Responsibilities of the Parties Involved

The arbitration board will not take action on its own. It needs to be invoked by a person (hereafter: initiating party). The person has to file tangible charges with the arbitration board about another concrete person (hereafter: accused party) to the effect that said person has or will grossly violate at least one of the two principles "be excellent to each other" and "all creatures are welcome".

The initiating party has to reason the allegation. They may present additional evidence and name witnesses.

The accused party can offer their view on the charges and present witnesses and other evidence.

The arbitration board is at liberty to make its own inquiries. Members of the CERT or Awareness Team that had prior involvement with the case are only allowed to speak to the case with the permission of the parties involved.

Verdict

The arbiters, assigned to the case, decide by simple majority.

There will be claims that won't lend themselves to being resolved. The arbitration board decides whether they consider a transgression against the rules overwhelmingly likely.

Sanctions

The arbitration board can impose the following sanctions.

• a formal warning.
• restrictions like a restraining order.
• a temporary or permanent ban from the upcoming or currently running event.
• a permanent ban from multiple events in the future.

A transgression against restrictions will be sanctioned separately and can lead to a permanent ban from the event. The arbitration board speaks on behalf of the organizers when imposing sanctions.

Appeals

It is possible to file an appeal against the ruling with the executive committee within a week. The executive committee will examine whether the decision was blatantly wrong and will decide on it during the next regular committee meeting. The ruling of the arbitration board continues to stand until a decision by the committee is reached.

The appeal has to be directed against the arbitration board in writing, which will then pass it on to the executive committee.

The executive committee decides without further inquiries. Its ruling requires no further justification.

Confidentiality

The arbitration board will concern itself with conflicts of grave importance, sometimes even intimate ones. It is therefore sworn to confidentiality.

During the hearing of a case the board can contact an expert witness or a witness and transfer the information pertinent to the current case.

The executive board of the CCC, the people responsible for an event and if necessary the executing staff will be informed about rulings that have been issued, together with a summarized reasoning. Hearing their testimony pertinent to a running proceeding is also possible.

In case of an appeal about a ruling of the arbitration board, all information will be passed on to the executive committee of the CCC. The committee will also treat the data as confidential.

Only anonymous data and statistics will be communicated towards third parties. In exceptional cases that affect the status of the event information may be made public as well but only after consulting with the executive committee of the CCC and while taking into account the interests of all parties involved. However, the course of the proceedings and the reasoning behind the decision will still not be publicized.

The arbitration board cannot necessarily appeal to confidentiality when facing government agencies. For example, should a criminal case be opened regarding the charge in question then the arbitration board can be subpoenaed to hand over their documents. The arbitration board and its members will not file charges of their own accord though.

Expenditure

The proceedings by the arbitration board are free of charge. On the other hand, no compensations will be paid.