[WikiEN-l] Request for a ban

Sun Jan 18 10:23:09 UTC 2004

 Sascha said in part:

> Also, I'm not quite sure whether the framework of mediation/arbitration is
the
> correct one. Allow me to demonstrate by way of analogy to the legal system
of
> most "western" countries:
>
> There is a difference between a criminal and a civil trial. If certain
laws of
> a society are broken, then the state will prosecute a case. If, on the
other
> hand there is some squabble between two parties (eg. a contract dispute),
> then one party will seek to prosecute the other. I submit that the problem
> with MNH is of the former kind. It is not primarily a dispute between him
and
> me. Or for that matter all the other people he has attacked. Rather, he is
in
> violation of one of wikipedia's important rules: no personal attacks. I
> therefore think that I should not be the prosecution, but rather a witness
> for the prosecution. I'm not sure how this would work with the current
> framework. But I'd be most interrested in everyone's opinion on this
matter.

This analogy does /not/ work for mediation.  IMO a better analogy would be
of marriage guidance counselling.  The idea is not to decide who is wrong,
or to make judgements between "complainants" and "problem users" but to help
those in disagreement to find mutually satisfactory solutions.  If it comes
down to a situation where there can't be an agreement then sadly it's time
to decide whether divorce is necessary.

This situation is one where Anthere's comments about mediation between
personalities rather than mediating only on specific article disputes
applies.  I'm still thinking about that - I think she is right in that
problems are more often about personal differences than really about article
text and so on, but am not sure how mediation can effectively help.
Especially when we have such limited means - if we could all get together
physically (especially with a few pints ;) then maybe we could make a
difference in personal conflicts, but with the limited means we have I'm not
sure how effective we will be.  (that doesn't mean we shouldn't try of
course)

Regards,

sannse