Wikipedia:Admin recall (August 2006 proposal)

This proposal was reworked for concerns on the talk page; see Wikipedia:Administrator recall (2006 proposal) for the subsequent proposal, and Wikipedia:Administrator recall for the current draft proposal.

This is a failed proposal.

Consensus for its implementation was not established within a reasonable period of time. If you want to revive discussion, please use the talk page or initiate a thread at the village pump.

This page in a nutshell: If 31 users in good standing with established time and editing track records (10+ months experience, 2000+ edits each) agree that an admin is due for recall based on their actions or activities (1 filer, 30 certifiers) that admin is then subject to a binding RfA recall vote. Three of the certifiers must be active administrators. No admin is subject to Recall more than once per nine months.

Overview

Admin Recall is a process by which an administrator can be recalled for a renewal of their administrator status by a two-staged display of community consensus. This is initiated by files for review. If the required number of established users certify the filing while it is active, the admin in question is subject to a recall vote. If the voting period ends with a consensus to de-admin, sysop privileges will be revoked.

Admin Recall Process

Requirements to file a Recall or Certify one: Any user in good standing may file a Request for Admin Recall. To do so, they will file a request here, using a similar formatting to the initial filing of an RfC. The filing user and all certifiers must have 10 months experience on Wikipedia from the time of their first edit, and also have a total edit count of at least 2000 edits and be in good standing at the time of certificaton/filing.

First step, Filing for Admin Recall; Format for filing

The formatting will be simple:

Filing user: (name/signature)

Administrator being recalled: (name/link to their User space)

Basis of Recall: (description of why the recall is being filed)

Evidence: (evidence--diffs, citations, etc.)

Administrator response: (response by the admin)

Those supporting creation of the recall: (signatures of 30 users--see criteria below)

Basis of Recall will cite the reasons why the admin is no longer/should no longer be fit to continue on in their duties. Provide a summary. Evidence will be a detailing of links, and diffs detailing the basis of your claim. The evidence shall display and detail which specific Wikipedia policies were violated, and/or demonstrate how admin tools were abused.

1. Due notice: The filing editor must post to the talk page of the admin to be Recalled with a copy of the complaint at least 24 hours prior to filing, to notify the admin and give him time to prepare a response.

2. Certification & Filing: 24 hours after notification, the Recall may be filed. Once the Recall is filed at WP:RECALL, it will be listed there and at Requests for Adminship. If 30 additional users that meet the above criteria (10 months experience, 2000 edits) certify the Recall, it will be converted into a Recall RfA vote that is listed in both places. Early closing or similar do not apply to the Recall process; both certification and the Recall RfA must remain open the full seven days to give the admin the benefit of the doubt. Of the 30 certifiers, at least three must be active Administrators. Any Recall RfA that begins will be posted to the administrator's noticeboard as well.

Failed Certification

If 30 extra users (3 of them admins) are not certifying the filing at the end of its 7 days, the certification filing will be closed and archived.

Successful Certification

If 30 extra users (3 of them admins) are certifying at the end of the 7 days, it will move to a Recall RfA immediately. Once a Recall RfA is initiated from a successful certification, certifications may not be withdrawn to stop or halt the Recall RfA (certification may be withdrawn during that seven day period however).

3. Recall RfA procedure, if Certification is successful: This will be conducted exactly as a normal RfA vote, with two exceptions: it has to run the full 21 day duration to give the admin the benefit of the doubt. The second difference is that a "Support" or "Recall" vote is a vote to desysop, and a vote to "Oppose" or "Keep" is a vote to not desysop, the opposite of a normal RfA. The Recall RfA is fully binding for administrators. Consensus for the Recall RfA shall be no lose than 80% of users voting to recall and de-sysop.

Consensus

If consensus is to desysop after 21 days, the admin will be immediately desysoped; the certification filing and RfA will be closed and archived.

No consensus or consensus to not desysop

If no consensus is reached, or the decision is to not desysop, the Recall RfA is closed; the certification filing and RfA will be closed and archived.

Recall vote

If Certification is successful, the recall vote is conducted as per a request for adminship, with two exceptions:

It must run the full 21 day duration to give the admin the benefit of the doubt.
"Recall" vote is a vote to desysop, and a vote to "Keep" is a vote to not desysop, the opposite of a normal RfA. The Recall RfA is fully binding for administrators.

Consensus for the Recall RfA shall be no less than 80% of users voting to recall and de-sysop.

Limitations

Self-nominations: Self-nominations do not use this process. If an admin wishes to completely de-sysop he can follow normal procedure for that; or if he wishes to put his standing to a community test for some reason, he can reapply for administratorship per policies there.

Concurrent Recalls and RfAs: No admin may have concurrently running Recalls or standard RfAs opened towards them.

Deletion of Recall filings, or Recall votes: Recall filings and Recall RfAs that are filed should be preserved as an Archive, as failed and successful RfAs currently are.

Prevention of potential admin abuse in process: Admins being recalled, and other admins, are not to use their admin powers to sway, affect, intimidate filers/certifiers, or otherwise bias the Recall against them. Doing so shall result in a ban of no less than 24 hours (cumulative) per each usage of admin access in this fashion.

Time limits: No administrator may be subject to a Recall more than once every nine months. No admins may be recalled until nine months into their tenure.

Exclusions: Jimbo Wales, Danny Wool, Brad Patrick, Stewards, Developers, and any active member of the Board of Directors, are all excluded from this policy. Arbitrators or any current or future "higher than administrator" users (arbitrators, bureaucrats currently) may be called in this fashion for administrative recall, but their removal should it reach completion must be approved by Jimbo, or an official action as determined by and seen fit by them. Recall of other administrators will be as per this policy. Alternately, ArbCom can decide to act on such a Recall of arbitrators or bureaucrats. Normal "admins" for this policy will encompass anyone from "basic" admin level up to and including those who are regular admins with additional privileges and duties, such as Check User and Oversight, and the final RfA decision will be binding to them.

Sample Timeline, explanation

The following is an example timeline of a hypotheical recall process.

Day 1: A user determines he should file an Admin Recall. He posts the above notice of his complaint with full basis/evidence sections on the admin's personal Talk page, to give the admin 24 hours' notice.
Day 2: The user files the Admin Recall for certification.
Days 2-9: Certification window
Day 9: certification closes. If not met, Recall request closes. If met, within 24 hours the recall vote must be initiated.
Days 9-30: Recall vote.