Arbitration / Training
The Training Course for Case Managers and Arbitrators
Lesson 12 - Arbitration - Precedents
What is a Precedent ?
- A Precedent is a decision found in an earlier Arbitration case that can be used in recurring processes for future dispute filing cases.
Wikipedia: In common law legal systems, a precedent or authority is a legal case establishing a principle or rule that a court or other judicial body utilizes when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.
- The ruling is made once.
- Other cases with the same facts can follow this ruling.
- The precedent case will deliver for future cases:
- the facts applicable to this situation
- the execution steps (that can be written in a procedure)
- The problem: History log of cases handling for Audit
- Target audience of execution orders are:
- Assurers (i.e. Name handling in Assurance)
- Support Engineers (recurring support request, that can be handled through a procedure, to free up Arbitration queue, handled by SE's)
- Software Engineers
- Critical Sysadmins (i.e. Events scripted mailing execution)
The Problem: History Logging of cases handling for Audit purposes
- The default Arbitration case handling and reporting is through the CAcert Wiki system by individual pages for each case.
- Precedent cases have no individual Arbitration case number, but need to be handled with the Precedent Arbitration case number
Iang: what does this mean? Does it mean that a case that is a Precedent has no special number? Or that a case using an earlier Precedent cites isn't a case? Or...
u60: When a case is received through support, it gets a support ticket number. The initial arbitration case gets an Arbitration case number. The Arbitration case then closed. Further Support Tickets will be handled directly by a Support Engineer w/o moving this case into the Disputes queue. So the Support Engineer follows the ruling from the old case by adding the old Arbitration case number to the Support Ticket notes and by adding the new Support Ticket number to the old Arbitration case through the Post Arbitration log so a reference in both directions to the Support Ticket and to the Arbitration case exists. See Arbitrations/a20100210.2 as an example. This is to legalize and to keep track to the Support Engineers execution in further support cases regarding this case.
BernhardFröhlich: I anticipate a misunderstanding here. From context I'd say that the term "Precedent Case" in this paragraph wants to describe a support action which refers to a Precedence Arbitration Case as authorisation. Maybe some other term like "Follow up case" should be used
- The Precedent ruling is recorded in the Precedent Arbitration case page
- The following executions handled with this Precedent Arbitration case were not recorded as long as no new Arbitration case number will be opened.
- So therefore, the recording of execution actions needs to be added to the Precedent case Wiki page
In case of the recurring Events scripts mailings, each executed mailing is added as After Arbitration Ruling note at the bottom of the Precedent Arbitration case Wiki page
Known Precedents Cases
G
Event officer request recurrent notification to assurers near the location of the following ATEs - Precedent Case
A
User not registered under full name. Ruling accepts a common short name in the account. - Precedents Case
A
User name is written in all lower-case (case-sensitive/case-insensitive) - Precedents Case
S
Birthdate error (with assurance points). Revoke assurance 24 hours / 3 days / 7 days after an event - Precedents Case
S
Password Reset Procedure w/ Assurers - Precedents Case
S
Changing transliteration (diacritics) in my first name (Lukasz K) - Precedents Case
S
Small modification in username + Account Cleanup (Dirk R) - Precedents Case
S
Correction first/last-name swap (Rudy J) - Precedents Case
S
Name Change after Marriage w/ Assurance (Markus M) - Precedents Case
A
Givenname with Hyphen, 2nd givenname missing - Precedents Case
S
Removal of suffix - Precedents Case
G
Scripted Mailing to Organisation contacts
S
Delete Account cases which may be handled by SE - No Assurances given, no certs or certs expired - Precedents Case
S
Minor account data differences which may be handled by SE - Precedents Case
Legend: to handle by ....
A
Arbitration, Assurance: This type of precedent case are precedent for Assurers. Arbitrators can follow this precedent ruling in a new case. New cases has to move to arbitration. Its likely that the new arbitrator references the new case to the existing precedent case
G
Generic authorisations for other Areas (Events, Org Assurance)
S
A dispute filing request, that can be handled by Support-Engineers w/o moving to arbitration
Questions
Inputs & Thoughts
20100225 Iang
* Correct spelling is Precedent. The confusion arises from another similar word that sounds similar in the plural: precedence, meaning priority.
20100225 Iang
* but is an SE free to follow the decision without the case being instantiated?
20100722 u60
Current practice is to add advice to Support, to add the Support Ticket number and Date as post arbitration note onto a precedent case. See precedent cases
20100909 BernhardFröhlich
A more formal thing, does this page indeed belong to the General Overview? I'd say it is a specific issue that should be addressed in the section which gives the details about the ruling...
20100909 u60
As Arbitrator you have to follow Policies, have to check Guidelines. You have to take into account that actions that are made before a defined date and time have to be weighted different. In this workflow on discovery, you can make your life easier as Arbitrator by checking for precedents cases. So, you should keep yourself informed about related arbitration cases and precedents cases. Precedent cases nature is, that the Arbitrator has made long deliberations over a case, to check all aspects related to a case. i.e. NB made a precedents ruling about Delete an Account back in 2008. But this case has been overruled by at least 2 other Arbitrators who added several more deliberations that needs take into account about such a case. You'll remember about our first Arbitration team meeting in Jan 2010 with topic "How to handle Delete Account cases". A discussion over 6 hours. So using a precedent case as a template for your similar case you're working on is the basis of your new ruling over a new case or its a precedents case for support actions