Procedures for Suspending or Banning Members

Suspension

Managers and Moderators (including Assistants) may suspend an individual from an element of SABRE under their responsibility for up to two weeks provided they:

• Have the agreement of at least one other Elected Officer with the exception of the President;
• Inform the person being suspended by e-mail of the reasons for their suspension;
• Inform the Committee at the earliest opportunity of the reason for suspending the member.

The member shall be reinstated no later than two weeks after suspension unless a "Ban" vote is underway - in which case reinstatement may be deferred until after the end of the voting period.

The suspended member has the right of appeal to the Committee via the President and should be advised of this through e-mail at the time the suspension is implemented.

If a chatroom moderator has to suspend someone on three or more occasions in a week, the situation shall be referred to another moderator with a view to implementing a two-week suspension. In the event that two or more two-week suspensions are implemented in an 8 week period, then the situation shall be referred to the committee.

Chatroom moderators may refer an issue to the committee at any time and the committee may, at its discretion, choose to take different action from that outlined in this procedure.

Banning

Complaints may be received from both Active Members and from Discussion Group Members who have posted to the Internet Discussion Group within the 30 days prior to that individual member's complaint.

At all times, the names of the complainants will remain confidential to the President, and optionally either the Secretary or one other Elected Officer, whom the President wishes to confide in. The Officer confided in must be neither the subject to the complaints, nor one of the complainants, and must keep the names of the complainants confidential. The President is not required to confide the names to another Officer, but if this happens, it will be announced at the start of any vote and that Officer will be disqualified from voting.

The complainants may, if they so wish, waive any right to confidentiality.

A ban vote is automatically triggered if the President receives formal complaints from more members (of any standing) than 2% of the number of Active Members, or from 5 Members, whichever is the larger.

The member facing the complaints cannot be an Elected Officer, and no more than 50% of the complainants can be Elected Officers. An Elected Officer must be the subject of a no-confidence vote prior to being subject to a banning vote.

Except in the circumstances outlined in this procedure, no ban of any member will take place without a vote by the entire Active Membership.

Before any ban vote takes place, the President's first action is to contact the member concerned by e-mail and inform them that complaints have been received and that a ban vote is imminent. The member will then have time, at the President's discretion, to explain their actions and provide a counter-argument to the complaints.

Votes should be sent to the President. In order to vote, the same criteria are used as for Elected Officer elections.

Votes can be cast stating simply SABRE screen name, and the words BAN or NO BAN, as appropriate. The vote will be by a simple majority. In the event of a tie, then the casting vote shall be for NO BAN.

All members who fulfil the criteria are entitled to vote, with the exception of the member concerned.

The ban shall be attached to the individual, not the Discussion Group Membership.

If the banned former member re-joins the Discussion Group under a new Discussion Group Membership, then that new Discussion Group Member can be re-banned immediately by the Site Management Team, without resorting to a new vote. If the banned former member attempts to use any other SABRE facility (for example, Chat), then they may be immediately re-banned by the appropriate Management or Moderating Team. If this situation arises, then it shall be reported to the Committee.

One week shall be allowed for voting. The announcement of the result will be posted to the Discussion Group no later than 24 hours after the conclusion of the vote.

No debate on this issue will be allowed on any forum, with the exception of the Canvassing section of SABRE Admin, and the management or moderating team shall be required to delete any messages regarding the banning vote, other than those required postings by the President. The President will post the arguments in favour of and against the ban, as presented in the complaints received and any response made by the member concerned. A new thread should be used for all different votes.

Any queries regarding the process should be sent directly to the President via e-mail, and a response shall be given by e-mail, as well as on the boards should the President deem necessary.

Banning of New Members

By unanimous agreement, the Site Management Team may cancel the accounts of new members whose posts consist mostly of spam or offensive material, and who have demonstrated little interest in discussing roads.