Summary

  • RIPE NCC members will vote to fill six Arbiter Panel seats from eight candidates at the 28–30 October 2026 General Meeting.
  • The current procedure limits the panel to defined registration and service disputes, calls its process informal rather than Dutch civil-law arbitration, and leaves national courts available to challenge rulings.

The word “arbitration” sounds like a forum that can settle almost any quarrel. RIPE NCC’s own Conflict Arbitration Procedure draws a narrower line. It says the panel may hear specified disputes about registration services and evaluate certain requests for Internet number resources. It also says that anything outside the listed scope cannot be brought to the panel. The name of the remedy is therefore less informative than the claims it can accept and the authority that remains elsewhere.

That boundary matters as members prepare to elect six people from eight candidates at the General Meeting on 28–30 October. Voting is scheduled to open at about 18:00 UTC+2 on 28 October, close at 09:00 on 30 October, and be followed by results at 10:30. Members must register through the LIR Portal to vote. The elected arbiters are due to serve until the end of the Autumn General Meeting in 2031. The vote chooses who may serve; the procedure defines what the panel can do.

Under the June 2025 procedure, the panel can handle disputes between members and RIPE NCC over Executive Board or Management Team decisions concerning the Standard Service Agreement, including RIPE NCC procedures and implementation of RIPE Policies. It can also address disputes between members about number-resource registration, and disputes involving legacy resource holders over implementation of the relevant legacy-services policy. A claim must seek an actionable and enforceable outcome. Services whose terms specify a competent national court are outside this procedure.

The document is unusually explicit about the legal boundary: the process is informal and is not intended to be “Arbitration” under Dutch civil law. Parties may challenge an arbiter ruling before Dutch or another competent national court. That does not make the panel meaningless. It makes it one internal route, with its own gate and limits, rather than a substitute for courts or a general appeal over every RIPE NCC decision.

The October election is one layer of control. The Executive Board assesses whether applicants meet the published criteria; the General Meeting has final authority to approve arbiter appointments. The procedure requires Internet-environment knowledge, IT-sector experience, and familiarity with RIPE NCC procedures and policies. It also requires impartiality, a signed commitment to the Code of Conduct and a yearly declaration concerning financial misconduct. These rules describe safeguards on paper; the election itself does not test how they will work in a contested case.

A member considering a claim should first identify the decision, contractual or policy hook, requested remedy and evidence that the issue is within scope. The procedure asks parties to document their grievance, communicate it to the other side and try to resolve it first. A request must be made within a reasonable period, capped at one year. The panel’s usefulness will turn on how clearly that route is explained and whether its rulings are reasoned enough to guide members without pretending to replace court review.

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