 | This explanatory supplement summarises differences between the old discretionary sanctions procedure and the newly adopted contentious topics procedure. This page is maintained by the arbitration clerks, but in the event of a conflict, only the contentious topics procedure is authoritative. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Contentious topics are specially-designated topics that have attracted more persistent disruptive editing than the rest of the project. This system replaced the former discretionary sanctions system, and there are several differences between the two. |
The Arbitration Committee recently adopted the contentious topics procedure, which replaces ArbCom's former "discretionary sanctions". Contentious topics and discretionary sanctions have a lot in common, but there are some noteworthy changes. If you've previously interacted with the discretionary sanctions system and you're looking for a primer on the changes, you're in the right place.
If you aren't already familiar with discretionary sanctions, it may be more useful to read the contentious topics procedure directly. This page assumes some familiarity with the old system.