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Rules of Procedure
Official and working language
Rule 1
English shall be the official and working language of the Committees.
I. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS
Conduct of Quorum
Rule 2
The Chairperson may declare a meeting open and permit debate to
proceed when delegates of at least one third of the members of the
Committee are present. The presence of delegates of a majority of
the members of the body concerned shall be required for any decision
to be taken.
General Powers of the Chairperson
Rule 3
In addition to exercising the powers conferred upon him/her elsewhere
by these rules, the Chairperson shall declare the opening and closing
of each meeting of the Committee, direct the discussions, ensure
observance of these rules, accord the right to speak, put questions
to the vote and announce decisions. The Chairperson, subject to
these rules shall have complete control of the proceedings of the
Committee and over the maintenance of order at its meetings. She/He
shall rule on points of order. She/He may propose to the Committee
the closure of the list of speakers, a limitation on the time to
be allowed to speakers and on the number of times the delegate of
each member may speak on an item, the adjournment or closure of
the debate, and the suspension or adjournment of a meeting.
Points of order
Rule 4
During the discussion of any matter, a delegate may rise to a point
of order. The chairperson's decision will be given immediately and
will be considered final and ultimate.
Note: See Notice on page 2 - H - 8 for summary of rule changes
Speeches
Rule 5
1. No one may address the Committee without having previously obtained
the permission of the Chairperson. The Chairperson shall call upon
speakers in the order in which they signify their desire to speak.
2. Debate shall be confined to the question before the Committee,
and the Chairperson may call a speaker to order if his/her remarks
are not relevant to the subject under discussion.
3. The Committee may limit the time allowed to speakers and the
number of times the delegate of each member may speak on any question:
permission to speak on a motion to set such limits shall be accorded
only to two delegates favoring and to two opposing such limits,
after which the motion shall be put to the vote immediately. Interventions
on procedural questions shall not exceed five minutes unless the
Committee decides otherwise. When debate is limited and a speaker
exceeds the allotted time, the Chairperson shall call him/her to
order without delay.
Closing of list of speakers
Rule 6
Members may only be on the list of speakers once but may be added
again after having spoken. During the course of a debate the Chairperson
may announce the list of speakers and, with the consent of the committee,
declare the list closed. When there are no more speakers, the Chairperson
shall, with the consent of the Committee, declare the debate closed.
Such closure shall have the same effect as closure by decision of
the Committee.
Rule 7
If a remark impugns the integrity of a delegate's state, the Chairperson
may permit a right of reply following the conclusion of the controversial
speech, and shall determine an appropriate time limit for the reply.
No ruling on this question shall be subject to appeal.
Suspension of the meeting
Rule 8
During the discussion of any matter, a delegate may move the suspension
of the meeting specifying a time for reconvening. Such motions shall
not be debated but shall be put to the vote immediately.
Rule 9
During the discussion of any matter, a delegate may move the adjournment
of the meeting. Such motions shall not be debated but shall be put
to the vote immediately. Adjournment of meeting is only in order
within 15 minutes to the scheduled time when the committee is to
adjourn. After adjournment, the Committee shall reconvene at its
next regularly scheduled meeting time. Adjournment of the final
meeting shall adjourn the session.
Adjournment of debate
Rule 10
A delegate may at any time move the adjournment of debate on the
item under discussion. Permission to speak on the motion shall be
accorded only to two delegates favoring and to two opposing the
adjournment, after which the motion shall be put to the vote immediately.
If a motion for adjournment is passed, the topic is considered dismissed
and no action will be a taken on it.
Closure of debate
Rule 11
A delegate may at any time move the closure of debate on the item
under discussion, whether or not any other delegate has signified
his/her wish to speak. Permission to speak on the motion shall be
accorded only to two delegates opposing the closure, after which
the motion shall be put to the vote immediately. Closure of debate
shall require a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.
If the Committee favors the closure of debate, the Committee shall
immediately move to vote on all proposals introduced under that
agenda item.
Order of motions
Rule 12
Subject to rule 4, the motions indicated below shall have precedence
in the following order over all proposals or other motions before
the meeting:
- To suspend the meeting;
- To adjourn the meeting;
- To adjourn the debate on the item under discussion;
- To close the debate on the item under discussion.
Withdrawal of motions
Rule 13
A proposal or a motion may be withdrawn by its sponsor at any time
before voting has commenced, provided that it has not been amended.
A motion thus withdrawn may be reintroduced by any delegate.
Reconsideration of proposals
Rule 14
When a proposal has been adopted or rejected, it may not be reconsidered
at the same session unless the Committee, by a two-thirds majority
of the delegates present and voting, so decides. Permission to speak
on a motion to reconsider shall be accorded only to two speakers
opposing the motion, after which it shall be put to the vote immediately.
II. VOTING
Voting rights
Rule 15
Each member of the Committee shall have one vote.
Request for a vote
Rule 16
A proposal or motion before the Committee for decision shall be
voted upon if any member so requests. Where no member requests a
vote, the Committee may adopt proposals or motions without a vote.
Majority required
Rule 17
1. Unless specified otherwise in these rules, decisions of the Committee
shall be made by a majority of the members present and voting.
2. For the purposes of tabulation, the phrase "members present
and voting" means members casting an affirmative or negative
vote. Members who abstain from voting are considered as not voting.
Method of voting
Rule 18
The Committee shall normally vote by a show of placards, except
that a delegate may request a roll call, which shall be taken in
the English alphabetical order of the names of the members, beginning
with the member whose name is drawn by lot by the Chairperson. The
name of each member shall be called in any roll call, and one its
delegates shall reply :"yes", "no" or "abstention".
Explanation of vote
Rule 19
Delegates may make brief statements consisting solely of explanation
of their votes after the voting has been completed. The delegate
of a member sponsoring a proposal or motion shall not speak in explanation
of vote thereon, except if it has been amended.
Conduct during voting
Rule 20
After the Chairperson has announced the commencement of voting,
no delegate shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order
in connection with the actual process of voting.
Division of proposals and amendments
Rule 21
Parts of a proposal or an amendment may be voted on separately if
a delegate moves that the proposal be divided. Motions for division
of proposals and amendments may be made only following a successful
motion to close debate. If there are calls for multiple divisions,
they shall be voted upon in an order to be set by the Chairperson,
where the least radical division will be voted upon first. Two delegates
may speak in favor of the motion for division, and two may speak
against it. If the motion for division is carried, those parts of
the proposal or the amendment which have been approved shall then
be put to a vote as a whole; if all operative parts of a proposal
or an amendment have been rejected, the proposal or the amendment
shall be considered to have been rejected as a whole.
Amendments
Rule 22
An amendment is a proposal that does no more than add to, delete
from or revise part of another proposal.
Order of voting on amendments
Rules 23
When an amendment is moved to a proposal, the amendment shall be
voted on first. When two or more amendments are moved to a proposal,
the amendment furthest removed in substance from the original proposal
shall be voted on first and then the amendment next furthest removed
therefrom, and so on until all the amendments have been put to the
vote. Where the adoption of one amendment necessarily implies the
rejection of another amendment, the latter shall not be put to the
vote. If one or more amendments are adopted, the amended proposal
shall then be voted on.
Order of voting on proposals
Rule 24
If two or more proposals, other than amendments, relate to the same
question, they shall, unless the Committee decides otherwise, be
voted on in the order in which they were submitted.
Revised 2/98 FGCU/jb
Notice of Changes in Parliamentary Rules of Procedure
The following is a list of changes and additions to the Rules of
Procedure for the Southwest Florida Model United Nations program.
Please review these changes.
1. Point of Order:
Point of Order has in the past been used to challenge a decision
or ruling by the chair. This procedure will no longer be allowed
due to past usages that have created obstacles in effective committee
functioning. The rules will now read as follows:
During the discussion of any matter, a delegate
may rise to a point of order. The Chairpersons decision will be
given immediately and will be considered final and ultimate.
2. Personal Privilege:
The rules of Personal Privilege in the past has been used as a mechanism
to question other delegates. This rule is only used when a delegate
cannot hear or a delegate's life is in immediate danger. Therefore,
this rule will no longer be used.
3. Resolutions and Sponsors:
In order to expedite the committee proceedings, all delegates must
have the required signatures upon presenting their resolution to
the Chairperson. In this year's simulation the required numbers
of signatures for the presentation of a resolution will be the author's
plus two (2) from member nations within the respective committee.
For an unfriendly amendment, four (4) signatures will be required,
which may include the signatures of the original signatures or the
author. This will be the standard rule for all committees with the
exception of the Security Council. In the Security Council issues
shall be discussed at the discretion of the Secretary General and
the required signatories for a resolution and amendments shall be
at the discretion of the Secretary General.
4. Amendments:
An Amendment is a proposal that adds to, deletes from or revises
part of another resolution. A friendly amendment is immediately
added to the resolution without any discussion or vote from the
committee. For an amendment to be considered friendly by a Chairperson,
all original signatories and author(s) must agree to the content
of the amendment. If they do not all agree the amendment is considered
unfriendly and must be discussed. The Chairperson will open the
speaker's list and after discussion the amendment will be brought
to a vote to determine if it will be included as part of the resolution.
1998 Clarifications and Additions
to the Rules of Parliamentary Procedure
Revisions of Rules of Procedure
1. Calling delegates to order - if a delegate does not remain
germane to the issue or if a delegate's remarks cease to add anything
new to the debate, he/she will be called to order (rule 5, point
2).
2. Time limits for speeches: general debate 5 minutes; procedural,
1 minute.
3. Yielding time: speakers can yield remainder of time to fellow
delegates.
4. Delegates may question a speaker at the end of his speech.
Questions are addressed to the Chair and the Chair will then ask
the speaker whether he/she will yield to a question. Speakers are
not obliged to yield and questions must of relevant to the subject
of the speech. The Chair may limit questioning in the interests
of expediting the procedures of the committee.
5. Suspension of meeting leads to caucus (rule 8). Caucuses
will be not more than 10 minutes in length; within that time period,
delegates can propose a time for reconvening the meeting.
6. Adjournment of meeting (rule 9) is only in order within 15
minutes to the scheduled time when the committee is to adjourn.
7. Resolutions may not be brought before the body until copies
have been distributed to all delegations.
8. Right of reply may only be exercised at the discretion of
the chair; the speeches that follow would be considered procedural
and be given one minute.
9. Rule 19: explanation of vote may only occur after the vote
has been taken.
10. Rule 21: motions for division of proposals and amendments
may be made only following a successful motion to close debate.
The following comments are delivered for better understanding of
the rules, and changes in the rules, as they effect conduct while
the committee is in session. The observations provide clarification
and additional explanation of the rules of procedure.
Rules of procedure in the context of committee deliberations
1. A resolution may be moved to the floor if it has the signatures
of the author's plus two additional signatures and if all delegates
have a copy of the resolution available. The Chair will ask whether
all delegates have a copy of the resolution. If this is not the
case, then the motion will be out of order.
2. If all delegates have copies of the resolution, then the
Chair will open a list of speakers to the resolution. Delegates
may, at any time, move to close the speakers list.
3. The establishment of a speakers list does not foreclose other
motions and proposals. Between speeches, delegates may move amendments,
if properly prepared and signed, to the floor. Once the amendment
has been acted upon, the committee will return to the speakers list
on the resolution.
4. Delegates may also make a variety of other motions between
speeches: adjournment of debate, suspension of meeting, withdrawal
of motions, etc. Note that a motion for division of proposals and
amendments would be out of order at this point; see revision #10.
5. When an amendment is moved to the floor, the Chair will ascertain
whether the amendment is friendly or unfriendly by checking with
the sponsoring delegates of the resolution. All signatories to the
resolution must agree that the amendment is friendly for the committee
to consider it so (point 4 in changes in Rules of Parliamentary
Procedure).
6. With the consent of the committee a speakers list for an
amendment may be drawn up by the Chair with speakers having 5 minutes
to speak and able to yield the remainder of their time to either
the Chair or to other specific delegations (provision on yielding
time to be added to rules of procedure).
7. With consent of committee, the Chair may close the list (simple
majority vote, rule 6).
8. At the end of speeches, delegates may ask the Chair if speakers
will yield to questions. If the integrity of a country has been
impugned, a delegate may have the right to reply at the discretion
of the Chair (rule7).
9. Delegates may, at any time, move to close debate on the amendment
(rule 11).
*two speakers against closure; 2/3rds vote
10. If there are no remaining speakers, the Chair may declare
the debate closed and the committee will move to an immediate vote
on the motion (rule 6).
11. Delegates may, at any time, move to suspend the meeting,
specifying a time when the committee will reconvene (rule 8).
*the motion shall be put to an immediate
vote
12. Delegates may, at any time, move to adjourn the debate (rule
10).
*speakers: two for; two against; majority
vote
13. After an amendment has been approved or rejected, delegates
may move to close debate on the resolution (rule 6).
14. Delegates may also move for a division of proposals and amendments
(rule 21) following a successful motion to close debate.
15. Points 7 through 14 apply to consideration of resolutions
as well as consideration of amendments. The process is the same
on both levels.
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