III
RULES OF PROCEDURE IN FORMAL DEBATE
All delegates should be
aware that the rules are intended to facilitate debate and to accord to all members their democratic right to voice an opinion. The
Presidents and Chairs of the various assemblies will
apply the rules to this end. They will not tolerate the
misuse of the rules for obstructive or restrictive purposes.
1. Membership - Credentials
All THIMUN Conference
participants will be identified by the official THIMUN badge.
2. Duties of delegates
Each delegate has the duty
to:
- respect the decisions of
the President or Chair at all times;
- obtain the floor before
speaking;
- stand when speaking;
- yield the floor when
required to do so by the President or Chair;
- be courteous at all times;
- avoid the use of insulting
or abusive language.
3. United Nations Charter
Delegations should, at all
times, act in accordance with the articles and principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.
4. Parliamentary Procedure
Except where otherwise
adapted or limited by the following, Robert’s Rules of parliamentary
procedure will be used at all times.
In general, the Chairs will
know the proper procedure, how to apply the rules and whom to
recognize. They are available to give help and information. Delegates should not be afraid to ask for clarification or explanation. This can
easily be done by rising to a point of order, a point of
information to the Chair or a point of parliamentary
enquiry. Such points may not interrupt a speech, however.
5. Written communication between
delegations
All written communication
transmitted through the Administrative Staff must be written on
identifiable notepaper, with a distinctive heading. Messages must bear clear FROM and TO designations at the top of the paper. Messages not
fulfilling the above requirements will not be
transmitted. Delegations are expected to provide their own
notepaper.
6. Opening Speeches in
General Assembly
Opening policy statements
given at the first session of the General Assembly shall not exceed ONE minute and are not to be interrupted. The
time taken for translation of all speeches not given in
English will be included in the minute allowed for the speech. After the
drawing by lot of the first country to speak, the speaking order will follow alphabetically. Non-member delegations will be accorded the
right to speak only when all country delegations have
spoken. The designated speaker for each successive
country must be in position at the podium as that nation responds to the roll call, otherwise the right to speak will be forfeited.
7. Right of Reply to Opening
Speeches
No more than three
applications for the right of reply to an opening speech will be entertained after a specified number of opening speeches. Such replies
may not exceed thirty seconds and must refer to one of the
preceding opening speeches.
8. Quorum
A majority of the total
membership of each forum shall constitute a quorum.
9. Amendments to the Agenda
Proposed amendments to the
agenda may be submitted in each forum at the start of business. Only amendments
which propose to add an issue to the agenda will be in order. If such an
amendment passes, the new issue will normally be debated after the previously
published issues, pro-vided that a resolution on the issue has been approved.
Amendments to the agenda must be proposed in the form of a motion to be debated
and should be submitted in writing to the President or Chair on an Amendment
Sheet.
10. Powers of the
President/Chair in Limiting, Extending or Suspending Debate
The President/Chair will
propose the limitation of debate time for each motion.
This will normally be:
Main motions: 20 minutes
open debate or 10 minutes for and 10 minutes against (or 10 minutes
against followed by 10 minutes for) Amendments: 10
minutes open debate or 5 minutes for and 5 minutes against (or 5 minutes against followed by 5 minutes for) When debate time
has been exhausted, the Chair will propose either the extension of debate time (e.g. by 10 minutes open debate or 5 minutes for, 5
minutes against), or the closure of debate and subsequent
vote on the question being considered (the Previous
Question).
Open debate will be the norm
for the Special Conference, the Councils and the Commissions,
where a high degree of consensus is aimed at. In the Committees of the General Assembly and in the General Assembly itself, where the more contentious issues are likely to be discussed, the norm will be closed
debate.
In any case, the
President/Chair will be unlikely to grant a motion for, or move, the Previous
Question if there has been no opportunity to hear more than one side of the
argument. The President/Chair may, in the interest of debate, or in order to work towards consensus, call upon a particular delegation to speak,
even if they have not requested the floor. The President/Chair
may also, for the same purposes, restrict the speaking time
of an individual delegate. The limitations of debate time will include the time taken for replies to points of information but
will not include the time taken for questions to the speaker
or for other interruptions. There will be an absolute
maximum debate time for one resolution of two hours in the Special Conference, the Councils and Commissions, ninety minutes in the GA
Committees and thirty minutes in General Assembly
(including all interruptions). At the end of this time a
resolution must either be voted on or tabled.
Only
the President, Chair or the Secretary General are empowered to call recesses or adjournments or to suspend the rules. Appeals from the decision of
the Chair are not debatable. Such appeals will be put directly to the vote. A
two-thirds vote against the Chair’s decision is required for
such an appeal to be upheld.
11. Objections to the Main
Motion
Only in exceptional
circumstances will Presidents or Chairs entertain Objections to the
Consideration of a Motion. A delegate objecting to the consideration of a proposed resolution will be required to explain, in an uninterrupted
speech not exceeding one minute, the reason for his
objection. The submitter of the motion will then be
accorded a right of reply of equal length after which a vote will be taken on the objection. Once a main motion has lost to an objection to
its consideration, it cannot be reconsidered at any
time.
An objection to the
consideration of a main motion, which requires a two-thirds majority, will not be in order in the General Assembly. There can be no
objection to the consideration of an amendment.
The President or Chair may
refuse to sustain an objection to the consideration if he perceives it to be entirely destructive or merely being used for
tactical purposes not connected with the sub-stance of the resolution. The
objection will not then be put to the vote and the decision of the
President/Chair is final.
12. Amendments
Amendments can only be submitted
by a speaker who has the floor. The intention of proposed
amendments to resolutions should normally be to improve the
resolution with the object of achieving a wider consensus and thus helping the resolution to pass. In closed debate,
amendments will normally be moved in debate time against the resolution.
However, the intention
should still be constructive not destructive.
If the amendment fails, the
speaker who proposed it will retain the floor on the
main motion.
13. Reconsideration and
Tabling
Once a proposal has been
formally adopted or rejected by a vote of the assembly concerned, it may
only be reconsidered after all business on the agenda has been dealt with, and then only by a two-thirds majority of the members
present and voting.
The motion to lay a
resolution on the table is not debatable and, when carried, temporarily disposes of the main motion and pending subsidiary motions.
A two-thirds majority is needed to take matters from the table, although
tabling itself only needs a simple majority.
14. Yielding the Floor to
other delegations
The floor may be yielded by
one delegation to another only once consecutively. Where delegations
consist of more than one member, delegates from the same delegation may not yield the floor to each other.
15. Interruption of Speeches
and Rising to Points
A speech may not be
interrupted by any point except a point of personal privilege referring to audibility. All other points, e.g.
order, parliamentary enquiry, and information to the Chair or speaker, will be dealt with only when the speaker yields the floor
either to points of information, to another delegate, or to the
President/Chair. A Point
of Personal Privilege must refer to the comfort and well-being of the delegate. It may not refer to the content of any speech and may only
interrupt a speaker if the speech is inaudible. A Point of Order may relate
to procedural matters only. A Point of Information may be directed to the Chair or to the speaker
who has the floor if he has indicated that he is willing
to yield to points of information. A point of information
must be formulated as a question, e.g. “Is the speaker aware that ...” or “Does the speaker (not) realize that...’ etc. A short introductory
statement or reference may precede the question, e.g. ‘The
speaker stated in his speech that ... Is he not aware ....?’ A series of
questions from the same questioner will not be in
order. A Point of
Parliamentary Enquiry is a point of information directed to the Chair concerning the rules of procedure. A call for the Orders of the Day is a call for the
return to the main agenda of the committee, council or
assembly. It may not interrupt a speech and must not refer to the content of a
speech.
16. Withdrawing a Motion
A motion may be withdrawn by
a decision of all the submitting countries before debate has
started, by unanimous consent of the whole assembly, or by the passing (majority vote) of a motion to permit withdrawal.
This is in order at any time before the motion is put to the vote.
17. Referring a Resolution
or Question
A resolution or question may
be referred to another Council, Commission or Committee, e.g.
to the Security Council. The desirability of referral is debatable. It requires a majority vote.
18. The Previous Question
Moving the Previous Question
calls for the closure of debate and for a vote to be taken on the
motion pending. It may be moved by the President/Chair or a speaker who has the floor.
19. Voting
Only member states of the
United Nations may vote. A delegation votes by raising its placard. In
the event of a close result, the President/Chair may institute a roll call vote
in which each member’s name is called in turn and its vote recorded. Amendments - When an amendment is moved to a proposal, the amendment
shall be voted on first. Should a second amendment be
moved to a proposal, this will be voted on before the vote is
taken on the first amendment. Where, however, the adoption of one
amendment necessarily implies the rejection of the other, the first amendment shall not be put to the vote. Conduct during
Voting - After the President/Chair has announced the start of voting procedures, no interruptions will be allowed except for points
of order connected with the actual conduct of the
voting. Explanation of vote - After the completion of
voting, one speaker of each side will be allowed one
minute to explain his vote.
Abstentions - The number of
delegations actively abstaining (as opposed to simply failing to vote)
will be recorded and the right to explain its vote may be accorded to a delegation which abstains. However, abstentions will not count
either for or against the adoption of a motion, i.e. a
resolution will pass if the number for exceeds the
number against regardless of the number of abstentions. Veto Rights - The
Security Council will apply the special provisions concerning voting as stated in the UN Charter.