Model UN rules
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33 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Powers of the Chair | A. Declare sessions open and closed; B. Direct all discussions of the body; C. Call delegates to order if they exceed time constraints or make remarks irrelevant to the current discussion; D. Set time constraints on speeches and debates at discretion; E. Interpret these rules and rule on all points of order; F. Retain the right to speak, put forth questions, and announce decisions; and, G. Exercise control over all proceedings of the body to ensure the smooth functioning of the body. |
| Limit of Debate: | Unless specifically determined otherwise by the Chair, the limit of debate on one resolution is set at two hours. At the end of this limit, debate will cease, any amendments on the floor will be voted on, and the body will move into an immediate vote on the resolution at hand. |
| Procedural | These are votes on motions or activities of the body. For procedural matters all delegates must vote; the body will be asked to vote again if not all members vote. Delegates must vote FOR or AGAINST, no one can ABSTAIN. Procedural votes are to be conducted with delegates holding their placards high and vertically. |
| Substantive | These are votes on resolutions or amendments. A majority must be present for a substantive vote to occur. Delegates may vote FOR or AGAINST, or they may ABSTAIN. Substantive votes are to be conducted with delegates holding their placard high and horizontally. |
| Roll Call | Roll Call will be conducted at the beginning of each session. Countries may either declare themselves Present or Present and Voting. Countries which are Present may ABSTAIN when voting. Countries who are Present and Voting must vote FOR or AGAINST on resolutions and amendments. You may speak in any position (FOR, AGAINST, or TO) regardless of how you are declared on the roll call. If you enter committee after the roll call has been conducted, send a note to the Chair with your country's name and whether you are Present or Present and Voting. If you are departing a session early, send a note to the Chair requesting to be removed from the roll. Following each roll call, the Chair will inform the body what the quorum for the body is, what constitutes a majority of the body, and what constitutes a 2/3 majority of the body. Chairs will update the body on any changes to these numbers and prior to any voting session. |
| Quorum | One-third of the Member-States constitutes quorum for debate in plenary and committee sessions. No body may come to a vote unless it has a majority of Member-States present. |
| Establishing and Changing the Agenda: Plenary | At the beginning of the second plenary session, the establishment of an agenda will proceed as in committee sessions. The resolutions that are available to be discussed will be those passed in previous committee sessions, as amended, and any resolution deemed by the Secretariat to be of major importance. |
| Important Question | A resolution may be deemed an important question by a majority vote of the body. This motion is in order only from the time the Chair finishes reading a resolution until the time the Speaker's List is formed. The decision to make a resolution an important question will be debated by two speaking FOR and two AGAINST. If the motion passes, the resolution will require a two-thirds vote to pass, as put forth in Article 18 of the Charter of the United Nations. Only those resolutions debated in Plenary Session can be deemed an important question. |
| 10. Speaker's List | Delegates may speak FOR, AGAINST, or TO a resolution or amendment. The Speaker's List recorded by the Chair is the official Speaker's List by which the order of speakers will be determined. The Rapporteur of each Committee will also record a Speaker's List, but this list is solely for the convenience of the body and may not be as accurate as that of the Chairs. Any Member-State wishing to be added to, removed from, or moved on from one column to another on the Speaker's List must make such a request to the Chair in writing. This request should include the name of your country, where you currently are on the Speaker's List or if you are not on the Speaker's List, and where you would like to be placed. These notes should be written as clear and legible as possible. Changing your stance on the Speaker's List will result in you being placed at the bottom of your new column. |
| Setting the Speaker's Time | The Chair will set the initial speaker's time for all matters which are debated. Delegates wishing to change the speaker's time may motion for the Chair raise or lower the speaker's time. The decision on whether to change the speaker's time will be at the discretion of the Chair. |
| Caucus | Any Member-State may, when recognized by the Chair, ask for a caucus. Unless otherwise stated by the Chair in a committee or plenary session, all caucuses will be unmoderated. When making this motion, delegates will be asked to specify the duration of the caucus; however it is the right of the Chair to grant time limits that are shorter or longer than initially suggested. Entertainment of this motion is at the discretion of the Chair. |
| Yielding Speaker's Time | A delegate who completes a speech before his or her time has expired has the option to yield the remaining time to another delegate or the Chair. Should they yield time to another delegate in the same column of the Speaker's List as the yielding delegate; the delegate to whom time is yielded forfeits his or her position on the Speaker's List. The delegate to whom time is yielded cannot yield to a third delegate, only to the Chair. Whenever time is yielded, the two delegates will be regarded as one speaker for the purposes of procedural matters (ie. points of information and meeting the required number of speakers for the initiation of a motion). If a delegate yields his or her time to the Chair, the Chair will then acknowledge points of information directed at the speaker. Yielding speaker's time is in order only for speeches on resolutions and amendments. |
| Tabling and Recall | Any Member-State may move to table a resolution during Plenary and Committee Sessions. The motion for tabling is in order only when no one has the floor. Tabling may be either until a specific time or indefinitely. This motion is in order until such time as the Chair closes debate on the resolution or amendment. Resolutions and amendments that are not tabled indefinitely may be recalled by the Member-State that made the motion to table. Both the motion to table and the motion to recall will be debated by two speakers FOR and two speakers AGAINST the motion and will be decided by a majority vote. A motion to table or recall that fails to win a majority vote cannot be entertained again until after another two speakers have spoken FOR and two speakers have spoken AGAINST the subject at hand. |
| Unfriendly Amendments: | Any Member-State may propose an amendment to a resolution on the floor. The amendment must have been received by the Chair in writing before the amendment can be debated. At the Chair's discretion, the sponsor of the amendment may be given first right to speak FOR the amendment. No amendments may be amended once they have been introduced. |
| Amendments, Plenary Sessions: | In plenary sessions, amendments require five co-sponsors, though delegates are encouraged to acquire as many sponsors as they can. Furthermore, the resolution can only be amended three times by the body. In plenary sessions, any amendment must be submitted in writing and received by the Chair at the beginning of debate, before the first speaker on the resolution. |
| Amendments, Committee Sessions: | In committee sessions, amendments require only three co-sponsors, though delegates are encouraged to acquire as many sponsors as they can. In committee, amendments can be submitted to the Chair at any time before a successful cloture of debate has been made on the resolution. Furthermore, a resolution may be amended unlimited times until a motion for cloture of debate has passed; at which point, the Chair will no longer accept any amendments. |
| Amendments, Friendly | Friendly amendments are only in order in committee sessions; they are never in order during plenary session. A friendly amendment requires the original sponsor of the resolution on the floor to retain sponsorship or co-sponsorship of the amendment. Friendly amendments will become part of the resolution without debate or vote, provided the resolution is still in its original form and has not been previously amended by other means. |
| Cloture of Debate: Resolutions | A motion for cloture is in order after three speakers have spoken FOR a resolution and three have spoken AGAINST. |
| Cloture of Debate: Amendments | Cloture of debate on an amendment is not in order until after two speakers have spoken FOR the amendment and two speakers have spoken AGAINST it. |
| Cloture of Debate: General | The motion for cloture will be debated by one speaker FOR and one speaker AGAINST cloture. To pass, the motion must receive an affirmative vote by two-thirds of the body. If the motion fails, it will not be in order again until after two more speakers have spoken FOR and two more speakers have spoken AGAINST the amendment or resolution being discussed. |
| Votes | Voting will be executed using either placard or roll call votes. The mode of voting is at the Chair's discretion, but roll-call votes may be motioned for by any Member-State. |
| Majority and Two-Thirds Votes Explained | For a matter requiring a majority vote, more than fifty percent of Member-States voting must vote FOR the matter at hand. Matters requiring a two-thirds vote require the consent at least sixty-six and two-thirds percent of the Member-States voting in order to be approved. |
| Division | The motion to divide a resolution must be received by the Chair in writing, and is in order only after debate has been closed and before voting begins. The Chair will notify the body that they have received a request for a division of the resolution at this time. The motion will then be debated by one speaker FOR and one AGAINST, and requires a two-thirds vote in favor in order to pass. If the body consents to division, each operative clause of the resolution will be voted on separately. Finally, after all operative clauses have been voted on, the approved clauses will be voted on as a whole, separate resolution. |
| Roll Call Vote | A roll call vote consists of the votes of each Member-State being recorded. This will be done in alphabetical order. Member-States wishing to explain their vote may vote "with rights." This must be indicated to the Chair at the time of that delegation's vote. For example, "Algeria votes FOR with rights." Delegates voting with rights will be asked to form a line at the podium until all votes are recorded, at which time they will be given time to explain their reason for voting the way they did. Roll call votes are only in order during substantive votes. |
| Changes of Vote | Member-States may change their vote only in the case of roll-call votes. Votes may only be changed from the time the delegate announces their vote or the last speaker has explained their vote (whichever occurs last) until the time the Chair announces the results of the vote. Member-States may only change their vote once per voting procedure. |
| Point of Order | A point of order is in order at any time when the Rules of Procedure have been violated and will be ruled on immediately by the Chair. |
| Point of Information | Setting the Points of Information Per Speaker: It is the job of the Chair to determine the number of points of information which will be allowed per speaker. Delegates desiring more or less points of information per speaker must motion for the number of points of information be increased or decreased. Decisions on this matter are at the discretion of the Chair. General: A point of information is in order only when no one has the floor, and takes the form of a question directed at the Chair or another delegate who has just spoken before the body. When a point of information is directed at a delegate, the delegate has the option to either yield or not yield to the point. Furthermore, all dialogue must go through the Chair. There is to be no dialogue between delegates during a point of information. However, delegates are not allowed an infinite number of questions. If they fail to yield to all of their allotted points of information, they will not be given additional points of information. For example, if delegates are allotted two points of information and a delegate chooses not to yield to either, he will have exhausted his points of information and will be asked to return to his seat. |
| Right of Reply | At the Chair's discretion, any Member-State may be granted the right of reply in order to address any serious insults or injuries that would tarnish the dignity of the delegate or the Member-State which that delegate represents. The right of reply must be made immediately after the delegate has finished speaking. Delegates wishing to obtain a right of reply must be able to repeat the exact insult or injury which was leveled against them. Rights of reply are in order only when no one has the floor and are at the discretion of the Chair. Rights of reply may not be insulting in nature. |
| Appeals | Any decision of the Chair may be appealed, with the exception of decisions which are at the Chair's discretion. The delegate asking for and making the appeal will speak FOR the appeal, while the Chair or the Chair's appointed representative will speak AGAINST it. To overturn the Chair's decision, two-thirds of the body must vote in favor of the appeal. |
| Recess and Adjournment | The motion for recess or adjournment is in order at any time and is not debated. A majority vote is necessary for the motion to pass; however, entertainment of this motion is at the discretion of the Chair. |
| Suspension of Rules | This motion is only in order after a request for such a motion is made by the Chair. It is not debated and requires a two-thirds vote to pass. |
| Point of Personal Privilege | A point of personal privilege is in order at any time, but this right should only be invoked under genuinely intolerable situations. |
| Precedence | A. Point of Order B. Point of Personal Privilege C. Motion to Recess of Adjourn D. Motion to Appeal the Chair E. Motion to Table F. Cloture of Debate G. Debate of Amendment H. Debate of Resolution I. Withdrawal or Reintroduction of Resolution J. Division K. Important Question L. Point of Information M. Motion for Caucus N. Explanation of Vote O. Suspension of Rules |
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