Rules of Procedure
Rules of Procedure
Rules Followed During Formal GA Meetings - Discussion Phase
Quorum
The quorum is the number of Member States who need to be present for the PGA/Chair to open a meeting and for the GA to take decisions. The quorum for opening a GA meeting is one-third of the Member States in the Plenary and one-fourth of the Member States in the Main Committees. This rule is usually waived at the beginning of a session, based on General Committee¡¯s recommendation. The quorum for the adoption of resolutions/decisions and elections is a simple majority of Member States.
Points of Order
Points of order can be raised by Member States at any point in the meeting. If a delegate believes that the Chair is not following the Rules of Procedure or not being sufficiently active in ensuring others do so, they may raise a point of order. The Rules of Procedure require the Chair to interrupt proceedings to hear the point of order and to rule immediately on it (where ¡°rule¡± means to declare either that the point of order has no merit or to accept it and direct any delegate who is out of order to conform to the Rules of Procedure).
The Rules of Procedure also provide that if any delegate believes that the Chair¡¯s ruling is incorrect, they may appeal against the ruling. Because the power within a committee rests ultimately with the delegates themselves, an appeal must immediately be put to a vote. The Rules of Procedure further provide that if the appeal is successful, the Chair must immediately rule according to the appeal.
If the Chair¡¯s ruling on a point of order is appealed, the question put before the committee is whether the Chair¡¯s ruling should be accepted or rejected. If a delegate felt the Chair¡¯s ruling should be accepted, they would vote ¡°Yes.¡± They would vote ¡°No¡± to reject it.
At all times, delegates have an absolute right to raise a point of order or to challenge the Chair¡¯s ruling. But they do not have an obligation to do so and, before exercising their right, they should consider whether it is constructive to do so.
There will be many occasions during most conferences where minor¡ªor, sometimes, not so minor¡ªdepartures from the Rules of Procedure are in practice helpful to the conference. In such cases, Chairs may be tolerant for the sake of the greater good. On other occasions, some divergence from the Rules of Procedure may be accidental and inconsequential.
Moreover, all points of order take up conference time, and they all have a confrontational dimension that may be unhelpful to the conference¡¯s mood. There will be some cases in which the prudent and constructive thing to do is not to raise a point of order, even though one would be technically justified.
To appeal a Chair¡¯s ruling is considered confrontational and as such, very rarely occurs. However, as with other such ¡°reserve powers¡± (as they are known to constitutional lawyers), the very existence of the ability to appeal gives every Chair a very strong incentive to always behave and rule correctly.
There is a widely used convention for signalling to the Chair that the reason you are asking for the floor is to raise a point of order rather than simply seeking to add your name to the speakers¡¯ list: Delegates at the UN use electronic signalling, but MUN delegates can make a ¡°T¡± with their hand and nameplate if the room is not electronically equipped.
Some delegates at times attempt to abuse the right to raise points of order to ¡°jump the queue¡± of the speakers¡¯ list and speak instead on substance. At other times they may be simply using up time, sowing confusion and souring the atmosphere in an attempt to prevent the conference from reaching the conclusion desired by the majority of delegations.
Suspension of a Meeting
A meeting can be suspended for a limited amount of time upon the request of a Member State or by the PGA. A suspended meeting is usually resumed on the same day.
Adjournment of a Meeting
A meeting can be adjourned upon the request of a Member State or by the PGA. An adjournment calls a meeting to a close. Any continued consideration of an item will take place at another meeting usually on another day.
Adjournment of a Debate
Adjournments of debate end parts or all of the consideration of the agenda item concerned. This can mean ending the debate, blocking action on a specific draft resolution/decision or ending the consideration of the item as a whole (i.e., closing the item for the remainder of the session). Member States requesting an adjournment of debate specify which part of the consideration is to be ended. The motion to adjourn debate is put to an immediate vote, carried by a simple majority, after a maximum of two delegations have spoken in favour and two against. The term ¡°no-action motion¡± is used when a motion for adjournment of debate is made to block action on a specific draft resolution or decision.
Seeking the Floor and Addressing the Chair
The universal rules of debate are:
- No one (other than the Chair) may intervene in the debate (i.e., speak so as to be heard by the conference) without having been given the floor by the Chair
- When anyone other than the Chair intervenes, they must address their remarks to the Chair (although everyone understands that what they say is meant for the whole conference)
The purpose of these rules is clear. They ensure that only one person speaks at any given time and allow the Chair to steer the debate. They also tend to dampen any tendency towards quarrels between delegates, at least in the formal setting. This is extremely important, as quarrelsome behaviour is inimical to agreement.
The first rule also means that delegates have to exert themselves to be given the floor. A delegate can seek the floor (i.e., ask for permission to speak) in two ways, namely by:
- Asking the Chair or the Secretary (who often helps the Chair to keep track of such requests) to add their name to the list of speakers. They can do this by approaching the Chair or the Secretary directly while the conference is not in session, or by passing a message to them.
- Signalling from the floor (i.e., from their seat, while the conference is in session) that they want to speak. The widely used convention is that the delegate raises their nameplate or sticks it vertically in its holder, lowering it when they believe their request has been noted or, at the latest, once they have spoken.
The Chair (or the Secretary as their assistant) keeps a list of delegations wishing to address the conference at all times. This is known as a speakers¡¯ list. While the Rules of Procedure of most conferences specify that the floor should be given to delegations in the order in which their requests are received, in practice, the Chair often has some leeway.
Rules Followed When Taking Action on Draft Resolutions
Voting on Resolutions
It is assumed that all tabled draft resolutions/decisions will be adopted without a vote (i.e., by consensus). If a resolution will not be adopted by consensus, the PGA/Chair is usually informed beforehand that a vote will be requested.
Voting on Amendments
Amendments to a tabled draft resolution/decision are either formally submitted and issued as L-documents by the day before the scheduled action, or proposed orally from the floor, if no Member State objects. If there are several amendments proposed, the PGA/Chair decides on the sequence of consideration. If amendments are adopted, the draft resolution will be considered as ¡°draft resolution L.XX as amended.¡±
Voting on Paragraphs
A Member State can request a separate vote on parts of a draft resolution before the adoption of the whole text. This can pertain to parts of a paragraph, an entire paragraph or several paragraphs. If challenged, the request for a paragraph vote will be put to an immediate vote, carried by a simple majority, after a maximum of two delegations have spoken in favour of and two against the request. A paragraph vote will be immediately followed by the consideration of the whole draft resolution/decision. Adoption without a vote remains the assumption. If all operative paragraphs are rejected, the draft resolution/ decision is considered rejected as a whole. These cases are rare. Voting on a paragraph may also be called a ¡°paragraph vote,¡± a ¡°division of proposal,¡± a ¡°divided vote,¡± or a ¡°separate vote.¡±
Explanation of a Vote
Before and after action is taken on a draft resolution/decision, Member States can explain their vote or¡ªin the case of an adoption, by consensus¡ª their position. The main sponsor and the co-sponsors of a draft resolution cannot make explanations of vote. An explanation of vote concerning a paragraph vote is made only after action is taken on the whole resolution/decision. Member States are asked to refrain from making explanations of vote on the same draft resolution/decision in both the Main Committee and the Plenary unless their vote has changed.
The Spoken Word
Other rules of debate are not spelt out in the written Rules of Procedure but are enshrined in the tradition ¡°culture¡± of each conference. For example, normally it is the tradition for each Member State to make one statement during the General Debate and if they request to speak a second time, it is the tradition for them to start by apologizing. This is not articulated in any Rule of Procedure but is a long-standing tradition.
Sometimes a tradition may after many years be mistaken by a delegate to be a Rule of Procedure because it has been observed for such a long time.
Informal Meetings
Some MUN conferences refer to informal consultations as moderated and unmoderated caucuses. Although these types of meetings do occur at the UN, this terminology is not used. Delegates at the UN engage in informal consultations. A moderated caucus at the UN would correspond to an informal consultation where the Chair remains to preside over a meeting but the Rules of Procedure are suspended. This type of meeting would be referred to at the UN as a ¡°formal informal.¡± The Chair, however, is not always present at a formal informal meeting. It can also be led by a facilitator appointed by the Bureau. At other times, delegates may meet in the corner of a conference room or in another location to discuss a draft resolution. This type of meeting is called an ¡°informal informal¡± and is most similar to what is sometimes called an unmoderated caucus in some MUN conferences.