Parliamentary Procedure

1. Chairperson calls the roll and ascertains that there is a quorum.

2. Chairperson calls upon the Submitter of the first resolution on the agenda. The Submitter takes the floor and is asked to read all or part of their resolution. (The chair will determine, based on time available, how much of the resolution should be read out by the Submitter.)

3. Chairperson asks for a second. Anyone may call out “second” without being recognised.

4. Chairperson will announce that ten minutes debate time ‘For’ the resolution has been set and the securitary will note the time.

5. The Submitter will be given the floor to explain the resolution. Upon completion of the explanation the speaker may do one of three things:

1)Yield the floor to the Chair;

2)Yield the floor to another country; or

3)Yield the floor to Points of Information.

Yielding the floor to the chair turns the proceedings back to the chair and the delegate returns to his/her place on the floor. The chair will decide what to do from there.

Yielding to another country gives another country an opportunity to speak in support of the resolution. The speaker that yielded the floor to the new country sits down while a delegate from the new country moves to the podium to speak for the resolution. There cannot be two consecutive yields or yielding to another member of the same delegation.

Yielding the floor to Points of Information means that the speaker is open to answer questions from persons on the floor. The chair will ask if any country has a point of information. The chair will recognise one country to ask one question of the speaker. The Point of Information MUST be in the form of a question e.g. "Is the speaker aware that..." or "Does the speaker (not) realise that..." etc. A short introductory statement of reference may precede the question e.g. "The speaker stated in his speech that.... Is he not aware...,?" Making a statement or asking a series of questions will be called ‘out of order’ by the chair. After answering the question, the speaker may continue to yield to points of information until he/she yields to the chair, yields to another country, or until debate time expires. Depending on time constraints, the chair may limit points of information to a certain number and then require the speaker to yield to the chair or to another country.

6. When the speaker has finished, he/she sits down and, if debate time remains, the Chairperson will offer the floor to any other country that wishes to speak “for’’ the resolution. When debate ‘for’ the resolution has expired, or no other delegate wishes to speak ‘for’ the resolution, the chairperson will declare the opening of debate ‘against’ the resolution and ask if anyone wishes to speak ‘against’ the resolution.

7. It is during the debate time that the following motions can be brought up, if the mover is recognised and has the floor - ‘Amendments’, ‘laying on the table’, and ‘postpone indefinitely’.

a) An ‘amendment’ is a change in the main motion or resolution. It can be an addition, a deletion or a substitution of words or sentences in the original resolution. The delegate with an amendment must have the amendment in writing for the chairperson and must have the floor. The delegate says “I move to amend the resolution by...” He must have a second and it must be debated. When an amendment is brought up and seconded, then debate on the main motion stops and the amendment is treated like a main motion (go back to 4.: debate on amendment during set time, vote on amendment). If it is approved, the amendment becomes part of the main motion and debate on the amended resolution resumes where it left off. If it fails, the speaker who proposed it will retain the floor on the main motion.

b) ‘Laying on the Table’ is a motion to dispose of a resolution temporarily. A person wanting to lay a resolution on the table must get the floor and be recognised during debate against the resolution. He then says “I move to lay the resolution of... on the table.” This motion needs a second and it is not debatable and must be voted on immediately. A simple majority vote is needed. The chairperson will say “All those in favour of laying the resolution on the table, please raise your placards.” The “All those opposed, raise your placards.” If those in favour have a majority, then the resolution is temporarily put aside until someone moves to take it from the table.

c) To ‘postpone indefinitely’ takes a 2/3 vote and this motion effectively “kills” the resolution. But if the motion does not pass with a 2/3 vote, then debate on the resolution is resumed.

8. When debate time has been exhausted, the chair can propose the Extension of Debate time (e.g. 10 minutes open debate or 5 minutes for and five against). The Chairperson will then move into voting procedures. A call for a vote on the resolution-- “ “All those ‘For’ this resolution ...” “All those ‘Against’ this resolution...”, and finally, ‘All those ‘Abstaining’ on this resolution ...”. (It should be noted that abstaining counts as a vote against the resolution in case of a draw.)

9. Securitaries will count the votes and then the Chairperson will announce the results of the vote before moving on to the next resolution on the agenda. If the resolution passes, clapping is in order, if not, clapping is not in order.

10. Division of the House is used to request a roll call vote when, after a simple placard vote, a delegation feels that the vote was too close to determine accurately. This must be seconded and can be denied by the Chair as he/she sees fit. It may also be called for by the Chair if he/she determines the vote as close.

11. Powers of the Chair:

a. The chair will propose the limitation of the debate time for each motion. This will normally be: Main motion : 20 minutes open debate or 10 minutes for followed by 10 minutes against (or vice versa). Amendments : 10 minutes open debate of 5 minutes for followed by 5 minutes against (or vice versa).

b. In Committees and General Assembly, closed debate will be the norm but open debate can be entertained in the case of extension of debate.

c. The 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 Chair may also restrict the speaking time of an individual delegate. 12. Objections to the Main Motion. Only in exceptional circumstances, and never in General Assembly, will Chairs entertain Objections to the Consideration of a Motion. A delegate objecting, as soon as the Resolution has been read and before it is seconded, will be required to explain, in a speech not exceeding one minute, the reason for his objection. The Submitter will then be accorded a right of reply of equal length, after which a vote will be taken. An Objection requires a two-thirds majority.

13. Reconsideration and Taking from the Table may only be reconsidered after all business on the agenda has been dealt with by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.

14. 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 Chair when no delegation wishes to speak against the resolution

Rules of Debate

Debating for the first time in an MUN conference can be quite confusing. So here’s a little list of words that you will encounter during lobbying and merging and debate procedures:

Point(s) of Information: The Right to ask a delegate a question. Cannot cut another’s delegate’s speech or debate. The Chairs will ask you: “Are there any points of information?” or “Is the delegate open to any points of Information?”(Which you can say no to) at which point the delegates raise their placards and a speaker’s list is set up by the Chairs. Chairs might force some silent delegates to ask points of information in case the debate gets too slow/if not enough delegates are participating

Point of Parliamentary Procedure: The Right to ask a Chair about an aspect of rules and procedures that the delegate isn’t sure about.

Point of Personal Privilege: The delegate isn’t comfortable for some reason and asks the Chair to do something about it (i.e.:ask a delegate/chair to speak louder, go to the bathroom, open a window, etc... ) Quite irrelevant in online conferences. It is the only point able to interrupt somebody else.

Point of Order: Something is being done wrong and a delegate wants to point that out to a Chair. The speaker should only say what is being done wrong to the caucus leader, once asked to approach the chair.

The Delegate/the delegation of… → Person representing the country

Yield the floor:

1. To the Chairs (Continuing the debate, and leaving the Chair to speak)

2. To another delegate (Continuing the debate and choosing another delegate to talk)

Right to Respond: The Right to Respond is used after a Point of information when a delegate wants to ask another question to the delegate, concerning what they just said. Note these can be denied due to time restraints by the Chairs.

Amendments: These are changes that delegates can propose when debating on a resolution. There are 3 different types of amendments:

1. Amendment to strike a clause (delete a clause)

2. Amendment to add a clause (to make the resolution more complete)

3. Amendment to modify a clause (change the phrasing or wording of a clause)

Note that every delegation who wishes to amend a resolution needs to justify his choice with a speech and that to be voted to a simple majority (50%). No abstentions can be made when voting for an amendment

Motion to split the House: This choice is a last resort in case you feel a vote is too close to be called on whether a resolution passes. This means that we move on directly to voting procedures and that NO delegations can abstain from voting on the resolution on a whole. Needs to have a second person agree (by simply saying: “Second!” and raising your placard)