Rules of Procedure

UNA-USA (ROP)

ATTENDANCE (MOTION TO VERIFY THE QUORUM)
1. At the beginning of each Session and upon the Motion to verify the Quorum, Chairpersons shall call in an alphabetical order on all Member States in order to state their status of attendance. Member States may reply “present” or “present and voting”. Representatives stating just “present and voting” shall have no right to abstain from any vote on the substantial matter.

2. If any of the Representatives were not present during the Roll Call, upon their arrival they shall send a note to the Chairpersons clarifying their status of presence.

QUORUM
1. The quorum signifies the minimum number of delegates who need to be present in order to open Session for the debate.

2. The quorum is met when at least one-third of all delegates registered are present at the committee session. The quorum shall be verified at the beginning of each session by the Roll Call.

SETTING THE AGENDA
1. Setting the agenda is the first step to be considered by the committee.

a. The motion in order to put a topic area on the agenda should be made first. This motion requires a second.

b. Delegates can propose only topics as put forward by the Secretariat in the provisional agenda, i.e. the topics which were set by the Secretariat prior the conference.

c. In case there is no opposition to the motion, the motion is considered to be adopted.

d. In case of the opposition against the proposed order of the agenda, a Speaker ́s List of either two or four delegates “for” and “against” the order will be established- the number of speakers should be equal for both cases.

Types of Sessions

DEBATE
The three modes of Debate can be introduced during

1. (Formal session) General Speaker's List
2. (Informal Session)Moderated Caucus
3. (Informal Session) Un-Moderated Caucus Upon setting the agenda, the Speaker's List is open- either in the discretion of Chairs or by delegates proposing a Motion to Open Speaker's List.

GENERAL SPEAKER'S LIST
1. The General Speaker's List shows the order of speakers for the topic being on agenda and is open for the whole duration of the discussion.

2. Speaking time for the General Speaker's List is set to 90 seconds. The time limit can be altered by a Motion to Change the Speaker's Time.

3. The Speaker's List is open just for the topic currently being on the agenda.

MODERATED CAUCUS
1. The moderated caucus is aimed to facilitate and accelerate the discussion on the issues deemed as essential and critical for the topic on agenda.

2. The motion for the moderated caucus can be introduced by any of the delegates once the Floor is open for Points and Motions. The delegate shall specify the total time of the Motion (not exceeding 20 minutes), individual speaker ́s time for each of the delegates (not exceeding the speaker ́s time set for the general Speaker ́s List) and the purpose of the Motion. The purpose, i.e. the topic of the Motion shall be connected to the issue currently being discussed on the agenda and shall be more particular that the general topic of the discussion.

3. A Simple Majority of the quorum is required for the motion to pass. In case that there are being more Moderated Caucuses proposed, the Committee will vote upon them in descending order according to the total time of the Caucus (i.e. from the longest to the shortest) as set by the Chairs.

UNMODERATED CAUCUS
1. Unmoderated Caucus is the most informal out of all forms of debate, during which delegates are able to discuss freely all issues with other delegations, lobby for their interests, resolve difficult questions about the topic on the agenda and create working papers and resolutions.

2. The motion for Un-moderated caucus can be introduced by any of the delegates once the Floor is open for Points and Motions. The delegate shall specify the purpose of the motion and shall state the total time of the motion (not exceeding 30 minutes).

3. A Simple Majority of the quorum is required for the motion to pass.

Types of Yields

YIELDS
A delegate who was granted the permission to speak by the Chairpersons shall have the right to yield his time- if remaining- to:

1. Yield to another delegate- the remaining time will be offered to another delegate as allotted by the former speaker. The delegate, if accepting the yield, cannot yield the floor to any other person with the exception of Chairpersons.
2. Yield to POINT OF INFORMATION- If the delegate is open to questions, it is at the discretion of the Chairpersons to grant this right to any delegate willing to pose an inquiry to the delegate within the remaining time allocated to the delegate. Inquiries are not counted into the remaining speaker ́s time, unlike the answers provided by the delegate. The delegate who yielded his time to questions can refuse to answer any of them at his discretion. Also, Chairpersons shall call to order any delegate whose inquiry by its character does not comply with the standards.
3. Yield back to the Chairs- If there is remaining time left, but the delegate is not wishing to answer any questions or give his allocated time to another delegate, he /she can yield his time back to the Chairpersons, who will proceed with another delegate on the Speaker ́s List/ wishing to speak afterwards.

Types of POINTS

POINTS

1. Point of Personal Privilege- A delegate may raise the Point of Personal Privilege in case of whichever kind of personal discomfort which prevents him from full participation in the debate. Such thing can be for example audibility of other speakers, switching of air- conditioning etc. A Point of Personal Privilege can interrupt speaker only in the case of bad audibility.

2. Point of Parliamentary Inquiry- A delegate may raise the Point of Parliamentary Inquiry in order to clarify certain aspects of the Rules of Procedure by the Chairpersons. Such Point may not interrupt speakers and can be introduced only when the Floor is open for Points and Motions.

3. Point of Order- A delegate may raise the Point of Order if there is a discrepancy or any improperness in the application of the Rules of Procedure by the delegates or Chairpersons. It is in the discretion of Chairs to decide whether their point is valid and to clarify any irregularities. The Point of Order may not interrupt a speech.

4. Point of Information- Explained in previous slide.

RIGHT OF REPLY
Delegate, whose country's national integrity or sovereignty has been contested, may require Right of Reply. The Chairpersons may decide to give a certain time limit to the Delegate to respond and to rule whether the Right of Reply is in order. The decision of the Chairs is not subject to appeal.

Types of DOCUMENTATIONS

WORKING PAPERS
1. Working papers are intended to aid with the work of the Committee and especially the Draft Resolution, as well as to present the viewpoints of the delegates and the potential solutions to the topic.

2. Working paper does not require any Signatories or Sponsors. However, it should bear the name of the delegate or delegates who proposed it.

3. There is no set format for the Working Paper, i.e. the working paper does not have to be introduced in the resolution format. The Working Paper is referred to by its designated number.

POSITION PAPER
A MUN Position Paper, also known as Policy Paper, is a strategic document that gives an overview of a delegates country position.

A good Position Paper has three parts:

1. Country’s Position on the Topic

2. Country’s Relation to the Topic

3. Proposals of Policies to Pass in a Resolution

PRESS RELEASE
These are tools used by committees or individuals to inform “the public” in the crisis about certain facts, or to spread misinformation about the ongoing crisis.

Main Components of a Solid Press Release :

. Header stating that it is a Press Release.
. Descriptive Headline
. Information that you want the public to have and react to.
. Signature/s Goals.
. To inform/ misinform the public about the crisis to get the public to react in a certain way.
. To share information with the committee that was previously a secret.
. To encourage a response from the international community.

DRAFT RESOLUTION

1. Draft Resolution means a document drafted in the official format of the resolution.
2. No Draft Resolution shall be circulated without the previous approval of its required format and number of Sponsors and Signatories by the Chairpersons.
3. The ones recognized as the writers of the Draft Resolution are called “Sponsors”. Chairpersons will set the required minimum number of Sponsors according to each Committee.
4. “Signatories” are the ones supporting the discussion regarding the Draft Resolution on the Floor and bear no further obligation. Chairpersons will set the required minimum number of Signatories according to each Committee.
5. One Member State cannot be “Sponsor” and “Signatory” at the same time.
6. Once the Draft Resolution has been introduced delegates cannot add themselves to the list of Sponsors anymore. However, they can be removed from the list by passing a request in written form to the Chairs. If the Draft Resolution does not have the number of Sponsors required, the document will be removed from the Floor immediately.
7. Delegates wishing to be added or removed from the list of Signatories can do so at any time. The request to do so should be passed to the Chairs in written form.
8. More than one Draft Resolution can be on the Floor at once.

AMENDMENTS

1. An amendment is a document which modifies, deletes, adds or revises one or more parts of the Draft Resolution.

2. Amendment can be proposed by any delegate on any part or Clause of the Draft Resolution. All amendments shall be submitted in the written form to the Chairpersons.

There are two types of Amendments:

a. Friendly Amendment- Amendments accepted and approved by all Sponsors of the Draft Resolution shall be considered Friendly. They shall be implemented in the Draft Resolution without the need to be voted upon.

b. Unfriendly Amendment- Amendments not approved by all the Sponsors shall be considered Unfriendly. The required number of Sponsors needed for Unfriendly Amendment shall be set by the Chairpersons according to each Committee. Any Amendments to Unfriendly Amendment are out of order. Unfriendly Amendment can be withdrawn from the Floor by all its Sponsors before being voted upon; such withdrawal shall be submitted in the written form to the Chairpersons.

VOTING

PROCEDURAL AND SUBSTANTIVE VOTES
1. Procedural vote shall be considered those referring to other voting procedures with the exception of those mentioned above. During procedural vote, no abstentions are allowed. During procedural voting, all observers have the right to vote.

2. Substantive votes shall be considered those referring to resolutions, amendments or their parts. During substantive votes, delegates can vote either in favor, against or can abstain. Delegates stating “Present and voting” during the Roll Call cannot abstain. Substantive voting is being done by the Member States only, i.e. observers have no right to vote.

MAJORITIES
1. A Simple Majority requires a majority of 1⁄2 + 1 of all delegates “Present and voting” to be in favor.

2. A Qualified Majority requires 2/3 of all delegates “Present and voting” to be in favor.

3. All procedural and substantive matters shall be passed by a Simple Majority unless stated otherwise.