MUNIST 2010

CONFERENCE RULES OF
PROCEDURE*
 General Rules
Rule 1: Scope
All the rules that are provided in this document are applicable for the committees in the General
Assembly, the committees of the Economical and Social Council and the Specialized Agencies. All
rules are subject to modification by the secretariat and it will be announced before the sessions if
there will be any. No other rules of procedure are valid for this conference. If a situation arises that is
not addressed in the rules of procedure, the Director of the Committee will be the final authority on
the situation.

Rule 2: Language
English is the official written and spoken language of the conference. If a delegate wishes to present
a document in any other language, the translation of this document in English must be provided to
the Director of the Committee. Then, the Director decides if the document will be distributed to the
committee or not.

Rule 3: Dress
Dress Code is formal for this conference. If a delegate wants to wear traditional clothes as a
reflection of the culture of the nation he or she is representing, permission from the secretariat
should be granted to him/her.

Rule 4: Representation
A member of the Committee is a representative who is officially registered with the Conference. A
delegate cannot yield or share his or her time to the other member of the same delegation.

Rule 5: Credentials
The credentials of all delegations have been accepted upon registration. Actions relating to the
modification of rights, privileges, or credentials of any member may not be initiated without the
written consent of the Secretary-General. Any representative whose admission raises an objection by
another member will provisionally be seated with the same rights as other representatives, pending a
decision from the Secretary-General.

Rule 6: General Powers of the Committee Director

General Powers of the Committee Director are dictated as follows: The Director will have
complete control of the proceedings at any meeting. The Director will direct the flow of debate,
grant the right to speak, ask questions, announce decisions, rule on points of order, and ensure and
enforce the adherence to these rules. The Committee Director may choose to suspend the rules in

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order to clarify a certain substantive or procedural issue. The Committee Director also has the right to
interrupt the flow of debate in order to show a presentation, or to bring in a guest speaker or an
expert witness. Directors are allowed to advise delegations on any issue if they deem it necessary.
Directors are responsible to the Secretary-General at all times.

Rule 7: Quorum
Quorum denotes the minimum number of delegates who need to be present in order to start a
debate session. Quorum is met if at least the quarter of the registered delegates is present in the
committee in this conference. Directors should declare a committee to be open to begin debating if
the Quorum is met.

Rule 8: Appeal
A delegate can appeal only to the procedural matters unless it is specified as non-appealable by the
rules of procedure. The delegate can only appeal a ruling immediately after it has been pronounced.
The appeal shall then be put to a vote, and the decision of the Chair shall stand unless overruled by
two-thirds of those members present and voting. The Director’s decision not to sign a draft
resolution or amendment is never appealable. “Yes” vote indicates support of the Chair’s ruling; a

“No” vote indicates opposition to that ruling. The Chair’s ruling shall stand unless overruled by two-
thirds of the Committee voting “No.”

Rules Governing Debate

Rule 9: Agenda
To set the topic of agenda, the following procedure should be followed:

 A motion shall be made to put a Topic Area first on the agenda. This motion requires a
second.
 Delegates may only propose those Topic Areas listed in the preparation materials. The
Director holds the right to modify these Topic Areas at his or her discretion.
 Speakers List will be established ‘for’ and ‘against’ the motion. ‘For’ speakers will speak in
support of the Topic Area suggested, while speakers ‘against’ will speak in favor of the other
Area.
 Debate over the Agenda can only be closed by a motion after the Committee has heard from
two speakers for the motion and from two against, or all the speakers on one side and at least
two on the opposite side.
 Once debate is closed, the Committee will move to an immediate vote on the motion, which
will require a simple majority to pass. If the motion fails, the other Topic Area will automatically
be placed first on the agenda.
 A motion to proceed to the second Topic Area is in order only after the Committee has
adopted or rejected a resolution on the first Topic Area.

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Rule 10: Debate
After the topic of agenda is set, debating of this Topic Area begins as soon as a new, continuous
Speakers List is opened by the Committee Director. The Speakers List will show the order of speakers
for the Topic Area and it will be followed unless it is preceded by procedural motions, amendments,
or the introduction of a draft resolution. During their speech about the Topic Area, speakers may not
address any draft resolutions which have not been introduced to the house yet.

Rule 11: Unmoderated Caucus

A motion for an unmoderated caucus can be given at any time when the floor is open. The time limit
and the purpose should be specified while giving the motion. The motion will be put on a vote and a
simple majority is enough for the motion to pass. In the case of multiple unmoderated caucuses, the
Director will rank the motions in descending order of length and the Committee members will vote
accordingly. The Director may rule the motion out of order and his/her decision is not subject to
appeal. An unmoderated caucus may be extended only twice.

Rule 12: Moderated Caucus

The aim of the moderated caucus is to cover different critical aspects of the general Topic Area
extensively. In a moderated caucus, the Director will temporarily depart from the Speakers’ List and
call on delegates to speak at his/her discretion. A motion for a moderated caucus can be given at any
time when the floor is open. The time limit of the caucus, speakers’ time and the purpose should be
specified while giving the motion. The motion will be put on a vote and simple majority is enough for
the motion to pass. In the case of multiple moderated caucuses, the Director will rank the motions in
descending order of length and the Committee members will vote accordingly. The Director may rule
a motion out of order and his/her decision is not subject to appeal. No motions are in order between
speeches during a moderated caucus. A delegate can and will be ruled out of order if the delegate’s
speech does not address the topic of the moderated caucus. If there is no delegate wishing to speak,
moderated caucus will drop and the committee goes back to the Speakers List. A motion for an
extension of the current moderated caucus can only be given after the caucus ends and a moderated
caucus can only be extended twice.

Rule 13: Closure of Debate

A delegate may give a motion to close debate on the general topic, debate on the agenda, or debate
on an amendment, when the floor is open. The Director may overrule this motion. However, this is
subject to appeal. When closure of debate is moved, the Director may recognize up to two speakers’
against the motion. No speaker in favor of the motion will be recognized. Passing of this motion
requires two-thirds majority of the house voting in favor of closure of debate. If there are no
objections after the Director announces movement to the voting procedure, the motion
automatically passes.

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Rule 14: Suspension and Adjournment of the Meeting
The suspension of the meeting means the postponement of all Committee functions until the next
meeting. The adjournment of the meeting means the postponement of all Committee functions for
the duration of the Conference. A delegate may give a motion to suspend or adjourn the meeting
when the floor is open. Directors can overrule these motions and they are non-appealable. If any
such motion is given, they will be voted immediately. Simple majority is enough for these motions to
pass.

Rule 15: Tabling and Resumption of the Debate

A delegate may give a motion to table the debate on a draft resolution or amendment, which is the
postponement of the current debate. Two-thirds of majority is required for the motion on tabling to
pass and this motion is debatable. If this motion passes, no debate will be allowed on the tabled draft
resolution or amendment. A motion to resume the debate on a tabled draft resolution or amendment
will cancel the effects of the tabling motion and it requires simple majority to pass.

Rules Governing Speeches

Rule 16: Speeches
Permission to speak is granted only by the Directors of the Committee and delegates shall not speak
unless permission is granted. Any speech may be interrupted by the Director and the Director can call
the delegate to order if his/her speech is offensive towards the Committee or Staff or if the Director
sees the speech irrelevant to the subject. Speakers should stick to the time limit of speeches. The
Director can interrupt the speaker if he/she exceeds the time limit. However, the Director may use
his/her initiative to allow the delegate to finish their sentence.

Rule 17: Yields

A delegate may conclude his/her speech by yielding the remaining time in three ways:

 Yield to another delegate. His or her remaining time will be offered to that delegate. If the
delegate accepts the yield, the Director shall recognize the delegate for the remaining time. To
turn the floor over to a co-delegate of the same member state is not considered a yield. The
second delegate speaking may not yield back to the original delegate.
 Yield to questions. Questioners will be selected by the Director and limited to one question at a
time. Follow-up questions will be allowed only at the discretion of the Director. The Director will
have the right to call to order any delegate whose question is, in the opinion of the Director,
rhetorical, leading and/or not designed to elicit information.

 Yield to the chair. Such a yield should be made if the delegate does not wish his/her speech to
be subject to questions. The Director will then move to the next speaker.

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Speeches during the moderated caucuses must end by yielding time to the chair only. Yielding a
yielded time is not allowed.

Rule 18: Right of Reply

A delegate may request a Right of Reply only by submitting it in written form to the Committee Staff,
if a delegate feels offended by the remarks of another delegate. The Director will decide whether to
grant Right of Reply or not and this decision is not appealable. There is no Right of Reply to a Right of
Reply.

Rules Governing Points

Rule 19: Points of Order

A delegate may rise to a Point of Order if there is an improperness in parliamentary procedure. The
Point of Order will be decided by the Director in accordance with the rules of procedure. This
decision is not appealable. A Point of Order may not interrupt a speech.

Rule 20: Points of Personal Privilege

A delegate may rise to a Point of Personal Privilege whenever there is something that hinders the
participation of the delegate to the Committee and request that discomfort to be corrected. A Point
of Personal Privilege may interrupt a speech.

Rule 21: Points of Parliamentary Inquiry

A delegate may rise to a Point of Parliamentary Inquiry, if he/she has a question regarding the
parliamentary procedure. The Director will answer it according to the rules of procedure. Questions
regarding issues other than parliamentary procedure should not be asked by giving a Point of
Parliamentary Inquiry, rather a note should be sent to the Director. A Point of Parliamentary Inquiry
may not interrupt a speech.

Rules Governing the Path to a Draft

Resolution
Rule 22: Working Papers
Working papers are tools for guiding the Committee in its discussion and helping it in the way to
create a draft resolution. Working papers are not official documents and may be presented in any
format approved by the Director, but do require the signature of the Director to be copied and
distributed. After the distribution, delegates may refer to the working paper by its designated
number. Working papers do not require any signatories to be submitted.

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Rule 23: Draft Resolutions
A draft resolution may be introduced when it receives the approval of the Director and is signed by one
fourth of members present and voting in the house. Signing a draft resolution need not indicate
support for the draft resolution, and the signatory has no further rights or obligations. Signing a draft
resolution only indicates a desire for the draft resolution to be discussed in the Committee. There are
no official sponsors of draft resolutions. Signatories should be listed in alphabetical order on every
draft resolution. A draft resolution requires a simple majority of members present to pass. Only one
draft resolution may be passed per Topic Area. After a draft resolution is passed, voting procedure
will end and the Committee will move directly into the second Topic Area (following the rules
governing the setting of the agenda).

Once a draft resolution is approved by the Directors and distributed, it has to be introduced by a
motion in order to be addressed as a draft resolution. The Director, time permitting, may read the
operative clauses of the draft resolution. A procedural vote is then taken to determine whether the
resolution shall be introduced. Simple majority is enough for the draft resolution to be introduced.
More than one draft resolution may be on the floor at any one time. A draft resolution will remain on
the floor until that specific draft resolution is tabled or a Resolution on that Topic Area has been
passed.

Rule 24: Amendments

Delegates may amend any draft resolution that has been introduced by adding to, deleting from or
revising parts of it. Only one amendment may be introduced at any given time. An amendment must
have the approval of the Director and the signatures of one eighth of members present and voting
in the house. Amendments to amendments are out of order. However, an amended part of a draft
resolution may be further amended. There are no official sponsors of amendments. As there are no
official sponsors of draft resolutions, there can be no friendly amendments. If the submitted
amendment contains a typing error, the corrected version should be submitted to the Director
only and does not need to be circulated to the entire committee. The Director, at his or her
discretion will announce the corrections made in the latter version. Preambulatory phrases may not
be amended. The final vote on the amendment is substantive; NGOs and Observer Nations will not
be allowed to vote on amendments.

 A motion to introduce an approved amendment may be introduced when the floor is open.
After this motion, the Director may read the amendment aloud, time permitting. The motion will
pass by a simple majority. General debate will be suspended and a Speakers’ List will be
established for and against the amendment.
 A motion to close debate will be in order after the Committee has heard from two speakers’
for the amendment and from two speakers’ against or from all the speakers’ on one side and
at least two on the other side.
 The Director will recognize two speakers’ against the motion to close debate, and a vote of
two-thirds is required for closure. If there are no speakers’ against the motion to close
debate, the Committee Director will ask to move to voting by acclimation.

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  When debate is closed on the amendment, the Committee will move to an immediate vote.
Amendments need a simple majority to pass.
 After the vote, debate will resume according to the general Speakers’ List.

Rules Governing Voting

Rule 25: Procedural Voting

Voting on any matter other than draft resolutions and amendments is considered procedural. Each
and every member of the committee, including representatives of Accredited Observers and of NGO
must vote on all procedural motions. There is no abstention in the procedural voting. A simple
majority requires more “Yes” votes than “No” votes. A two-thirds majority requires at least twice as
many “Yes” votes than “No” votes.

Rule 26: Substantive Voting

Substantive voting includes voting on draft resolutions and amendments. Once the committee closes
debate on the general Topic Area, it will move into substantive voting procedures. At this point of
time, the chambers are sealed and no interruptions will be allowed. The only points and motions that
will be in order are: Division of the Question, Motion to vote by acclimation, Motion for a Roll Call
Vote, Point of Personal Privilege, Point of Parliamentary Inquiry and Point of Order. If there are no
such motions, the Committee will vote on all draft resolutions. For substantive voting, each member
will have one vote. Each vote may be a ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ or ‘Abstain’. Abstaining members are not
considered to be voting. All matters will be voted upon by a show of placards, unless a motion for a
roll call vote is accepted. Abstentions are not counted in the total number of votes cast. A simple
majority requires more “Yes” votes than “No” votes (i.e. more countries voting in the affirmative
than the negative). Once any Resolution has been passed, the voting procedure is closed, as only one
Resolution may be passed per Topic Area. In the Security Council, the five permanent members have
the power to veto any substantive vote. A “No” vote by one of the five permanent members in the
Security Council is considered a veto. NGOs and Observer Nations will not be able to vote on draft
resolutions and/or amendments.

Rule 27: Voting by Acclimation

Before any voting procedure, the Director may ask if there are any objections to the issue which will
be voted. If there are no objections the Director accept the motion adopted without any voting.

Rule 28: Division of the Question

Before the substantive voting on a draft resolution, a delegate may give a motion to Divide the
Question. Division of the Question is basically voting the operative parts of a draft resolution
separately. Preambulatory clauses and sub-operative clauses may not be altered by division of the
question.

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  The motion can be debated to the extent of two speakers’ for and two against, to be
followed by an immediate procedural vote on that motion.
 If the motion receives the simple majority required to pass, the Director will take motions on
how to divide the question and prioritize them from most severe to least severe.
 The Committee will then vote on the motions in the order set by the Director. If no division
passes, the resolution remains intact. Once a division has been passed, requiring a simple
majority, the draft resolution will be divided accordingly, and a separate procedural vote will be
taken on each divided part to determine whether or not it is to be included in the final draft
resolution. If all of the operative parts of the substantive proposal are rejected, the draft
resolution will be considered to have been rejected as a whole.

 Parts of the draft resolution that are subsequently passed will be recombined into a final
document. The final document will be put to a substantive vote.

Rule 29: Roll Call Voting

A delegate has the right to give a motion for a Roll Call vote before beginning to the substantive
voting on a draft resolution.

 In a Roll Call vote, the Director call the members from the Roll Call list.
 In the first sequence, delegates may vote “Yes,” “Yes with Rights”, “No,” “No with Rights”,
“Abstain,” or “Pass.” Delegates who vote either “Yes with Rights” or “No with Rights” reserve
the right to explain his/her vote only when the delegate is voting against the policy of his/her
country. The delegate will only be allowed to explain an affirmative or negative vote, not an
abstention from voting.
 A delegate who voted “Pass” in the first sequence must vote either “Yes” or “No” in the
second sequence. This delegate will not be granted the right to explain his/her vote.
 The Director calls the delegates who had requested the right to explain their votes will be
granted a time to explain their votes. The time will be set by the Director.
 Then the Director announces the result of the voting process.

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PRECEDENCE OF MOTIONS
Motions will be considered in the following order of preference:
1. Point of Personal Privilege
2. Point of Order
3. Point of Parliamentary Inquiry
4. Adjournment of the Meeting
5. Suspension of the Meeting
6. Unmoderated Caucusing
7. Moderated Caucusing
8. Introduction of Draft Resolution
9. Introduction of an Amendment
10. Postponement of Debate
11. Resumption of Debate
12. Closure of Debate

At the start of voting procedure, the following points and motions are in order, in the following order
of precedence:
1. Point of Personal Privilege
2. Point of Order
3. Point of Parliamentary Inquiry
4. Reordering Draft Resolutions
5. Division of the Question
6. Motion for a Roll Call Vote

*Adopted from the rules of procedures of the Harvard World Model United Nations Conference.

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