GUIDE. Nuha Hamid Secretary-General. Julia Clark Charges D Affaires. Karley Sirota Director-General. Lucky Sasiphong. Under Secretary-General

Transcription

1 PARLIAMENTARY PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE GUIDE GUIDE Nuha Hamid Secretary-General Julia Clark Charges D Affaires Karley Sirota Director-General Lucky Sasiphong Under Secretary-General 1

2 Welcome to American University Model United Nations, delegates! This document details the parliamentary procedure that you will find here at our conferences. Feel free to always ask your dais or a member of the Secretariat if you have any questions, as we are here to help. Don t forget as serious as Model UN can be, always remember to have fun. Good luck! Table of Contents Roll Call..Page 3 The Speaker s List Page 3 Yielding time..page 3 Moderated Caucus.Page 3 Unmoderated Caucus..Page 3 Motions...Page 4 Points..Page 5 Right of Reply.Page 5 Decorum Page 5 Resolution Writing.Page 6 Sponsors and Signatories.. Page 6 Pre-ambulatory Clauses.Page 7 Operative Clauses..Page 7 Amendments.Page 8 Merging.Page 8 Sample Resolution.Page 9 Basic terms for beginner delegates: Delegate = you! Chair = the college student in charge of running your committee. Dais = the collective group of chairs (ex: Chair, Vice Chair, Crisis Directors, Page, etc.) Committee = the body/organ you re in (ex: UNESCO, Security Council, NATO, etc.) Issue/topic = whatever you re discussing (ex: Syrian Refugee Crisis, Terrorism, etc.) Substantive: Having to do with the topic being discussed. A substantive vote is a vote on a draft resolution or amendment already on the floor during voting bloc. 2

3 1. The Flow of Debate Roll call: at the beginning of the conference, the dais will take roll. Each country must state whether they are present or present in voting. Present: the nation may vote yes, vote no, or abstain when voting. Present in voting: the nation may only vote yes or no, and cannot abstain. Then there are three essential forms of debate: the speaker s list, the moderated caucus, and the unmoderated caucus. The speaker s list allows delegates to share their opinion by giving a speech. This is typically the first form of debate used, and also the debate default setting. If there are no motions for other kinds of debate, or all motions have failed, the committee will go back to the speaker s list. This is the only form of debate where the committee can ask questions (points of inquiry) to the speaker. Speakers may yield any remaining speaking time they have during a speech on the speaker s list in one of three ways: Yield to points: The speaker accept questions from the committee. Yield to another delegate: The speaker gives their remaining time to another delegate to speak. If that delegate doesn t use the rest of the time, it cannot be yielded again; at that point, it is absorbed by the dais. Yield to the chair: The speaker gives the rest of the time to the chair/dais. This is used when the speaker is finished and doesn t wish to yield their time to questions or another delegate. The moderated caucus is a rolling form of debate where delegates are recognized one after the other. Speaking time is typically shorter than that of the speaker s list, allowing for faster debate. No questions (points of inquiry) can be entertained, and speakers cannot yield their time to points or other delegates. Must by introduced to the committee and passed with a simple majority. The unmoderated caucus is the least formal type of debate. It allows delegates to speak and move freely within the room to discuss the topic, form coalitions, or write working papers. Must by introduced to the committee and passed with a simple majority. 3

4 2. Motions and Points Motion: A motion allows delegates to propose an action for the committee as a whole and is submitted to a vote. Common motions: Motion to open debate: necessary to start a session. Motion to open the speaker s list: allows delegates to be added to the list. Motion to set the speaker s time: establishes a speaking time. Motion for a moderated caucus: o Ex: Motion for a minute moderated caucus with a (sec/min) speaking time to discuss (purpose). Motion for an unmoderated caucus: o Ex: Motion for a minute unmoderated caucus for the purpose of (purpose). Motion to introduce a working paper: allows delegates to introduce any document to the committee and must be passed in a substantive vote. Motion to suspend debate/motion to recess: allows for a break within session (ex: lunch, dinner, or until the next day). Motion to adjourn: closes debate permanently, for the final debate session. Motion to close debate and move into voting procedure: closes debate on any draft resolutions and allows for a vote to be taken. Less common motions: Motion to table debate: closes debate on current topic, but doesn t exclude further discussion on the topic later during the conference. Motion for a roll-call vote: each country will be called on separately in alphabetical order to vote either yes, no, or abstain. This motion must be made before the vote. Can be used to hear each country s individual vote. Motion to divide the question: allows for part of the resolution to be considered independently from the rest of the resolution. Motion to appeal the chair s decision: a rare motion that allows delegates to question the chair s decision on a point or motion. 4

5 Point: A point is a question or remark to either the chair/dais or fellow delegates and does not require voting. Point of order: used to correct the dais on procedural issues such as a forgotten motion or an incorrect speaker s time. Point of personal privilege: used if there is an external cause to a delegate s discomfort which is restring their ability to follow debate (ex: temperature, noise or lighting, dais or delegate speaking too quietly). This is the only point or motion which can interrupt a speaker. Point of information: to correct a factual error regarding information integral to the debate. Not to disagree with other nation s policies. Point of parliamentary inquiry: to ask the chair/dais about rules of procedure. Point of inquiry: to ask questions of a speaker on the speaker s list. Right of Reply: This is an additional procedure that is considered a motion. When a country is directly attacked or insulted by another delegate, the offended party is able to ask for a right of reply directly after the end of the speech. The offended delegate should not wait to be called on but simply raise their placard and say right of reply. It is left to the discretion of the dais to entertain the right of reply or not. If the right of reply is entertained, the offended delegation will have to submit a written copy of their reply to the dais. The dais will read the reply and, if it is appropriate, will then read the right of reply to the committee on the delegate s behalf. Decorum: Decorum is the way one must act during a conference. At American University conferences, delegates are expected to be respectful of other delegates, staff members, and the rules of procedure. Business attire is required at all times. During debate, delegates must refer to themselves in the plural because they are representing a nation and not just themselves as individuals. The dais may correct delegates if this aspect of decorum is not respected. Chairs will often use the term decorum in order to gain the attention of the committee and to get delegates to quiet down. 5

6 Resolution Writing: What s a resolution? A resolution is a document which contains a course of action to address a particular topic. This is what delegates work on during most of the conference. At American University conferences, the resolution writing occurs in three stages: 1. Working Paper: The working paper is an informal collection of ideas. It is the first draft of a resolution and should be edited over time. The working paper does not need to be in formal resolution format until it is ready to be submitted to the dais and returned as a draft resolution. Before finally submitting a working paper to the dais, it must have sponsors and 1/5 of the body signed on as signatories. 2. Draft Resolution: The draft resolution is the version that will be presented to the committee as a whole and should include formal resolution formatting as well as the sponsor s proposed solutions to the topic currently before the committee. The draft resolution can still be amended through the form of friendly and unfriendly amendments. 3. Resolution: A draft resolution becomes a resolution when it is submitted to the committee for a vote and passed by a simple majority. Resolutions have formal writing rules that must be respected. They re divided into three parts: the headers, the pre-ambulatory clauses, and the operative clauses. The header contains: the committee or forum name, the sponsors, the signatories, the topic, and a title. Sponsors: the nations that contributed to the drafting of the resolution and that support the entire document. Signatories: nations that wish to see the document debated. They did not necessarily help draft the resolution nor do they need to support it. Resolutions require 1/5 of the body to sign on as signatories. 6

7 Pre-ambulatory Clauses: allows delegates to recognize the past efforts of the international community. They often refer to past documents, laws, events, sub-topics, statistics or facts that relate to the issue at hand. All pre-ambulatory clauses start with a word/phrase, usually a gerund (-ing), which is italicized, and end with a comma. Here are sample phrases: Affirming Alarmed by Approving Aware of Bearing in mind Believing Contemplating Declaring Deeply concerned Deeply conscious Deeply disturbed Deeply regretting Desiring Emphasizing Expecting Expressing Fulfilling Fully alarmed Fully aware Further deploring Guided by Having adopted Having considered Having Examined Having studied Keeping in mind Noting with regret Noting with concern Noting with satisfaction Observing Reaffirming Realizing Recalling Recognizing Referring Taking into account Taking into consideration Taking note Welcoming Operative clauses: an action meant to resolve or help resolve the issue at hand. This is the meat of the resolution, and is what delegates work the most on. All operative clauses are numbered, start with an underlined word, and finish with a semi-colon except for the last one which ends with a period. Accepts Affirms Approves Authorizes Calls Calls upon Condemns Confirms Considers Declares accordingly Deplores Designates Draws the attention Emphasizes Encourages Endorses Expresses Further invites Further proclaims Further reminds Further recommends Further requests Further resolves Notes Proclaims Reaffirms Recommends Regrets Requests Suggests Strongly condemns Supports Takes note of 7

8 Amendments: changes made to the draft resolution after it has been introduced to the committee and before it is voted upon. There are two types of amendments friendly and unfriendly. A friendly amendment is a change made to the resolution with the consent of all the sponsors of the resolution and therefore does not require a vote to be include in the final draft resolution. An unfriendly amendment is an amendment which is desire by at least 1/5 of the committee but does not have the direct consent of all the sponsors of the affected draft resolution. To be passed and included in the draft resolution, an unfriendly amendment has to be voted upon in a substantive procedure. Merging: combining two or more draft resolutions to make a bigger or new draft resolution. Chairs will often ask delegates to work on merging their draft resolutions if there are too many drafts on the floor, or if they want to encourage further collaboration between delegates. See the next page for a sample resolution! 8

9 Committee Name (no abbreviations) Names of Sponsors (in alphabetical order) Names of Signatories (in alphabetical order, need 1/5 of committee.) Issue sample resolution SKIP A LINE, CAPITALIZE AND CENTER TITLE WHICH CANNOT BE CHANGED BY AMENDMENT The General Assembly, (or other organ/committee) Recalling that pre-ambulatory phrases must be indented, Gravely concerned that delegates may forget to use a comma and the end of preambulatory phrases, Recognizing that one line should be skipped before the title of the resolution and after the title, Noting that every resolution begins with the name of the organ, not with the name of the committee, Acknowledging that pre-ambulatory phrases cannot be amended, Aware that the format of a resolution is one big sentence, 1. Authorizes that delegates use a semi-colon at the end of each operative clause and number each operative clause; 2. Calls upon delegates to use a colon at the end of an operative right before introducing sub-operative clauses as seen below: a. With no lines between sub-operative clauses colloquially called sub-ops: i. Potentially with a sub-sub operative clause, ii. That will included more specific details, b. With a comma at the end of each sub-operative clause, c. With no underlining or italicizing in the sub-operative clauses, d. With a semi-colon at the end of each operative; 3. Observes that a resolution, being only one sentence, always ends with a period. 9