STUDY GUIDE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

Transcription

1 STUDY GUIDE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL This material is produced by ZAGIMUN

2 Introduction to Human Rights Council The UNHRC is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations (UN) system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations. It has the ability to discuss all human rights issues and situations that require its attention. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva. The Council was created by the UN General Assembly (UNGA, GA) on 15 March 2006 by resolution 60/251, and replaced the UN commission on Human Rights. All 47 Member States are elected by the GA for a three years term. The GA takes into consideration the promotion and protection of human rights in those countries, as well as their voluntary pledges. It is not possible for a country to be represented in the Council more than two consecutive terms. There are five regional groups in the UNHRC, which are Africa (13 seats), Asia (13 seats), Latin America and Caribbean States (8 seats) and Western Europe and other states (7 seats). UNHRC employs various mechanisms such as the Universal Periodic Review which serves to assess the human rights situations in all the UN Member States, the Advisory Committee which serves as the Council s think tank providing it with expertise and advice on thematic human rights issues and the Complaint Procedure which allows individuals and organizations to bring human rights violations to the attention of the Council. Simulacija Mijanmar (16 delegacija) Predsjedavajući - Ivan Dominik Dragović Japan - Sandra Despot Nepal - Roko Marin Republika Koreja - Gabriela Valentak Egipat - Elena Svib Španjolska - Ivana Badžek Mađarska - Nikolina Bralić Meksiko - Veronika Župančić Australija - Matej Stipić Velika Britanija - Laura Crnić

3 Kina - Matea Stanić Njemačka - Karlo Vedak Brazil - Kišiček Darijo Kuba - Ivona Jarža Kenija - Nika Novak Tunis - Anja Polić Ujedinjeni Arapski Emirati - Eugen Anđelković Simulacija Kongo ( 21 delegacija) Predsjedavajuća - Julijana Blažević Angola - Tereza Šarić Australija - Nicoll Arlavi Brazil - Nika Novak Hrvatska - Ana Marija Gajšak Egipat - Anamaria Soče Etiopija - Borna Smolić Japan - Domagoj Perkec Južna Koreja - Manuela Begić Katar - Lisa -Maria Štampar Kina - Filip Majerić Kuba - Patrik Petos Mađarska - Alan Šain Meksiko - Diana Bisaku Nepal - Marko Marjanović Njemačka - Dragana Topić Španjolska - Laura Blažević Tunis - Agata Divković UAE - Ivona Meštrović Ukrajina - Anja Polić Velika Britanija - Željana Vuković Venecuela - Ivana Pavić

4 I. GENERAL RULES OF CONDUCT ART. 1 ROLL CALL 1. At the beginning of each Committee session the Chairpersons shall call on Member States in Croatian alphabetical order to state their status of attendance. 2. When the Chairpersons perform a roll call, Representatives are required to reply by stating 'prisutan' or 'prisutan i glasam,' where prisutan i glasam means that the Member State cannot abstain on substantive votes. 3. Representatives, who arrive late, must submit a note to the Chairpersons declaring their presence; otherwise they must not address the Committee or vote. ART.2 CHAIR S DISCRETION 1. The Chairperson can use his/her discretion to make decisions without the participants voting on it. 2. The following elements can be decided upon, proposed or overruled at the chair s discretion: All motions (prijedlozi), All elements of time within the motions, The topics proposed within the motions, or specific elements thereof. 3. The Chairperson shall only use his/her discretion, if it is in the interest of the smooth functioning of the proceedings ART. 3 PROVISIONAL AGENDA The Chairperson shall propose a Provisional Agenda prior to the beginning of the Conference. (POSLATI RASPORED I PLAN KONFERENCIJE DO na dana.lusa@fpzg.hr) ART. 4 SETTING THE AGENDA 1. On the day of the Conference at the beginning of the first session, the Chairperson shall present the Provisional Agenda formally. The first order of business for the Committee will be the consideration of the order in which Agenda items shall be discussed; the only motion (prijedlog) in order at this time will be a motion (prijedlog) to modify the agenda. Setting the Agenda is considered a Procedural Matter.

5 2. In case of a motion (prijedlog) to modify the agenda, Chairperson will ask for (2) speakers in favor, and two (2) speakers against the provisional agenda. They will be given the floor by the Chairperson. 3. If there is no motion (prijedlog) to modify the agenda, the Chairperson shall declare the Provisional Agenda adopted and shall move to the first item on the adopted Agenda. ART. 5 DEBATE 1. There are two modes of the Debate: a) Formal Debate b) Moderated Caucus 2. If not decided upon differently, the Council is in Formal Debate. ART. 6 FORMAL DEBATE 1. During formal debate the Chairpersons shall keep a Speakers List, which will determine the order of speakers with a specific time per speech. The default speaker s time on the General Speaker s List shall be determined by the Chairperson and communicated to the committee upon opening of the first session. 2. A Representative may request to have the name of the Delegation added to the Speakers List by raising the placard upon general invitation of the Chairperson, by putting their placard in vertical position. 3. If circumstances do not allow to determine clearly which Representative has requested to be included in the Speakers List first, the Chairpersons shall decide on the order of the speakers by taking into account considerations of equity and the good functioning of the Committee. 4. A Representative whose Delegation s name is already included in the Speakers List shall not be added again until given the floor or asks to be removed from the Speakers List. 5. The General Speakers List shall remain open and Representatives will be able to be added to the General Speakers List until a Motion for Closure of Debate (prijedlog za zatvaranjem debate) has been accepted by the committee. 6. Should the Speakers' List elapse, the debate on the agenda item shall be considered finished and the Committee shall move into voting procedure.

6 ART. 7 MODERATED CAUCUS 1. A Moderated Caucus interrupts Formal Debate for a limited time to discuss a single aspect of the topic before the Committee. A list of speakers shall not be kept during a Moderated Caucus and a Representative may signal the desire to speak by raising the placard upon general invitation of the Chairperson.. ART. 8 SPEECHES 1. Representatives may not address the Committee without having previously obtained permission from the Chairperson. 2. The Chairperson may at his/her discretion call a Representative to order if his or her speech exceeds the allotted time, is not relevant to the subject under discussion, is considered personally offensive to any party or infringes upon the sovereignty of a Member State. The Chairperson shall ensure the observance of the time limit during speeches. 3. Representatives are requested to stand while addressing the Committee. 4. Representatives are requested to refer to themselves using the 3rd person singular or the 1st person plural. ART. 9 YIELDS 1. A Representative who was granted the right to speak by the Chairpersons during Formal Debate and does not utilize the entire allotted time shall specify what to do with it. Remaining time may be yielded: a) to questions. In this case, the Representative is required to remain standing and the Chairperson shall ask the Committee if there are any questions to the Representative. The remaining time shall only be counted down during the yielding Representative s answer. Chairperson may call to order at his/her discretion any Representative, whose question is rhetorical or not intended to obtain information; b) to another Representative, the Representative in question shall be given the choice to accept or decline the time yielded to them. If they accept the yield, they shall have the floor for the remaining time. If they do not accept the yield, the floor shall automatically return to the Chairperson. Yielding speaker s time that has been yielded to them shall not be in order.

7 ART. 10 RIGHT OF REPLY 1. During Formal Debate only, a Representative whose personal or national integrity has been infringed by another Representative may raise his or her placard and request a Right of Reply (pravo na odgovor)at the end of the latter s speech, providing a brief explanation of the reason for the request. 2. The Chairperson shall decide upon the request immediately and his/her decision is not subject to appeal. 3. If the Right of Reply is granted, the wronged Representative may be given the floor for an appropriate time limit set by the Chairperson in order to clarify why the speech being replied to has infringed his personal or national integrity. 4. A Right of Reply to a Right of Reply is also in order. ART. 11 PROPOSING MOTIONS (prijedlozi) 1. The Chairperson may ask for any Motions (prijedlog) at any point when the floor is open. When recognized by the Chairperson the Representative shall rise, state the nature of the Motion and briefly explain the Motion itself The Chairpersons may, at their discretion, stop asking for Motions at any time and move to vote on those already raised; this decision of the Chairpersons is not subject to appeal. 4. The Chairpersons will subsequently entertain the raised Motions one by one, starting from highest in the order of preference, i.e. the most disruptive. If the Motion fails the Chairperson shall move to the next most disruptive Motion. This continues until a Motion is passed or the floor returns to the General Speakers List. 5. If a Motion passes, all other Motions previously raised automatically fail and are removed from the floor. 6. The Chairperson may at their discretion rule out any Motion, providing a brief explanation to the Representative on the reasons of their ruling. 7. Before putting a motion to a vote, the Chairpersons shall ask for objections to the motion. In case of objections, the motion will be put to a vote. In case there are no objections, the motion passes without a vote. This rule only applies to motions that do not require debate. 8. Unless differently established a simple majority will be required for the vote to pass.

8 ART. 12 MOTION TO MODIFY THE PROVISIONAL AGENDA 1. The Motion to Modify the Agenda allows Representatives to change the order of items of the Provisional Agenda as deemed appropriate. 2. The Motion to Modify the Agenda is a procedural motion. This motion requires two (2) speakers in favor and two (2) speakers against with a speakers time of one (1) minute each. 3. This Motion requires a two-thirds (2/3) majority to pass. 4. If the Motion to put an Agenda item first fails, the other Agenda item will automatically be placed first on the Agenda. 5. If there are no proposals on the Floor, the Chairperson shall declare the Provisional Agenda adopted. ART. 13 MOTION FOR MODERATED CAUCUS 1. A Representative may introduce a Motion for a Moderated Caucus at any time when the Floor is open. The Representative proposing the Motion shall briefly indicate a topic to be addressed in the Moderated Caucus, specifying its total duration and a time limit for individual speeches. 2. The Motion for a Moderate Caucus is a procedural Motion 3. This motion does not require debate and needs a simple majority to pass. 4. A Motion for the Extension of a Moderated Caucus is in order for a duration not exceeding the total duration of the previously proposed Moderated Caucus. The extension of a Moderated Caucus already extended is out of order. 5. The Chairperson may rule the Motion out of order if they feel that the Motion is not constructive to debate at that point in time. The decision of the Chairpersons is not subject to appeal. 6. In case the motion passes, strict adherence to the topic initially proposed is necessary. The Chairperson may call to order any Representative, who does not talk on the topic of the caucus. ART. 14 MOTION FOR THE CLOSURE OF THE DEBATE 1. A Motion for the Closure of the Debate on a given Agenda item requests the immediate termination of all discussions on the topic under consideration. If the Motion for the Closure of the Debate passes the Committee moves into voting procedures on all substantive proposals introduced during the debate. 2. A Representative may introduce a Motion to Close the Debate at any time when the Floor is open. 3. This motion requires two (2) speakers speaking against and two (2) speakers in favor of this motion, who will be given the floor by the Chairperson for one (1) minute each. After the

9 speakers, the motion shall immediately be put to a vote, where it needs a two-thirds (2/3) majority to pass. 4. The Chairperson may rule the Motion out of order. The Decision of the Chairpersons is subject to appeal. ART. 15 INTRODUCING DRAFT RESOLUTIONS 1. No motion is required to introduce a Draft Resolution. The draft will be automatically introduced by the Chairperson, if the requirements are met. 2. Subsequently, the Sponsors (predstavnici koje predsjedavajući izabere da s njim rade na draftu rezolucije) will entertain a Question and Answer Session to answer questions of clarification regarding the content or meaning of the Draft Resolution. ART. 16 AMENDMENTS 1. An Amendment is a proposal that adds to, deletes from or revises operative clauses of a Draft Resolution. A Representative may propose Amendments on any Draft Resolution that has been formally introduced. ART. 17 INTRODUCING AMENDMENTS 1. Representatives wishing to introduce amendments will have to do so before the committee closes debate and moves into voting procedure, specifying exactly, which clauses are affected by the amendments. 3. The Chairperson shall declare the opening of the debate on a given amendment and establish a separate Amendment Speaker s List for the purpose of this debate containing two speakers in favor of the amendment and two speakers against it. 4. Amendments are considered friendly if all Sponsors (predstavnici delegacija koji su je sastavljali) of the Draft Resolution to be amended are in favor of the amendment. It is up to the Chairpersons to verify if all Sponsors are in favor. Friendly amendments are included immediately and without a vote into the Draft Resolution. 5. Amendments are considered unfriendly if at least one Sponsor of the Draft Resolution opposes the amendment. In that case, the amendment will be put to a vote to the Committee during voting procedure before voting on the Draft Resolution in question. During the vote on amendments, the same rules apply as for the votes on Draft Resolution. 6. If an Amendment fails, it cannot be re-introduced. 7. An Amendment to an Amendment and to an already amended Clause is out of order.

10 ART. 18 VOTING ON DOCUMENTS ON THE FLOOR 1. In the case of exhaustion of the Speakers List or when a Motion for Closure of Debate passes, Draft Resolutions on the Floor will be put to vote. ART. 19 VOTING PROCEDURE 1. If not decided upon differently, Representatives vote by raising their placards. In a substantive vote Representative may vote, 'In Favor', 'Against' or 'Abstain'. 2. Members present and voting cannot abstain. ART. 20 MOTION TO DIVIDE THE QUESTION 1. A Motion to Divide the Question requests that specific clauses of the Draft Resolution are voted upon separately. The Motion will be in order immediately after the Closure of Debate, but before the Committee starts voting on any of the Draft Resolutions. 2. This motion does not require debate and needs a simple majority to pass. 3. If the motion passes the Draft Resolution is divided into different parts accordingly, and a separate substantive vote will be taken on each divided part. Parts of the Draft Resolution that are approved by the Committee will be recombined into a final document and put to a substantive vote as a whole.

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