The Rules of Procedure of the KSUHSMUN shall
be followed throughout the KSUHSMUN except where noted within this section.
All of the rules explained below are based upon the rules of procedure
that the real United Nations follows. Any
delegate wishing to Rise to a Point of Order must refer to the specific rule
below that is violated.
Opening Procedures
The General Assembly of the United
Nations begins with a minute of silent prayer or meditation. Next, the agenda for the session is
adopted. For the remainder of the
session, the delegates will debate topics and vote upon the proposed
resolutions.
Rule
1
Quorum
The presiding officer may declare a
meeting open, and permit the debate to proceed, when at least one-half of the
members of the body are present. The
presence of a majority of the members shall be required for any decision to be
taken.
Rule
2
Adopting
of Agenda
The agenda provided by the
Secretary-General shall be considered adopted at the beginning of the
session. Motions to order the agenda
proposed by the Secretariat are accepted and debated. The presiding officer may limit the allowed speakers' list for
debate upon the order of the agenda.
When the debate is concluded, a vote will be taken upon each proposed
agenda order until one is approved. The
order shall be determined by a majority vote of the members present.
Rule
3
Time
Limit on Speeches
The presiding officer will determine the
speaker’s time limit. Proposals to
alter the speaker’s time limit should be sent to the presiding officer in
writing. If the presiding officer deems
the proposal reasonable, it will be put to a majority vote, after the body
hears two speakers for the change and two against. The decision of the presiding officer is final. The members of the body may not vote
to alter the speaker’s time limit under any other circumstances. This rule was made to ensure that the
KSUHSMUN progresses smoothly, thus giving all students an educational
experience.
Rule
4
List
of Speakers
When each topic is opened, the presiding
officer will ask those wishing to speak to raise their placards. Those wishing to speak will be placed upon
the list of speakers. If a delegate
wants to be added to the speakers' list during the debate, a note must be sent
to the rapporteur. In order to have a
country removed from the speakers' list, a delegate from the country in
question must approach the presiding officer and ask for the country's removal
from the speakers' list.
Rule 5
Closure
of the List of Speakers
During the course of debate, the body may
wish to close the speakers' list according to the rules of procedure. If a majority of the committee consents to
the closure of the list, then no speakers may be added to the list unless the
committee decides to re-open the speakers' list in accordance with the rules of
procedure.
Rule
6
Expiration
of the List of Speakers
The speakers' list is said to expire at
the point when the last speaker on the current speakers' list has been
recognized and charged with the time limit on his speech. No further requests
to be placed on the speakers' list will be honored. All honored requests must
have reached the Rapporteur maintaining the speakers' list prior to the
expiration. Once the speakers' list expires,
the body moves directly into voting procedures.
Rule
7
Recognition
of the Speaker
No delegate may address the body until
obtaining the recognition of the presiding officer who shall call upon speakers
in the order in which they are placed on the speakers' list. The presiding officer may call‑to‑order
a delegate whose remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion.
Rule
8
Relevance
of Speeches
Delegates may speak on general policy or
specific resolutions but should keep all remarks germane to the topic of
discussion. A speaking delegate may
also introduce new resolutions or amendments to existing resolutions if and
when they obtain approval from the presiding officer. In order to obtain the presiding officer's approval to place a
working paper onto the floor as a resolution, the working paper must have the
correct number of signatories, sponsors, and be acceptable to the presiding
officer.
Rule 9
Location,
location, location
While speaking, delegates must stand at a
predetermined place on the floor, acknowledge the presiding officer, and
address the assembly.
Rule
10
Point
of Personal Privilege
During debate, the presiding officer can
recognize a delegate when another delegate is speaking. However, when interrupting the speaker, it
must be because: the speaker cannot be heard, the speaker's remarks are not
germane, the information being related is not correct according to the rules of
procedure (point of order), or the speaker has been called out of order by the
presiding officer. Delegates are
expected to use this rule very rarely, and with extreme politeness.
Rule
11
Acceptable
Motions during Debate
Motions accepted from the floor during
debate:
1. Point
of Order
2. Adjournment
of Debate
3. Closure
of Debate
4. Suspension
of the Meeting
5. Withdrawal
of a Motion
6. Right
of Reply
Rule
12
Right
of Reply
A delegate may ask for a right of reply
only if his/her nation or the nation's honor is attacked by another
delegate. Comments made by one delegate
about another delegate do not qualify for a right of reply, and will be ruled
out of order by the presiding officer.
In order to be granted a right of reply, a delegate must send a written
note to the presiding office explaining how his/her country was wronged and by
whom. A delegate may not interrupt a
speaker for this motion no matter how severe the comment. If the speaker is interrupted, the delegate
will be called to order by the presiding officer. The presiding officer has the final say on this issue.
Rule
13
Point
of Order
If a delegate, at any time, believes that
a member of the body has violated the rules of procedure, then the delegate may
rise to a Point of Order. Any delegate
rising to a point of order is required to state the rule that has been
violated. The presiding officer in
accordance with the rules shall immediately decide the point. If still dissatisfied, the delegate may
appeal the ruling of the presiding officer.
Any appeal must be submitted to the Secretariat of the KSUHSMUN. Frivolous appeals will be dealt with
accordingly. A representative rising to
a Point of Order may not speak on the substance of the matter under
discussion. The final authority on all
rules shall be the Secretary‑General.
Rule
14
Adjournment
of Debate
If a majority of the body present and
voting chooses to adjourn the debate on the topic at hand, the body shall
immediately move to consideration of the next agenda topic. Two speakers for, and two against, will be
heard before voting on this motion takes place. If a motion for adjournment of a topic is passed, the topic is
considered dismissed, and no action will be taken on it. Since this motion if used unwisely could
effectively end a committee’s work at KSUHSMUN far too early, this proposal
will first be subject to the approval of the presiding officer, and if ruled
out of order, remains so with no recourse for appeals.
Rule
15
Adjournment
of Meeting
The
purpose of this motion is to end the meeting for that day. The meeting will resume at an appointed time
set by the presiding officer. The
proposal is not subject to debate, and will immediately be put to majority
vote. Adjournment of the final meeting
shall adjourn the committee’s session.
Rule
16
Suspension of the Meeting
A delegate may move for suspension of the meeting for a
stated amount of time to caucus with other delegates, to read through the
working papers and resolutions before the body, or to break for lunch. The motion’s proper wording is: “...move to
suspend the meeting for the purpose of (caucusing, lunch, etc.) for XX
minutes.” Such a motion is put
immediately to a vote without debate.
If a majority of the committee agrees to the motion, then the presiding
officer will suspend the meeting for the specified period of time. When the time limit on the suspension ends,
the body will immediately move back into formal session. Again, the presiding officer may suggest a
more adequate time limit for suspension due to the workings of the body. If necessary, the presiding officer can
delay suspension of the meeting if he/she feels the time could be better spent
in debate or if the body is not using its caucus time wisely. If the delegates are calling for a caucus
break ten minutes after their last caucus break and the presiding officer feels
that the committee did not use their last break to do work but to get
refreshments and socialize, then the presiding officer may postpone or deny the
new motion for suspension until he/she believes the time is more
appropriate. Suspension of the meeting
for the purpose of caucusing is the most valuable tool of the body. It allows delegates to negotiate in a free
environment that often proves more productive then formal debate, but, as
previously mentioned, it is easily abused!
Rule
17
Closure
of Debate
If a delegate moves for closure of
debate, the presiding officer shall recognize two speakers in opposition to
immediate closure after which the measure shall be put immediately to a vote.
If there is no opposition from the body, then the presiding officer will move
the body immediately into voting procedures. The vote will be taken by use of placards, and requires a
two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.
Rule
18
Withdrawal
of a Motion
Any motion can be withdrawn by a delegate
if that delegate decides the motion is ill-timed, not appropriate, or not
conducive to the workings of the committee.
On occasion, the presiding officer may ask a delegate to withdraw a
motion if the motion is not viewed as constructive to the session.
Rule
19
Order
of Motions
The motions indicated below shall have precedence
in the order stated:
a] To suspend the meeting
b] To adjourn the meeting
c] To adjourn debate on the item under
discussion
d] To close debate on the item under
discussion
Rule
20
Withdrawal
of a Resolution
Its sponsors may withdraw a resolution at
any time before voting on the resolution has commenced. In order to withdraw the resolution, all
sponsors must agree to remove the resolution from the floor. If any sponsor decides to keep the
resolution on the floor, then that delegate can do so without the other
sponsors who have withdrawn their sponsorship of the resolution. The presiding officer will remove the
resolution only after meeting with a representative from each sponsor nation. No country or countries that are not
sponsors of a resolution can have that resolution removed from the floor.
Rule
21
Moderated
Caucus
A delegate may motion for a moderated
caucus which is a temporary suspension of the rules with the presiding officer
of the committee remaining in control of the floor. Unlike a regular caucus or suspension of the rules, the presiding
officer remains in control of debate and sets all rules for the committee by
which to abide. This generally allows
for more informal debate and can be of use when the list of speakers is not providing
the necessary forum for substantial debate.
Rule
22
Working
Papers
Each
delegation shall submit working papers on each of the topics in advance to the
Secretariat. From the submitted working
papers, the Secretariat shall select the best working papers representing the
spectrum of policy positions. In
addition, the Secretariat shall select key components from other submitted
working papers, such that many more student’s contributions reach the floor
during initial debate. The Secretariat
requests that each delegation send two typed copies of each working paper that
they want to submit to the Secretary‑General by the due date assigned
each year by KSUHSMUN.
Rule
23
Conduct
during Voting
When the presiding officer begins the
voting process, the chamber is sealed.
The presiding officer will direct the staff to prevent anyone from
entering the room until the voting process is concluded. After the presiding officer has announced
the beginning of voting, no delegate shall interrupt the voting except on a
Point of Order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting. The presiding officer will ask members if
they wish to explain their vote through the right of explanation. If so, the delegate must state if that right
will be exercised before or after the voting on the topic. The presiding officer will limit the time
allowed for such explanations. The
sponsor of a resolution shall not be allowed to explain his/her nation's vote
on the resolution. A delegate should
explain his/her nation's vote only when the vote contradicts what the
delegate has stated in speech during debate.
Rule
24
Order
of Voting for Amendments
The committee shall first vote on the
amendment farthest removed in substance from the original proposal (in the
opinion of the presiding officer).
When the adoption of one amendment
necessarily implies the rejection of another amendment, the latter amendment
shall not be put to the vote. A change
is considered an amendment if it adds to, deletes from, or revises part
of the proposed resolution, and does not have the support of all or any of the
sponsors. Any changes to a resolution
that have the approval of all the sponsors are called modifications and
are not voted on as amendments.
Preambulatory clauses cannot be changed or amended in any way, once a
document has become a resolution.
Rule
25
Motions
in Voting Procedures
Motions accepted from the floor after the
body has moved into voting procedures:
1. Point
of Order
2. Division
of the Question
3. Withdrawal
of Motions
4. Decision
of Competence
Rule
26
Important
Questions
An important question is any resolution
brought before the General Assembly Plenary that includes any of the following:
recommendations for maintaining international peace and security, elections
of non‑permanent members of the Security Council, admission of new members
to the United Nations, elections of members of ECOSOC, election of members
of the Trusteeship Council, suspension of a member's rights and privileges,
expulsion of a member,
Rule
27
Simple
Majority
Decisions shall be made by a majority of
the members present and voting in all committees except the Security Council
and the General Assembly when it is discussing a resolution that is considered
an important question. Members that
abstain from voting are considered not voting; the majority will then be
assessed from those states voting affirmative and negative. If a vote is equally divided, the proposed
resolution shall be considered rejected by the body.
Rule
28
Meaning
of the phrase “present and voting”
For the
purposes of these rules, the phrase “present and voting” at roll call means
that the member is voting affirmative, negative, or abstain.
Rule
29
Method
of Voting
Voting on the resolution can be
accomplished in two ways:
1. The first is through the use of a
placard vote. When using this method,
the body will cast their vote for the resolution, with all of the changes and
amendments previously agreed upon, by raising one placard per country for each
vote--yes, no and abstain.
2. A roll-call vote may be requested by
any member of the body; however, due to time limitations, this practice is and
will be strongly discouraged by the presiding officers during the
simulation. No roll-call vote will be
accepted for procedural matters such as closing the list of speakers, closure
of debate, etc. After the list of
countries present and voting has been exhausted, the presiding officer will
allow delegates to change their vote.
The presiding officer will then announce the results of the vote.
Rule 30
Division
of the Question
After all proposed amendments have been
approved or disapproved, any calls for division of the question will be honored
at the discretion of the presiding officer.