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Rules of Procedure

You can find the official Rules of Procedure for the Model United Nations of Lübeck (PDF) in the linked document or you can use the online version following below.

PREFACE

These Rules of Procedure henceforth manifest the official orders that the Model United Nations of Lübeck (MUNOL) is to be conducted by. They are based on and strictly follow the basic principles set forth in the Charter of the United Nations. Thus, never losing that aim, these Rules of Procedure are especially formed for and based on the experience of the past MUNOL conferences. Therefore specialised in regards to official proceedings, the MUNOL Rules of Procedure must show a unique character.
These rules, being a second, and completely revised – and thus newly established – version of those in existence before, leave the history of documents with the possibility of wide interpretation behind. Their main objective is to provide MUNOL with clearly formulated rules of conduct, behaviour and procedures.
Furthermore, the used diction is adapted to elevate the document to present-day standards.

These Rules of Procedure are based on a draft of the chairmen of the MUNOL Association. They were accepted by the whole Association following a thorough discussion. As the Secretary-General and the Conference Management are part of the Association, it is the only legitimate forum to amend these rules.

Hamburg/Lübeck/Munich
February 2008


By its decision of 19 August 2008, the MUNOL Association adopted a second and revised version of the present Rules of Procedure. Inspired by the experience of their first application at MUNOL 2008, the rules were adapted to the practical needs of the conference, especially with regard to Motions as mentioned in Article 40. The underlying concept and the basic ideas of the first version of these rules were nevertheless upheld as they proved to be reasonable and appropriate.

Hamburg/Lübeck/Paris
September 2008

I. GENERAL RULES

Art. 1 Application

These rules of procedure apply to all forums simulated at MUNOL.

Art. 2 Forums

The main committees of the General Assembly (GA) are the following:

Annually simulated are as well:

Art. 3 Provisional Agenda

The provisional agenda for a session shall be published in written form by the Secretary-General at least ninety days before the official opening of the session.

Art. 4 President

The terms President and dais in these rules of procedure refer to persons in the position of presiding at any forum at MUNOL.

If the President finds it necessary to be absent during a meeting or any part thereof, his Deputy automatically takes his place.

A Deputy acting as President shall have the same powers and duties as the President.

Art. 5 Credentials

All MUNOL participants shall be identified by the official MUNOL badge available during registration at the Information Desk. The loss of the badge consequently leads to the loss of all powers of a delegate. This instance must therefore be brought to the attention of the Secretariat immediately.

Placards are provided by the Secretariat and are needed for any voting procedure. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and inter-governmental organisations (IGOs) are provided with coloured placards which indicate their observer status without substantive voting rights (Art. 43). In the Security Council it is the permanent members that are provided with coloured placards in order to indicate their veto position in substantive votes.

'Motion/Point-Cards' are distributed to all delegates. Art. 39 and Art. 40 specify their purpose.

Art. 6 Dress Code

Male delegates are to be suitably dressed, wearing long trousers, jacket, shirt and tie.

Female delegates are to wear a trouser-suit or coat and skirt. Skirts should not end higher than one palm over the knees and shirts must have an appropriate neckline.

Neither blue jeans nor sneakers are allowed.

Non-compliance with the dress code may lead to a reprehension and is to be corrected for the further proceedings of the conference.

Art. 7 Behaviour

Delegates shall under any given circumstances maintain decorum.

Disregarding paragraph (1) of this article may lead to a reprehension by the President.

Art. 8 Language

The official and the working language of the conference shall be English.

Art. 9 Plagiarism

Proved plagiarism leads to the exclusion of the relevant document from the discussion.

The President will in this case make use of his power to declare a reprehension.

Art. 10 General Rules of Conduct

The President and the members of a forum are to be addressed in third person singular only.

Each delegate refers to himself in third person singular or first person plural only, when speaking on behalf of his delegation.

The delegates always rise in order to speak and remain standing while speaking and receiving answers.

There is no dialogue on the floor.

Art. 11 Ad-Hoc Meetings

These meetings have the general purpose to inform the forum about general procedures, important announcements and/or changes in the Programme of Events.

Two ad-hoc meetings are mandatory for each forum. The first one is to be held before the Opening Ceremonies.

Art. 12 Notepapers

The passing of notepapers is a possibility for the delegates to communicate within their forum solely on agenda-related issues. They have to be written in English and their content has to comply with Art. 7 of these Rules of Procedure.

By raising a hand a delegate signals to be in need of a notepaper or an amendment sheet and is provided with the necessary form by the Administrative Staff. The notepaper will be screened by the Administrative Staff for its compliance with paragraph (1) of this article. If not in order it is handed over to the dais for further consideration.

Any delegate may contact his ambassador using a notepaper.

The dais may at any point of time suspend notepaper passing.

Notepaper passing is out of order during moderated caucus.

II. SECRETARY-GENERAL AND CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT

II.1 The Secretary-General

Art. 13 Position

The Secretary-General is the final and sole institution concerning any decision upon the interpretation of these rules.

In his performance of duties the Secretary-General shall not seek or receive instructions from any person or from any other authority external to the organisation.

He is elected each year by members of the Officials De-Briefing to whom a voting right is conferred by the "Statute concerning the Voting Procedures for Student Officers" of the MUNOL Association.

The Secretary-General may designate his Deputy to act on his behalf.

The Secretary-General is to be addressed either with 'Your Excellency' or 'Most distinguished Mr. Secretary-General'.

Art. 14 Powers

The Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.

The Secretary-General or his Deputy may make either oral or written statements to any forum at MUNOL concerning any question under consideration by it.

II.2 Conference Management

Art. 15 Conference Manager

The Conference Manager is the final and sole institution concerning any decision upon the organisation of the MUNOL session.

The Conference Manager may designate his Assistant to act on his behalf.

His office is the Secretariat. The official MUNOL Staff follows his instructions.

He is elected each year by members of the Officials De-Briefing to whom a voting right is conferred by the “Statute concerning the Voting Procedures for Student Officers” of the MUNOL Association.

Art. 16 Secretariat

The Secretariat shall receive, print and distribute documents, working papers and draft resolutions of all MUNOL forums.

It shall have the custody, proper preservation and distribution of all documents and credentials.

The Secretariat shall generally perform all other work which the forums may require.

Art. 17 Staff Members

The different official MUNOL Staffs and their activities can be found in the Students Guide.

III. COURSE OF PROCEDURAL EVENTS (CHRONOLOGICAL)

III.1 Opening Ceremonies

Art. 18 Official Opening

The President of the General Assembly (PGA) declares the session as open.

Art. 19 Minute of Silent Prayer and Meditation

Only prior to the opening speeches, a delegation may request a minute of silent prayer or meditation. This may be done orally.

The President decides on the matter.

Art. 20 Opening Speeches

Opening Speeches are held after the official opening of the conference. They allow the ambassador of each delegation to set forth his country’s position concerning the items on the agenda. Opening speeches are limited to one minute.

NGOs IGOs may but do not need to hold an opening speech.

After every five opening speeches, three rights of reply will be entertained by the President. They must clearly refer to one or more out of the past five speeches.

III.2 Rules Governing the Path to a Draft Resolution

Art. 21 Working Paper

A working paper is a written form of a country’s opinion about one item under discussion that shows the format of a draft resolution. It is to be prepared by each delegate prior to the opening of the official conference. Working papers are intended to aid the forum in its discussion and formulation of draft resolutions.

Art. 22 Informal Caucus

In informal caucus, delegates may merge their working papers in order to ameliorate their positions. Informal caucus excludes formal debating rules and offers delegates the possibility to negotiate at their own discretion.

Art. 23 Moderated Caucus

The moderated caucus is an informal debate that is obligatory for the delegates to attend.

The sponsors present the opinions and ideas put down in their working papers regarding an agenda item. Following, they may be open to points of information (Art. 39 (2) ii.).

The purpose of moderated caucus is to facilitate substantive debate, for the delegates to lobby for their improved working papers at critical junctures in the discussion, for the different delegations to enlarge their spectrum of input and to enhance the forum’s detailed knowledge about the items under discussion.

Motions are not in order during moderated caucus.

Notepaper-passing is suspended for the duration of moderated caucus.

Art. 24 Informal Caucus (continued)

The forum returns to informal caucus to complete the working papers and to reach the necessary number of signatories (co-sponsors).

Art. 25 Formal Clearing

The Formal Clearing Office consists of MUN-Directors’ Assistants who scan the typed version of the working paper for formal correctness.

Each working paper has to go through the Formal Clearing Office and has to be marked as formally cleared before entering the Approval Panel.

When approved by the Panel, the working paper is reconsidered by the Formal Clearing Office for a final correction and it may then proceed to the dais for consideration.

Art. 26 Approval Panel

The Approval Panel consists of MUN-Directors. Its purpose includes, but is not limited to the correction of all grammatical and spelling mistakes in the working papers.

The Approval Panel may never under any circumstance change the substance of a working paper.

Art. 27 Draft Resolution

The dais finally decides to accept the approved working paper as a draft resolution.

III.3 Rules Governing the Path of a Draft Resolution

Art. 28 Discussion

Each draft resolution is discussed in formal debate (Ch. IV.2) in the respective committee of the General Assembly, the SC, the HRC, and the ECOSOC or in any other forum simulated at MUNOL.

Numerous draft resolutions may be passed in each main committee. The main committees forward only one of those draft resolutions to the General Assembly for ultimate consideration. Draft resolutions are forwarded to the General Assembly by the votes of a relative majority in the forum. This vote follows the procedures of Art. 44.

Each draft resolution that is passed in the SC, the HRC or the ECOSOC is, by that, ultimately accepted.

III.4 Closing Ceremonies

Art. 29 Official Closing

The President officially declares the conference as closed.

IV. RULES GOVERNING FORMAL DEBATE

IV.1 General

Art. 30 General Powers and Duties of the President

The President shall:

Art. 31 Special Powers of the President

The President, except for the case mentioned in Art. 40 (8) ii., decides upon any doubtful or conflicting interpretation concerning these Rules of Procedure.

The President must, in any case, be able to explain in what manner his decision is in complete accordance with the fundamental principles of MUNOL.

For the clarification of a doubtful or conflicting interpretation, the President may call upon the Secretary-General for advice.

The President may declare reprehensions consequent to a delegate’s non-compliance with the Art. 7. Three reprehensions lead to the delegate’s exclusion from the debate for an amount of time to be set by the President. In case of a serious violation of these rules the exclusion may come into effect immediately. While excluded from the debate a delegate may not participate in the voting procedures.

Art. 32 Role Call

The President conducts a role call at the beginning of every session in order to determine the presence of the quorum (Art. 33).

Art. 33 Quorum

The President may declare a forum open and permit debate to proceed when more than one half of the members of the forum are present.

Art. 34 Sponsors

The delegation introducing a working paper or draft resolution is referred to as 'sponsor'.

Signatories are referred to as 'co-sponsors'.

A working paper will only be accepted by the President and thus become a draft resolution, if it is supported by a minimum of 20% of the members of the forum.

The sponsor is always the primary speaker in favour of the introduced draft resolution.

After having forwarded a draft resolution to the General Assembly, the forum is the sponsor. The chairman of the forum, being the representative, reads out the operative clauses to the General Assembly.

Art. 35 Competence

Each Committee member may question the forum’s competence on the issue under discussion. The doubt must be communicated to the dais in written form indicating plausible reasons.

The President must inform the forum about the incident and explain his decision upon it.

Art. 36 Public Meetings

All forums are to be open for the public during formal debate.

IV.2 Formal Debate

Art. 37 Structure of Debate

Every formal debate is commenced in closed debate, consisting of a time to be set in favour and a time against the item under discussion. Once moved into open debate representatives may either speak in favour or in opposition.

Art. 38 Speeches

In formal debate, raising the placard makes a request for the floor. After having obtained the permission to take the floor, the speaker is to address the dais before addressing the house.

The speech is delivered solemnly in order to support the own or in order to oppose a divergent opinion on the item under discussion.

Following the speech a delegate may be open for Points of Information (Article 39 (2) ii.).

At any moment in formal debate a speaker may yield the floor to another delegation. Consecutive yielding is not in order.

If not to another delegation, the floor is to be yielded back to the President.

Art. 39 Points

Points, other than the exceptions made in paragraph (2) i. and iii. of this article, can be made by raising the Motion/Point Card. The delegate is to wait until recognized by the President. The delegate must then rise and state the point.

The following points are the only ones to be used – thus, according to their purpose – during official MUNOL procedures:

Art. 40 Motions

Motions can be made by raising the Motion/Point-Card. The delegate is to wait until recognized by the President. The delegate must then rise and state the motion. Every motion interrupts the formal debating process and has instantly to be decided upon.

To be considered by the dais, a motion always has to be seconded at least twice. This does not include those mentioned in paragraph (5), (9) and (10) of this article.

The Motions mentioned in paragraph (5)-(10) of this article are the only ones to be used – thus, according to their purpose – during official MUNOL procedures.

The Motions mentioned in paragraph (6) of this article can be objected. If an objection is filed the motion will not be considered by the dais unless he decides to overrule the caveat.

Motions that are decided upon by the President are the following:

Motions, which are decided upon by the President and that can be objected are the following:

Motions that are decided upon by the forum with a simple majority are the following:

Motions that are to be decided upon by the forum with a two-thirds majority are the following:

The Motion to Adopt the Resolution by Acclamation can be put forward in order to pass a resolution consensually without voting procedures. This Motion is never voted on. If objected once, it will not be entertained.

The Motion to Divide the House leads to a roll call vote. If put forward, it cannot be objected and the President immediately decides upon its accomplishment.

Art. 41 Amendments

The Motion to Amend the Resolution allows the delegates to change, strike out and/or add clauses, parts of clauses and/or single words in the operative part of a draft resolution.

Amendments have to be handed in to the dais in written form. By raising a hand a delegate signals to be in need of an amendment sheet or notepaper and is provided with the necessary form by the Administrative Staff. After having filled out the form it is delivered to the dais via the Administrative Staff.

Following, the delegate has to raise the Motion/Point-Card in order to put forward the motion. The entertainment of the motion by the President depends on the conformity of the proposed amendment with these Rules of Procedure (paragraph (1) of this article). If entertained, the formal debate on the draft resolution is suspended for the duration of a limited time of formal debate on the amendment.

Amendments are discussed following the same rules as draft resolutions (Ch. IV.2).

Amendments are decided upon by procedural vote (Art. 44).

Friendly Amendments are changes made to the draft resolution or to an amendment that are immanently non-substantive matters, including but not limited to grammatical or spelling mistakes and the resolution format which are decided upon by the President.

Amendments to amendments are not in order, except for friendly amendments to amendments.

An amended part of a draft resolution may be further amended.

IV.3 Voting Procedures

Art. 42 General

All points and motions are out of order during voting procedures except the Point of Personal Privilege referring to Audibility (Art. 39 (2) i.).

Conferring voting rights is not in order under any circumstances.

Art. 43 Substantive Vote

The vote is regarded as substantive when referring to a draft resolution.

Each member of the General Assembly has one vote. One may vote in favour, against, or may abstain from the vote. To reach a majority only those in favour and against are taken into account.

All draft resolutions need a simple majority to be passed, except for important questions, which need a two-thirds majority to be passed. Important questions are those concerning the maintenance of international peace and security, and budgetary questions.

NGOs and IGOs may participate in a substantive vote by showing their coloured placard but their vote will not be saved on record.

Art. 44 Procedural Vote

The vote is regarded as procedural when referring to a motion.

Each member of the General Assembly has one vote. One may vote in favour, against, or may abstain from the vote. To reach a majority only those in favour and against are taken into account.

All Motions that are voted on by the forum need a simple majority to be passed except for those mentioned in Art. 40 (5) and (8)-(10).

NGOs IGOs have the right to participate in any procedural vote.

Art. 45 Differing Regulation

Special voting procedures for the Security Council are set forth in Art. 50 (2) and (3).

V. The Security Council

Art. 46 General

Rules mentioned in this section are special to the Security Council and thus to be primarily considered by it.

Art. 47 Primary Right of Consideration

While the Security Council is discussing any dispute or situation assigned to it, no other forum shall make any recommendation with regard to that dispute or situation unless the Security Council so requests.

Art. 48 Right of Invitation

The ambassador of any member nation of MUNOL which is not a member of the Security Council, if it is a party to a dispute under consideration by the Security Council, may be invited to participate, without vote, in the discussion relating to the dispute.

Art. 49 Special Debating Procedures

In formal debate the operative section of a draft resolution is discussed and voted on clause by clause.

During the discussion of any substantive matter, any permanent member of the Security Council may propose a suspension of the meeting for a P5 caucus. It has to be seconded by all permanent members in order to be entertained. The matter is treated as a motion.

Art. 50 Voting Procedures

Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote.

Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members.

Decisions of the Security Council on all other matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including all votes of the permanent members.

VI. Closing Remarks

Art. 51 Amendments to these Rules

These rules of procedure may only be amended by a decision of the MUNOL Association.

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