Rules of Procedure – UNA-USA

Roll call
The committee's roll call is the first action that happens. The nations are
mentioned in alphabetical order. Each nation's name will be spoken aloud by the
chairperson (or chairs). Following the mention of their nation, the delegate should
hold up their placard and respond with "present" or "present and voting" (in
which case they must vote "yes" or "no" for each resolution). For roll call, being on
time is crucial; failing to do so could result in you losing your ability to vote.

Setting the agenda

Each committee at the National MUN Conference will only discuss one subject. A
"motion to open debate" will need to be made in this situation. The discussion
may begin in full once the agenda has been established.

Debates
Formal
The formal debate revolves around a general speaker’s list. The Chair will ask all
delegates if they are interested in speaking, and if they are, the delegates should
raise their placards. The Chair will choose delegates to be placed on the General
Speaker’s list. If none are willing to speak, the chair may appoint someone. The
speaker’s list is strictly followed. When the sessions begin, speeches focus on
stating countries' positions and offering recommendations for action. After blocs
have met (e.g., in an unmoderated caucus), speeches focus on describing bloc
positions to the entire committee. Delegates also make statements describing
their draft resolutions and try to gather support through formal speeches and
statements supporting or disagreeing with specific draft resolutions, as well as
presenting any amendments they have created. The general debate is considered
the backbone of the MUN, i.e.., the default type of debate. It is important that
people sign up for the General Speaker’s list because once the list is exhausted, it
is considered that no one wants to discuss anymore, and the debate will
automatically move into the voting procedure, which ends the debate (and the
conference ends since there is no other topic). The Chair will call for motions
before the general speaker’s list is exhausted (“Are there any points or motions on
the floor?”)
G.S.L.
When the debate is on the General Speaker’s List, there is a strict time limit to
adhere to. If you finish your speech before your time limit is up, you have the
opportunity to yield the remainder of your time in three ways:

● Yield to another Delegate: you may give the remainder of your time to
another delegate. This can be useful if you have an ally who is able to back
you up, give supporting arguments or is able to strengthen your speech.

● Yield to questions: this will allow time for delegates from the committee to
ask questions regarding your speech. This may work for or against you, so
use this yield wisely.

● Yield to the chair: this serves no strategic purpose, you only forfeit the
remainder of your time to the Chair.

Informal
You can have an informal debate by presenting a “motion for moderated caucus”
or a “motion for unmoderated caucus.". The informal debate involves discussion
outside of the speaker’s list. The delegate proposing the motion must briefly
explain its purpose and specify a time limit for the caucus, which must not exceed
30 or 20 minutes (for the moderated and unmoderated caucuses, respectively).

Moderated
In a moderated caucus, the chair is allowed to choose more freely who gets to
speak, calling delegates one by one for short speeches so that each can address
the committee. The length of the moderated caucus and the speaker’s time are
determined by the delegate proposing the motion (max. 30 minutes). A
moderated caucus has many purposes, but its main purpose is to allow delegates
to discuss sub-topics under the main topic of the debate. Since the topic is
generally very broad, it is up to the delegates to steer the discussion in the
direction they want it to go and towards issues that are relevant to them. You can
also use the moderated caucus to gather resolution ideas or discuss what took
place in other parts of the debate.

Unmoderated
In unmoderated caucuses (also called lobbying sessions or “unmods”), the
committee breaks for a temporary recess (max. 20 minutes) so that delegates
may meet with each other and discuss ideas. This is a non-moderated debate,
normally used to exchange ideas, draft working papers or resolutions, or gather
support for a specific draft resolution. Delegates are allowed to move from their
seats and talk to other delegates freely and in the groupings of their choice. This is
the time when resolutions are drafted. These will only be in order after a certain
time into the debate, as the chair will want to ensure that you have enough to
discuss and do not use this as a break.

Closure of debate
Once the speaker’s list is exhausted, the committee automatically moves to vote.
Also, once a delegate feels that his or her country’s position is clear to others or
that there are enough draft resolutions on the floor, he or she may make a motion
for the closure of the debate.

Voting Procedure
Once a motion to close the debate has been approved, the committee moves into
The voting procedures change depending on the committee in question. A
delegate can vote “yes," "no,” or abstain from voting. Abstentions are noted but do
not count towards the majority. Order of voting procedure:

● Draft Resolutions (they can be voted as a whole or clause by clause).

● Amendment store solutions (only the unfriendly amendments need to be

voted on, the ones that are not supported by the sponsors – for more
information, please see our Help Guide regarding Draft Resolutions and
Working Papers);

Terminologies
QUORUM
The quorum is the number of Member States who need to be present for the
Chair to open a meeting and for the GA to take decisions. The quorum for
opening a GA meeting is one-third of the Member States.Of course, for this
debate in particular, we will abstain from demanding such quorum to be
considered, and follow through with the debate with the participating
delegations. The quorum for the adoption of resolutions/decisions and elections is
a simple majority of Member States.

WORKING PAPERS
Working papers are informal documents containing a framework for the
resolution. They can be created individually. They do not have to be formatted to
the UN rules. The working papers may be submitted to the Chair. If you want
delegates to discuss specific point in it, you can move for a moderated caucus to
discuss your working paper. If the motion passes, the chair will put it up on the
screen, and it can be discussed (that way, you can get good feedback and learn
who agrees with you or not)

Draft Resolutions
Draft resolutions are more formal documents that have to be written in the
correct UN resolution format. These are the documents that will be voted upon
and become resolutions after the voting procedures. In order to get a draft
resolution discussed, you have to get a minimum number of supporters (a
minimum of five Member States). They can be:

● Sponsors: people who wrote the resolution (max. 5 sponsors);

● Signatories – people who do not necessarily agree, but want to hear the
resolution discussed. The Chair then has to agree that the resolution can be
introduced. Once the draft resolution has been introduced, it may be
discussed, and delegates may propose amendments (changes) to the draft.
If you wish to make an amendment, you have to get a set number of
supporters for the amendment, in order to send it to the Chair, who can
approve it for discussion. Each amendment must be introduced, debated
and voted upon separately to become a part of the draft resolution.

Motions
Some of the most important motions are the following:

● Motion to open debate; Motion to suspend the debate (for

break/lunch/informal/off-record discussions); The Dais will rule this motion
out of order if it is raised prematurely. Motion to adjourn the debate; Motion
to set the agenda: “The country of [name] moves to place [topic A] first
on the Agenda, followed by [topic B] and then [topic C].”

● Motion for moderated caucus; “The delegate of Ghana moves for a

moderated caucus of 10 minutes, individual speaking time 30 seconds, to
discuss [ issue/working paper/draft resolution x].”

● Motion for unmoderated caucus; “The Russian Federation moves for un

unmoderated caucus for 10 minutes for the purpose of [X).”

● Motion to close the debate/move to the voting procedure: “The delegate

of the United States of America moves to close debate and over into voting
procedure.”

● Motion to introduce working paper/draft resolution/amendment: “The

delegate of Angola moves to introduce Draft Resolution 1.2 to the floor.”
 ● Right of Reply If a delegate feels that another delegate’s speech has
offended his country, the delegate can ask chairs for a right of reply by
sending a note. If the Chair recognizes it, both parties involved will be
granted a chance to speak

Points
A point is something you raise when it concerns something you'd like to address
yourself. Some of the most important points are the following:

● Point of order; When a delegate believes the chair has made an error in
the running of the committee; violation of the rules of procedure by the
Chair. The delegate should only specify the errors they believe were made
in the formal committee procedure, and may not address the topic being
discussed.

● Point of parliamentary procedure; To clarify the RoP, flow of debate, or if

you are uncertain of what is going on etc.

● Point of clarification; A delegate wants to clarify a non-substantive point

(meaning grammatical, spelling, word choice, awkward phrases) in a
resolution or amendment.

● Point of information; A delegate has a substantive question for a speaker

during formal debate. The speaker chooses whether or not to yield his or
her time to points of information

● Point of personal privilege. When a delegate’s ability to participate in

committee is impaired, for example you cannot hear the other delegate
speaking, or you cannot see the working paper that is displayed on the
screen.