RULES OF
PROCEDURE
A GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS
What do Rules of Procedure
mean?
To understand this, let’s break the term down.
What happens in a committee? We make some headway, take
some actions, and then proceed. The way of proceeding in a
committee is called its Procedure.
What do Rules of Procedure
mean?
What are rules? Rules can be defined as “a set of principles
or regulations governing conduct in a particular area of
activity”. Basically, they are a cluster of directives that need
to be followed.
The rules that need to be followed while proceeding in the
committee are called the ‘Rules of Procedure’ or ‘RoP’.
What do Rules of Procedure
mean?
Now, we cannot be speaking out of turn and creating chaos,
can we? That is why the RoP are extremely important and
need to be understood.
Here is a comprehensive guide for you to help you with an
in-depth understanding of the RoP for the UNFCCC COP21
at PMUN 2016.
Important Terms

Simple Majority- 50% + 1
(For Example, if the no. of delegates is 60, Simple
majority would be 31)

Special Majority- Two thirds of the total strength of the
committee (For example, if the no. of delegates is 60,
special majority would be 20)
Important Terms

Substantive Voting- Voting upon the end document (NOT
APPLICABLE IN THIS COUNCIL; no voting would be
conducted for the end document; we’ll get to the details of
documentation later).

Procedural Voting- Every voting procedure other than that
upon the end document (Motions, etc.).
Important Terms

Point – When a delegate wants to move for an individual
action, either to ask a question about the topic or about
RoP, or to seek redressal for a personal discomfort, or to
point out a mistake, he/she can use a point.

Motion – An appeal that a delegate makes in committee for
an action to be taken. This appeal has to be made in proper
format (read on to find examples and to understand this
better).
Points
Point of Personal Privilege
As the name suggests, this shall be used to express any personal discomfort that you
might be having [for example, the temperature being too high/low, any special
requirements (pen drives, extension boards, etc.), audibility issues, etc.]. These points
shall be disruptive.
Point of Order
This point may be raised when someone makes a factually incorrect statement. For
example, “the Secretary General of the UN is Barack Obama”. Such a factual fallacy
can be pointed out either in writing or in verbal formats of debate. However, these
shall be applicable STRICTLY to factual inconsistencies and not to personal opinions.
Meaning, that while the above example would be considered a factual fallacy, if
someone says “Barack Obama was not a good President.”, it wouldn’t be considered
as a factual error. The President shall have the ultimate ruling authority over all
Points of Order.
Points
Point of Parliamentary Inquiry
These points are used to obtain any clarifications relating to
procedure from the Executive Board.
Point of Information
They are questions addressed to a delegate once his/her
speech is over. These shall be raised if the delegate wishes to
be questioned and not otherwise.
Flow of Debate
Roll Call
Setting of the
Agenda
Voting
Debate (Formal
and Informal)
Amendments
Closure of
Debate
Documentation
(Working Papers
and Draft Res.)
Roll Call
The Committee shall begin with a Roll Call. The Executive Board would
call out the names of countries in an alphabetical order.
Generally at MUNs, what you need to do is stay attentive and when you
hear your country’s name, respond with either a “Present” or a “Present
and Voting”.
What is the difference between the two? When you say ‘Present’, it gives
you the right to abstain during SUBSTANTIVE voting (i.e. voting upon
the end document). By saying ‘Present and Voting’, you cannot abstain
from voting and hence, will have to vote upon the end document (by either
passing or failing it). Nothing in between.
Roll Call
NOTE: Under NO circumstances can you abstain from
PROCEDURAL voting. When voting upon a motion, you need to vote
either in favour of or against it, even if you say ‘present’ during the roll
call.
HOWEVER, in this particular committee, you shall be responding
ONLY with a simple ‘PRESENT’ as there won’t be any voting upon the
end document.
Setting the Agenda
After the Roll Call, you are expected to raise a motion to set the agenda. The motion
should look like this“The delegate of ‘A’ would like to raise a motion to set the agenda as ‘xyz’”
Once the motion is raised, the committee shall vote upon it. In case there are any
oppositions, a Provisional Speakers List would be established where four speakers
would be taken (two in favour of and two against the motion), and would be allowed
to speak for 60 seconds each. After that, the motion shall immediately be put to vote
again.
A simple majority is required to get this motion passed. When 50%+1 people vote in
favour of it, the Agenda is established.
But, what to do with it? You shall see further.
Debate
Informal
Formal
(General Speakers List)
(Moderated
Caucus)
(Unmoderated
Caucus)
Debate - GSL
What you might have understood from the previous section
is that Debate can broadly be categorised into two parts formal and informal.
A.
Formal Debate
It happens in the form of a General Speakers List (GSL). A
GSL is a list of countries recognised by the Executive Board
to speak during Formal debate. This list is non-exhaustive in
nature, meaning that it never ends. If it does, debate is said to
be closed.
Debate - GSL
To establish a GSL, this is the motion that you are expected to raise“The delegate of ‘A’ would like to raise a motion to establish a
GSL.”
The default speakers time is taken as 90 seconds. If someone wishes to
increase or decrease the individual speakers time, they can raise a
motion for the same. These motions require a simple majority.
To get your name added, you can either raise your placard (only when
asked to) or send a Chit to the Executive Board. Delegates shall speak
in the order of recognition by the Board.
Yields after a GSL Speech
Once a delegate’s speech is over and she/he has some time left, the
Executive Board might ask for Yields.
Three kinds of yields would be applicable in this committee.
1. Yield to Points of Information - If you yield to this, other delegates
may ask you questions on your speech and/or country’s policies, if
recognised.
2. Yield to another delegate - In this, the delegate to whom you have
yielded your time may take the floor and give his/her remarks.
3. Yield to the Chair - If you choose to do this, the Chair would absorb
the time left and would move on to the next speaker while you are free
to take your seat.
Informal Debate - Caucusing
Usually, after 2-3 speakers, the Executive Board would ask for more motions. This is
the time for you to start Informal debate. There are two ways of doing it.
I. Moderated Caucus
After discussing some ‘general’ stuff in the GSL, we need to talk about specific areas
of the agenda, or, its subtopics. This is done with the help of Moderated Caucuses.
Moderated Caucuses have a topic, an individual speakers time and a total time. These
shall be kept in mind while raising any motions for the same. For example“The delegate of ‘A’ would like to raise a motion to suspend formal debate and
move into a Moderated Caucus on the topic ‘xyz’ with individual speaker’s time
being ‘s’ seconds and total time being ‘m’ minutes”
Informal Debate - Caucusing
This motion, too, requires a simple majority to be passed.
Once we enter a Mod Caucus, the Executive Board recognises speakers
and debate goes on for the specified total time limit. There are no yields
in a Moderated Caucuses.
All points except for the Point of Personal Privilege are suspended
during a Moderated Caucus.
Informal Debate - Caucusing
II. Unmoderated Caucus
What happens when every motion is failing? What happens when you
just can’t get people to discuss things of global importance? What
happens when there seems to be no hope? When the consensus building
capacity of a committee itself stands challenged?
The answer has two words, an Unmoderated Caucus.
Unmoderated caucuses are, as the very mention of the words would
suggest, not moderated by the Executive board. They are discussions
happening purely between delegates. There is no order of speaking, no
turn. You can do whatever you feel like, for example, roam around in
committee, talk to people, explain your policies, foster support from
allies, etc.
Informal Debate - Caucusing
This is essentially the time for you, as a team to formulate some plans
of actions, how you wish to proceed in the council, what topics you’d
want to take up, etc. Documentation also happens mostly during
Unmoderated caucuses.
The motion should be like this“The delegate of ‘A’ would like to suspend formal debate and move
into an unmoderated caucus with total time being ‘m’ mins”.
A simple majority is required to get this motion passed.
NOTE: Max total time for any caucus shall be 20 minutes.
Also NOTE: Once a mod/unmod is over, we revert directly to the GSL.
Documentation
The document expected from you in the UNFCCC COP21 would be a
‘Memorandum of Understanding’.
An MoU is a consensual document and is not voted upon. It will only
be passed if all the delegates are in its favor. However, it shall be open
to discussions in committee.
The entire procedure of documentation for the COP21 shall be
elaborated in a separate document at a later stage. So, patience!
Tabling and Closure of Debate
When the debate and the process of documentation are over and subsequent
discussions on the agenda have taken place, this motion may be raised. The format is“The delegate of ‘A’ would like to raise a motion to close/table debate on topic
‘xyz’”
What is the difference between the two? When you close debate, all discussions shall
end and the documents shall immediately be put to vote after which debate on that
agenda remains closed. However, though everything else remains the same, on tabling
debate, you would have the provision of returning to the topic later and picking
discussions up from the point where they had been left.
Tabling and Closure of Debate
In case of oppositions, two speakers may be taken to speak against the
motion for 60 seconds each, after which the motion shall be put to vote.
This motion requires a two-thirds majority to get passed. If it gets
passed, the committee shall immediately move to the Substantive
Voting Procedure.
Adjournment of the Meeting

In case the committee feels that there are other topics/agendas that need to be
addressed by the council, the motion to set the agenda may be raised when the EB
asks for motions. In case such a motion is raised, further proceeding shall occur as
per the previous order.

However, if the committee believes that all important discussions are over, they
may raise a motion to adjourn the meeting like this“The delegate of ‘A’ would like to raise a motion to adjourn the meeting”
Once this motion gets passed (after getting a two-thirds majority) the meeting is
said to have come to a final end.
Others

Motion to suspend debateThis motion shall be raised before dispersing for lunch/tea/others.
“The delegate of ‘A’ would like to raise a motion to suspend debate for tea”

Right to ReplyThis should be used only when your personal dignity and integrity has been
severely hurt. Right to Reply shall be sent to the EB via a chit and the decision of
the President shall be final and binding.

Plea to follow-upWhen you pose a question but aren’t satisfied with the answer you get, this may be
used. However, a plea to follow up shall be granted only by the discretion of the
Executive Board.
Code of Conduct

All delegates shall maintain respect and courtesy towards all the conference staff
members, observers, fellow delegates and executive board members at all times.

The executive board shall have discretionary powers over matters of debate at all
times.

The use of informal/objectionable language in session shall not be appreciated.

In committee, all delegates shall follow any rules made for them by the school
authorities/secretariat members/advisory board.

Any breach of conduct shall be severely dealt with.
We hope this guide was helpful for you. In case you
have any doubts, please feel free to reach out to us at
any point of time!