Starting Up
 
SELECTING RESOLUTIONS FOR COMMISSIONS

Once the deadline of Tuesday 14th February is passed, The Resolutions Committee will meet to select the resolutions for debate in Commissions at Session One of the Conference, and up to FIVE resolutions will be accepted for debate in each Commission at this stage. Ultimately, one resolution from each Commission will be carried forward for Debate at The General Assembly in Session Three.
The following guidelines will be used by The Resolutions Committee when selecting resolutions for Session One. Always bear them in mind when merging resolutions.
1)
The Resolutions committee will look at all resolutions for infringements of the rules. Any country whose name appears as co-sponsor more than once will be disallowed as sponsor from all resolutions on which their name appears. A resolution which is incorrectly formatted will also be disallowed at this stage: this includes resolutions which are too long.
2)
Next, the committee will look at the four correctly formatted resolutions with the most legitimate co-sponsors. The committee will check that the topic of each resolution is broadly in keeping with the theme of International Crises, and that it falls correctly within the brief of the Commission in question. Any resolution which is blatantly out of line in either of these respects will be disallowed.
3) Next, the committee will check that there is no major overlap of topic with one of the two fast-tracked resolutions. In the interests of varied debate, resolutions with too similar topic areas will be disallowed.
4) Next, the committee will check whether two or more of these four resolutions have very similar concerns. Again in the interests of varied debate, the similar resolution(s) with the lesser number of co-sponsors will be disallowed and the next most popular resolution allowed in its place.
5) Next, the committee will check for ‘unauthentic alliances’ – eg, if any resolution is sponsored solely by friends from the same school! Blatantly unauthentic alliances will be disallowed.
6)
At the discretion of The Resolutions Committee, for varied debate . ..
a ‘wild-card’ resolution may be allowed from amongst those with a lesser number of co-sponsors;
or, an Emergency Resolution which has been introduced during the pre-lobbing process may be allowed, even without co-sponsors;
or, the fifth most popular merged resolution will be allowed if there is no suitable resolution in either of the first two categories.
FINAL PREPARATION FOR COMMISSIONS

The main reason for fast-tracking two resolutions to The General Assembly stage of the Conference is to ensure that delegates are able to be very well prepared on these particular resolutions, which are notified to all delegates more than a month in advance of the conference. This will ensure a very high standard of debate on these resolutions, as delegations will have no excuse for being unprepared.

Conversely, the idea is that debate in the commissions is much more spontaneous and informal, and resolutions for debate in your commission will only be notified to you a few days before the conference. This will ensure that commissioners who are skilled at ‘thinking on their feet’ will have a chance to shine at this stage.

If the resolution for which you are a co-sponsor is selected for debate in Commission:

Each co-sponsor will have up to one minute in which to make an opening statement explaining why they have chosen to sponsor the resolution in question. So if a resolution for which you are a co-sponsor is selected, you will need to prepare your opening statement in the last few days before the conference.

Co-sponsors may wish to consider circulating their opening statements to one another by email in advance of the Conference. This will not only give them a chance to check that they are not repeating themselves, but also to check that they are not contradicting one another. However, it is perfectly acceptable for two co-sponsors to state that they are both supporting the resolution despite disagreeing with one another in certain respects.

Co-sponsors may, alternatively, choose to wait until their arrival at the Conference before comparing opening statements. As will be seen from the schedule below, this decision is more practical for ECOSOC Commissioners than for E Commissioners!

It is also very important that you study the other resolutions accepted for debate in your Commission. This is because you are ultimately going to have to argue that your resolution is more important than the others, since only one resolution from your Commission will qualify for The General Assembly in Session Three.

If the resolution for which you are a co-sponsor is not selected for debate:

You will still be able to participate in the debate in Commission. However, you will have to use the rules allowing for a Right of Reply or a Point of Information in order to join the debate. (All Commissioners are of course allowed to use these rules to join the debate, whether or not they appear as an accepted co-sponsor).

Study the resolutions accepted for the Commissions carefully. Be on the lookout for aspects of each resolution which you feel are questionable – especially if you feel the facts are either wrong or incomplete. Be ready to request points of information concerning these aspects. These should be short and to the point.
RULES OF PROCEDURE

1) GENERAL RULES

The medium of debate is the English language. This includes aspects of the debates which occur in writing, as well as the speeches themselves.

Delegations are only granted the right to speak at The Chairman’s discretion. The Chairman’s decision is final in all matters. Delegations may raise their placard at any time in order to gain the Chairman’s attention, but do not have the right to speak until the Chairman invites them to do so.

Delegations may choose to send messages in writing to other delegations at any time during formal sessions. Delegations are not allowed to leave their seats for any reason during formal sessions.

Any delegate wishing to speak must begin with the words, “Mr Chairman, Honourable Delegates . . . ” In the interests of saving time, delegates should not normally applaud other delegations, unless a point is exceptionally well made.

Delegates must treat all other delegations with courtesy and respect at all times, remembering that they are arguing against ideas, and not against individuals. Any delegate who fails to behave with respect will be asked to leave the assembly.

Please note that the MUN is not a competition. You should of course do your best to speak professionally, but there will be no declaration of winners at the end.

2) POINTS OF INFORMATION AND RIGHTS OF REPLY

At any point during any formal session, any delegation may raise their placard and, when invited to do so by the Chairman, request either a Point of Information or a Right of Reply.

A Point of Information involves requesting or providing relevant factual information.
A Right of Reply involves responding directly to a comment which has been made about your country, region or alliance.
At the Chairman’s discretion, Points of Information and Rights of Reply may be over-ruled if time is running out.
3) POINTS OF ORDER

At any point during the debate, any delegation may raise their placard and, when invited to do so by the Chairman, request a Point of Order.
• A Point of Order involves bringing to the Chairman’s attention the fact that the rules of procedure have not been correctly followed.
4) SPECIFIC RULES FOR SESSION ONE: COMMISSIONS

Commissions consist of a combination of formal and informal sessions. It is expected that the two commissions will run according to the pattern below, though the precise timings may be amended nearer the time.
  Environment   ECOSOC  
1pm OPENING OF CONFERENCE   OPENING OF CONFERENCE 1pm
1.15pm Formal Opening Statements   Informal Lobbying 1.15pm
2.00pm Informal Lobbying   Formal Opening statements 2.00pm
2.45pm Open Debate   Informal Lobbying 2.45pm
3.15pm Informal Lobbying   Open Debate 3.15pm
3.45pm Amendments and voting   Informal lobbying 3.45pm
3.55pm Informal discussions on accepted resolutions   Amendments and voting 3.55pm
  Informal discussions on accepted resolutions 4.05pm
4.30pm Close   Close 4.30pm

i) Opening Statements

45 minutes will be devoted to making Formal Opening Statements in The Formal Commission Chamber. Each co-sponsor for each accepted resolution will in turn be given the opportunity to make an Opening Statement in support of their resolution. Co-sponsors will be given the right to speak in the order in which their names appear on accepted resolutions. Each opening statement should last for up to one minute, but commissioners should not feel obliged to use the whole minute, especially if their views have already been expressed by others.

During these sessions, commissioners may at any point request Points of Information, Rights of Reply or Points of Order by raising their placards in the usual way. However, these will only be granted if time permits.

ii) Informal Lobbying

There will be at least two recesses during the Commission Stage for Informal Lobbying. During this time, delegates will be shown to The Informal Commission Chamber where seating and refreshments will be available. Here, they should informally approach one another face to face in an attempt to consolidate their alliances. For ECOSOC Commissioners, the first informal lobbying session precedes the Opening Statements, so this gives co-sponsors the opportunity to meet one another for last minute editing of their Opening Statements. Environment Commissioners have the advantage later on, as they have more time to consider proposed Amendments following the Open Debate.

iii) Open Debate

At this stage, commissioners return to The Formal Commission Chamber, where up to five minutes per resolution is permitted for further Points of Information and Rights of Reply. During this time, commissioners may choose to clarify any points which may have emerged during the period of informal lobbying, and should also notify the commission of any amendments which they may have chosen to make at this stage.

iv) Amendments and Voting

In the last formal session, one spokesperson for each resolution has the option to state without further debate whether any further amendments have been made to the Resolution.

The formal vote is then taken. Delegates are advised to remember that voting is a strategic and diplomatic process: on occasion, a delegation may make the diplomatic decision to vote for their second or third choice of resolution because it is already clear that their first choice(s) carry insufficient support.

The vote is taken according to the following procedure:

a) Delegates must vote for the resolution which they feel should be carried forward to The General Assembly during Session Three. The resolution with the most votes is formally carried over to Session Three.

b) In the event that there is a tie for first place, a further vote is taken purely between any resolutions which have tied for first place. If there is still a tie at that stage, the Chairman, in consultation with The Resolutions Committee, will use his or her discretion to determine which resolution is carried forward. In this eventuality, the Chairman will clarify the criteria used to make this decision at the time.

c) Delegates who feel that none of the resolutions being debated are worthy of their support should abstain from the vote.

v) Informal Discussions on Accepted Resolutions

Delegates return to The Informal Commission Chamber knowing which resolution has been carried forward to The General Assembly in Session Three.

This final session gives those commissioners whose resolution has been accepted the opportunity to consider their strategy for presenting their resolution at The General Assembly and decide which of the co-sponsoring delegations will lead the presentation. Up to three co-sponsoring delegations may be selected for this process.

This session also gives all other Commissioners the opportunity to further consider their country’s positions on the accepted resolutions at a time when their partner from the other Commission is with them. This is important because their partner will also be involved in the debate at The General Assembly.

It is intended that any amendments which have been accepted on the resolutions in question will be made available to all delegates by the close of this final informal session at 4.30pm.

5) SPECIFIC RULES FOR SESSION TWO: GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Debate on each resolution will last approximately one and a half hours. Timings will loosely be as follows, though The Chairman may use his or her discretion to vary the procedure at any time:
Establishing the Speaker’s List Approx 1 min
Presentation by leading delegation Approx 5 mins
Points of Information and Rights of Reply Up to 10 mins
Speeches from the Floor and Proposal of Amendments Up to one hour
Recess for Informal Lobbying Approx 10 mins
Closing Speech and Notification of Amendments Approx 3 mins
Vote Approx 1 mins
i) Establishing The Speaker’s List

At the start of each debate, the Chairman will ask those delegations who plan to speak to raise their placard so that a speaker’s list can be established. Other delegations may be added to the speaker’s list later in the debate if time allows.

ii) Presenting A Resolution

If you are fortunate enough to be one of the two delegations whose resolution is fast-tracked to this session, you will need to prepare a five minute presentation to introduce your resolution. Further details of how to do this will be sent to the two delegations whose resolution is accepted.

iii) Speeches From The Floor And Proposal Of Amendments

When the resolution has been presented and any relevant Points of Information and Rights of Reply have been granted, delegations who have indicated that they wish to be on the speakers list are invited to address the assembly. Speeches from the floor are normally limited to three minutes. At the Chairman’s discretion, this time allocation may be reduced at any point if time is running out.

The order of speeches from the floor is at the Chairman’s discretion. Delegations who are low down the speaker’s list will be asked to avoid repeating points that have been made earlier in the debate. It follows that delegations must be ready to amend, adapt or reduce their prepared speeches as each debate progresses.

Many delegations may wish to propose an amendment to the resolution being amended. The reasons for such amendments should not only be outlined in delegates speeches from the floor, but also forwarded in writing to the delegation proposing the debate, who have the right to make the final decision concerning whether or not an amendment is accepted.

During this sessions, delegations may at any point request Points of Information, Rights of Reply or Points of Order by raising their placards in the usual way. However, these will only be granted if time permits.


iv) Informal Lobbying

Once the speakers list is closed, the Chairman will declare a recess to allow delegates to lobby other delegates face to face. The amount of time available for this will depend on how quickly the speaker’s list is closed.

For the last five minutes of this recess, delegates are not permitted to speak to the delegation proposing the resolution. This is to give them the opportunity to make final decisions concerning any amendments which have been proposed.

v) Closing Speech And Notification Of Amendments

At the end of the debate, the delegation who proposed the resolution has the right to address the General Assembly for three minutes. During this time, they may reiterate briefly the reasons in favour of the resolution, and should also indicate which, if any, amendments they have decided to accept. The Chairman will read out the precise wording of any such amendments to the General Assembly.

vi) Vote

Finally, a vote is taken on the amended resolution:
• Delegations wishing to vote in favour of the resolution should declare YES.
• Delegations wishing to vote against the resolution should declare NO.
• Delegations who are unable to decide should declare ABSTENTION.
Yes and No votes are then counted – Abstentions are discounted – and the Chairman will then declare whether or not the resolution has been passed. In the event of a tie, a second vote is taken. If there is still a tie, the resolution is passed.


6) SPECIFIC RULES FOR SESSION THREE: GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Debate on each resolution will last approximately three quarters of an hour. Timings will loosely be as follows, though The Chairman may use his or her discretion to vary the procedure at any time:

Establishing the Speaker’s List Approx 2 min
Presentation by leading delegation Approx 3 mins
Points of Information and Rights of Reply Up to 5 mins
Speeches from the Floor and Proposal of Amendments Up to 30 mins
Closing Speech and Notification of Amendments Approx 3 mins
Vote Approx 2 mins
In all respects, the rules of procedure are identical to those for Session Two, except for the following:

i) Presenting a Resolution

On this occasion, up to three co-sponsoring delegations may take the podium to co-present their resolution. These delegations will of course have had less than a day to prepare their presentation. In recognition of this, the presentation should last last for a maximum of three minutes.

ii) Speeches From The Floor

Speeches from the floor are normally limited to one minute. This is because much of the debate on each resolution has already taken place in Commissions.

All delegates are at this stage permitted to request a speech from the floor, whether or not the resolution is one which was originally debated in their own commission.

iii) Informal Lobbying

There is no provision for informal lobbying in Session Three unless speeches from the floor conclude ahead of schedule. This is because commissioners have already had considerable opportunity for informal lobbying during Session One.