Rules Of Procedure

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

RULE 1 – Rules of Procedure

  1. The ZAGIMUN Rules of Procedure (hereinafter the “ZAGIMUN Rules”) are not subject to change and shall be considered adopted prior to the beginning of the conference.
  2. In a case of conflict between a general rule of the ZAGIMUN Rules (Chapters I-VI) and the special rules of a committee, the latter shall prevail.

RULE 2 – Languages

English shall be the official working language of the conference.

RULE 3 – Representative

For the purpose of the ZAGIMUN Rules, Delegates and Observers will be referred to as Representatives.

RULE 4 – Credentials

The ZAGIMUN Secretariat has accepted the credentials of Delegates or Observers prior to the opening of the conference. Actions relating to the alteration of rights or credentials of any Staff Member, Delegate or Chairperson may exclusively be initiated by the Secretary-General.

RULE 5 – Delegates

  1. Each Member State to a committee shall be represented by one Delegate.
  2. The Delegates shall have speaking and voting rights on all matters in the committee they belong to.

RULE 6 – Observers

The Representative of an accredited ZAGIMUN observer (Non-governmental Organization or International Organization) shall have the same rights as a Delegate except that he/she may not vote on substantive matters and may not sign nor sponsor Draft Agendas, Resolutions and Amendments.

RULE 7 – Chairperson

  1. The Chairperson shall preside over the committee. The Chairperson shall declare the opening and closure of each committee session, compose the Speakers’ list, propose the limitation of the speaking time, accord the right to speak and announce decisions.
  2. The Chairperson acts in an equitable and objective manner, observes the ZAGIMUN Rules and shall have complete control of the proceedings in the committee and of the maintenance of order at the meetings. The Chairperson shall have the right to rule out points and motions put forward by Representatives, unless otherwise provided in the ZAGIMUN Rules. The Chairperson may advise the Representatives on substantive and procedural matters in order to enable the good functioning of the committee.
  3. The Chairperson has the right to suspend the committee meeting for a limited time, which he/she must indicate beforehand. This right is not subject to appeal.
  4. The Chairperson’s interpretation of the ZAGIMUN Rules shall prevail. Rule 8 Paragraph 3 is reserved.

RULE 8 – Secretariat

  1. The Secretary-General shall have the rights described hereinafter in all meetings of the committees. The Secretary-General may nominate a deputy to act in his place.
  2. The Secretary-General may at any time make oral and written statements to a committee concerning any question under consideration.
  3. The Secretary-General’s interpretation of the ZAGIMUN Rules shall prevail. The Secretary-General shall, in his interpretations, take into consideration equality of treatment and the good functioning of the conference. The Secretary-General is entitled to adopt measures not stated herein, if he considers it necessary.
  4. The Secretariat shall:
    1. Assist the Chairperson and the Secretary-General;
    2. Receive, correct and circulate documents;
    3. Have custody of the documents in the archives; and
    4. Generally perform all other work that may be required for the good functioning of the conference.

II. AGENDA

RULE 9 – Provisional Agenda

A Provisional Agenda for the committee sessions will be set by the Chairperson and communicated to the Representatives prior to the opening of the ZAGIMUN.

RULE 10 – Adoption of the Agenda

  1. A speakers’ List is kept in order to discuss the Provisional Agenda.
  2. A Delegate may introduce a Draft Agenda, which may alter the order of items as well as delete items on the Provisional Agenda. No additional items may be added to the Provisional Agenda. Three (3) sponsors are required for the Draft Agenda to be considered.
  3. When the speakers’ list is exhausted or a Motion for Closure of the Debate passes, the Chairperson determines the order in which the Draft Agendas are voted upon. Draft Agendas, which alter the Provisional Agenda most fundamentally, are considered first. The original Provisional Agenda is put to vote last. The Agenda shall be adopted in the form of the first Draft Agenda, which gathers a majority of two thirds of the Delegates present and voting. Discussions concerning the Agenda shall then cease and the committee immediately moves to the first item on the Agenda.
  4. If no Agenda is adopted during voting procedure, debate on the Agenda shall resume and a new speakers’ list shall be established.
  5. If a committee fails to adopt the Agenda within a timeframe the Secretary-General considers reasonable, he shall set the Agenda.
  6. The Agenda adopted at the beginning of the conference shall remain for the duration of the ZAGIMUN. The inclusion of an urgent Agendaitem at the discretion of the Chairperson is reserved.

III. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

RULE 11 – Quorum

  1. A committee meeting can be opened provided at least a majority of the Representatives are present.
  2. In order to establish presence, the Chairperson, prior to the opening of the meeting, shall proceed with a roll call in the course of which he/she shall call upon Representatives in English alphabetical order. Delegates stating ‘present and voting’ must not abstain from voting on substantive matters.

RULE 12 – Speakers’ List

  1. If not decided upon differently, formal debate rules apply. The Chairperson shall keep a Speakers’ List, which determines the order of speeches.
  2. A Representative may request to have the name of his/her delegation added to the Speakers’ List by raising his/her placard.
  3. If circumstances do not allow to clearly determine which Representative has raised his/her placard first, the Chairperson shall decide on the order of the Speakers’ List by taking into account considerations of equity and the good functioning of the committee.
  4. A Representative, whose delegation’s name is already set forth on the Speakers’ List, shall not be added again until he/she completes his/her speech.

RULE 13 – Speeches

  1. No Representative may address a committee without having previously obtained the permission of the Chairperson.
  2. The Chairperson limits the time allotted to each speaker. A Representative may at any time when the floor is open, but not during speeches, introduce a Motion to Change the Speaking Time. This motion is non-debatable and passes at the discretion of the Chairperson. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal.
  3. If a Representative addresses the committee without permission, exceeds the allowed time for his speech, makes irrelevant or offensive statements, or violates the ZAGIMUN Rules in any other way, the Chairperson may call him/her to order.

RULE 14 – Yields

  1. A Representative who was granted the right to speak by the Chairperson during formal debate may yield his/her remaining speaking time to another Representative.
  2. A Representative may also yield his/her remaining time to answering questions. In this case, the Chairperson designates Representatives whose questions may consequently be answered by the yielding Representative. Statements and comments, which go beyond a mere question, are not in order.
  3. A Representative may, if he wishes, yield the floor back to the Chairpersons.
  4. The floor may be yielded only one (1) time during a speech.

RULE 15 – Point of Personal Privilege

A Representative may at any time, introduce a Point of Personal Privilege in order to remove a personal discomfort, which impairs his/her ability to participate in the proceedings. The Representative shall rise when called by the Chairperson and explain his/her grievance. The Chairperson may rule out a Point of Personal Privilege. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal.

RULE 16 – Point of Order

  1. A Representative may at any time, except during the execution of another Point of Order introduce a Point of Order to complain about improper parliamentary procedure. The Representative shall rise when called by the Chairperson and explain his/her grievance. The Chairperson may rule out a Point of Order. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal.
  2. Representative may not, in raising the Point of Order, speak on the substance of the matter under discussion.

RULE 17 – Parliamentary Inquiry

A Representative may at any time when the floor is open, but not during speeches, introduce a Parliamentary Inquiry in order to clarify a technical point regarding the ZAGIMUN Rules. The Representative shall rise when called by the Chairperson and make his/her point. The Chairperson shall respond to the Representative’s concern and attempt to clarify the matter.

RULE 18 – Right of Reply

  1. A Representative whose personal or national integrity has been infringed by another Representative may, at the end of the latter’s speech, request the Right of Reply. The Chairperson shall decide upon the request immediately. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal. If the Right of Reply is granted, the wronged Representative may immediately speak during one (1) minute.
  2. Right of Reply to a Right of Reply is not in order.

RULE 19 – Motion for Moderated Caucus

  1. Moderated Caucus interrupts a formal debate for a time specified by the Chairperson. No Speakers’ List shall be kept. A Representative may signal his/her desire to speak by raising his/her placard. The Chairperson designates the speakers taking into consideration equity and the good functioning of the committee. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal. The Chairperson shall limit the speaking time.
  2. A Representative may at any time when the floor is open, but not during speeches, introduce a Motion for Moderated Caucus. The Representative shall rise when called by the Chairperson to explain the purpose of the motion and propose a time for the Caucus and the individual speaking time. The Motion for Moderated Caucus requires the support of a second Representative, is non-debatable and shall immediately be put to vote. A majority of Representatives present and voting is required for the Motion for Moderated Caucus to pass. The Chairperson may rule the Motion for Moderated Caucus out of order. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal.

RULE 20 – Motion for Un-moderated Caucus

  1. Un-moderated caucus interrupts a formal debate for a given time specified by the Chairperson. It is used for informal debates and negotiations.
  2. Representative may at any time when the floor is open, but not during speeches, introduce a Motion for Caucus. The Representative shall rise when called by the Chairperson to explain the purpose of the motion and propose a time for the Caucus. The Motion for Caucus requires the support of a second Representative, is non-debatable and shall immediately be put to vote. A majority of Representatives present and voting is required for the Motion for Caucus to pass. The Chairperson may rule the Motion for Caucus out of order. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal.

RULE 21 – Motion for Adjournment

  1. The adjournment of the meeting suspends the meeting for the day.
  2. A Representative may at any time when the floor is open, but not during speeches, introduce a Motion for Adjournment. The Motion requires the support of a second Representative. The Chairperson may rule out the Motion for Adjournment. The decision of the Chairperson is subject to appeal and can be ruled out by two thirds of Representatives present and voting.
  3. The Motion for Adjournment is debatable. Rules governing Moderated Caucus apply. The debate on the Motion for Adjournment shall not exceed five (5) minutes.
  4. A majority of Representatives present and voting are required for the Motion for Adjournment to pass.

RULE 22 – Motion for Closure of the Debate

  1. The closure of the debate immediately terminates all discussions on the item of the Agenda under debate and brings all Amendments and Resolutions on the floor to vote.
  2. A Representative may at any time when the floor is open, but not during speeches, introduce a Motion for Closure of the debate. The Motion requires the support of a second Representative. The Chairperson may rule out the Motion for Closure of the Debate. The decision of the Chairperson is subject to appeal and can be ruled out by two thirds of Representatives present and voting.
  3. The Motion for Closure of the Debate is debatable, rules governing Moderated Caucus apply. The debate on the Motion for Closure of the Debate shall not exceed five (5) minutes.
  4. Two thirds of Representatives present and voting are required for the Motion for Closure of the Debate to pass.

RULE 23 – Precedence of Points and Motions

Points and Motions will be considered in the following order of preference:

  1. Points in order at any time including during speeches and voting procedure:
    1. Point of Personal Privilege (Rule 15)
    2. Point of Order (Rule 16)
  2. Point in order when the floor is open:
    1. Point of Parliamentary Inquiry (Rule 17)
  3. Non debatable motions in order when the floor is open:
    1. Motion for Un-moderated Caucus (Rule 19)
    2. Motion for Moderated Caucus (Rule 20)
    3. Motion to Change the Speaking Time (Rule 13)
  4. Debatable Motions in order when the floor is open:
    1. Motion for Adjournment of the Meeting (Rule 21)
    2. Motion for Closure of Debate (Rule 22)
    3. Motion to Change the Speaking Time (Rule 13)

IV. RESOLUTIONS

RULE 24 – Working Papers

A Representative may have a Working Paper distributed to the committee, the format of which is free. If a Working Paper has been approved by the Chairperson, the Secretariat assigns it a number and distributes the Working Paper to all the Representatives. Working Papers require no sponsors or signatories.

RULE 25 – Draft Resolutions

  1. The Chairperson approves a document if it has the required format and the required number of Sponsors and Signatories. An approved document is referred to as a Draft Resolution and may be introduced to the committee.
  2. Sponsors are recognized as the writers of the Draft Resolution. A minimum of two (2) Sponsors are required for the Draft Resolution to be discussed in the committee.
  3. Signatories supporter discussion of the Draft Resolution and do not have further obligations. One quarter of the Delegates present must be either Sponsors or Signatories of the Draft Resolution for it to be introduced to the committee. A Delegate may not at the same time be Sponsor as well as Signatory of a given Draft Resolution.
  4. Delegates may add to, or remove their name from the list of signatories at any time during the debate. This request should be submitted in written form to the Chairperson for approval.
  5. More than one Draft Resolution may be on the floor at any time.

RULE 26 – Introducing Resolutions

If a Draft Resolution has been approved by the Chairperson, the Secretariat assigns it a number and distributes the Draft Resolution to all the Representatives. A Sponsor of the Draft Resolution may introduce the Resolution when he/she has the floor. The introduction of the Draft Resolution will be limited to reading out the operative clauses. Subsequently, the Sponsor will answer questions of clarification regarding the Draft Resolution. Substantive statements regarding the Draft Resolution are not in order at this stage. The question session shall not exceed five (5) minutes.

RULE 27 – Withdrawal of Resolutions

A Draft Resolution may be withdrawn by its Sponsors at any time before voting on it has commenced. This request should be submitted in written form to the Chairperson. A Draft Resolution may not be withdrawn if an Unfriendly Amendment to it is on the floor.

V. AMENDMENTS

RULE 28 – Amendments

  1. Amendments to the preambulatory clauses are not in order.
  2. Grammatical, spelling and formatting errors in Draft Resolutions will be corrected without a vote. The final decisions on corrections are at the discretion of the Chairperson.
  3. Substantive Amendments may be considered ‘friendly’ if approved by all the Sponsors of the Draft Resolution. Friendly Amendments are immediately incorporated into the Draft Resolution without a vote.
  4. Substantive Amendments to a Draft Resolution, which are not approved by all the Sponsors of the Draft Resolution, are considered ‘Unfriendly’. Unfriendly Amendments require three (3) Sponsors and need to be submitted in writing to the Chairperson for approval. A majority of Delegates is required to incorporate an Unfriendly Amendment into the Draft Resolution.
  5. Amendments to Unfriendly Amendments are out of order.

RULE 29 – Withdrawal of Unfriendly Amendments

An Unfriendly Amendment may be withdrawn by its Sponsors at any time before voting on it has commenced. This request should be submitted in written form to the Chairperson.

VI. VOTING

RULE 30 – Voting Procedure

  1. In the case of exhaustion of the Speakers' List or when a Motion for Closure of Debate passes Resolutions, Unfriendly Amendments and Draft Agendas on the floor will be put to vote. If no Resolution is on the floor the committee shall move to the next Agenda item.
  2. Each Representative shall have one vote, which may be “Yes”, “No” or “Abstain”. Rule 6 concerning the status of Observers is reserved. On procedural matters Representatives must not abstain from voting. Representatives recognized prior to the opening of the meeting as ‘present and voting’ must not abstain from voting on substantive matters.
  3. During voting procedure, Representatives must strictly refrain from communicating with each other. The voting procedure must not be interrupted except to raise a Point of Order or a Point of Personal Privilege.

RULE 31 – Required Majority

  1. A procedural or substantive matter requiring a simple majority shall be passed by a majority of Representatives present and voting. If a vote is equally divided the matter put to vote shall be regarded as rejected.
  2. A procedural or substantive matter requiring a qualified majority shall be passed by two thirds of Representatives present and voting. If a vote is divided in exactly two thirds and one third of the Representatives present and voting, the matter put upon vote shall be regarded as accepted.
  3. Decisions regarding the adoption of Amendments and Resolutions shall be made by a simple majority of Delegates present and voting.
  4. For the purpose of the ZAGIMUN Rules, ‘Representatives present and voting’ are Representatives casting an affirmative or negative vote. Representatives, which abstain from voting, are considered as not voting.

RULE 32 – Modes of Voting

  1. If not decided upon differently, Representatives vote by raising their placards.
  2. For substantive matters, a Delegate may request a roll-call vote. This request is automatically accepted unless ruled out by the Chairperson. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal.
  3. A roll-call vote takes place according to the English alphabetical order of the names of the States represented in the committee, beginning with the State whose name is drawn by lot by the Chairperson. The Chairperson shall subsequently call the name of each State. The Delegates shall reply “Yes”, “No” or “Abstain”.
  4. In roll-call vote, a State may pass once, but then must vote in the affirmative or negative.
  5. Upon completion of voting, a Delegate may request the right to explain his/her vote provided the substantive nature of the matter. The Chairperson grants the right to explain the vote. The decision of the Chairperson is not subject to appeal. The speaking time shall not exceed two (2) minutes. The delegates that reply “Yes, with rights” and “No, with rights” during roll-call vote will automatically be granted the right to explain their vote. The number of delegates that will be able to exercise their right to explain the vote remains at the discretion of the Chairpersons.

RULE 33 – Voting on Amendments

  1. When an Amendment is proposed to a Draft Resolution, the Amendments shall be voted on first.
  2. If two or more Amendments to a Draft Resolution are proposed, the Chairperson shall determine the order, in which they are voted upon. The committee shall first vote on the Amendment furthest removed in substance from the Draft Resolution and then on the Amendment next furthest removed until all Amendments have been put to the vote. Where, however, the adoption of one Amendment necessarily implies the rejection of another Amendment, the latter shall not be put to the vote. The committee will consider a Draft Resolution including all Amendments adopted by the committee.

RULE 34 – Order of Voting

If two or more Draft Resolutions relate to the same question, they shall be voted on in the order in which they were submitted.

VII. SPECIAL RULES APPLICABLE TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL

RULE 35

  1. Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote.
  2. Decisions of the Security Council on procedural matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members. Decisions of the Security Council on substantive matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members.

RULE 36

  1. During a Closed Door Session only delegations of the Member states represented in the Security Council, the Chairperson, the Secretariat, and persons particularly authorized by the Secretary-General are allowed to attend the session of the Security Council. The time for a Closed Door Session is specified by the Chairperson and rules for Moderated Caucus shall be applied.
  2. A Representative may at any time when the floor is open, but not during speeches, introduce a Motion for Closed Door Session. The Representative shall rise when called by the Chairperson to explain the purpose of the motion and propose a time for the Closed Door Session. The Motion requires the support of a second Representative is non-debatable and shall immediately be put to vote. The Chairperson may rule out the Motion for Closed Door Session. The decision of the Chairperson is subject to appeal.
  3. The time of the Closed Door Session may be extended once.

RULE 37

The Chairperson may propose to invite any Member of the United Nations not a Member of the Security Council and any State not a Member of the United Nations to attend a meeting of the Security Council. The proposal of the Chairperson shall be put to vote. A majority of Delegates present and voting is required for the proposal to pass.

RULE 38

The Security Council may appoint a Commission or Committee or a Rapporteur for a specified question.

RULE 39

  1. The Security Council may choose to issue a Presidential Statement on issues which do not warrant a resolution. This statement is formally from the Chairperson of the Security Council, but is drafted by the body.
  2. This statement must be accepted by a consensus of the Security Council.
  3. These may either be produced as a “Presidential Statement” or as a more strongly worded “Presidential Statement of Consensus”.

IX. SPECIAL RULES APPLICABLE TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

RULE 40

  1. The Human Rights Council (hereinafter ‘the Council’) may appoint a Special Rapporteur, an independent expert or a working group to examine, monitor, advice, and publicly report on a situation specific country or territories, entitled as country mandates, or on a thematic issue of human rights violation, entitled as thematic mandate.
  2. The scope and length of a mandate is set out by a Resolution of the Council.
  3. Mandates may include conducting studies, providing advice on technical cooperation, responding to individual complaints, and engaging in general promotional activities. All mandate holders are required to report on their activities to the Council on an annual basis.