SMMUN DELEGATE HANDBOOK

C-1     Rule of Priority and Procedure. The rules contained in this handbook shall be the official rules of procedure of the Southeast Missouri Model United Nations and will be used for all transactions of business at the conference.  Legality of proposals will be determined according to the Charter of the United Nations unless otherwise specified by the SMMUN Handbook and on the parliamentary short form.  These rules will take precedence over any other set of rules.

C-2    Rule Changes. The Steering Committee reserves the right to make changes in these Rules and to present these changes to the delegates at any time.  All changes should accommodate the desires or complaints of the delegates or staff so as to improve the conduct of business during the conference.

C-3    Officers. The Steering Committee of the SMMUN shall select persons to serve as Chairpersons, Legal Counsels, and Secretaries for each committee and any other position to help conduct the business of the SMMUN.

C-4     Absence of Chairperson. If the Chair should find it necessary to be absent during any part of a committee meeting, he/she shall designate an individual (preferably the Legal Counsel) to assume his/her duties with the same authority.

C-5     General Authority of the Chairperson. In addition to exercising such authority conferred upon the Chair elsewhere in these Rules, the Chair shall declare the opening and closing of each session of the committee, direct its discussions, ensure observance of these Rules, accord the right to speak, put questions to a vote and announce decisions of the committee.

C-6 Number of Accredited Delegates. The number of delegates allowed on any delegation of the SMMUN shall be limited to four per committee on which the delegation is a member including the Head Delegate; each delegation shall be accorded one vote. Delegates shall be required to wear proper identification at all times.

C-7 Selection of Agenda Items. Agenda items shall be selected by the SMMUN Steering Committee.  Once selected, these items are fixed for the duration of the conference and no other items will be discussed.

C-8 Order of Consideration of Agenda Items. Agenda items will be considered in the order in which they appear in the SMMUN Handbook, unless that order is altered by a majority of the Committee.

C-9 Order of Consideration of Prior-Approved Resolutions. Prior-approved resolution are resolutions that were received by the specified deadline and were deemed appropriate by the SMMUN staff. They will receive priority over other resolutions. The order of appearance of resolutions before the Committee is determined by the date in which they were received, and is listed under the appropriate committee topic in that order in the resolution book by the Secretariat. When the Chair opens debate on any agenda item, any delegate may move for consideration of an approved resolution on the agenda item that has been submitted to the chair with signatories of 1/8 of the delegations present. If the motion is seconded, the Chair will direct the committee to an immediate vote without debate on the motion, a majority being required for consideration. If no resolution receives a majority vote in favor of consideration, the Committee will automatically have before it for consideration the first resolution in the SMMUN resolution book under that agenda item that has been received by the chair with the appropriate number of signatories.

C-10 Consideration of Resolutions without prior approval. Resolutions that were not received by the specified deadline may still be considered, but not until 1/2 of the Prior-Approved Resolutions on the agenda item have been considered. For a resolution without prior approval to be considered, it must relate to the committee topic currently being debated, be submitted to the chair with signatories of 1/8 of the delegations present, and the delegate must supply enough copies of the resolution for each delegation present. Once these conditions have been met, any delegate may move for consideration of the resolution. If the motion is seconded, the Chair will direct the committee to an immediate vote without debate on the motion, a majority being required for consideration.

C-11 Resolutions.  Delegates will receive selected resolutions for consideration no later than at the time of the conference registration.  The delegates must submit resolutions in the proper form by the deadline set by the SMMUN Steering Committee.

C-12  Reporting Resolutions to the General Assembly. The Chair of each committee shall report resolutions passed by that committee to the Plenary Session of the General Assembly for its consideration.  If a committee fails to approve a resolution on an agenda item, it shall submit a "Declaration of No Report" on that agenda item.  That topic area will not be considered by the General Assembly.

 C-13  Diplomatic Courtesy. All delegates MUST accord all other delegates diplomatic courtesy at all times.  Any delegate or visitor who, after being advised by the Chair, persists in an obvious attempt to divert the meeting from its intended purpose, or who otherwise attempts to disrupt the proceedings, shall be subject to disciplinary action and expulsion by the Secretariat.

 C- 14  Quorum. One-third of the members of the committee shall constitute a quorum. The presence of a majority of the members of the committee, however, is required for a substantive question to be put to a vote.  It is the responsibility of the Chair to insure that a quorum is present at all times.  Any delegate who doubts the presence of a quorum or a majority may ask the Chair for a ruling.  'the Chair shall then determine, by appropriate means, whether the required number is present.  The number of delegates required for a quorum or majority shall be based upon the number of delegations in attendance at the conference.

C- 15  Statements by the Secretariat. The Secretary-General, or any other member of the SMMUN staff designated by the Secretary-General, may at any time make oral or written statements to a committee.

C- 16   Speeches. No delegate may address the committee without having previously obtained the permission of the Chair.  The Chair shall call upon speakers in the order in which they signify their desire to speak.  Delegates may not interrupt a speaker except on a point of order or point of personal privilege. Abusing these rights may be considered violations of diplomatic courtesy, and can result in disciplinary action taken by the chair.  Motions should be made at the conclusion of the speaker's remarks; by making a motion, the speaker yields the floor.

C- 17   Point of Order. If, during the discussion of any matter, a delegate believes that the committee is proceeding in a manner contrary to these Rules, he or she may rise to a  point of order.  The delegate so rising will be immediately recognized by the Chair and the point ruled upon.  A delegate rising to a point of order may not speak on the substance of any matter under discussion.

C-18  Point of Information. If a delegate wishes to obtain a clarification of procedure or a statement of the matter before the committee, the delegate may address a point of information to the Chair.  During debate, if a delegate wishes to ask a question of the speaker, a request to question the speaker may be made in the form of a point of information directed to the Chair after the speaker consents to be questioned, all questions and replies are made through the Chair.  Delegates shall not interrupt a speaker on a point of information.

C-19  Point of Personal Privilege. If a delegate wishes to raise a question or make a request relating to the organization of the meeting, personal comfort, or the conduct of fellow delegates or staff, he/she may rise to a point of personal privilege.  When a delegate rises on privilege, the Chair shall take such action as is necessary. 

C-20 Time Limit on Debate.  The committee or the Chair may limit or extend the time allotted to each speaker and the number of times each delegate may speak on a proposal.  There may be one speaker in favor and one opposed to the limitation/extension.

C-21 Right of Reply.  During debate, the Chair may accord the right of reply to any delegate if a speech by another delegate contains unusual or extraordinary language clearly insulting to personal or national dignity.  The decision granting a right of reply may not be appealed.  Requests for a right of reply shall be in writing to the Chair.  The Chair will limit the time for the reply.  There shall be no reply to a reply.

C-22  Adjournment of Debate. During the discussion of any matter, a delegate may move the adjournment of debate on that matter.  One delegate may speak in favor of the motion and one opposed.  The motion shall then be put to an immediate vote.  Adjournment of debate on a resolution or amendment has the effect of tabling that item and moves the committee on to the next order of business.  See also C-30 on Reconsideration.

C-23  Closure of Debate. A delegate may move to close debate at any time, except when such a motion would interrupt a speaker.  Two delegates may speak against closure, and the motion will then be put to a vote.  During debate on an amendment, a delegate may move for closure of debate on the resolution. if closure passes, then the amendment shall be voted on first followed by the resolution.

C-24  Suspension of the Meeting. During the discussion of any matter, a delegate may move to suspend the meeting.  Suspending a meeting recesses it until the time specified in the motion; the Chair may request the mover to modify the time.  When the committee reconvenes it will continue with its business from the point at which suspension was moved.

C-25  Adjournment of the Meeting. The motion of adjournment means that all business of the committee has been completed, and that the committee win not reconvene until the next Annual Session.  The Chair may refuse to recognize a motion to adjourn the meeting if the Committee still has business before it.  A motion to adjourn is not debatable, and will be put to an immediate vote.

C-26 Order of Procedural Motions.  The motions as indicated on the short form have precedence, in the order given, over all other proposals or motions before the committee.

C-27  Amendments. All amendments to resolutions must be signed by one sponsoring delegation and at least one other seconding delegation; they must be submitted on an official amendment form for approval by the Legal Counsel and must be labeled with an identifying number by the Secretary.  Secondary amendments and amendments by substitution are not acceptable.  Obvious typographical efforts will be brought to the Committee's attention and collected by the Chair with no vote required.  To move an amendment to the floor, recognition by the Chair and introduction of the amendment will suffice; no vote shall be required.  Once an amendment has been brought to the floor, the Committee shall consider only the amendments and not the Resolutions until final action on the amendment has been taken (except to the extent that the amendment pertains to the Resolution).

C-28 Definition of Amendment and Voting on Amendments.  An amendment is a motion that adds to, deletes from, or revises any part of a resolution.  A series of alterations proposed by a single delegation to the same resolution shall be considered as a single amendment unless a motion is made to divide it.

C-29  Decisions of Competence. Any motion calling for a decision on the competence of the Committee to discuss or adopt a proposal shall be put to a vote before the vote is taken on the proposal in question.  If a Committee decides it is not competent to discuss or vote on an amendment or resolution, the effect is the same as adjourning debate on the matter.  See also C-30 on Reconsideration.

C-30  Withdrawal of Motions.  A motion may be withdrawn by its proposer at any time before voting on it has begun, provided the motion has not been amended.  A withdrawn motion may be reintroduced by any other delegation.

C-31  Reconsideration of Proposals. When a proposal has been adopted, or rejected through a vote of adjournment or "no competence", it may be reconsidered at the same session by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting.  The motion to reconsider must be made by a delegation which originally voted on the prevailing side of the proposal; thus, reconsideration may be moved only on the proposals voted on by roll-call.

C-32  Voting Rights.  Each member delegation shall have one vote in each Committee in which it is represented.  No delegate may cast a vote on behalf of another country.

C-33  Simple Majority. Unless otherwise specified in these Rules, decisions in the Committee shall be made by a majority vote of those nations present and voting.  The phrase "nations present and voting" refers to members casting affirmative or negative votes.  Members which cast a final abstention are not voting.  If a vote is equally divided between yeas and nays, the motion fails.

C-34  Method of Voting. The Committee shall normally vote by a show of raised placards.  The Chair, however, may grant a request for a roll-call vote; the decision to grant such a request is not appealable.  All final votes on resolutions shall be taken by roll-call; the roll shall be called in English alphabetical order beginning with a nation selected at random by the Secretary.  Delegates shall reply "yes," 'no," "abstain," or "abstain from the order of voting." A nation may abstain from the order of voting once during the roll-call; a second abstention from the order of voting will be recorded as an abstention.  Rights of explanation are permitted on roll-call votes and may be limited in time by the Chair.  At the end of roll-call, but before rights of explanation and the subsequent announcement of the vote, the Secretary will ask for changes of vote.  A delegation may not change from "yes" to "yes with right of explanation" or from "no" to "no with right of explanation." Those abstaining may be accorded rights of explanation.  The result of the vote shall be inserted into the Committee record.

C-35  Conduct during Voting. Immediately prior to a vote, the Chair shall describe to the Committee the proposal to be voted on, and shall explain the consequence of a yes or no vote.  Voting shall begin upon the chair's declaration and shall end when the results of the vote are announced.  Once voting has begun, no delegate shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order or information concerning the actual conduct of the vote, or on a point of personal privilege.

C-36  Division of the Question. A motion to divide the question, proposing that parts of an amendment or resolution be voted on separately, is in order at any time prior to commencement of voting on the amendment or resolution.  Motions to divide shall apply only to operative clauses.  Permission to speak on the motion shall be granted to one speaker in favor and one opposed, after which there shall be an immediate vote.  The first motion for division to receive a majority vote shall become the final manner in which the proposal is presented.  Those parts of the proposal which are approved shall be put to a vote as a whole.  If all operative clauses of a proposal have been rejected, the proposal as a whole has been rejected.

C-37  Dilatory Motions. The Chair may rule as dilatory, and therefore out of order, any motion repeating or closely approximating a substantive measure on which the committee has already rendered an opinion.  Such rulings can not be appealed.

C-38  Appealing a Decision of the Chair. Rulings of the Chair can be appealed unless otherwise specified in these Rules.  Appeals can be debated by one speaker in favor and one opposed.  Appeals must be made immediately following the ruling in question.  The Chair shall put the question thusly: "Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?" A vote "yes" supports the Chair's decision, 'no" signifies objection.  The Chair's decision shall be sustained by a tie.

C-39  Precedence.  The Rules used during the Committee and General Assembly sessions of the Southeast Missouri Model United Nations shall have precedence in the following order.
              1. SMMUN Rules of Procedure;
              2. SMMUN General Assembly Short Form;
              3. Rulings by the Steering Committee; and
              4. The Charter of the United Nations.
 

SC- I Security Council.  The following rules will govern the Security Council and supplement the rules above.

SC-2  Non-Member Participation. The Security Council may invite any member state which is not a member of the council to participate, without the right to vote, in the discussion of a question brought before the council when the council or President feels that the interests of the member are specifically affected, or when the member brings to the attention of the council any matter in accordance with article 35, section I of the Charter.  The privileges and limits of debate for the party will be determined by the council with approval of the President.  The council may also invite representatives of organizations to discuss specific matters or to make statements to the council under the restrictions herein.

SC-3    Meetings. All meetings of the Security Council and its committees shall be held at the call of the President and at the time(s) and place(s) as published in the schedule of events.  Any schedule may be revised by the council and/or the President as the need arises.  The President shall also call the council into session if a dispute or situation is brought to the attention of the council under article 35 or under article I 1, section 3 of the Charter, or if the General Assembly makes recommendations or refers any question to the council under article I 1, section 2 of the Charter.  Unless it decides otherwise, the council shall meet at all times in public. if the council decides to meet in closed session, the President shall issue a communique at the end of each such meeting, approved by the members, detailing issues discussed and progress made.

SC-4  Agenda. The provisional agenda shall be drawn up by the President of the Security Council.  This agenda shall be communicated to the members of the council prior to the convening of the first session, but in emergencies may be communicated simultaneously with the notice of a special meeting.  The first item of the agenda shall be the adoption of a wording agenda, or to change the order of the agenda.

SC-5  Voting on Resolutions. All draft resolutions are considered to be substantive and are subject to the veto.  The Council may consider several resolutions on the same subject matter simultaneously and it may pass on more than one resolution on an agenda topic.  In order for the council to vote on resolutions, there must be closure of debate on the agenda topic.  Upon closure of debate on an agenda topic, the Council moves into voting procedure.  All resolutions under that agenda topic will be voted on in the order of their submission.  Amendments to resolutions will be voted on in the order of their submission prior to voting on the resolution they propose to amend.  At any time prior to coming to a vote on a specific resolution or amendment, motions to divide the question may be introduced.  A motion to divide the question is the only motion permitted during voting procedure.  This procedure allows the Council to consider the various issues involved in a wide-ranging single topic item, without having to deal with them all as one single complex resolution.

SC-6 Main Motions.  All motions, not otherwise specified, will be considered main motions or substantive motions and are thus subject to the veto.  All main motions are voted upon in the order of their submission.

SC-7 Seconds.  It shall not be necessary for any main motion or draft resolution proposed by a member of the council to be seconded before it is considered or voted upon.

SC-8  Security Council Priority. The General Assembly may discuss but may not vote on matters concerning the maintenance of international peace and security under the jurisdiction of the international peace and security under the jurisdiction of the Security Council until the council has come to a vote on the issue.  A suspension of discussion or action of more than two hours by the council will be considered its final action on a particular issue, allowing the General Assembly to come to a vote.  While the Security Council is exercising the functions assigned to it in the Charter with respect to any dispute or situation, the General Assembly shall not make any recommendations with regard to the dispute or situation, unless the Security Council so requests.  The Secretary-General shall notify the General Assembly at each session of any matters relative to the maintenance of international peace and security which are being dealt with by the council, and also shall notify the assembly and its committees immediately after the council has ceased to deal with such a topic.

SC-9 Matters Seized.  The Secretary-General or the President of the Security Council shall communicate each day to the members of the Security Council a summary statement of the matters on which the council remains seized from the preceding meetings and of the stage reached in its decisions.

SC-10 Orders of Precedence. Principal motions and draft resolutions shall have precedence in the order of their submission.  The following motions have precedence in the order stated over all principal motions and draft resolutions relative to the subject before the meeting:  (i) suspend the meeting; (ii) adjourn the meeting; (iii) refer any matter to a committee or to the Secretary-General; (iv) close debate on an item(s) under discussion; (v) table discussion on an item(s) to a certain hour, day, or indefinitely; and (vi) introduce an amendment.  The President may refuse to recognize a motion to adjourn the meeting if the council has not completed its business.

SC-11  Voting Procedures. Each member of the Security Council shall have one vote. Voting in the Security Council shall be in accordance with the relevant articles of the Charter and with the Statutes of the International Court of Justice.  Voting shall normally be conducted by a simple show of hands.  A member has the option of a "yes," 'no," "abstain, " or "pass" vote, or the member may refrain from voting altogether.  A member may request a roll call vote on any issue.  If the President concurs, the roll call shall be taken in English alphabetical order of the names of the members, beginning with a member chosen at random by the President.  The names shall be called by the Secretary  and a member may vote in any of the aforementioned manners.  If a member does not answer the roll call the first time through, they may not vote on the second reading.  Two passes by a member shall be recorded as an abstention.  The results shall be announced immediately and inserted in the record.  No request for roll call shall be debated or voted upon.  Once voting has begun no member may interrupt the conduct of the vote except on a point of order concerning the conduct of the vote.  A member may request a change in vote only once.  The President may allow a member to explain their vote at the conclusion of a roll call and may limit the time allowed for explanations.  All matters considered by the council must receive at least nine affirmative votes to be adopted unless otherwise specified.

SC-12 Permanent Member Veto Power. In addition to the rights and privileges accorded to members of the Security Council elsewhere in this section, the five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States of America) shall be accorded veto power over all main motions before the Security Council.  A veto is accomplished when a permanent member state casts a vote of "no" or abstains with prejudice.  " A veto effectively rejects whatever main motion is before the body.  A permanent member may also "abstain without prejudice" thereby not affecting the final vote.
 

GA- I Interchangeability of Rules.  All Committee Rules apply to the conduct of business in the General Assembly, except where noted below.

GA-2 Officers.  The Steering Committee shall select a President of the General Assembly, Committee Chairpersons (who shall serve as acting PGA), Legal Counsels and Secretaries.  The officers shall have all the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Committee Chairpersons, Legal Counsels, and Secretaries respectively.

GA-3  Order of Consideration of Agenda Items. The agenda of the General Assembly shall be set so as to allow consideration of one agenda item from each of the three Committees before a second item from any one Committee is considered.  A preliminary agenda will be announced to the delegates prior to the beginning of the Session.  Agenda items will be considered in the order in which they appear on the preliminary agenda unless that order is altered by a majority vote of the Assembly; however, one agenda item from each Committee must be considered before turning to a second agenda item from any Committee.

GA-4 Amendments. All amendments presented in the General Assembly must be signed by at least ten (10) seconding delegations in addition to the sponsoring delegation; they must be submitted on an official amendment form for approval by the Committee Legal Counsel and labeled with an identifying number by the Committee Secretary.  Amendments to collect obvious typographical errors, improve punctuation, or otherwise correct the form but not the substance of a resolution or amendment shall be submitted in writing to the Executive Secretary.  If approved by the President, these minor changes will be announced and incorporated into the resolution or amendment without vote.  Secondary amendments, by substitution, and friendly amendments will not be accepted.  The Steering Committee reserves the right to establish a deadline for the submission of amendments whenever it deems such a deadline necessary to expedite the Assembly's proceedings.