GMUN GENERAL ASSEMBLY RULES

X. PLENARY MEETINGS       GMUN rules

                 

Conduct of business for THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ONLY

                  

Reference to committees

Rule 30

        The GMUN General Assembly shall not, unless it decides otherwise, make a final decision upon any item on the agenda until it has received the report of a committee on that item.

Discussion of reports of Main Committees

Rule 31

        Discussion of a report of a Main Committee in a plenary meeting of the GMUN General Assembly shall take place if at least one third of the members present and voting at the plenary meeting consider such a discussion to be necessary. Any proposal to this effect shall not be debated but shall be immediately put to the vote.

Quorum

Rule 32

        The President may declare a meeting open and permit the debate to proceed when at least one third of the members of the GMUN General Assembly are present. The presence of a majority of the members shall be required for any decision to be taken. The members of the GMUN General Assembly are defined in terms of the number of delegations that are participating in the Global Model UN conference which may at times be less than the full membership of the United Nations. In those instances the required number for a quorum and a majority will be determined by the number of participating delegations.

                    Speeches

Rule 33

        No representative may address the GMUN General Assembly without having previously obtained the permission of the President. The President shall call upon speakers in the order in which they signify their desire to speak. The President may call a speaker to order if his remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion.

                        Precedence

Rule 34

        The Chairperson and the Rapporteur of a GMUN Main committee may be accorded precedence for the purpose of explaining the conclusions arrived at by their committee.

Statements by the Secretariat

Rule 35

        The GMUN Secretary-General, or a member of the Secretariat designated by him as his representative, may at any time make either oral or written statements to the GMUN General Assembly concerning any question under consideration by it.

Points of order

Rule 36

        During the discussion of any matter, a representative may rise to a point of order, and the point of order shall be immediately decided by the President in accordance with the rules of procedure. A representative may appeal against the ruling of the President. The appeal shall be immediately put to the vote, and the President’s ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of the members present and voting. A representative rising to a point of order may not speak on the substance of the matter under discussion.

Time limit on speeches

Rule 37

        The GMUN General Assembly may limit the time to be allowed to each speaker and the number of times each representative may speak on any question. Before a decision is taken, two representatives may speak in favour of, and two against, a proposal to set such limits. When the debate is limited and a representative exceeds his allotted time, the President shall call him to order without delay.

Closing of list of speakers, right of reply

Rule 38

        During the course of a debate, the President may announce the list of speakers and, with the consent of the GMUN General Assembly, declare the list closed. He may, however, accord the right of reply to any member if a speech delivered after he has declared the list closed makes this desirable.

Adjournment of debate

Rule 39

        During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the adjournment of the debate on the item under discussion. In addition to the proposer of the motion, two representatives may speak in favour of, and two against, the motion, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote. The President may limit the time to be allowed to speakers under this rule.

Closure of debate

Rule 40

        A representative may at any time move the closure of the debate on the item under discussion, whether or not any other representative has signified his wish to speak. Permission to speak on the closure of the debate shall be accorded only to two speakers opposing the closure, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote. If the GMUN General Assembly is in favour of the closure, the President shall declare the closure of the debate. The President may limit the time to be allowed to speakers under this rule.

Suspension or adjournment of the meeting

Rule 41

        During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the suspension or the adjournment of the meeting. Such motions shall not be debated but shall be immediately put to the vote. The President may limit the time to be allowed to the speaker moving the suspension or adjournment of the meeting.

Order of procedural motions

Rule 42

        Subject to rule 38, the motions indicated below shall have precedence in the following order over all other proposals or motions before the meeting:

        (a)   To suspend the meeting;

        (b)   To adjourn the meeting;

        (c)   To adjourn the debate on the item under discussion;

        (d)   To close the debate on the item under discussion.

Proposals and amendments

Rule 43

        Proposals and amendments shall normally be submitted in writing to the GMUN Secretary-General, who shall circulate copies to the delegations. As a general rule, no proposal shall be discussed or put to the vote at any meeting of the GMUN General Assembly unless copies of it have been circulated to all delegations not later than 12 hours before. The President may, however, permit the discussion and consideration of amendments, or of motions as to procedure, even though such amendments and motions have not been circulated or have only been circulated the same day.

Withdrawal of motions

Rule 44

        A motion may be withdrawn by its proposer at any time before voting on it has commenced, provided that the motion has not been amended. A motion thus withdrawn may be reintroduced by any member.

Voting

Voting rights

Rule 45

        Each member of the GMUN General Assembly shall have one vote.

  Two-thirds majority

Rule 46

        Decisions of the GMUN General Assembly on important questions shall be made by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting. These questions shall include: recommendations with respect to the maintenance of international peace and security, the suspension of the rights and privileges of membership, the expulsion of Members, and budgetary questions.

Rule 47

        Decisions of the GMUN General Assembly on amendments to proposals relating to important questions, and on parts of such proposals put to the vote separately, shall be made by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting.

Simple majority

Rule 48

        Decisions of the GMUN General Assembly on questions other than those provided for in rule 46, including the determination of additional categories of questions to be decided by a two-thirds majority, shall be made by a majority of the members present and voting.

Meaning of the phrase “members present and voting”

Rule 49

        For the purposes of these rules, the phrase “members present and voting” means members casting an affirmative or negative vote. Members which abstain from voting are considered as not voting.

Method of voting

Rule 50

        (a)   The GMUN General Assembly shall normally vote by show of hands or by standing, but any representative may request a roll-call. The roll-call shall be taken in the English alphabetical order of the names of the members, beginning with the member whose name is drawn by lot by the President. The name of each member shall be called and one of its representatives shall reply “yes”, “no” or “abstention”. The result of the voting shall be inserted in the record in the English alphabetical order of the names of the members.

        (b)   When the GMUN General Assembly votes by mechanical means, a non-recorded vote shall replace a vote by show of hands or by standing and a recorded vote shall replace a roll-call vote. Any representative may request a recorded vote. In the case of a recorded vote, the GMUN General Assembly shall, unless a representative requests otherwise, dispense with the procedure of calling out the names of the members; nevertheless, the result of the voting shall be inserted in the record in the same manner as that of a roll-call vote.

Conduct during voting

Rule 51

        After the President has announced the beginning of voting, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting. The President may permit members to explain their votes, either before or after the voting, except when the vote is taken by secret ballot. The President may limit the time to be allowed for such explanations. The President shall not permit the proposer of a proposal or of an amendment to explain his vote on his own proposal or amendment.

Division of proposals and amendments

Rule 52

        A representative may move that parts of a proposal or of an amendment should be voted on separately. If objection is made to the request for division, the motion for division shall be voted upon. Permission to speak on the motion for division shall be given only to two speakers in favour and two speakers against. If the motion for division is carried, those parts of the proposal or of the amendment which are approved shall then be put to the vote as a whole. If all operative parts of the proposal or of the amendment have been rejected, the proposal or the amendment shall be considered to have been rejected as a whole.

Voting on amendments

Rule 53

        When an amendment is moved to a proposal, the amendment shall be voted on first. When two or more amendments are moved to a proposal, the GMUN General Assembly shall first vote on the amendment furthest removed in substance from the original proposal and then on the amendment next furthest removed therefrom, and so on until all the amendments have been put to the vote. Where, however, the adoption of one amendment necessarily implies the rejection of another amendment, the latter amendment shall not be put to the vote. If one or more amendments are adopted, the amended proposal shall then be voted upon. A motion is considered an amendment to a proposal if it merely adds to, deletes from or revises part of the proposal. All amendments shall be submitted to the Chairperson in writing before being announced on the floor.

Voting on proposals

Rule 54

        If two or more proposals relate to the same question, the GMUN General Assembly shall, unless it decides otherwise, vote on the proposals in the order in which they have been submitted. The GMUN General Assembly may, after each vote on a proposal, decide whether to vote on the next proposal. All proposals shall be submitted to the Chairperson in writing before being announced on the floor.

Elections

Rule 55

        All elections for the GMUN General Committee and Main Committees shall be held by secret ballot.

Rule 56

        When two or more elective places in the GMUN General Committee are to be filled at one time under the same conditions, those candidates obtaining in the first ballot the majority required shall be elected. If the number of candidates obtaining such majority is less than the number of persons or Members to be elected, there shall be additional ballots to fill the remaining places, the voting being restricted to the two candidates per elective place and the candidate obtaining the majority on the second shall be elected.

Equally divided votes

Rule 57

        If a vote is equally divided on matters other than elections, the President shall decide if a second vote shall be taken and at what time. If a second vote is not taken or a second vote is taken and this vote also results in equality, the proposal shall be regarded as rejected.