RULES GOVERNING SUBSTANTIVE DOCUMENTS
Rule #1 - Working Papers
Working papers are preliminary documents to draft resolutions. These papers may be considered as an outline of the discussions and proposed solutions during the Committee Proceedings. A working paper doesn't need to compromise all the points covered in the Committee, these papers can also be written on specific aspects of the agenda item. A working paper can also be an individual work, there is no minimum or maximum number for the contributors of this document. Working papers should be written during the Conference, no pre-written work will be approved. Also, they do not require any signatories to be submitted. They are not official documents, so, they do not require a certain format or formal introduction; however, the signature and approval of the Committee Director are needed for the working paper to be available to the Committee. The Committee Director shall also designate a number to the working papers with the order of approval. Delegates may refer to the working paper with its number after the approval of the Committee Director. The Secretariat may decide to print the working papers before their introduction if they constitute extraordinary importance, if not, the document will be projected during the introduction. Delegates shall not refer to any document as a working paper before its approval. Once the working paper is approved, a delegate may raise a motion to introduce the working paper. This motion shall not be voted upon and the paper shall be introduced to the committee by the Committee Director or, at the discretion of the Committee Board, a delegate. Working papers will not be voted upon or adopted.
Rule #2 - Final Documents
Final Documents shall be declared by the Under-Secretaries-General or the Committee Board before the writing procedure begins.
Rule #3 - Draft Resolutions
A draft resolution is a preliminary document to a resolution. Draft resolutions differ from working papers in that they require special formatting. A draft resolution may only be submitted to the Committee board when it is signed by at least one-fifth of the number of present delegates in the same session. Any time before the voting procedure of the draft resolution, signatory delegates may withdraw their signatures from the draft resolution. If the documents lose enough signatures to reduce the number of signatories below the required percentage, the discussion on the documents will be automatically postponed. The same draft resolution may be re-introduced during the general discussion on the agenda item when it provides the necessary percentage. Being a signatory to a draft resolution does not oblige the delegate to vote in favour of the document. There is no obligation, the only purpose is to enable the document to be available to the whole Committee. Delegates may be signatories to more than one draft resolution. There are no official sponsors of the draft resolutions. In addition to the signatures of more than one-fifth of the present members of the Committee, the Committee Director should also sign the document to enable its introduction. The Committee Director’s decision not to sign a draft resolution is not appealable. Pre-written documents or documents written outside of the Conference are strictly forbidden. All of the contents shall be written during the Conference, in the Conference building. All documents submitted to the Committee Board will be evaluated regarding the above-mentioned condition and they will be scanned against plagiarism. Notwithstanding that more than one draft resolution may be discussed at one time on the floor, only one resolution may be passed per agenda item. Draft resolutions require a simple majority to pass, thereupon, to be adopted as resolutions. A Draft Resolution shall be addressed as a Possible Draft until it receives the Board’s and the Secretariat’s approval.
Rule #4 - Introduction of Draft Documents
When the floor is open, a delegate may raise a point of information to ask a question regarding the agenda item, the mandate of the Committee, abbreviations, and specific debate proceedings. The point of information can never interrupt a speech.
Rule #4 - Point of Information/Inquiry
Once a possible draft resolution is approved, a motion to introduce the draft resolution is needed to make the document available to the Committee. The purpose of this motion is to set a specific debate on the proposed draft resolution before its voting procedure. This motion requires a simple majority to pass and the submitter of this motion should be a signatory in the document to be introduced. After this motion passes, the draft resolution will be available to the whole committee. For this purpose, the Committee Director may read the operative clauses of the document, the Committee Director may call the submitter of this motion to read the operative clauses, or if the submitter refuses to read the clauses, the Committee Director may ask for a signatory delegation of this document or one of the members of the Committee Board to read the operative clauses. After the introduction of a draft resolution, the general discussion will be limited to the extent of the respective draft resolution. Thereupon, the draft resolution will be formally regarded as a different agenda item and a new General Speakers’ List will be established. Debate on the draft resolution shall be pursued according to its General Speakers’ List. During this time, delegates may raise motions for amendments and specific moderated/unmoderated caucuses for further discussions on the documents or possible amendments. Only one draft resolution shall be on the floor at any one time. Debate on the draft resolution shall remain on the floor until it is postponed or closed. Should the debate on a draft resolution be postponed, the Committee will move with the previous general debate on the agenda item and will have the right to include the respective document in it. If the Committee decides to close the debate on the draft resolution, the document should be immediately voted upon. Only one draft resolution may be passed per agenda item. Draft resolutions require a simple majority for adoption. If one draft resolution is adopted by the Committee, all other documents should be considered null and void, in other words, failed if no delegate requests a reconsideration immediately after the announcement of the result.
Rule #5 - Amendments
Correcting grammar mistakes is not considered a substantive amendment. These kinds of amendments can be noted in a message paper and sent to the Committee Board. There is no need for the approval of the Secretariat, the Committee Board may directly approve these types of amendments and implement their procedural voting which requires a simple majority. A delegate may amend any draft resolution after its introduction. Amendments may be given to adding new clauses or partially/completely deleting or changing some existing clauses on the approved document. Pre-ambulatory clauses cannot be amended, only the operative clauses of a draft resolution may be amended. The delegate willing to introduce his/her amendment shall specifically indicate the part of the document that the delegate wishes to amend with its exact location and its exact wording. These may be written on a message paper and this message paper should be sent to the Committee Board or the amendment may also be sent to the Committee Board electronically. For an amendment to be approved, it should contain at least the one-eight number of present delegates’ signatories and then should be approved by the Committee Board and the Secretariat. There are no official sponsors or submitters of an amendment. Any time before the voting procedure of the amendment, signatory delegates may withdraw their signatures from the amendment. If the documents lose enough signatures to reduce the number of signatories below the required percentage, the discussion on the documents will be automatically postponed. The same amendment may be re-introduced during the discussion of the draft resolution when it provides the necessary percentage. Once an amendment is approved, a signatory delegate may raise a motion to introduce the amendment when the floor is open. Before putting the motion for the introduction to a vote, the Committee Director shall read the contents of the amendment, then the motion should be put to a vote. This motion requires a simple majority to pass. After this motion passes, two Speakers’ Lists will be established to the extent of two speakers against and two speakers in favour. However, the Committee Board may decide to entertain more speakers for this purpose but the numbers of in favour and against speakers should be equal. If no delegate wants to be a speaker in favour or against, no closure of the debate is required and the Committee may directly move to the voting procedure. If delegates would like to speak, these lists will be established and after these lists expire, a motion to close the debate is in order, to move to the voting procedure of the amendment. Amendments necessitate a simple majority to pass and the voting procedure of an amendment is substantive which enables delegates to consider an amendment through different procedural apparatuses. An amendment to an amendment is not possible; however, amended parts of a draft resolution can be further amended. After an amendment is passed or rejected, the Committee will move to the previous General Speakers’ List established for the draft resolution.
Rule #6 - Competence
Immediately after a draft resolution or an amendment is introduced, before the establishment of the General Speakers’ List on the document, a motion to question the competence of the Committee may be given. The purpose of this motion is to provide the automatic failure of a substantive document because the Committee is not capable to implement the provisions of the document on discussion or the content of the document is out of context of the mandate of the respective Committee. The Committee Board may reject the motion to question the competence of the Committee; however, this decision is appealable. The Committee Director shall recognise one speaker against and one speaker in favour of the voting of this motion which necessitates a simple majority.