Freshers’ MUN 2024

Rules of Procedures
Organized by:
Society of International Law and its Affairs (SAIL) at
SVKM’s Pravin Gandhi College of Law
 INDEX

Sr. No. Topics Page Number

1. Introduction 3-4

What is MUN?

Important Terminologies for the Freshers’ MUN

2. An overview of the Flow of Debate 5

3. Roll Call 5-6

4. General Speakers List (GSL) 6-7

Debate

Working

Rules

5. Motions and Voting 7-8

6. Points 8

7. Additional Guiding Questions 8-9

8. Additional Information 9-10

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• Introduction

Rules of Procedure (RoP) will help the participants understand the formal procedures
followed in a Model United Nations Committee, and maintain order during the formal
committee sessions.

• What is MUN?

A Model United Nations (or popularly known as “MUN”), is a simulation of the functioning
and procedures of the United Nations (UN), where participants get the opportunity to debate,
discuss and deliberate upon current issues of interest in the field of international affairs and
diplomacy. The participants represent UN Member States as the “delegate(s)” of that
respective country in a simulation of a UN Committee.

The ultimate aim of a Model United Nations is to develop the skill of diplomacy among the
participants, while also educating them about the pressing international issues and the global
perspective on the same. Debating upon an agenda also requires participants to hone their
research and critical thinking skills.

In order to represent the allotted country in the best way possible, and engage in valuable
discussions, the participants are required to be cognizant of rules, procedures, and orders of
the formal debates.

Participants are, thereby, requested to comply with the following MUN Rules of Procedure
(RoP), and maintain decorum during the conference.

• Important Terminologies for the Freshers’ MUN

1. Chair - The individual(s) chairing the debate in the committee.

2. Delegate - The individual(s) who represents an allotted country in the committee.
3. Speaker Time - The allocated time to an individual speaker.
4. Motion - A “Motion” is raised to propose something in the committee session.
5. Caucus - A meeting of supporters.

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6. General Speakers List (GSL) - Delegates will at the beginning of the conference be
allowed to present their nation’s general belief and prior actions on the topic in the
GSL.
7. Clause - A specific section within a working paper or draft resolution
8. Working Paper - A written collection of policies proposed by one or more delegates
9. Draft Resolution - A written collection of policy ideas, formatted according to UN
Specifications.
10. Moderated Caucus: A debate on a particular topic as specified by the delegate
proposing it. Only a single speaker is allowed to speak at any time, following which
the chair will select the subsequent speaker.
11. Unmoderated Caucus: A debate where delegates are allowed to mingle and lobby
amongst each other, the chair is not involved in the moderation of unmoderated
caucuses.
12. Blocs: Blocs are teams of countries who share a particular viewpoint on how to deal
or solve the issue at hand. Forming and managing blocs is key to being successful at
Model UN, as the larger blocs hold more voting power. Our tip: Pass notes to other
delegates to build up alliances early on. The quicker you make a bloc, the more
powerful you’ll become in committee.
13. Substantive: A motion and vote are substantive if it concerns contents for the most
part. Voting on whether to adopt a resolution is substantive as it defines the consensus
of the committee.

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• An overview of the Flow of Debate

A typical debate will take the following flow of debate:

1. Roll call - where the delegate(s) state whether they are present or present and voting

2. Setting of the agenda.

3. Opening of the General Speakers list

4. General Speakers List - General debate

5. Moderated Caucuses - Specific issues are raised and discussed.

6. Unmoderated Caucuses - Delegates begin to lobby and form alliances.

7. Working Papers - Delegates use their time in unmoderated caucuses to collaborate

and write solutions.

8. Draft Resolutions - Delegates finalise and format their ideas into a draft resolution.

9. Voting - Delegates lobby to ensure they have enough votes to pass their draft
resolution, and voting procedure begins. Ideally, delegates should only be on the GSL
at the beginning of the conference, delegates should aim to use moderated and
unmoderated caucuses to further their countries position and lobby other delegates as
often as possible.

• Roll Call

The Chair(s) will call out the delegate(s) of each country to ascertain whether they are
present.

The delegate(s) have two options during the roll call - either present or present and
voting. It is explained briefly as follows:

o Present/Present & Voting: Delegates at the beginning of the committee will be asked
if they are present or present and voting. This question relates to substantive
questions. If you are only present you reserve the right to abstain as well as voting for

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 and against on substantive motions. If you are present and voting you cannot abstain
you can only vote in favour or against.
o Our tip: Always say you are Present; abstentions are powerful tools.

• General Speakers List

o General Speakers List (Debate)

Opening Statements are first speeches on a new topic. Every delegate will introduce
their position on a topic and ideally outline the policy proposals. Delegates of the
country must give an opening statement.

The opening statements must be made in alphabetical order or at the Chair’s

discretion. After the opening statement is made, GSL is opened.

o GSL Working
1. Chair asks if delegates are interested to be added to GSL.
2. Delegates show interest by raising placards.
3. Chairs recognize delegates by calling out the country's name, after which they are
placed on GSL.
4. In case of delegates not raising their placards to get on the GSL, the Chair may choose
delegates to be added to GSL.

o GSL Rules
1. You can only be on GSL once at a time. But when you finish your speech, you can
get back on the GSL. This can be done by sending a note to the Chair asking to get
back on the list or when the Chair asks if any delegates are interested to be added to
GSL.
2. There must be at least one delegate on the GSL at any given time which if is in the
negative, the committee moves to the voting stage.
3. Yielding Time - During GSL, Delegates can yield time to chair or another delegate or
for questions.
4. POI - After GSL Speech other delegates can ask the speaker a question called Point of
Information. The delegate has the discretion to choose POI’s and can maximum take 2
POIs. The delegate has 15 seconds to ask POI, and 30 seconds to answer the POI.

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5. The end of the POI Marks the return to GSL.

• Motions and Voting

o Motions

Delegates motion to do something in particular within the debate e.g. motioning to

open debate. For example, if your debating topic is addressing climate change
disparities, and you want to have a focused discussion on a particular country, you can
motion for a moderated caucus on that topic.

o Voting

Voting is separated into two stages - Seconds & Objections. Once a motion has been
accepted the chair will call for seconds and objections. Seconding/Objecting merely
shows interest/disinterest and is not a vote. However, if there are no seconds, the
motion fails, furthermore, if there are no objections then the motion is successful with
no vote. You cannot second your own motion. Voting takes place if there are both
seconds and objections. Votes are cast if there are both seconds and objections.

o Examples
1. Set the agenda (Substantive): When there is more than one topic available, delegates
must first motion to set the agenda. Once accepted the chair will take at least one
speaker and at most two speakers for and against the setting of the topic. If the motion
for that particular topic fails, then the committee immediately begins debate on the
other topic.
2. Open the General Speakers List (Procedural): A delegate motions to open the GSL
by simply raising their placard. The delegate that proposes the motion gets to speak
first. It is successful on a simple majority. The time can also be set via motion
however, by default it is 90 seconds.
3. Motion to enter a Moderated Caucus (Procedural): A delegate motions to enter a
moderated caucus by stating a topic, the total duration of the moderated caucus and
the individual speaker’s time. Moderated caucuses cannot exceed 20 minutes and
there must be at least 2 speakers. A common moderated caucus will be 5 minutes
with a 30 second individual speakers’ time.

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4. Motion to enter an Unmoderated Caucus (Procedural): A delegate motions to
enter an unmoderated caucus by only stating a duration. Unmoderated caucuses
cannot exceed 20 minutes.
5. Extensions (Procedural): Delegates can extend previous motions up until their limit.
For example, if you have just finished a 10-minute unmoderated caucus, you can
extend it by another ten minutes at the discretion of the chair.

• Points – Delegates

Points allow you to clarify issues. They are not voted on and must be instantly addressed
by the chair. Delegates can raise points to do many things, however the most basic are:

1. Points of personal privilege: A delegate can raise a point of personal privilege if they
find something is inhibiting them from debating effectively e.g. Going to the
washroom, decreasing AC Temperature.

2. Points of order (Important): A delegate can raise a point of order when they believe
some previous action by the chair was not in accordance with the rules.

3. Points of clarification/inquiry: Used for when a delegate has a question about

anything, often the ROP. If you are unsure about anything in committee, you can raise
a point of clarification which the chair will clarify.

• Additional Guiding Questions

1. What are draft Resolutions

Draft resolution is a formal document that outlines a proposed solution to a specific issue.
Here are the key points about draft resolutions.

Initially, it begins as a Working Paper, but once submitted to the Dais, it becomes a Draft
Resolution. It includes preambulatory clauses (background information) and operative
clauses (recommendations).

Informal negotiations may take place to improve and perfect the draft resolution.

Title and Format: It starts with a title identifying it as a "Draft Resolution" and specifies
the committee and topic

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2. What are amendments

Amendments are the minor or major changes in the draft resolution in order to achieve
the best resolution possible at the end. In the THIMUN procedure, the formal debates are
mostly based on amendment submission and discussion. After the resolution is being read
by the delegates and concerns about the clauses are being made, in order to fix the
problems and develop the resolution, delegates are expected to write amendments and
debate upon them. All amendments are being voted by the whole house; delegates should
not abstain during the voting procedure of the amendments. The main aim of the
amendments is to develop and improve the resolution. In this way, the delegates who have
not co-submitted the resolution will have a right to share their opinions and make changes
about the clauses that are not convenient for their country’s policy. Also, detailing the
undetailed clauses, fixing minor or major problems, or even adding new necessary
solutions that should have been covered.

• Additional Information
o Points

A point is something you raise when it concerns something you'd like to address for
yourself. There are four points.

1. Point of Inquiry - When a delegate is unsure of the rules and would like an
explanation from the chair.

2. Point of Personal Privilege - When the delegate's experience is impacted. Going to

the bathroom or turning on the air conditioner are points of personal privilege. Other
PoPP are that a delegate can’t hear the speaker or read the projected draft resolution.

3. Point of Information - Asking another delegate a question about their speech after
their speech concludes. This is done during the GSL. POI’s can only be asked after a
GSL speech of the delegate who finished speaking. POIs cannot be asked of a
delegate who has received yielded time.

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4. Point of Order - When a delegate believes the Chair has made an error made in the
formal procedure.

o Motions

Motions are collected by the chair and put to vote. The chair has discretion as to when
to allow motions to be offered and which to consider out of order at a given time.
Following are the types of Motions a delegate can raise.

1. Motion to open debate - To begin discussion at the beginning of the first session.

2. Motion to suspend debate - To break for lunch, coffee break, end of committee
session at the end of the day but not the conference as a whole.

3. Motion to adjourn the debate - To close the committee as a whole.

4. Motion to change speakers time - This motion changes the default time on the GSL.

5. Motion to set the agenda - To set one topic before the other at the agenda-setting
stage.

6. Motion for moderated caucus - “The delegate of India motions for a moderated
caucus of 8 minutes, individual speaking time 60 seconds, to discuss issue/outcome of
the previous caucus / working paper/draft resolution 1, 2, 3, etc.”

7. Motion for unmoderated caucus - “The delegate of India motions for an

unmoderated caucus of 12 minutes.” You do not need to give a reason for an
unmoderated caucus.

8. Motion to close the debate/move to the voting procedure - “The delegate of India
moves to close debate /move into voting procedure.”

9. Motion to introduce working paper/draft resolution/amendment - “The delegate

of India motions to introduce Draft Resolution 1.2.”

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