UNYCA

United Nations York Catholic Assembly

RULES OF PROCEDURE

I. RULES 1. RULES OF PROCEDURE These rules will apply to all regular sessions of the United Nations York Catholic Assembly. 2. AUTHORITY OF THE RULES OF PROCEDURE The decision of the Secretary General and/or Chair will constitute the authority for all procedural matters. 3. AMENDMENTS TO RULES OF PROCEDURE The rules of procedure may be amended at the discretion of the United Nations York Catholic Assembly. II. AGENDA 4. AGENDA OF THE ASSEMBLY The agendas of each assembly at UNYCA are set by the Secretariat. An agenda lists the resolutions that are to be introduced. A simple majority vote is required to change the order in which the agenda topics will be discussed. Debate on amendments to the agenda shall be limited to one in favour and one against.

III. CHAIR 5. POWERS OF THE CHAIR In addition to exercising the powers specified elsewhere in these rules, the Chair shall - Declare the opening and closing of each meeting of the Assembly - Direct the discussion during the session - Announce decisions including vote results - Ensure the observance of all rules 6. IMPARTIALITY OF THE CHAIR The Chair shall maintain complete impartiality on each question considered in the Assembly. Chairs may not vote on any matter being considered in the Assembly. 7. STATEMENT OF THE CHAIR The Chair may, according to his/her discretion, make a short statement to the Assembly for the purposes of clarifying or facilitating debate or ensuring the successful proceedings of the Assembly. 8. CONFERRAL OF AUTHORITY The appointed Chair may appoint another person to act as Chair, who shall then assume the powers and duties encompassed by this position. If it is impossible for the acting Chair to appoint an interim Chair, then any other member of the Secretariat or conference staff may do so.

IV. MEETINGS 9. ROLL CALL At the beginning of each session, the Chair shall take the roll call of delegations. 10. SILENT MEDITATION Following the opening of the Assembly, the Chair shall invite the delegates to observe one minute of silence devoted to contemplative meditation. 11. RECOGNITION BY THE CHAIR To be recognized by the Chair, a delegate must rise and respectfully address the Chair Mister or Madam Chair. If recognized, the delegate must state the nature of his/her point or motion. Failure to address the Chair properly will generally result in the delegate being ruled out of order. 12. LANGUAGE English is the working language of the Assembly. No translation/ interpretation will be provided. Delegates may address the Assembly in any other language; however, they must provide translation/interpretation in to English. Any delegate familiar with the foreign language being spoken should point out substantial discrepancies between text and translation through a point of order.

V. MOTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS 13. RESOLUTIONS Unless otherwise administered by the Chair, only resolutions introduced in writing and distributed to all delegations will be discussed or put to a vote. 14. a) AMENDMENTS Motions to delete, add to, or revise the operative clauses of resolution are considered to be amendments. The preamble of a resolution may not be changed once the resolution has been introduced. An amendment is considered to be a non-privileged motion. c) FRIENDLY AMENDMENTS If the submitter and seconder of the resolution adopt the amendment immediately, it is a friendly amendment and becomes part of the resolution. Amendments that change the fundamental intent of the resolution, like striking a clause altogether, is not friendly. d) UNFRIENDLY AMENDMENTS If an amendment is not adopted by both the submitter and seconder, the amendment is unfriendly. The submitter of the amendment can only introduce the amendment while speaking on a resolution. If the required number of speakers opposing an amendment is not met, the amendment shall be adopted. The amendment may be adopted by a simple majority vote of the Assembly. e) COPIES OF AMENDMENTS The Chair must receive from the submitter of the amendment a clear copy in writing of any amendment before it is introduced. At his or her discretion, the Chair may rule a redundant or useless amendment out of order. The Chair may also require the amendment in question to be distributed to all delegations at his/her discretion.

17. RECESS A delegate may move for a recess for a break at an appropriate time during an Assembly. Otherwise, the Assembly will recess at set times, as per the agenda, or at the discretion of the Chair. 18. ADJOURNMENT A motion to adjourn may be made at the end of a debate on a resolution when the schedule of debate has elapsed. Such a motion ends all debate an cancels the agenda. Debate o this motion shall be limited to one speaker in favour of the motion and one against. A motion to adjourn is a privileged motion. 20. CENSURE A delegate may move on a privileged motion for the censure of another delegate, delegation or an officer of the Chair is he/she feels that the delegate, delegation or office has been consistently and purposefully out of order. Debate on a motion of censure is limited to two speakers in favour and two against. 21. ORDER OF PRECEDENCE OF MOTIONS a) Recess b) Adjournment c) Closure of Debate d) Other Privileged Motions e) Amendments f) Resolutions

VI. POINTS 23. ORDER OF PRECEDENCE FOR POINTS Order Personal Privilege Right of Reply Information 24. POINTS OF ORDER Points of order are used to introduce a motion. Furthermore, a delegate may rise on a point of order if he/she feels that some irregularity in procedure has occurred. The Chair shall rule on all points of order. 25. POINTS OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE A delegate may rise on a point of personal privilege in order to bring to the attention of the Chair some physical discomfort which is disrupting the proper functioning of the Assembly. 26. RIGHT OF REPLY A delegate may rise to request a right of reply if he/she feels that his/her personal country has been insulted, misquoted, or misconstrued by the speaker on the floor. The Chair may accord the delegate the right of reply, and may ask the allegedly offending delegate if he or she wants to apologize. 27. POINT OF INFROMTATION A delegate may rise immediately after another delegates speech on a resolution to question the speaker on the floor on the substance of his/her speech before the Assembly. One question is permitted for each point of information. The speaker who has the floor may refuse to answer. 28. SUPPLEMENTARY On rare occasions, delegates may request that the Chair grant them a supplementary, following a point of information. Supplementaries are only to be granted for the purposes of the clarification of an answer given to a point of information, and may not be used to introduce a new point of information. Supplementaries are granted solely at the discretion of the Chair. 29. INFORMATION DIRECTED TO CHAIR A delegate may direct a point of information toward the Chair when uncertain of procedural matters. A delegate may not interrupt a speaker on a point of information directed toward the Chair. 30. LIMITATIONS OF MOTIONS/POINTS The Chair reserves the right to limit motions and points as he/she sees fit if he/she determines that delegates are abusing them to delay or confuse the proceedings or to ensure the success of the assembly.

VII. SPEAKING 31. SPEAKING RIGHTS No delegate may address the Assembly without having received permission of the Chair. The Chair may call a speaker to order if his/her remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion. 33. INTERRUPTION OF SPEAKERS A delegate may interrupt a speaker who has the floo only on a point of order, on a point of personal privilege, or to request a Right of Reply. A speaker may not be interrupted by a point of information. 34. TIME LIMIT OF SPEECHES In order to move proceedings expediently, the Chair reserves the right to limit the amount of time a speaker has to present their speech. The Chair may also limit the amount of time given to the posing of points of information, to delegates speaking on motions, and to the response to points of information. 35. SPEAKERS LIST After the submitter has introduced the resolution, the Chair shall declare the Speakers List open. Delegates wishing to speak on the subject must send a page to the Chair indicating their desire to be on the Speakers List. Notes will not be accepted until the Speakers List is declared open. 36. INFORMAL DEBATE A delegate may motion for informal debate in order to hear a variety of nations make brief statements on a resolution. At the time of submitting such a motion, the delegate must also specify the amount of time to be allotted for each speaker as well as the duration of the proposed session of informal debate. During an informal debate session, delegates must approach the microphones, be acknowledged by the chair, and then deliver their speech. Speakers may not accept points of information during informal debate. Upon the expiration of the informal debate periods time limit, a motion may be made to extend it. 37. CLOSUER OF DEBATE A delegate may move for closure of debate on a resolution being debated, as long as three speakers from the Speakers List have been heard already, whether or not any delegations remain on the Speakers List. If closure is declared, debate on the resolution under consideration shall cease and voting will commence. Debate on this motion requires one speaker for and one against. Closure of debate is not applicable to debate on procedural matters.

38. VOTING RIGHTS Each member nation of the Assembly shall have one vote. 39. VOTING PROCEDUES Voting procedures are entered after a motion for the closure of debate on a resolution carries. Delegates shall vote normally by displaying conspicuously the placards of their countries. Only one delegate per delegation, holding one placard, is permitted to vote. Only the states recognized as member nations by the United Nations may vote. 40. EXPLANATION OF VOTING A delegate may explain his/her vote on a resolution immediately after the result of voting has been announced, provided that he/she inform the Chair of their intent to do so before voting commences. Delegations that have already spoken on the resolution are not accorded this privilege. To save time, the Chair may rule such requests out of order. 41. CONDUCT DURING VOTING After the Chair has announced the beginning of a vote, no delegate may interrupt except on a point of order directly related to the voting procedure. Delegates are not permitted to leave the assembly or move about during voting, but must remain seated in alphabetical order. During voting procedures, nobody may enter the Assembly. 42. CLAUSE BY CLAUSE VOTE A delegate may request a clause-by-clause vote on the resolution under discussion after debate has been closed. If the submitter and seconder of the resolution accept the motion, the motion shall automatically be passed. Otherwise, debate on the motion is limited to one speaker in favour and one opposed. A clause-by-clause vote applies only to the operative clauses of a resolution, which are each voted on separately if the motion for a clauseby-clause vote passes. If any one operative clause is passed by a vote, the entire preamble is considered adopted. 43. VOTING ON AMENDMENTS Where the adoption of an amendment implies the rejection of another amendment or operative clause, the affected clause will not be voted upon with the rest of the resolution. 44. TIE VOTES If a vote is tied, the resolution of motion in question will be considered rejected.

X. ORDER 47. DISORDERLY DELEGATES If a delegate becomes disorderly during a meeting, is deemed out of order many times, or has been censured twice, the chair may remove said delegates speaking rights. 48. REMOVAL OF MEMBERS A delegate may move that another delegate be physically removed if after two censures the party concerned has demonstrated through continued improper conduct that it does not merit membership or the right to further participation. The delegate in question would be expelled for no longer than the remainder of the debating session. 49. FOREIGN POLICY A delegate may rise on a point of order if he or she feels that a delegation has committed a serious breach of its country's foreign policy; a delegate rising on such a point shall be required to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Chair that the breach is sufficiently serious to warrant the attention of the assembly. If the allegedly offending delegate cannot successfully substantiate their actions, the Chair may rule them out of order. As a last resort, a major breach of foreign policy is grounds for censure.