YMUNK XII Rules of Parliamentary Procedure

Evelyn Jiang, Director-General of Committees

Dear Delegates and Advisors,

Welcome to Yale Model United Nations Korea XII! On behalf of the entire team of Directors, we’re so beyond excited to welcome you to the tenth iteration of YMUN Korea. We have created this guide to establish the rules of parliamentary procedure for the conference’s committees. If you have any questions regarding any of the information on this page, please feel free to reach out to ymunkorea.dg.comms@yira.org. We can’t wait to meet you all in person in November, but until then, best of luck preparing for the conference!

All the best,

Evelyn Jiang

Director-General of Committees

Yale Model United Nations Korea XII

Rules of Procedure

Part 1: UNA-USA flow of debate

UNA-USA Flow Chart: This is meant to be used to guide you in committee and to help you understand how the debate will flow at YMUNK 2023!


PART 2: OPENING DEBATE AND PROCEDURAL RULES

Roll Call

The Director takes attendance to see who is here. The Director calls the name of each delegate’s country. In response, the delegate will say “Present” (or “Present and Voting”). Any missing delegates will be contacted and their advisors will be notified, so please be on time for your committee sessions!

Introduction to the Conference, Dais, and Announcements 

The Dais (composed of the Director and the Assistant Director/s) will introduce themselves and speak a bit about the conference and the topics at hand during the first committee session. During all committee sessions, important announcements will be made by the Dais before opening debate; make sure to come on time and listen carefully. 

Motion to Open Debate

The Director will ask, “Are there any points or motions on the floor at this time?” A delegate can raise their placard and say, “Motion to Open Debate!” The committee will then immediately vote on the motion, and debate will begin. 

(Preliminary) Speakers List

Delegates may motion to open the Preliminary Speakers List in order to discuss which topic they would like to start with. This motion requires majority support from other delegates. When this speakers list is open, the Dais will form a list of delegates that wish to speak, which delegates will indicate by raising their placards upon being prompted to. Like the regular (“Secondary”) Speakers List, the default speaking time is 60 seconds, though the Dais may adjust that time based on the needs of their committee. Additionally, no delegate may have their name on the list twice; delegates must wait until after they have spoken to re-add themselves to the list. After going through the list, the Dais will ask if there are any other points or motions on the floor. If there are none, the Dais will ask delegates to add their name to the speakers list.

Note: Your Director will determine whether or not your committee will allow the Preliminary Speakers list to be opened for discussion on which topic should be chosen. They reserve the right to rule motions to open the Preliminary Speakers List dilatory if they wish to skip setting the agenda.

Motion to Set the Agenda (only done during the 1st committee session)

Most committees will have two topics, and delegates must decide which one to focus on first. As a result, a delegate can motion to set the topic to either one by saying “Motion to set the agenda to Topic A/B.” After taking a vote on the motion, two speakers will need to stand up and speak in favor of that topic while two other speakers will argue against picking that topic.  For example, if a delegate motions to set the order of the day to Topic A, two delegates will speak in favor of picking Topic A, while the other two will speak in favor of starting with Topic B instead. In order to choose these delegates, the Dais will open the (Preliminary) Speakers List and add delegates wishing to speak for and against the topic to it. Note that once the topic is set, this Speakers List will automatically close (without a motion, as the Preliminary Speakers List is only for discussion prior to the agenda being set). The default speaking time for each delegate will be 60 seconds (though the Dais may, once again, alter the time if that is deemed necessary). The committee will then vote—If the motion passes, then the debate will begin with Topic A. If it fails, the order will automatically be set to Topic B.

Note that the Dais reserves the right to change increase or decrease the number of speakers for and against (though there must always be the same number of delegates speaking for and against the agenda being set to the topic in discussion).

For committees with only one topic, after the motion is made to set the agenda to that topic a vote will immediately be taken without debating which topic to focus on.

part 3: forms of debate in una-usa

Voting Procedure in UNA-USA: Disruption

In UNA-USA, motions are voted on in order from most to least disruptive. In general, the Dais will be taking no more than five motions at a time. There can be multiple motions for the same type of debate (i.e., two Unmoderates Caucuses of different lengths). Here are the different motions in order from most to least disruptive: 

  1. Motion to Open/Adjourn Debate

  2. Motion to enter voting procedure

  3. Motion to introduce Working Papers/Draft Resolutions

  4. Motion for an extension to the current Moderated Caucus

  5. Motion for an Unmoderated Caucus (in order from longest to shortest)

  6. Motion for a Moderated Caucus (in order from longest to shortest, then the number of speakers)

Default: Speaker’s List (when there are no points or motions on the floor, committee returns to the speaker’s list)

Motion to Open/Adjourn Debate 

At the start of each committee session a motion to open debate must be made. At this time, any other motion will automatically be ruled dilatory

At the end of each committee session, a motion to adjourn debate must be made. Delegates will vote on this motion before being dismissed

Moderated Caucuses

After the topic is set, many Directors will encourage their delegates to motion for the first Moderated Caucus

Most debate in Model UN committees takes place in the form of moderated caucuses. Moderated caucuses are fast-paced timed debates during which delegates can discuss specific sub-topics and propose solutions that delegates are working on. They will prove useful to help delegates decide who to work with, what sub-topics are most important, and how to proceed in an unmoderated caucus.

Example: If you are a delegate in a committee discussing access to clean water, a delegate can say: “Motion for a 10-minute moderated caucus with 30-second speaking time to discuss water purification technology.” The delegate who proposed the motion has the ability to choose whether they speak first or last in the moderated caucus. 

Note that the motion had 3 parts:

  • Overall Length: the whole caucus will last for that amount of time. In this example, it was 10 minutes.

  • Speaking Time: Each speaker in the 10-minute Moderated Caucus has a 30-second time limit to talk about the topic of the Moderated Caucus. The way this works is that the Director says “All those wishing to speak at this time please raise your placard.” The Director picks one speaker, who speaks for 30 seconds, and this process repeats until the 10-minute length of the moderated caucus is over. Note that the speaking time must divide into the overall length. See the chart below for common time breakdowns.

  • Specific Topic: Each moderated caucus is focused on something specific—that is, in this case, water purification technology.

Common Moderated Caucus Time Breakdowns:

Overall Length

Speaking Time

Number of Speakers

10 minutes

30 seconds

20

9 minutes

45 seconds

12

7:30 minutes

45 seconds

10

6 minutes

45 seconds

8

Note that the speaking time should always divide evenly into the overall length of the moderated caucus

Yielding

Note that once you are finished speaking while the Speakers List is open or during a Moderated Caucus (during any substantial speech), you must yield your time to either (1) the Chair/Dais, (2) Questions, or (3) Another Delegate. The specific phrasing is “I yield my time to …” and the Dais will recognize that you have yielded your time.

  • Yielding to the Chair/Dais - This is when you are done speaking and do not wish to have any questions asked about the speech you just gave. The Dais will then call on the next person to speak

  • Yielding to Questions - This allows other delegates to question things that you mentioned. You may use only use whatever time you have remaining out of your overall speaking time to address questions.

  • Yielding to Another Delegate - This gives your remaining time to another delegate to speak. After saying “I yield my time to the Delegate of …,” they will immediately speak.

Unmoderated Caucus

The unmoderated caucus is where Working Papers, Draft Resolutions, and any amendments actually get written (in many ways, a free for all). At YMUNK, delegates will have the chance to get out of their seats and move around the committee room.  Delegates will talk with fellow delegates to get a sense of who they would like to work alongside, and then, forming blocs and groups, begin to write clauses that solve specific sub-topics of each issue. Typically each bloc in the committee will submit one working paper to the Dais, and each may receive feedback on Working Paper clauses they are writing from the Dais prior to submission (the same is the case for Directives in Specialized and Crisis Committees).

The maximum and minimum numbers of sponsors (official submitters of a working paper) and signatories (the number of delegates that must sign off on a resolution agreeing that it should be debated in committee) will vary per committee and will be announced by the Dais Team. 

A motion for an unmoderated caucus looks like: “Motion for a 10-minute unmoderated caucus.” Note that there is no specific topic, it only needs an overall time length.

NOTE: The committee will continue to cycle through moderated and unmoderated caucuses (usually abbreviated as “Mods” and “Unmods”) and the Speaker’s List until Working Papers are written and submitted to the Dais Team. The Dais Team will check over the Working Papers and work with different blocs of delegates to prepare them for presentation to the committee.

part 4: working papers, draft resolutions, voting procedure

How to Write Working Papers and Draft Resolutions

You may be wondering—what is the format and style one needs to write a Working Paper and a Draft Resolution. Both the style and format are very different from what is required in normal essays that you are most likely familiar with.

Working Papers:

  • Introduces the ideas your bloc would like to have as part of a resolution

  • Does not need to have the same format as the Draft Resolution, but we encourage delegates to use a format similar to the Draft Resolution for ease of transition from one to the other (particularly because both need to be written by hand)

  • Samples

Draft Resolution:

  • A more finalized document addressing the issue that is being discussed in the Committee

  • Has a strict format

  • Needs a Preambulatory Clause — which acknowledge the existence of problems relevant to the topic — and Operative Clauses — which suggest solutions and implementation methods for the problems at hand

  • Can also have Sub-Operative Clauses (for going more into detail on certain Operative Clauses); they are not required in all cases, but they help flesh out your clause.

Introduction of Working Papers

Once submitted, the Dais Team will label each Working Paper in order of submission. For example, “Working Paper 1-2” means that it pertains to the FIRST topic the committee is discussing, but the SECOND is to be submitted.

Delegates can motion to introduce Working Papers to begin debate on submitted papers. The sponsors of the paper submitted first come up and talk about its goals and what it accomplishes, and then a Q&A session will ensue. After the Q&A session ends, delegates can will repeat this with the next Working Paper/s. Afterward, they can discuss the working papers further in Moderated Caucus. If multiple working papers propose similar solutions, the Dais may request that delegates work to merge their working papers to a single Draft Resolution. In the case that a merge happens, Bloc members should let the Dais know that the two blocs are merging and figure out who the sponsors for the joint draft resolution. While merging can happen later, this is the optimal moment for it to occur.

Through the subsequent Mods and Unmods, the delegates will then edit their Working Papers and resubmit them as Draft Resolutions. Draft Resolutions are labeled in the same way that WPs are (for example, Draft Resolution 1-3).

Introduction of Draft Resolutions

Once submitted, the same process for the introduction of Working Papers is followed to introduce and debate Draft Resolutions. If multiple Draft Resolutions are introduced, discuss all Resolutions before moving on to making amendments and/or voting procedure. 

Amendments

After the Draft Resolutions are introduced, any changes to them will be made in the form of amendments. Anyone in committee can submit an amendment for any of the Draft Resolutions introduced. However, in order to submit it to the Dais, you must have either A) all sponsors support the amendment (and include their names on the amendment), or B) 20% of delegates in the committee act as signatories to your amendment. An amendment is be a piece of paper that states which Draft Resolution it is an amendment to (by number) and the change that should be made. They should be written as follows:

  • Add Operative Clause/ Sub-Operative Clause that reads “(#). ___”

  • Delete Operative Clause/ Sub-Operative Clause (#)

  • Edit Operative Clause/ Sub-Operative Clause (#) to read “(#). __”

See this article for more details on Amendments.

Voting Procedure

After introducing and debating different Draft Resolutions, delegates can motion to enter the voting procedure. This motion requires support from 2/3 of the committee rather than the standard majority vote. Nobody may exit or enter the room once the committee has entered into voting procedure. Voting will begin with the first Draft Resolution submitted (and continue based on submission order).

The Dais will then go through amendments to the first Draft Resolution, reading out each. If an amendment is a “Friendly Amendment”—had the support of all of the Draft Resolution’s sponsors—it is incorporated to the Draft Resolution automatically. If an amendment is an “Unfriendly Amendment”—did not have such support and only gained submission through signatories—the entire committee must vote on it. It requires a plurality vote in favor in order to be added.

Once that is finished, the Dais will ask if there are any other points or motions on the floor. Here are some motions that can be made:

Motion for Roll Call Vote - Delegates can request that roll call vote be taken. This motion requires a simple majority to pass. If it passes, the Dais may determine the order in which to take the roll call vote. 

Motion to Divide the Question - Delegates can request to “divide the question” in order for clauses of a draft resolution to be considered—and voted on—separately. This motion requires a simple majority to pass.

Motion to Reorder Draft Resolution - Delegates can call for a motion to change the order in which resolutions are voted on. This motion requires a simple majority to pass.

Draft Resolutions require a simple majority (one more than half the committee!) to pass. Delegates may vote FOR, AGAINST, or ABSTAIN. Chairs may either take a placard count of FOR, AGAINST, or ABSTAIN, or take a roll call vote in which each delegate is called on to declare their vote. 

Once all Draft Resolutions have passed or failed, move on to the next topic. Begin back at a speakers list and repeating the flow of debate for this next topic. 

part 5: SPECIAL NOTES FOR CRISIS AND SPECIALIZED

Crisis and Specialized Procedural Notes: 

  • Directives: In crisis and specialized committees, working papers are called directives. Directives are…  

    • Shorter, more focused, and more frequent than resolutions, typically used to address a crisis update or subtopic of the main issue

    • Mainly use operative clauses and requires both sponsors and signatories

    • Example: https://bestdelegate.com/how-to-write-a-crisis-directive/ 

    • After finishing a directive and submitting it to the Dais, a delegate may motion to introduce directives. Like with Working Papers and Draft Resolutions, directives need to be introduced to committee; and delegates will have the opportunity to discuss and edit them before voting procedure. Unlike resolutions in standard UN committees, voting does not only happen once at the end. Different directives will require delegates to enter voting procedure across multiple committee sessions; as the conflicts in Specialized and Crisis committees are ever evolving, delegates will get to see the effects of the directives they pass and respond to those effects.

  • Crisis Updates: Announcements informing the committee of developments in committee based on crisis notes

    • These shape the direction your committee will take

    • They may be in response to directives passed, developments that happened through Crisis Notes, or even a certain amount of time passing.

Crisis ONLY Procedural Notes: 

  • (Crisis) Notes: Exchanges between a delegate or group of delegates and the Backroom Assistant-Director with the goal of shaping the outcome of committee

    • Used to create crisis arcs that shape the narrative of the overall committee

    • These are not known by the committee and the Dais decides what actions are taken according to the notes

    • Delegates may choose to format their crisis notes as letters, inquiries, requests for information or resources, etc.

    • Crisis notes should be detailed, clear about what they aim to do and what information or resources they plan on using to accomplish said aim

    • Joint Crisis notes can be made by two or more delegates. Such crisis notes would need to be undersigned by both delegates (one of the delegates would send the note).

  • Crisis Arc: Informally, a crisis arc can be described as what you personally affect through your crisis notes (a well as broader actions) based on your goals, characterization, etc. Delegates should consider what they hope to accomplish over the course of the committee and work toward achieving that through Crisis Notes (and Directives as well). Some crisis arcs may include a delegate working to assume a particular political position, win a certain prize/award, win some conflict, cause some large event, avert some large event, discover something new, etc. (by the end of the committee); your arc could even be a (reasonable) change in character across the committee session, and action displaying that. While not all Crisis Arcs need to be large-scale or extreme, delegates should try and use their characters’ abilities to bring about an interesting Crisis Arc.

Section 6: Other notes and helpful information

For First-Time Delegates

  • Research — Go beyond the topic guide and do research. Make sure that you have a good sense of your role and position going into the debate so you can move the discussion forward and properly respond to ideas brought up by other delegates. Directors will be able to tell who simply read the topic guide and who truly understands the problem at hand and how they want to fix it. 

  • Participate — Do not be scared to participate. The YMUNK secretariat encourages all delegates to speak during the first committee session as it will make it much easier to continue speaking going forward into the conference. Even if others in your committee have more experience in Model UN than you, know that everyone can make equally beneficial contributions. Remember that the best committees are ones where everyone is moving the debate forward. 

  • Create Better Discussions — Make sure that what you are saying is adding to the momentum of the discussion. While all delegates will have a number of ideas and solutions coming into the committee, knowing when and how to express those ideas is key. During moderated caucuses, before speaking you may want to consider what the previous speaker/s mentioned, whether you agreed or disagreed with them, and whether what they said relates to something you want to discuss. By answering questions such as these, your speeches can be responsive and turn a series of disorganized thoughts into a conversation. The Dais will notice if you are engaging with what other delegates are saying and responding appropriately based on your country’s position as well as your own research on the topic. 

  • Do Not Stress Over Making Mistakes — Do not worry about making mistakes. Raising the wrong point, having a motion ruled dilatory, and not finishing speeches in the allotted time happen during every Model UN conference. The dias will gladly correct you when mistakes are made. We simply hope that you all read through the rules of procedure and try your best. 

  • Be Diplomatic — While many countries do not have the best relationship in the real world, all delegates are expected to be cordial and diplomatic while in committee. There are numerous ways to display an understanding of your country’s negative relationship with another country such as disagreeing on measures to take, pointing out that country’s role in a problem at hand, etc. Know that the primary focus will be on coming up with good and realistic solutions to a problem at hand, so relations between countries should subtly inform policy positions, blocs, and decisions made. Simply make sure that your country is not acting completely out of character or making decisions they would never make in real life. 

  • Further Notes — 

    • Speak in the 3rd person and refer to yourself by your assigned country (Instead of “I” say “The Delegate of…”)

    • Make sure to raise your placard every time you wish to speak. 

    • Points of Personal Privilege and Points of Order can be made at any time

    • Points of Information and Inquiry can only be made at specific points in committee.

Complete List of Points

 
 

Important Model UN Terms in UNA-USA Procedure