All SPIMUN Conference participants will be identified by the official SPIMUN badge. Without it you are nobody. You will not be allowed into meetings and you will not be able to attend the dance party. A new badge can only be applied for at the Secretariat by a MUN-Director on behalf of the delegate and will cost 100 rubles.
Each delegate has the duty to:
- respect the decisions of the President or Chair at all times;
- obtain the floor before speaking;
- stand when speaking;
- yield the floor when required to do so by the President or Chair;
- be courteous at all times;
- avoid the use of insulting or abusive language;
- act in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights.
Delegations should, at all times, act in accordance with the articles and principles of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as other international documents, treaties and conventions.
Except where otherwise adapted or limited by the following, Robert's Rules
of parliamentary procedure will be used at all times.
In general, the Chairs will know the proper procedure, how to apply the rules
and whom to recognize. They are available to give help and information. Delegates
should not be afraid to ask for clarification or explanation. This can easily
be done by rising to a point of order, a point of information to the Chair or
a point of parliamentary inquiry. Such points may not interrupt a speech, however.
Please, study the chart of motions and summary of rules governing them for detailed
information on each motion.
All written communication transmitted through the Administrative Staff must be written on identifiable notepaper with a distinctive heading. Messages must bear clear FROM and TO designations at the top of the paper. Messages not fulfilling the above requirements will not be transmitted. Delegations are expected to provide their own notepaper. Notes will be screened and thrown away if they contain improper messages. Disciplinary action may be taken by the Administrative Staff or the Student Officers against any delegates abusing the system. There will be no messenger service between the forums for delegates.
A majority of the total membership of each forum shall constitute a quorum, except Security Council, which is regulated by its own rules of procedure.
Immediately after the opening of the first meeting, the President/Chair may invite the representatives to observe one minute of silence dedicated to meditation or prayer.
Proposed amendments to the agenda may be submitted only during the Opening
Ceremony, after the Secretary General reads the agenda. Only amendments that
propose to add an issue to the agenda will be in order. If such an amendment
passes, the new issue will normally be debated after the previously published
issues, provided that a resolution on the issue has been approved. Amendments
to the agenda must be proposed in the form of a motion to be debated and should
be submitted in writing to the Secretary General on an Amendment Sheet.
In the event of crisis or emergency, the Secretary General or a designated representative
of the Secretary General may call upon the Committee to table debate on the
current Topic so that the more urgent matter may be considered at once. After
a resolution has been passed on the crisis topic, the Committee may return to
debate on the tabled topic only at the discretion of the Secretary General.
The President/Chair will propose the limitation of debate time for each motion. This will normally be: Main motions: 60 minutes open debate or 30 minutes for and 30 minutes against or 30 minutes against followed by 30 minutes for; Amendments: 2 minutes open debate or 1 minute for and 1 minute against or 1 minute against followed by 1 minute for. When debate time has been exhausted, the Chair will propose either the extension of debate time (e.g. by 10 minutes open debate or 5 minutes for and 5 minutes against), or the closure of debate and subsequent vote on the question being considered (the Previous Question). Open debate will be the norm for the Baltic Region Conference, the ECOSOC and Security Council. In the Commissions of the General Assembly and in the General Assembly itself, where the more contentious issues are likely to be discussed, the norm will be closed debate. In any case, the President/Chair will be unlikely to grant a motion for, or move, the Previous Question if there has been no opportunity to hear more than one side of the argument. The President/Chair may, in the interest of debate, or in order to work towards consensus, call upon a particular delegation to speak, even if they have not requested the floor. The President/Chair may also, for the same purposes, restrict the speaking time of an individual delegate. The limitations of debate time will include the time taken for replies to points of information, but will not include the time taken for questions to the speaker or for other interruptions. Only the President, Chair or the Secretary General is empowered to call recesses or adjournments or to suspend the rules. Appeals from the decision of the Chair are not debatable. Such appeals will be put directly to the vote. A two-thirds vote against the Chair's decision is required for such an appeal to be upheld. Please, study the chart of motions and summary of rules governing them for detailed information on each motion.
Only in exceptional circumstances will Presidents or Chairs entertain Objections to the Consideration of a Motion. A delegate objecting to the consideration of a proposed resolution will be required to explain, in an uninterrupted speech not exceeding one minute, the reason for his objection. The submitter of the motion will then be accorded a right of reply of equal length after which a vote will be taken on the objection. Once a main motion has lost to an objection to its consideration, it cannot be reconsidered at any time. An objection to the consideration of a main motion, which requires a two-thirds majority, will not be in order in the General Assembly. There can be no objection to the consideration of an amendment. The President or Chair may refuse to sustain an objection to the consideration if he perceives it to be entirely destructive or merely being used for tactical purposes not connected with the substance of the resolution. The objection will not then be put to the vote and the decision of the President/Chair is final. Please, study the chart of motions and summary of rules governing them or detailed information on each motion.
Amendments can only be submitted by a speaker who has the floor. The intention of proposed amendments to resolutions should normally be to improve the resolution with the object of achieving a wider consensus and thus helping the resolution to pass. In closed debate, amendments will normally be moved in debate time against the resolution. However, the intention should still be constructive not destructive. If the amendment fails, the speaker who proposed it will retain the floor on the main motion.
Once a proposal has been formally adopted or rejected by a vote of the assembly concerned, it may only be reconsidered after all business on the agenda has been dealt with, and then only by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting. The motion to lay a resolution on the table is not debatable and, when carried, temporarily disposes of the main motion and pending subsidiary motions. A two-thirds majority is needed to take matters from the table, although tabling itself only needs a simple majority. Please, study the chart of motions and summary of rules governing them for detailed information on each motion.
The floor may be yielded by one delegation to another only once consecutively. Where delegations consist of more than one member, delegates from the same delegation may not yield the floor to each other.
A speech may not be interrupted by any point except a point of personal privilege referring to audibility. All other points, e.g. order, parliamentary inquiry, and information to the Chair or speaker, will be dealt with only when the speaker yields the floor either to points of information, to another delegate, or to the President/Chair. A Point of Personal Privilege must refer to the comfort and well being of the delegate. It may not refer to the content of any speech and may only interrupt a speaker if the speech is inaudible. A Point of Order may relate to procedural matters only. A Point of Information may be directed to the Chair or to the speaker who has the floor if he has indicated that he is willing to yield to points of information. A point of information must be formulated as a question, e.g. "Is the speaker aware that..." or "Does the speaker (not) realize that..." etc. A short introductory statement or reference may precede the question, e.g. "The speaker stated in his speech that... Is he not aware...?" A series of questions from the same questioner will not be in order. However a delegate may call for the further point of information if there are no other points on the floor. A Point of Parliamentary Inquiry is a point of information directed to the Chair concerning the rules of procedure. A call for the Orders of the Day is a call for the return to the main agenda of the committee, council or assembly. It may not interrupt a speech and must not refer to the content of a speech. Please, study the chart of motions and summary of rules governing them for detailed information on each motion. The motion to Adjourn the Meeting (terminate Committee functions for the duration of the Conference) is never in order by a delegate; it may be only moved by the Director.
Once a delegate is declared out of order, he/she must be seated immediately.
Warnings are to be given at the chair's discretion:
1. 2 warnings - loss of speaking rights
2. 3 warnings - loss of speaking and voting rights
3. 4 warnings - dismissal from the floor
Punishments will last throughout debate and voting on the resolution during
which the warnings were incurred (delegates start with a clean slate with each
new resolution). Special exceptions will be made to the above punishments and
restoration of rights in extreme cases, this is left to the chairs to decide.
A motion may be withdrawn by a decision of all the submitting countries before debate has started, by unanimous consent of the whole assembly, or by the passing (majority vote) of a motion to permit withdrawal. This is in order at any time before the motion is put to the vote.
Each United Nations member-state will be presented by one or two delegates in each organ of which it is member and will have one vote in those organs. Official observers and non-governmental organizations shall be able to vote on procedural mattes only. A delegation votes by raising its placard. In the event of a close result, the President/Chair may institute a roll-call vote (division of the House) in which each member's name is called in turn and its vote recorded. Amendments - When an amendment is moved to a proposal, the amendment shall be voted on first. Should a second amendment be moved to a proposal, this will be voted on before the vote is taken on the first amendment. Where, however, the adoption of one amendment necessarily implies the rejection of the other, the first amendment shall not be put to the vote.
Conduct during Voting. After the President/Chair has announced the start of voting procedures, no interruptions will be allowed except for points of order connected with the actual conduct of the voting.
Explanation of vote. After the completion of voting, one speaker of each side will be allowed one minute to explain his vote. Abstentions - The number of delegations actively abstaining (as opposed to simply failing to vote) will be recorded and the right to explain its vote may be accorded to a delegation, which abstains. However, abstentions will not count either for or against the adoption of a motion, i.e. a resolution will pass if the number for exceeds the number against regardless of the number of abstentions.
Veto Rights - The Security Council will apply the special provisions concerning voting as stated in the UN Charter.
The Board of Directors of SPIMUN will appoint all Student Officers.
Secretary General
The Secretary General shall have authority over all student participants at
the conference. The Secretary General shall have the right to make decisions
on all issues or questions vital to the harmonious operation of the conference.
The other Student Officers will enforce such decisions. The Secretary General
shall have the right to rule on all questions concerning the competence of a
particular forum to adopt a proposal submitted to it. Such decisions will be
final.
Deputy Secretary General has responsibilities for specific areas and with full
powers and are appointed to share the Secretary General's workload.
The Secretary General, or a member of the Secretariat designated by him/her
as his/her representative, may at any time, make either oral or written statements
to the Committee concerning any matter.
Presidents of the Special Conference, ECOSOC, Chairs of GA Commissions, Security
Council, and their Deputies
In addition to exercising the powers conferred upon them elsewhere in these
rules, the Presidents/Chairs shall set the agenda for their respective assemblies,
declare the opening and closing of each meeting, decide on the order in which
resolutions are debated and direct discussions. They shall ensure observance
of the rules, accord the right to speak, put questions to the vote and announce
decisions. They shall rule on points of order and, subject to these rules, have
complete control of the proceedings of the assembly and over the maintenance
of order at formal meetings. They may propose limitations of debate time, a
limitation on the number of times each delegate may speak on any question and
on the closure of debate. They may also propose the adjournment of the meeting
or the adjournment of the debate on the item under discussion.