Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Security Council
Article 30 of the Charter says that the Security Council shall adopt its own rules of procedure, and in 1946, the Council adopted its Provisional Rules of Procedure.
Rules and Procedure of General Assembly
The Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly is available online. The official issuance is available as document A/520/Rev.20. Page 1 of A/C.1/59/PV.17 is an example of how the Chair explains the order of proceedings.
Language used by Chair to manage action phase
Pages 2-10 of A/65/PV.88 provide examples of the language used by the Chair to start action on a draft resolution, to encourage the adoption of a resolution by consensus, to give the floor to a delegation wishing to make a statement following adoption, etc.
Suspensions of meetings happen when delegates can’t agree on the way forward. In the example on pages 7-10 of A/C.1/59/PV.17, the delegates of Egypt, Chile and the Islamic Republic of Iran had different solutions regarding the amendment of the draft resolution entitled Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation. The Chairman suspended the meeting for 20 minutes for the delegations to reach agreement.
Amendments to revised draft resolutions
In this example, Egypt (A/C.3/67/L.62), Singapore (A/C.3/67/L.63) and Antigua and Barbuda (A/C.3/67/L.64) submitted amendments to the draft resolution A/C.3/67/L.44/Rev.1 on the use of the death penalty.
Oral revision of a draft resolution
This an example of how a draft resolution was revised orally during a formal meeting. On page 5 of A/C.1/66/PV.23, delegates of Nigeria and South Africa offered oral revisions in the hope that these minor changes would be accepted without a vote.
Vote requested on part of a draft resolution
On page 5 of A/C.1/60/PV.20, a separate vote was requested on an operative paragraph in a draft resolution that urges India, Israel and Pakistan to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as non-nuclear weapon States.
Terms Used in Resolutions
List of common terms used in resolutions in English and French.
Right of Reply
“Right of reply” refers to delegates’ right to respond when a previous speaker has referred to their country by name. Delegates wishing to exercise their right of reply have to tell the Chair in writing.
On page 6 of A/C.1/53/PV.29, the Chair interrupts the delegate of Pakistan, telling him that he already delivered his statement and cannot deliver a second one. Pakistan replies that his past statement was actually a right of reply and therefore should not count. The Chair clarifies the difference between a right of reply and a general statement. In this video, see India use its right of reply to respond to what the Prime Minister of Pakistan said about Kashmir the day before. The next day Pakistan responds with its own right of reply.
Traditional Practice
Meetings follow written rules of procedure. But some traditional practices have evolved, which Member States tend to follow for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, conflicts arise when these traditional practices are challenged. For instance, when a vote is requested, there is a traditional practice to not ask which Member State has requested the vote. Asking which Member State called for the vote is not illegal but considered to be uncooperative behavior.
On page 37-38 of A/C.1/66/PV.23, see how the delegate of the Islamic Republic of Iran explains to the delegate of Uruguay why it is important to respect traditional practices.
Point of Order
An example of a point of order can be found on page 19 of A/C.1/66/PV.11. The delegate of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea asks the Chair to interrupt the delegate of Canada on a point of order because the delegate referred to his country as “North Korea”, which is not its official name.
Pages 3-5 of A/63/PV.71 is an example of trying to use a point of order to prevent any sort of action, including voting, on a draft resolution. The Islamic Republic of Iran invoked a “no-action motion” on a draft resolution entitled “Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran”. The no-action motion was rejected after a vote.
After the rejection of a no-action motion on the draft resolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran presents two oral amendments to delete two paragraphs, which were both rejected.
Programme Budget Implications (PBI)
When Model UN delegates write or modify resolutions, they sometimes forget about the all-important budget. For some parts of resolutions to be implemented, funds are needed, and changing paragraphs can lead to increased spending. For instance, in section 53 on page 11 of A/C.3/66/SR.49, the Secretary of the Committee shows how one paragraph, which calls for two documents to be issued in six languages, would lead to a cost of $100,100.