MINTMUN SECURITY COUNCIL Rules of Procedure

SECURITY COUNCIL
Rules of Procedure
Edited by:
Angellica Belanovskaya
Evgeniya Andrejuk,
Lizaveta Sitkevich
Tatiana Pratskevich

These rules are based on the original rules of the Security Council, as stated in the Charter of
the United Nations and the Statute of the International Court of Justice, but adaptations have been
made to facilitate and ease debate during the Model UN conference. In general, the procedure in the
Security Council shall conform to the Rules of Procedure. However, below are a number of special
rules applicable only in the Security Council. In case of any conflict between rules in this chapter and
the other chapter of the Rules of Procedure, the rules in this chapter shall take precedence.

I. COUNCIL RULES

Rule 1 shall select any other positions necessary to help

Composition of the Security Council
The Security Council shall consist of fifteen
Members of the United Nations. China, France,
Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the
United States of America are permanent members
of the Security Council.
Each member of the Security Council shall
have one representative.
Rule 2
Quorum
A quorum shall be made up of two-thirds, or 10
Members, of the Security Council. The Council may
neither begin with the conduct of business nor vote
on any substantive matter without a quorum
present. However, the Chair reserves the right to
adjust the quorum as it deems necessary.
Rule 3
Diplomatic Courtesy
Delegates must accord diplomatic courtesy to
all other Delegates and Secretariat members at all
times.
Rule 4
Security Council Officers
The Board of Directors shall appoint the Chair
and the other Chair of the Security Council, and
conduct the sessions of the Council.
Rule 5
Roll Call
The Chair shall call the roll for the purpose of
establishing the quorum at the beginning of each
session. Members who desire to be considered
present shall reply «present» when the name of
their delegation is called.
Rule 6
General Authority of the Security Council Chair
The Chair shall preside over the meetings of the
Security Council and, under the authority of the
Security Council, shall represent it in its capacity as
an organ of the United Nations.
The Chair and the other Chair are independent
officials representing the interests of the world
community. They have no voting rights.
The Security Council Chair shall be the
chairperson at all Council sessions.
The Chair shall have the authority to declare the
opening and closing of each session, the
adjournment of the meeting, direct discussions and
mediates between the sides of the discussion
during unmoderated caucus , ensure observance of
these rules, accord the right to speak, advise the
Council on methods of procedure that will enable

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the Council to accomplish its goals, rule on points
and motions, assist formulating of resolutions,
which are generated in the Council chamber,
formulates the final text of the discussed clause or
amendment and reads it to the house before voting,
accumulates and write down the complete text of
the discussed resolution and gives it to the house.
The Chair may decide during the session the
limitation of Debate, Closure of Debate, the
limitation of the time to be allowed to speakers, the
limitation of the number of times each delegate may
speak.
The Chair has the power to propose the
suspension of the meeting or the adjournment of
the debate on the item under discussion.
Rule 7
Absence of Council Chair
If the Council Chair should find it necessary to
be absent during any part of a Council session, the
other Chair will conduct the Council session and
assume authority. The other Chair acting as
Chairman shall have the same powers and duties
as the Chair.
Rule 8
Provisional Agenda
The Provisional Agenda is communicated to the
Members of the Security Council at least thirty days
before the opening of the session.
This agenda provides the Council with topics
that are the basis for its deliberations, but in no way
limits the Council’s topics.
Rule 9
Adoption of the provisional agenda
The first item of the provisional agenda for each
session of the Security Council is the adoption of
the agenda.
Rule 10
Daily Order of Agenda Topics
The Council will establish the daily order of
agenda topics at the start of each daily session.
Once established, this will become the working
agenda for the duration of that day.
Agenda topics will be discussed in the order in
which they appear on the working agenda.
Rule 11
Amendments to the Agenda
The Agenda may be added or amended at any
session of the Security Council with at least 9 votes
of the Security Council members. Delegates of
member states may propose to add to the working
agenda any relevant question or to change the
order in which agenda topics are to be discussed by
the Council.
SECURITY COUNCIL Rules of Procedure
Rule 12
Statements by the Secretariat
The Secretary-General, or any member of the
Secretariat, may make verbal or written statements
to the Security Council at any time.
Rule 13
Participation by Non-Council Member Nations
Any Member of the United Nations which is not
a member of the Security Council may be invited,
by the decision of the Security Council, to
participate in the discussion of the question, when
the Security Council considers that the interests of
that Member are specially affected, or when a
Member brings a matter to the attention of the
Security Council.
A non-Council UN member nation or observer
may submit proposals, draft resolutions and
amendments, but may not move these to the floor
or vote at any time.
These proposals and draft resolutions may be
put to a vote only at the request of a representative
on the Security Council.
Rule 14
Participation by Representative of a non-UN
member nation, an international organization, or
any other persons
If the Security Council, when discussing any
issue, finds it necessary to have presented a
Representative of a non-UN member nation, an
international organization, or any other persons it
considers competent for this purpose the Council
have a right to invite them to the meeting.
These Representatives will be subject to
questions and answers.
Rule 15
Open meeting
If it is determined that many nations outside of
the Security Council have an interest in a specific
issue, the Council may declare an “open meeting”
on any issue being discussed,
In order to allow all delegations time to prepare
their comments, an open meeting in the Council
should be announced at least two hours in advance
of the open debate session.
Any UN member nation or observer may
participate in an open meeting.
Rule 16
Forms of debates
There are three forms of debates in the Security
Council: formal debates, moderated caucus and
unmoderated caucus. It is a decision of the Chair or
of the members of the Council in which form to
work.
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The Council may choose to enter informal
debates if the members determine that this process
will better facilitate the discussion of a particular
issue.
Rule 17
Formal debates
During formal debates the Chairperson
establishes one continuously open speakers list.
The Chair begins by asking all delegates interested
in addressing the other members to raise their
placards. The Chair then chooses delegates to be
placed on the speakers list. Once a nation has
spoken, it is crossed off the list. Delegates can be
added to the bottom of the speakers list by passing
a note to the Chairperson or raising a placard when
the Chair asks.
Rule 18
Moderated Caucus
The purpose of the moderated caucus is to
facilitate substantive debate at critical junctures in
the discussion. In a moderated caucus, the
Chairperson will call on delegates to speak at his or
her discretion. The Chairperson rules the debates in
official manner.
Rule 19
Unmoderated Caucus
In unmoderated caucus, delegates may leave
their seats and address other delegates in an
informal manner. Its purpose is to discuss the issue
in informal format, to merge draft resolutions, to
explain position of the country.
Rule 20
Speeches
No Delegate may address the Council without
previously obtaining the permission of the Chair.
The Chair shall call upon speakers in an order
determined by the Chair.
The Chair may call a speaker to order if his
remarks are not relevant to the subject under
discussion.
The Chair may limit the time to be allowed to
each speaker and the number of times each
representative may speak on any question.
Delegates, at the conclusion of a substantive
speech, will be allowed to answer questions
concerning their speech.
A speaker who desires to make a motion may
do so after their speech and questioning, but prior
to yielding the floor.
Rule 21
Recognition of Speakers
Delegations wishing to speak on an item before
the Council will signify by raising their placards.
SECURITY COUNCIL Rules of Procedure
The exception to this rule occurs on any Point
of Order, Point of Parliamentary Inquiry, Point of
Information or Point of Personal Privilege, at which
time a Representative should raise their placard
and call out “Point of _______”.
Rule 22
Right of Reply
A delegate whose national integrity has been
impugned by another delegate may request a Right
of Reply. The Chairperson shall determine an
appropriate time limit for the reply. The
Chairperson’s decision whether to grant the Right of
Reply is not open to appeal. A Right of Reply to a
Right of Reply is out of order.
Rule 23
The flow of debates
The Security Council shall start debate with a
blank draft resolution, unless decided otherwise by
the Chair.
The Council shall debate only one clause at a
time.
Proposed clauses shall be introduced by
delegates taking the floor during formal debate. The
Chair can set debate time on the proposed clause.
Rule 24
Amendments
All amendments must be submitted on an
official amendment form to the Chair.
Typographical errors will be corrected by the
Chair and announced to the house.
There can be no abstentions during the vote
on an amendment.
Once the amendment passes, it shall be
incorporated into the proposed clause, debate on
which shall then be resumed.
Rule 25
Amendments to the Amendment
An amendment to the amendment will be in
order. No amendments of the 2 nd degree will be in
order.
An amendment to an amendment may be
introduced in written or orally.
In order to introduce an amendment to an
amendment, a delegate shall request the floor when
the Chair asks for speakers either against or in
favor of the original amendment.
Rule 26
Voting on Amendments to an Amendment
Voting on an amendment to an amendment
shall take place once debate time on the
amendment to the amendment has elapsed. If the
house passes the amendment to the amendment,
the original amendment also passes as a whole. If
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the amendment to the amendment fails the house
goes back into debate on the original amendment.
Rule 27
Note Passing
Note Passing is in order during the entire
session, except during voting on a resolution, for
the purpose of communication with other
delegations and the Chairperson. The Chairperson
may suspend note passing for any period of time if
he feels that decorum in the committee is not
maintained. All notes passed between the delegates
shall be screened by the administration staff
responsible for note passing. Should a member of
the staff find a note not in compliance with section
of the Rules of Procedure, the note shall be passed
to the Chairperson, who will take appropriate
disciplinary action against the sender of the note.
Note Passing shall be suspended during voting
procedures.
Rule 28
Order of consideration of clauses and
amendments
The Security Council session considers first
the clause, draft project or amendment submitted
or seconded by more Security Council member
states than the others or selected by the
unanimous decision of the Chair based upon
priority and contents of the proposed draft.
Rule 29
The end of debate
At the end of debate, all passed proposed
clauses shall be considered as a draft resolution.
The Chair shall reserve at least 30 minutes for a
debate on the entire draft resolution, at the
conclusion of which shall stand a vote on the draft
resolution.
Rule 30
Yields
A delegate granted the right to speak on a
substantive issue may yield in one of three ways:
Yield to another delegate. His or her remaining
time will be given to that delegate.
Yield to questions. Questioners will be selected
by the Chairperson and limited to one question
each.
The Chairperson will have the right to call to
order any delegate whose question is, in the opinion
of the Chairperson, rhetorical and leading and/or
not designed to elicit information. Only the
speaker’s answers to questions will be deducted
from the speaker’s remaining time.
SECURITY COUNCIL Rules of Procedure
Yield to the chair. Such a yield should be made
if the delegate does not wish to yield to questions or
another delegate. The Chairperson will then move
to the next speaker.
Delegates must declare any yield by the
conclusion of his or her speech. If time runs out, the
Chairperson will simply move on to the next
speaker.
Rule 31
Method of voting
The Сouncil shall normally vote by show of
placards, but any representative may request a roll-
call using the Motion to Divide the House. The roll-
call shall be taken in the English alphabetical order
of the names of the members, beginning with the
member whose name is drawn by lot by the
Chairman. The name of each member shall be
called in any roll-call, and its representative shall
reply "in favour", "against" or "abstaining".
Rule 32
Voting Rights
Each Security Council member delegation has
one vote.
No delegate may cast a vote on behalf of
another country.
Decisions of the Security Council on procedural
matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine
members.
Decisions of the Security Council on all other
matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of
nine members including the concurring votes of
the permanent members.
Rule 33
Consent of the Five Permanent Members
As established in the Charter of the United
Nations, each of the five Permanent Members -
China, France, Russian Federation, the United
Kingdom and the United States - shall have the
right to veto any substantive matter which comes to
a vote before the Security Council.
A vote “against” by any Permanent Member,
along with ten affirmative votes by other Council
members, shall constitute a veto and cause the
motion to fail.
Rule 34
Conduct During Voting
After the Chair has announced the beginning of
voting, no representative shall interrupt the voting
except on a point of order in connection with the
actual conduct of the voting or point of personal
privilege.
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Rule 35
Rights of Explanation
Rights of explanation are permitted on all
substantive votes after voting. The Chair may
permit members to explain their votes, either before
or after the voting. The Chair may limit the time to
be allowed for such explanations.
Rule 36
Rule Changes
The Security Council and the Chair have a right
to change the rules of procedure in case it makes
their work more efficient and fruitful.
II. POINTS
Rule 37
None of the points shall interrupt a speech
except for a Point of Personal Privilege referring to
audibility. Any point made by a delegate should be
raised at the conclusion of the speech, or can be
addressed by the Chairperson, at his or her
discretion, during the speech.
The Chair is entitled to rule a point out of order
at any time.
Rule 38
Point of Personal Privilege
Whenever a delegate experiences personal
discomfort, which impairs his or her ability to
participate in the proceedings, he or she may rise to
a Point of Personal Privilege to request that the
discomfort be corrected.
Only a Point of Personal Privilege may interrupt
a speaker, but if referring to audibility only.
Rule 39
Point of Order
During the discussion of any matter, a delegate
may rise to a Point of Order to indicate an instance
of improper parliamentary procedure or the General
Assembly or its Committee is proceeding in a
manner contrary to these rules.
The Point of Order will be immediately ruled on
by the Chairperson in accordance with these rules
of procedure.
Rule 40
Points of Parliamentary Inquiry
A Point of Parliamentary Inquiry is a question to
the Chairperson regarding the rules of procedure.
It is in order when the delegate raising the point
did not understand a part of the proceedings and
wishes that the Chair clarifies this.
SECURITY COUNCIL Rules of Procedure
Rule 41
Point of Information
A Point of information is a question to the
speaker, who has the floor if he/she has indicated
that is willing to yield to points of information.
A Point of Information must be formulated as a
question.
III. PROCEDURAL MOTIONS
Rule 42
A motion may only be made when the floor is
not taken and when there is no voting procedure.
Each motion should be seconded by the House
in order to be considered. And if objection is
present, it should be clarified.
Each motion shall be put to a vote even if there
is no objection to them. There can be no
abstentions during the vote on a motion.
The Chair is entitled to overrule any motion in
interest of the debate (except Motion to Appeal the
Decision of the Chair).
Rule 43
Motions in Order during the Debate:
The following motions are in order during the
entire debate:
Motion to Extend Debating Time:
The Motion to Extend Debating Time is needed
when the delegate wishes to continue debate on an
amendment or a draft resolution although debate
time, as set by the Chair, is about to elapse. The
delegate putting the motion forward must specify
the time by which he wishes to extend debate time.
The motion shall be put to a vote, requiring a
simple majority to pass.
Once the motion carries, the Chair shall add the
specified time to the remaining debate time.
Motion to Move the Previous Question:
The Motion to Move the Previous Question
means that the delegate putting the motion forward
wishes to end the debate on the current
amendment or draft resolution and move directly
into voting procedure.
The motion requires a 2/3 majority to pass
(absolute majority for amendments).
Motion to Appeal the Decision of the Chair:
The Motion to Appeal the Decision of the Chair
is in order when the delegate is sure that the
decision of the Chair is wrong and out of order. An
appeal must be made immediately following the
ruling in question.
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The motion needs a 2/3 majority to pass.
Once the motion passes, the Chair shall
withdraw the decision in question and continue with
the debate/voting procedure.
Motion for Unmoderated Caucus
The Motion for Unmoderated Caucus is needed
when the delegate wishes to discuss the issue in
informal format. A time limit for the caucus shouldn’t
exceed twenty minutes.
The Motion requires a simple majority to pass.
Motion to Follow Up:
The Motion to Follow Up is a right of the further
point of information from the same questioner, if
there are no other points on the floor, or when a
questioner supposes that the point is
misunderstood.
The Motion to Follow Up is overruled by the
Chair at any time.
Rule 44
Motions in Order after Voting on a draft
resolution
These motions are in order, after the vote was
cast.
SECURITY COUNCIL Rules of Procedure
Motion to Divide the House:
The Motion to Divide the House is in order
when the delegate putting the motion forward
wishes that every delegation declares its vote
aloud.
The Chair shall rule this motion out of order if
the number of abstentions cannot change the
outcome of the vote or when there is a minor
difference between the number of votes “in favour”
and “against”.
The motion requires a simple majority to pass.
Motion to Retake Votes:
The Motion to Retake Votes is used when the
delegate supposes that there is a need to vote once
again.
The motion requires an absolute majority to
carry.
Motion to Split the House:
The motion to Split the House is used if the
delegate wishes that the members of the House
explain their votes.
The delegates will be called upon in a roll-call
and asked to answer accordingly to their vote.
The motion requires a simple majority to pass.
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