MUN Procedure

The following is an outline of the flow of debate in a typical SOMA committee.

Before continuing any farther, however, it is important to outline the first rule of debate at SOMA: any delegate may ask a question of the chair—on matters of procedure or content—at any time by rising on a point of parliamentary inquiry. In larger committees, delegates should write their questions on pages and send them to the front so as not to disturb the flow of debate. Delegates are strongly encouraged to ask questions if aspects of procedure are unclear: this will help clarify the rules for everyone.

Setting the Topic

The first order of business is for the committee to determine which topic to consider; typically, three or four background guides will have been prepared by Secretariat for each committee. The background guide numbered 001 is automatically at the top of the agenda, meaning it will be considered first if no action is taken; if a delegate wishes to change the order (for example, to put topic 003 at the top of the agenda), they will rise on a point of order to set the agenda. Then, the chair will ask them to speak in favour of their motion for one minute—in which the delegate is expected to explain why they feel the topic they have chosen is most relevant to the committee. The chair will then ask for another delegate to speak against the change; the committee will then vote on the motion. This process will continue until all such motions have been considered.

Speaker's List

Once the committee has chosen which topic to discuss, the speaker’s list is opened by the chair. The speaker’s list is the primary form of debate at SOMA, and is essentially a list of all delegates wishing to speak about the topic being considered. At SOMA, there is a default time limit of two minutes for speeches; however, this time limit may be changed at any time by a delegate rising on a point of order to set the speaking time. Delegates making speeches via the speakers list may be asked questions (called points of information in Parliamentary style) once they have concluded their remarks. Once again, SOMA has a default limit of five points of information per speaker, but this, too, may be changed at any time by a delegate rising on a point of order to change the number of points of information per speaker. Speakers need not answer every question asked of them, however if they are unable to respond to a question, no further points of information will be allowed.

The Speaker’s List is a good way to hear detailed, well thought-out speeches, however especially at the start of debate delegates may wish to hear a wider variety of views in a short period of time. If this is the case, delegates often motion for informal debate (also called moderated caucus at other conferences), in which a succession of delegates give short (typically 30 to 45-second) speeches with no questions permitted. To motion for informal debate, delegates may simply rise on a point of order and motion for informal debate. The chair will ask the delegate to suggest a total length of time for the informal debate as well as a time limit for individual speakers.

Draft Resolutions

Each committee will often spend a significant amount of time using the Speaker’s List and informal debate to get a general feel for the issue at hand. However, delegates should eventually move into the next stage of debate—the crafting of a resolution. The first step in writing a resolution is to motion for an unmoderated caucus, essentially a short break (typically of between five and ten minutes in length) in which delegates write draft resolutions (click here for a guide to writing resolutions). These documents are then submitted to the chair for approval; their chair will often ask the submitters to edit the text before sending it to be typed and displayed for the whole committee.

Once draft resolutions have been submitted, the committee turns to selecting the most viable resolution and amending it until it accurately reflects the wishes of delegates. There are two ways to amend a resolution: by friendly amendments and by unfriendly amendments. Friendly amendments are changes to the resolution that have been approved by the submitter and seconder of the resolution; these become part of the text automatically, with no debate required. Unfriendly amendments are changes that have been rejected by the submitter or seconder; these must be voted on before becoming part of the final resolution.

Once amendments have been submitted and processed, delegates may choose to close debate on the topic and move into voting procedures. Once voting procedures begin, no more substantive discussion may take place. Chairs may rule motions to close debate out of order if the resolutions on the floor fail to respond to major aspects of the issue being discussed.

For more information on how to write resolutions, see our resolutions page.

Special Rules for General Assemblies

Please note that the text above refers to non-GA committees only. In a General Assembly, delegates submit resolutions for consideration well in advance of SOMA, so delegates need not concern themselves with drafting text in committee; unmoderated caucuses will never be entertained in GA. The only other major point of divergence between General Assemblies and all other committees is that General Assemblies automatically move into informal debate for the first twenty minutes of each committee session, during which no points of order will be permitted.