Security Council Committee Guide

Page 1

November 5-7, 2009

Security Council President Suzie Kil

Seoul Foreign School

Assistant President Mike Bock

Korea International School

Deputy Assistant President Herbert Chun

Seoul International School


Security Council, shouldering the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security Introduction The function of the Security Council is to maintain international peace and security. As the underlying theme for SEOMUN XII focuses primarily on the pursuit of reconciliation between nations, the debates that take place within the Security Council will largely focus on settling disputes or alleviating existing international friction. The Security Council will be composed of five permanent member states, also referred to as the P5 nations—China, the Russian Federation, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France—and ten nonpermanent member states.

Features of the Security Council

Functions and Powers --The Security Council is the only committee that can deploy peacekeeping troops and implement sanctions on nations. --While other committees may suggest for the Security Council to perform such actions, they may not directly include or implement such actions. Veto Power --Veto power is granted specifically to the P5 nations. --In vetoing a resolution, the member state is rendering the resolution ineffectual. --In order to veto a resolution, the chairs must be informed before the final voting on the resolution as a whole. Before moving into voting procedures, the chair will ask the house if any P5 nation wishes to veto the resolution. The delegate wishing to veto the resolution will be given 2 to 3 minutes to support his or her position. Caucusing --During the debate, P5 nations can motion to caucus. Caucusing is highly recommended in instances where a P5 nation has expressed an interest in vetoing the resolution. --The chair will set a maximum time of 20 minutes for caucusing. During this time, the P5 nations will separately negotiate matters while the rest of the house stays indoors and maintains an atmosphere similar to that of regular lobbying sessions. Delegates will be free to converse with other delegates and will not be confined to their seats. No Main Submitters --Unlike most other committees, the Security Council will not entertain the title of a “main submitter” for the entire resolution. Delegates will rather become the submitters of operative clauses.


--Submitters of operative clauses are responsible for reading out the operative clause and giving a speech in support of the clause. Delegates will be granted 1 to 2 minutes to give their speeches. --Delegates who submit operative clauses do not have to be co-submitters of the resolution as a whole. --Delegates may submit more than one operative clause per resolution. Questioning Delegates If deemed necessary, the chair will send for a delegate in a different committee to come in during the debate and answer questions that the delegates may have. For instance, if the debate is on the issue of Zimbabwe, but Zimbabwe is not currently represented in the Security Council, then the chair may ask the delegate of Zimbabwe in the General Assembly to come to the Security Council to answer some questions.

Rules of Procedure --Each delegate will be responsible for presenting an opening speech (no longer than 1 minute) at the start of the conference. --Unlike the other committees of the conference, the Security Council will lobby and debate each issue. While other committees finish lobbying by the first day of the conference, the Security Council will operate differently in that there will be lobbying and debate sessions all three days. --A maximum of 2 resolutions will be debated per issue. The goal is to debate any where between 4-7 resolutions during the conference. --Each delegate is responsible for researching the issues and bringing a hard and a soft copy of the resolution on a USB memory stick for the lobbying session. As aforementioned, the Security Council will not acknowledge the idea of main submitters for an entire resolution but rather submitters for individual operative clauses. --During debate sessions, the house will debate each individual clause at a time. The submitter of the clause will step up to the podium and read the clause. The chair will set debate time on the clause and the house will progress with debating the operative clause. At the end of the debate, a vote will be taken to decide whether the clause passes or fails. --In order for a clause to pass, the majority of the house must vote in favor of the clause (50 percent plus 1). Assuming all fifteen members are present, the normal number of votes needed to pass is nine. The same goes for voting on amendments and the resolution as a whole. --Once every operative clause has been debated, a vote will be taken to determine whether to pass or fail the entire resolution. If the resolution does pass, only the clauses that passed will remain in effect and as a part of the resolution. Hence, it is possible for parts of the resolution to pass and parts of it to fail. --Any operative clauses that was struck from the resolution can be reconsidered once the other clauses have been debated. Delegates must


raise a motion in order for this to take place. --Delegates may propose new clauses at any time of the debate through amendments.

Joint Session with the Advisory Panel --On the last day of the conference, a joint session will be held between the Advisory Panel and the Security Council. The purpose of the meeting is for the Security Council to give constructive feedback to the Advisory Panel’s final proposal. --The members of the Security Council will be referred to as “delegates”; members of the Advisory Panel will still be referred to as “advisors.” --Copies of the proposal will be sent to the Security Council directly prior to the meeting. Each delegate of the Security Council will be responsible for reviewing the proposal and preparing a speech under one minute discussing their position on African development. --An advisor of the Advisory Panel will open the session with a speech presenting the proposal to the Security Council. --All Security Council delegates will then give brief speeches regarding their positions on the issue, not the proposal. They will then have the chance to raise general questions, criticism or comments in the form of “points regarding the proposal” or short speeches. --After the delegates’ points, advisors will volunteer to respond to the points as “rights to reply.” --A separate voting on the proposal will not take place during the joint session.

Issues 1. 2. 3. 4.

The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question The situation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan The situation in the Xinjiang region Joint issue with the Advisory Panel: New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD)


Authored by Suzie Kil

President of the SEOMUN XII Security Council

Based on work by Stephanie Char

President of the SEOMUN XI Security Council

Edited and compiled by Stephanie Char

Secretary-General of SEOMUN XII

Seungho Yang

Deputy Secretary-General of SEOMUN XII


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