Because of its highly visible and independent role in preparing the slate of candidates for the ICANN Board Director position selected by At-Large, the Board Candidate Evaluation Committee receives special scrutiny from the ICANN community as it does its work. This is especially the case since much of its work requires a high degree of confidentiality. The expectation, therefore, is that the committee will act with the highest standard of personal integrity and ethical conduct. The following guidance, set forth here as a BCEC Code of Conduct, includes specific ICANN policies as well as Board Candidate Evaluation Committee policies that have been developed in the course of its history.
A. Conflicts of Interest
On 6 May 2012, the ICANN Board adopted a Conflicts of Interest Policy that applies to Officers, Directors, Board Liaisons and key employees of ICANN (http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/governance/coi).
The Policy further states: ICANN will encourage ICANN Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees and other ICANN bodies, as appropriate, to consider implementing the principles and practices of this COI Policy as relevant.
BCEC members are expected to observe the principles and intent of the ICANN Conflicts of Interest Policy. BCEC member must disclose promptly to the Chair any financial or other relations that might affect (or might reasonably be seen to affect) his/her performance on the Committee, including any financial connections and/or personal non-monetary advantages to any individual under consideration by the BCEC, and must recuse himself or herself from subsequent deliberations on the individual(s) concerned. The Chair shall counsel the member as to any additional steps to be taken to resolve the conflict.
B. ICANN Expected Standards of Behavior (adopted 6 May 2012)
Those who take part in ICANN multi-stakeholder process, including Board, staff and all those involved in Supporting Organization and Advisory Committee councils, undertake to:
- Act in accordance with ICANN’s Bylaws. In particular, participants undertake to act within the mission of ICANN and in the spirit of the values contained in the Bylaws.
- Adhere to ICANN’s conflict of interest policies.
- Treat all members of the ICANN community equally, irrespective of nationality, gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, disability, age, or sexual orientation; members of the ICANN community should treat each other with civility both face to face and online.
- Act in a reasonable, objective and informed manner when participating in policy development and decision-making processes. This includes regularly attending all scheduled meetings and exercising independent judgment based solely on what is in the overall best interest of Internet users and the stability and security of the Internet’s system of unique identifiers, irrespective of personal interests and the interests of the entity to which an individual might owe their appointment.
- Listen to the views of all stakeholders when considering policy issues. ICANN is a unique multi-stakeholder environment. Those who take part in the ICANN process must acknowledge the importance of all stakeholders and seek to understand their points of view.
- Work to build consensus with other stakeholders in order to find solutions to the issues that fall within the areas of ICANN’s responsibility. The ICANN model is based on a bottom-up, consensus driven approach to policy development. Those who take part in the ICANN process must take responsibility for ensuring the success of the model by trying to build consensus with other participants.
- Facilitate transparency and openness when participating in policy development and decision-making processes.
- Support the maintenance of robust mechanisms for public input, accountability, and transparency so as to ensure that policy development and decision-making processes will reflect the public interest and be accountable to all stakeholders.
- Conduct themselves in accordance with ICANN policies.
- Protect the organization’s assets and ensure their efficient and effective use.
- Act fairly and in good faith with other participants in the ICANN process.
- Promote ethical and responsible behavior. Ethics and integrity are essential, and ICANN expects all stakeholders to behave in a responsible and principled way.
C. Board Candidate Evaluation Committee Standards of Conduct
• Each BCEC member is expected to pursue the responsibilities of the Committee, to comply with the rules and procedures established by the Committee, and to support the decisions the Committee makes.
• BCEC members must not have any pre-existing commitments concerning the nomination of any particular candidates or potential candidates.
• BCEC members must avoid behavior that would bring the Committee into disrepute or undermine the integrity of the process by which the Committee makes its selections.
• BCEC members will safeguard all internal BCEC communications concerning the candidates and treat them as private, confidential, and for the use of immediate Committee members and At-Large Support staff only, without exception.
• BCEC members will not disclose outside of the Committee any of the discussions, deliberations, communications, records, and notes about the candidates. Further, BCEC members will not disclose outside of the Committee the identities of the candidates under consideration by BCEC until the formal communication of the slate of candidates has been published..
• When using electronic means for origination, transmission, and storage of committee materials, BCEC members will take special security steps to safeguard the confidentiality and data integrity of such materials. These include but are not limited to: (a) maintaining personal control over all computers used in connection with BCEC work, (b) notifying the BCEC Chair in the event of any compromise or suspected compromise of committee materials, (c) complying with national law provisions affecting Personal Data.
• BCEC members shall destroy all confidential materials related to the work of the Committee, when the work of the Committee has ended or when no longer serving on the BCEC.
