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Summary Notes and Action Items

Tuesday 14 August 2012 at 1800 UTC

 

1.  Roll Call and Apologies (staff - 5 minutes)

  • Staff conducted Roll Call

2.  Introduction (meeting chair / staff / group - 5 minutes)

  • Pen Holders are Alan Greenberg and Maureen Hilyard

3.  Confirmation of decisions of last meeting (meeting chair / group - 10 minutes)

AG: Reviewed the agenda.

  • Topics of focus: Quorums, Consensus, and Meeting Forms.
  • AG: Asked CLO if questions of abstention be covered in the call.
  • CLO: Likely not today.
  • AG: Sources of rules - there has been a lot of discussion in these DTs on what source should be used. The current ROPs note the UN GA rules. However, they are unwieldy and don't provide illumination. There is a general feel to replace them. The question of what to replace them is difficult as there are questions of which are the most universally applicable rules. It was thought that Roberts’s rules of Procedure V11 are the most useful. However, it needs to be noted that for the most part, ALAC operates by consensus. So not many times where we need to resort to formal rules. The real reason for having a rulebook to refer to is under times of stress.  We need to write this up and to do so in a way that reflects the importance of it. As well as the importance of it on a day-to-day basis.
  • CLO: We need to be careful with the version that we use. There have been 183 changes from edition 10 to edition 11. We need to be sure that we use the 11th Edition. We must ensure that we a copy of the text on the wiki so we all use the same version.
  • AG: The translations of the old versions are useful for having an understanding of the rules.
  • AG: Part of what we will be doing with our rules is setting the tone of the rules. For example, there are some rules that we cannot adhere to - i.e. standing when making a motion.
  • CLO: I think it should be our goal that all Chairs have a working knowledge of the rules.

4.  Meetings issues (meeting chair / group - 45 minutes)

    Quorums

  • AG: Our rule for quorum is 8 member of the ALAC. There are variations in various groups (50%, at least one person present from each group, etc.). Should we leave it as it is right now (50% + 1)?
  • CLO: Be sure to create the rule in usable, workable language. I suggest that we change this rule, not lower than the current level for quorum. We need to enshrine the fact that all regions need to be represented for quorum. I think we should have a representation balance as well.
  • DT: I agree with Cheryl.
  • CLO: There is also the issue of quorum for a vote and quorum for a meeting. The other issues of quorums the issue of a vote. There are a few times when the ALAC needs to vote and if we only have a simple majority we could be challenged.
  • AG: If we are going to add the rule for regional representation, we will have more meetings that do not have quorum.
  • YL: I support the idea of having all regions represented. This would also provide an incentive for all regions to be present
  • CLO: I agree with Yrjo. I believe the ability to have proxy would allow us to bypass the quorum issue if a region cannot attend.
  • AG: We need to define proxy clearly. I think it would be said that proxies should be allowed to vote and not take over representation for quorum.
  • CLO: There are various types of proxies.
  • CLO: We have had issues in the past where we have had discussion without quorum but discussion with quorum. We do that as the discretion of the Chair
  • ED: What is the purpose of quorum? Just for voting or just for meeting.
  • AG: I think we also need to look at having quorum when a vote is called.
  • CLO: One of things that stuck me is that what we could do in our guidelines is make a recommendation to have some sort of basic audio and transcript. Whoever is managing a meeting should note the absences and returns of individuals on the record.
  • AG: I also think that that noting the times on the record will be good practice.
  • OCL: There is also the issue of being able to vote after a meeting if the member was unable to vote on the call.

4.  Meetings issues (meeting chair / group - 45 minutes)

    Consensus

  • AG: One of the difficult parts of consensus is its definition. Should it be the majority or everyone? AG: We did reach consensus on what consensus.
  • OCL: Would you advise the ALAC to go down that rode?
  • AG: No. But we may choose to have different levels for different things.
  • YL: We always try to reach consensus, but if need be there is always the possibility for voting. Regarding the different grades of consensus, I think that for our purposes we should just leave it as is.
  • CLO: The concept of the definition of what is consensus is when a report is being produced. That does not happen frequently. As such, I am okay with not having definitions that clearly define consensus.
  • CLO: Should we ever use the established GNSO benchmarks?
  • AG: Counting votes may be the simplest way of looking for consensus.
  • CS: I generally support the view that we should be concerned with using GNSO definitions in the ALAC. We have a different modality, set up, and etc. The ALAC always works by consensus as we always vote on everything.

5.  Review of AI's and next meeting(s)  (meeting chair / group - 5 minutes)

  • AG: We will meet again in 3 weeks.
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