Hi Anne,

Thanks for your helpful question.  That is correct: until the revised Operating Procedures are published the GNSO Council must follow the most recent published draft.  That is why in its motion to adopt revised procedures the Council always directs staff to post the revised version of the Operating Procedures as soon as possible following the approval of the motion.  Generally staff then publishes the revised Procedures fairly quickly, usually in a few days (if there are no other dependencies, such as changes to Bylaws).  

If the GNSO Council followed this procedure with the revised Operating Procedures relating to motions and amendments, it would expect staff to quickly publish a new version of the Operating Procedures.  Then if in another month or so the Chair/Vice Chair procedures were approved there would quickly follow another version of the Operating Procedures.  It could get a bit confusing for the community to have versions coming out in relative quick succession, which is why changes to the Operating Procedures have generally been grouped both for purposes of having one public comment period, but also to have as many changes as possible appear in the revised version of the Operating Procedures.

I hope this is helpful and thanks again for your question.

Have a nice weekend!

Kind regards,
Julie

From: "Aikman-Scalese, Anne" <AAikman@lrrc.com>
Date: Thursday, May 5, 2016 at 7:52 PM
To: Julie Hedlund <julie.hedlund@icann.org>, "gnso-improvem-impl-sc@icann.org" <gnso-improvem-impl-sc@icann.org>
Cc: "Rudi Vansnick (rudi.vansnick@isoc.be)" <rudi.vansnick@isoc.be>
Subject: RE: Actions: SCI Meeting 05 May 2016

Thank you Julie.  Regarding the question whether to go ahead and put the amendments to motions language out for public comment so as to finalize before Helsinki, did you say that if Council adopts a new Operating Procedure, they cannot implement it until the Operating Procedure manual is reissued?  Could they formally adopt the Procedure for amendments to motions in Helsinki but then not have the OP reissued until we resolve the Chair election issues?

 

It just seems that if adoption of the Procedure for amendments to motions clarifies Council business (and particularly since we have been working on that for months since the issues arose again in Argentina) that it would be better to get that out for public comment and put it to bed in Helsinki.  However, if Council cannot follow a procedure after adopting it until it appears in a new published version of the Operating Procedures, then that may be a different consideration.

 

I note that this whole question may become moot if not decided until our next call May 19.  The reason is that 40 days from May 19 goes well into the Helsinki meeting.

 

Thank you,

Anne

 

Anne E. Aikman-Scalese

Of Counsel

520.629.4428 office

520.879.4725 fax

AAikman@lrrc.com

_____________________________

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP

One South Church Avenue, Suite 700

Tucson, Arizona 85701-1611

lrrc.com

 

From: owner-gnso-improvem-impl-sc@icann.org [mailto:owner-gnso-improvem-impl-sc@icann.org] On Behalf Of Julie Hedlund
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2016 2:19 PM
To: gnso-improvem-impl-sc@icann.org
Subject: [gnso-improvem-impl-sc] Actions: SCI Meeting 05 May 2016

 

Dear SCI members,

Please see below the actions captured from the SCI meeting held on 05 May.  Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.  The GNSO Secretariat also will send a notice for a call in two weeks on Thursday, 19 May at the usual time of 1800 UTC.

 

Kind regards,

Julie

 

Julie Hedlund, Policy Director

 

Actions from 05 May SCI Meeting:

 

ACTION ITEMS:

 

Chair/Vice Chair Elections: 

  1. Staff will produce a revision of Section 2.2 of the GNSO Operating Procedures (Officer Elections: Chair/Vice-Chair Elections) based on the final proposed language below.  
  2. SCI members will review the revision on the list and finalize it no later than at the 19 May meeting.  
  3. Staff will submit the final revision for a Consensus Call for two weeks (19 May to 02 June).  
  4. Once the Consensus Call is completed Amr Elsadr, as the SCI Liaison to the GNSO Council, will send an update to the Council on its list for possible discussion in Helsinki.

Discussion re: Public Comment on Proposed Revisions:

 

SCI members should review and discuss on the list whether to initiate a 40-day public comment period only on the revisions to the GNSO Operating Procedures relating to motions and amendments, but to wait to submit a complete set of revisions for GNSO Council approval once a separate 40-day public comment process on revisions relating to Chair/Vice Chair elections is completed.  Staff notes that until the revised version of the GNSO Operating Procedures is published, the GNSO Council will follow their current informal process relating to motions and amendments.  The only change from the current process in the revision to the Operating Procedures is that discussion and voting on the motion at the Council meeting cannot proceed without a second (current informal process allows for discussion, but not voting, on a motion without a second).

 

Chair/Vice Chair Elections Final Proposed Language:

 

ISSUE 1: Must the GNSO Chair be a continuing (not new/incoming) Councilor? Should new/incoming Councilors be eligible to stand for election?

See Section 2.2(b), which provides that a candidate for GNSO Chair “does not need to be a member of a house, but must be a member of the GNSO Council.” With the ICANN Bylaws prescribing that a Council member’s term begins and ends at the conclusion of an ICANN annual general meeting, Section 2.2(b) as phrased would seem to limit candidates for the Chair to only incumbent, continuing Council members.

Final Proposed Language: "A candidate for GNSO Council Chair does not need to be a member of a house, but must be a [continuing or incoming] member of the GNSO Council."  (Change to the GNSO Operating Procedures in brackets.)

 

ISSUE 2: Scenarios relating to the gap to be addressed when the Vice Chairs' terms end at the same time as that of the Chair, and no Chair is conclusively elected by that time.

 

SCENARIO 1: A new GNSO Council Chair is not elected, but both Vice Chairs are continuing on the Council.

Final Proposed Language: “In the case where no Chair is conclusively elected, the two Vice Chairs shall jointly oversee the Chair election and conduct Council business until such time as a new Chair is elected.”
 

SCENARIO 2: A new GNSO Council Chair is not elected, but one Vice Chair is continuing on the Council, while the other Vice Chair’s term on the Council is ending. 

Final Proposed Language: “In the case where one of Vice-Chair's terms on the Council ends at the same time as the Chair, and no Chair is conclusively elected, the House with a vacant Vice-Chair position shall designate an Interim Vice Chair from within this House to join the continuing Vice Chair to oversee the Chair election and conduct Council business.  The deadline for the vacant House to designate its Interim Vice Chair is 14 calendar days following the Council meeting at which no Chair was conclusively elected."

 

SCENARIO 3: A new GNSO Council Chair is not elected in the first round, and neither of the two Vice Chairs is continuing on the Council. 

Final Proposed Language: “In the case where both Vice-Chairs’ terms on the Council end at the same time as the Chair, and no Chair is conclusively elected, this procedure would apply: Each House should designate a new or continuing Councilor from within its respective House, to temporarily fill the role of Vice Chair on an interim basis, not as an elected Vice Chair. The deadline for each House to designate its Interim Vice Chair is 14 calendar days following the Council meeting at which no Chair was conclusively elected. The Designated Interim Vice Chairs will co-chair the Chair election and conduct Council business until such time as a Chair is conclusively elected. Once the election is completed their service in those roles would end. Candidates for Chair will not be eligible to serve as Designated Interim Vice Chairs, to avoid potential conflicts of interest. However, Interim Vice Chairs are not prohibited from being appointed as continuing Vice Chairs by their respective Houses following a successful Chair election."

 

SCENARIO 4: A new GNSO Council Chair is not elected, neither of the two Vice Chairs is continuing on the Council, and the Houses do not designate Interim Vice Chairs. 

Final Proposed Language: “If both Houses should fail to temporarily fill the role of Vice Chair on an interim basis, the non-voting NCA will be designated Interim Chair to oversee the election and conduct Council business until such time as a Chair is conclusively elected. The deadline for each House to designate its Interim Vice Chair is 14 calendar days following the Council meeting at which no Chair was conclusively elected."

 



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