Dear All,

Per the SSC discussion, I reached out to our legal colleagues to obtain some further information in relation to whether it would be possible to have the collective of the GNSO Leadership team (GNSO Chair and Council Vice-Chairs) designated as the GNSO representative to the Empowered Community Administration. They pointed out that the Bylaw language states that “Each Decisional Participant shall deliver annually a written certification from its chair or co-chairs to the Secretary designating the individual who shall represent the Decisional Participant on the EC Administration”. As such, under the scenario that the SSC is currently considering, it would be a requirement for the GNSO Leadership team to make a determination who would serve in the role of representative to EC Administration so that this person subsequently can be designated by the GNSO Council. This, however, does not preclude those on the leadership team that have not been designated to step in if/when needed but it would be recommendable to include this possibility as part of the designation so there is clarity around this possibility of an alternate. Based on this information, the process, based on the scenario of having the leadership team make a determination of who from the leadership team would serve in the role as representative to the EC Admin could look as follows:

1. GNSO Chair election takes place at ICANN Annual Meeting
2. Noting that the Vice-Chair cannot be from the same Stakeholder Group as the Chair, Vice-Chairs may be confirmed prior to the Chair Election only if there is a single Chair candidate or all Chair candidates are from the SG. Otherwise, confirmation of Vice-Chairs may happen after the Chair election.
3. GNSO Chair is confirmed upon election as the interim representative to the EC Admin, until such time as the leadership team has had an opportunity to meet and decide who is taking on this role. In case the GNSO Council fails to select a Chair, the existing representative to the EC Admin will remain in that role until such time as a Chair has been elected.
4. As soon as possible upon confirmation of the leadership team, the leadership team will meet to decide who is to be designated as GNSO Representative to the EC Admin. Following this determination, this decision is to be confirmed by the GNSO Council as part of the consent agenda. The decision on the designation of the permanent representative to the EC Admin is then communicated to the ICANN Secretary and EC Admin.
5. Should at any point during term of the Chair and/or Vice-Chairs there be a change (for example, a resignation or a change in circumstances which may mean the representative is no longer able to perform in this role), the leadership team will communicate this to the GNSO Council as soon as possible together with the name of the individual on the leadership team who will take on this role so that a new designation can be made.
6. As part of the designation, it will be made clear that in case of absence or conflict, another member of the leadership team may step in to replace the representative on the EC Admin.

As noted, this is a possible way in which the scenario of having a member of the GNSO leadership team (GNSO Chair and Council Vice-Chairs) serve as the designated representative to the EC Admin, but as always, please feel free to share any comments, edits or alternative scenarios you may have. Following your feedback, the proposed process could be written up in the form of a motion which can then be shared with the GNSO Council for its consideration ahead of ICANN59.

Best regards,

Marika    

Marika Konings

Vice President, Policy Development Support – GNSO, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 

Email: marika.konings@icann.org

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