Comment / Reply
Periods (*)
Comment Open Date:
22 June 2013
Comment Close Date:
28 August 2013 - 23:59
UTC
Reply Open Date:
29 August 2013
Reply Close Date:
18 September 2013 - 23:59
UTC
Important Information
Links
To
Submit Your Comments (Forum)
Brief
Overview
Originating
Organization:
ICANN Board:
Structural Improvements Committee (SIC)
Categories/Tags:
Purpose (Brief):
To solicit
community feedback concerning a formalized process, proposed by the Board's
Structural Improvements Committee (SIC), for amending GNSO Stakeholder Group and
Constituency Charters.
Current Status:
After multiple
iterations and thorough discussion by its members over several months, the SIC
has approved a recommendation that a proposed GNSO Charter Amendment
Procedure (described below) be posted for public
comment.
Next Steps:
Upon receipt and
review of community feedback pursuant to this solicitation, the SIC will
determine if any substantive changes to the proposed procedure are advisable and
will subsequently consider requesting ICANN Board approval of the
process.
Staff Contact:
Robert
Hoggarth
Detailed
Information
Section I:
Description, Explanation, and Purpose:
The ICANN Bylaws
(Article X, Section 5.3) state, "Each [GNSO] Stakeholder Group … and each of its
associated Constituencies shall maintain recognition with the ICANN
Board." During this time of significant organizational changes within
ICANN and its GNSO community, it is important that Stakeholder Groups and
Constituencies have the flexibility to update, modify and evolve their charters
so that those governing documents remain accurate and viable. There is currently
no formalized procedure for a GNSO Stakeholder Group or Constituency to request
recognition by the ICANN Board of Directors for a charter amendment. To address
this procedural gap, the Board’s Structural Improvements Committee (SIC) has
formulated a process (below) that is intended to accommodate the periodic need
to amend charter documents with the ICANN Bylaws requirement for formal
validation by the Board.
GNSO Stakeholder
Groups (SGs) and Constituencies should formulate charter amendments through
their own internal processes and notify policy-staff@icann.org upon initiation of such efforts.
[Note: If the SG Charter
requires it, proposed amendment(s) to Constituency Charters must first be
submitted to the applicable SG for review and evaluation before being forwarded
to Staff and Board.]
Upon receipt of
the proposed amendment(s), ICANN Staff will analyze the proposal and, within 10
business days, submit the community proposal with a report to the Board
identifying any fiscal or liability concerns.
After Board review
of the Staff report and the proposed charter amendments, the Board will direct
the opening of a Public Comment Forum. Upon its completion, within 30 calendar
days, Staff will provide a report summarizing the community
feedback.
At the next
available opportunity after the publication of the Staff report the Board shall
either:
In its review of
the proposed amendments, the ICANN Board may ask questions and otherwise consult
with the affected SG or Constituency. If it is not feasible for the Board to
take action on the proposed amendments after two meetings, the Board shall
report to the affected SG or Constituency the circumstance(s) that prevented it
from making a final action and its best estimate of the time required to reach
an action.
Section II:
Background:
In July 2009, as
part of the comprehensive GNSO Improvements program, the ICANN Board approved
the formal Charters of four new GNSO Stakeholder Groups (SGs) (see ICANN Board
Resolution 2009.30.07.09). A Constituency Charter reconfirmation effort was
initiated by a Board resolution at its 1 October 2008 meeting and discontinued
in 2009 in favor of a new regular review cycle.
During the
intervening three years or so, there had been no additional formal charter
activity until May 2012 at which time the Registry Stakeholder Group (RySG)
submitted a set of changes to its charter. After discussing the substance of the
RySG's amendments, the Structural Improvements Committee (SIC) determined that a
process should exist that would cause charter amendments to be formally reviewed
not only by the Board, but the ICANN community as well before being
finalized.
The SIC has now
asked the staff to seek community review and comment on the proposed process
outlined above.
Section III: Document
and Resource Links:
None
Section IV:
Additional Information:
(*) Comments
submitted after the posted Close Date/Time are not guaranteed to be considered
in any final summary, analysis, reporting, or decision-making that takes place
once this period lapses.
Glen
de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org
http://gnso.icann.org