[gnso-improvem-impl-sc] Actions: SCI Meeting 05 March 2016

[Julie Hedlund <julie.hedlund@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear SCI members,

Please see below the actions captured from the SCI meeting held at ICANN 55 in 
Marrakech on Saturday, 05 March.  Please let us know if you have any questions 
or comments.  For your reference, the Sub Team A and B Reports are attached 
along with the related materials.

With respect to the next Sub Team B meeting, staff will send a Doodle Poll.  In 
addition, for the next SCI call these have been held on Thursdays at 1800 UTC.  
Staff will separately ask for RSVPs for a possible SCI call on Thursday, 24 
March.  For these two meetings we are skipping the week immediately following 
the ICANN 55 meeting (13-19 March) as is our usual practice.

Kind regards,
Julie

Actions: SCI Meeting 05 March 2016

1.  Sub Team A: Report to the SCI on Current Practice in Relation to Motions

Action Item: Staff will draft language for the SCI to consider to incorporate 
the informal procedures into the GNSO Operating Procedures.

2.  Sub Team B: Report to the SCI on Chair-Vice Chair Elections

Issue 2: Is there a 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?

>From the Report to the SCI: Suggested new language for the GNSO Operating 
>Procedures: “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, including the voting and non-voting NCAs, to temporarily fill the 
>role of Vice Chair on an interim basis, not as an elected Vice Chair.  These 
>individuals will co-chair the Chair election and once the election is 
>completed their service in those roles would end. Candidates for Chair would 
>not be eligible to serve as designated Interim Vice Chairs, to avoid potential 
>conflicts of interest."

Action Item: Sub Team B will continue discussion on this issue.  Consider 
whether there should be steps for each possibilty that could ensure a 
predictable outcome.  

Issue 4:  Should the timetable (or a modality for setting one) for the GNSO 
chair election be specified in the Operating Procedures?

Action Item: Concerning the Election Timeline — It was noted that the timeline 
will be very important if incoming councilors can be considered for Chair 
elections. The request is for the representatives from the two Houses in the 
SCI to review the timeline and bring their comments back to the SCI.

New issue 5: If there is no Chair elected is it the Vice Chairs who run the 
meetings and calls the votes?

Action Item: Sub Team B will consider this issue.

Attachment: Current Practice in Relation to Motions - Steps & Flow Chart.docx
Description: Microsoft Office

Attachment: GNSO Council Election Timeline.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

Attachment: SCI Letter to GNSO Council Chair Concerning Current Practice in Relation to Motions 09 Oct 2015.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

Attachment: SCI Review Request - GNSO Officer Elections - updated 10 Nov 2015.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

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• To: "gnso-improvem-impl-sc@xxxxxxxxx" <gnso-improvem-impl-sc@xxxxxxxxx>
• Subject: Sub Team A Report to the SCI on Current Practice in Relation to Motions
• From: Julie Hedlund <julie.hedlund@xxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2016 11:23:36 -0500

Dear SCI members,

On behalf of Sub Team A — Sara Bockey, Angie Graves, Wolf-Ulrich Knoben, and 
Lawrence Olawale-Roberts, and Rudi Vansnick — I hereby transmit below a Report 
to the SCI for discussion at the next SCI meeting in Marrakech on Saturday, 05 
March at 0800-0900 UTC/Casablanca.  For remote access see: 
https://meetings.icann.org/en/marrakech55/schedule/sat-gnso-sci.  Note that the 
virtual meeting room is different from our usual Adobe Connect room.

For your reference attached are the original review request, the letter to the 
GNSO Council documenting the current practice, and the steps/flow chart.

Kind regards,
Julie

Julie Hedlund, Policy Director

Sub Team A Report to the SCI on Current Practice in Relation to Motions

Recommendations:

ISSUE 1: Must every motion be seconded?
AGREED: Every motion must be seconded before a vote.
ACTION: UPDATE THE PROCESS AND FLOW CHART ACCORDINGLY (in red below and 
attached):
5. If a GNSO Council member (other than the proposer) seconds the motion the 
GNSO Council Chair calls for its discussion or a vote.

ISSUE 2: Must the seconder be not just a different Councilor but also a 
Councilor from a different Stakeholder Group/Constituency? 
AGREED: Do not include a requirement that the seconder should be from a 
different stakeholder group or constituency. 
ACTION: NO CHANGE TO THE CURRENT PROCESS.

ISSUE 3: Should there be a deadline for motions to be seconded?
AGREED: A motion should be seconded prior to discussion.
ATION: UPDATE THE PROCESS AND FLOW CHART ACCORDINGLY (in red below and 
attached):
4. The motion can be discussed up to the Council meeting, but discussion and 
voting on the motion at the Council meeting cannot proceed without a second.  

ISSUE 4: Should there be a time limit /deadline for submitting amendments, to 
allow each SG/C adequate time to discuss them rather than have the Council deal 
with what could potentially be substantively new subject matter "on the fly" 
during a Council meeting? When should a motion be deferred in certain 
circumstances, e.g. "competing" amendments?
AGREED: Do not require a deadline for submission of amendments prior to, or 
during, discussion of a motion.
ACTION: NO CHANGE TO CURRENT PROCESS.

Attachment: GNSO Procedures in Relation to Motions - Steps & Flow Chart.docx
Description: Microsoft Office

Attachment: SCI Letter to GNSO Council Chair Concerning Current Practice in Relation to Motions 09 Oct 2015.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

Attachment: smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

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• To: "gnso-improvem-impl-sc@xxxxxxxxx" <gnso-improvem-impl-sc@xxxxxxxxx>
• Subject: Sub Team B Report to the SCI on Chair/Vice Chair Elections
• From: Julie Hedlund <julie.hedlund@xxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2016 11:31:48 -0500

Dear SCI members,

On behalf of Sub Team B —  Anne Aikman-Scalese,  Sara Bockey, Angie Graves,  
Lawrence Olawale-Roberts, and Wolf-Ulrich Knoben — I hereby transmit below a 
Report to the SCI for discussion at the next SCI meeting in Marrakech on 
Saturday, 05 March at 0800-0900 UTC/Casablanca.  For remote access see: 
https://meetings.icann.org/en/marrakech55/schedule/sat-gnso-sci.  Note that the 
virtual meeting room is different from our usual Adobe Connect room.

For your reference attached is the original review request and the election 
timeline.

Kind regards,
Julie

Julie Hedlund, Policy Director

Sub Team B Report to the SCI on Chair/Vice Chair Elections

 

Recommendations:

 

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.

 

AGREED: "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.)

ACTION: Update the GNSO Operating Procedures accordingly.

 

ISSUE 2: Is there a 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? 

See Section 2.2(f): For the Vice-Chairs to “serve as interim Chairs until a 
successful election can be held” if a new Chair is not elected by the 
conclusion of the ICANN annual general meeting at which her term ends. However, 
the Procedures are silent as to what happens when one or both Vice-Chairs’ 
terms on the Council (which are set in the Bylaws) also end at that particular 
ICANN annual general meeting.  The Bylaws state, "the regular term of each GNSO 
Council member shall begin at the conclusion of an ICANN annual meeting and 
shall end at the conclusion of the second ICANN annual meeting thereafter…Each 
GNSO Council member shall hold office during his or her regular term and until 
a successor has been selected and qualified or until that member resigns or is 
removed in accordance with these Bylaw.”  

 

AGREED:

Suggested new language for the GNSO Operating Procedures: “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, including the voting and non-voting 
NCAs, to temporarily fill the role of Vice Chair on an interim basis, not as an 
elected Vice Chair.  These individuals will co-chair the Chair election and 
once the election is completed their service in those roles would end. 
Candidates for Chair would not be eligible to serve as designated Interim Vice 
Chairs, to avoid potential conflicts of interest."

 

ACTION: Discuss with the SCI whether the procedure would apply only when both 
Vice-Chairs’ terms end, or to include when only one Vice-Chair's term ends.  
Update the GNSO Operating Procedures accordingly.

 

ISSUE 3: What should be the method for posting election results?  

See Section 2.2(g), which calls for the Council to “inform the Board and the 
Community appropriately and post the election results on the GNSO website 
within 2 business days following each election and runoff ballot, whether 
successful or unsuccessful” without elaborating on what the appropriate 
mechanism (in addition to posting on the GNSO website) might be.

 

AGREED: No need to make a change to the procedures if they are followed.  
However, there be a requirement for staff to follow up on every election 
(successful or not) with a note to the full Council enclosing the result.

ACTION: Discuss in SCI whether the staff notification satisfies "publishing”.

 

ISSUE 4: Should the timetable (or a modality for setting one) for the GNSO 
chair election be specified in the Operating Procedures?

See Section 2.2:  This section does not set out a timetable for the GNSO Chair 
election or prescribe a modality for setting that timetable for nominations and 
election in each cycle.

 

AGREED: Create a timeline that includes the call for chair candidate 
nominations, the nominations of Council members, and time for SG/C/NCA meetings 
with candidates.

ACTION: Review the attached timeline graphic.

Attachment: GNSO Council Election Timeline.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

Attachment: SCI Review Request - GNSO Officer Elections - updated 10 Nov 2015.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document

Attachment: smime.p7s
Description: S/MIME cryptographic signature

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