[gnso-osc-ops] ACTIONS/SUMMARY: OSC GNSO Council Operations Work Team Meeting 11 Nov 2009

[Julie Hedlund <julie.hedlund@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Work Team members,

Here are the actions items and discussion summary from today's call.  This 
information also is posted to our wiki along with the relevant documents at: 
https://st.icann.org/icann-osc/index.cgi?gnso_operations_team.  Please let me 
know if you have any questions.  Please also note that the next call is 
tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday, 18 November, at 1700 UTC (09:00 PST, 
12:00 EST, 18:00 CEST, 19:00 Jerusalem, 00:00 Taiwan).  Gisella Gruber-White 
will subsequently send the teleconference information.

Thank you,

Julie

Action Items:
1. The Work Team approved the clarifying edits, including those minor edits 
provided by Chuck Gomes, to the version of the GNSO Council Operating 
Procedures that was posted for Public Comment and approved by the Council so 
that the latest document reflects those changes suggested by the ICANN Legal 
Team and agreed to by the Work Team at its meeting on 16 September.

2. The Work Team agreed that Ray Fassett should invite Kristina Rosette and 
Steve Metalitz to join the next call to provide insight on their view of the 
handling of abstentions. Ken Bour agreed to send to Ray/Julie amended text on 
the Material Conflict of Interest Procedures suggested by ICANN Staff and 
provided as part of the Public Comment process for the GNSO Council Operating 
Procedures (DONE).

Discussion Summary:
1. The Work Team approved the corrections to the version of the GNSO Council 
Operating Procedures that was posted for Public Comment and approved by the 
Council so that the latest document reflects those changes suggested by the 
ICANN Legal Team and agreed to by the Work Team at its meeting on 16 September.
2. The Work Team discussed the issue of how to handle material and immaterial 
abstentions. The team did not reach clarity on what is an example of a material 
conflict of interest at the Council level and decided to invite Kristina 
Rosette and Steve Metalitz to the next call to learn their thoughts on this 
issue. However, the Work Team agreed that if it can be determined that there is 
a material conflict of interest at the Council level the resulting abstention 
would alter the denominator for tallying the vote. However, the team also 
agreed that the process for allowing such an abstention -- and a possibility 
for a proxy vote -- should be an onerous one. In that respect the Work Team 
asked Ken Bour to excerpt from the ICANN Staff document on Abstentions section 
5 dealing with Material Conflicts of Interest and include a bullet allowing for 
a proxy vote and to send the language to Ray (DONE - see also below).

Relevant text provided by Ken:

5)         Material Conflict of Interest (MCOI) Procedures
A Councilor who believes that his or her action (participation/voting) 
involving a measure before the Council would result in an MCOI is required to 
follow these procedures:
o   Document the circumstances that give rise to the MCOI and provide that 
statement to the GNSO Secretariat.
o   Seek all reasonable means to eliminate the conflict:
·       If representing a SG or Constituency, appeal to that organization's 
leadership to survey its members and direct how the vote on the conflicting 
issue shall be entered;
·       If the conflict still cannot be resolved by having the SG or 
Constituency direct the Councilor's vote by written statement, the SG or 
Constituency is then permitted to invoke a proxy situation in which it is 
permitted to direct the voting NCA in its House (or, if unavailable, another of 
its elected Councilors) to enter the vote that would otherwise have been made 
by the conflicted Councilor.
·       If an NCA, request permission of the Council to allow the non-voting 
NCA to vote on the matter in place of the conflicted Councilor.
o   If the conflict cannot be avoided after pursuing reasonable means 
available, then the Councilor may request permission to refrain from voting by 
entering an Abstain-MCOI, which shall not affect quorum calculations; however, 
it will reduce the numerator and denominator by one in any vote tabulations for 
the affected House (see example below).
o   Because of the potential affect that changing the denominator may have on 
whether GNSO actions pass or fail, each Abstain-MCOI must be approved by 
majority vote of the opposite House in order to be entered by the requesting 
Councilor.
o   If an Abstain-MCOI is approved, that Councilor shall not participate in 
discussions or otherwise attempt to influence other Council members nor shall 
he/she vote on any action attendant to the matter for which the conflict is 
present.