[ALAC] Motion to amend Rules of Procedure

[Alan Greenberg]

In Helsinki, the ALAC approved a number of 
changes to its Rules of Procedure (RoP) related 
to the selection of the At-Large Director (ICANN 
Board Seat 15). Due to lack of time, a number of 
other changes were not discussed or approved. 
These we discussed during the ALAC teleconference 
on 26 July. Most of these changes elicited no 
negative comments but one, a formalization of 
current ALAC Leadership Team (ALT) practices, did 
result in a number of comments.

Also discussed in Helsinki and briefly on the 
July ALA teleconference were changes that are 
required to support the ICANN Empowered Community 
(EC). The EC will come into being when and if the 
ICANN Bylaws adopted by the Board on 27 May go 
into effect. This will happen when and if the 
IANA transition is completed with the expiration 
of the IANA Functions Contract between the NTIA 
and ICANN. The NTIA announced this week that it 
intended to let the contract expire at the end of 
September. Presuming this process is not halted 
due to some extraordinary action within the US 
Government, the contract will expire on 30 
September, the new Bylaws will be triggered and 
the EC will exist, and the ALAC must be able to function within it.

As discussed, I convened a small group composed 
of those within our community most knowledgeable 
about the EC and its accountability measures. 
This group was comprised of the five ALAC Members 
of the CCWG-Accountability (me, Tijani, Cheryl, 
Sébastien and Leon) as well as Seun and Olivier, 
both of who devoted much time to participating in 
the CCWG and understanding all of the issues. It 
was agreed that we would use a minimalist 
approach to ensure that the ALAC could fulfill 
its duties. It may be that at some point in the 
future we revisit these rules, but for the 
moment, and given the tight time lines, a simple 
approach was the wisest path to follow.

The group did discuss whether the Chair or 
someone else should represent the ALAC on the EC. 
It was felt that the default should be the Chair 
because: a) there is no real power associated 
with the position; b) there is are already 
detailed measures in the RoP to control the 
accountability of the Chair, and to remove the 
Chair if there is some gross misuse of the EC 
power (as implied in the CCWG_ACCT recommendations)

The RoP revision includes three sets of changes.

1. The revisions previously presented for the 
Helsinki meeting, deferred, and then discussed on 
26 July. The section on ALT practices has been 
largely re-written to address the issues raised. 
In particular: a) there is no longer any 
reference to past ALAC Chairs, but a more generic 
reference to other who might be invited to 
participate; b) there is no longer a reference to 
guests invited at the "sole discretion" of the 
Chair - this decision like all other ALT decision 
will be made collegially; c) it is clarified for 
the purposes of full transparency, that any ALT 
decisions are made solely by the five regional 
representatives and not by the Liaisons or other invited people.

2. Two small changes to the Director selection 
section to address a possible case of a tied vote 
that had been accidentally omitted, and to 
clarify that the BMSPC is composed of ten 
regional representatives plus a Chair (it 
previously was not clear if the Chair was one of the ten).

3. The changes associate with the EC.

According to the RoP section 13.1.1, a motion to 
amend the rules must be made 21 days in advance. 
Accordingly, I am opening this discussion of the 
proposed RoP Revision. Subject to the discussion, 
a vote of the ALAC will be taken after the 21 day 
period elapses (09 September).

I am proposing that we adopt these changes in a 
single vote. However, if any ALAC Member wishes 
that we segregate out particular changes for a 
separate vote, that will be done (presuming each 
package of revisions can stand on its own).


I hereby make the following motion and ask that another ALAC Member second it.

Whereas the At-Large Advisory Committee is 
currently operating under Rules of Procedure (RoP) approved on 20 June 2016;

Whereas a number of changes to these (RoP) have 
been recommended to correct errors, clarify 
specific rules, enhance transparency and 
implement the ICANN Empowered Community;

Therefore;

The ALAC adopts the attached revisions to the ALAC Rules of Procedure.

-----------------------------
Also attached is a detailed log describing each 
change and the rationale for it.

This motion and the final RoP adopted by the ALAC 
may be amended as agreed to by the ALAC prior to 
final adoption. Final adoption will require a 
super-majority (2/3) vote of the ALAC.



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/pipermail/alac/attachments/20160818/eb5a5884/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ALAC RoP-Revision3-DRAFT_2.0-20160817.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 229768 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/pipermail/alac/attachments/20160818/eb5a5884/ALACRoP-Revision3-DRAFT_2.0-20160817.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ALAC RoP-Revision_3-Log.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 89491 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/pipermail/alac/attachments/20160818/eb5a5884/ALACRoP-Revision_3-Log.pdf>