Movement Charter/Supplementary Document/Global Council Rules of Procedure

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The Global Council (GC) is expected to develop rules of procedure that assist the GC in executing its assigned duties.  

The rules of procedure should be written with sufficient flexibility that the Global Council will be able to operate in adverse or unexpected circumstances. The Global Council is encouraged to review similar documents of current Wikimedia Movement Organizations and committees (such as their bylaws, policies, and charters), and should determine what aspects of those documents are needed for the Global Council to operate effectively and efficiently and to become a healthy, successful Wikimedia Movement Body.

The guidelines below have been developed with a view to the factors that the Global Council should consider when creating its rules of procedure.

Membership

Candidates

• Determine minimum qualifications for candidates for the Global Council. The Wikimedia Movement Charter implementation document includes qualifications for the first election and selection process, and the GC may wish to adopt this with or without modifying any criteria.
• Determine GC member term and term limits, for serving on the GC, the GC Board, and the committees.
• Consider developing a diversity and expertise matrix to assist voters and candidates. An example is the diversity and expertise matrix developed prior to the election and selection of MCDC members.

Election, selection and appointment processes

• To support inclusion and representation of diverse perspectives, the membership of the Global Council should not be dominated by any particular demographic, including, but not limited to, any linguistic, geographical, or project-based demographic.
• Decide on the processes for community members to elect GC members
• Decide on the processes for affiliates to select members
• Decide on the processes for the GC to appoint members to ensure sufficient expertise and diversity
• Ensure that these processes are flexible enough to address unexpected results (including inability to fill all available seats)

Rules for members

• Determine membership rules. These should include (but are not limited to):
  • A code of conduct
  • Participation expectations
  • Conflict of Interest expectations
  • How the GC can remove a member (reasons for removal as well as process for removal)
  • Filling vacancies due to resignation or death of a member

Structure of the Global Council

Global Council as a whole

The Wikimedia Movement Charter designates the membership of the initial Global Council.  It also outlines the process of expanding the Global Council.

The GC rules of procedure should discuss:

• Any process that is intended to alter the balance between members who are elected, selected or appointed using the processes outlined in the initial Global Council creation
• The factors that the GC will consider when determining whether or not to expand (or contract) the number of members
• The factors that the GC will consider when appointing members for the purpose of increasing diversity and expertise
• The circumstances under which the term of office for members may be extended. (Examples: global pandemic, international major disaster, multinational war or civil disruption)

Global Council Board

The Wikimedia Movement Charter designates that the Global Council will select ⅕ (20%) of its members, up to a maximum of 15 members, to sit on the Global Council Board (GC Board). The rules should discuss:

• The process for selecting the GC Board
• Removal from office of GC Board members
• Roles and responsibilities of the GC Board

Meetings and meeting procedures

Frequency of meetings - Global Council

The Global Council is expected to meet at least annually. The GC rules of procedure should outline:

• The method of the meeting (in-person, hybrid, or remote)
• The key topics that must be included in a scheduled meeting
• What matters may require a full GC meeting
• Under what circumstances a special meeting could be convened

Frequency of meetings - Global Council Board

The Global Council Board is expected to meet several times during the course of the year. The GC rules of procedure should outline:

• Frequency of meetings
• The method of the meetings (in-person, hybrid or remote)
• The key topics that must be included in a scheduled meeting
• Under what circumstances a special meeting could be convened

Conduct of meetings

The Global Council should establish the Rules of Order for conduct of meetings. The same rules that apply to GC meetings should apply to GC Board meetings.

The GC and the GC Board should establish rules that permit discussion of matters that are confidential; for example, personnel matters.  

Minutes of the meetings of the GC and the GC Board should be published and publicly available to interested parties.

Resolutions and voting

The GC and GC Board should establish rules of voting on resolutions. These should include:

• Methods of acceptable voting (e.g., in-person, via remote participation, electronically, etc.)
  • Proxy voting is not permitted
• Methods to carry out a vote outside of a scheduled meeting
• Determining quorum of participation and quorum for a decision to be reached
• Process of discussing resolutions prior to voting
• Process for resolving vote situations where none of the vote options reach majority support

Committees and delegated work

The GC is expected to have at least four committees, one for each function as outlined in the Wikimedia Movement Charter. It may also create additional committees, or otherwise delegate activities within its scope to individuals, groups, or committees.

Committee membership and activities

• Global Council committees should include Global Council members and may also include additional members from the community at large. They may be supplemented by experts and advisors.
• GC Committees should be responsible for developing their own composition and method of operating, in consultation with the GC Board.
• GC Committees that take on responsibilities that are in whole or in part managed by other organized groups at the time of the Wikimedia Movement Charter ratification should take care to mitigate effects of change as these responsibilities are transferred to the new GC entity.
• The GC should specify the member term of office for any committee at the time of the committee’s creation.

Memoranda of Understanding

The Global Council should determine how it will negotiate Memoranda of Understanding with the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Movement Organizations, and third parties. This should include the level of consultation within the Global Council as a whole and authority to sign on behalf of the GC.

Other policies, procedures and position statements

The Global Council should determine what additional policies, procedures and position statements it needs to function effectively. These could include:

• Budgeting process
• GC member stipend/compensation
• Staffing and management of staffing
• Processes to increase diversity, inclusion and equity within the GC and within the movement

Notes