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GNSO Restructure – Constituency Renewal Process

Constituency Reconfirmations Submitted to the Board

Constituency Renewal Process

Introduction: On 4 November 2008, during the ICANN Cairo meeting, Denise Michel released the following email which outlines the renewal or confirmation process that existing constituencies should follow in response to Board direction. Excerpts from relevant Board Resolutions and Bylaws are contained at the end of this page.

Constituency Leaders:

As you know, the ICANN Board, among its various decisions during the August and October meetings, directed existing GNSO Constituencies to confirm their status with the Board by submitting confirming documents in advance of the February 2009 Board meeting.

The Board directed the Staff to help with this including the design and development of a streamlined process and appropriate mechanisms to assist with the Board's timely recognition and approval of the existing constituencies. (Note: excerpts of the specific resolutions and relevant Bylaw are provided at the end of this message).

In response to the Board's direction, Staff proposes the following steps to assist you and the Board with the renewal/confirmation process. Your feedback on this proposal is welcomed, along with your guidance on how Staff can be most helpful in this endeavor.

During November, December and January, each existing constituency:

1) Reviews its practices, operations, and charter documents, as appropriate, to evaluate its adherence to the requirements of Bylaw Article X, Section 5, Subsection 3, which require that each constituency represent the interests of its stakeholder communities globally and operates to the maximum extent feasible in an open and transparent manner, consistent with procedures designed to ensure fairness;

2) Provides a written report to the Board (that includes its Board-approved charter) evaluating its compliance with its charter and Bylaw requirements on or before the February 2009 Board meeting, which is currently proposed for the first week of the month.

Upon Receipt of Each Constituency submission the Board:

3) Will direct Staff to post receipt and acknowledgement of the confirmations on the GNSO Improvements Implementation web page - http://gnso.icann.org/en/improvements;

4) The constituency reports will be subject to a 21-day public comment period/forum following the Board meeting;

5) The Staff will provide a summary/analysis of the comments submitted regarding each constituency report.

6) The Board will make a decision on whether to re-confirm/recertify each constituency.

Staff would be pleased to provide any assistance needed, including providing feedback on any Constituency's prospective submissions to the Board.

It should be noted that the GNSO Improvements Report approved by the Board has additional guidelines and recommendations for constituencies. The timeline for constituency renewal likely will not allow you to factor all these into your upcoming Board submission. It is expected that this work will be ongoing as part of the GNSO Improvements implementation efforts.

Please send any questions or comments to policy-staff@icann.org.

Best regards,

Denise Michel

 

Relevant Board Resolution and Bylaws:

At its 28 August Board meeting, the Board adopted the following resolution,"It is, Resolved, . The Board requests that existing constituencies confirm their status with the Board during the intervening time period (later specified as February 2009; see below), and requires constituencies to formally confirm their status every 3 years to ensure that they continue to meet the requirements of Article X, Section 5, subsection 3 of the ICANN Bylaws. This will be an opportunity for existing constituencies to demonstrate compliance with the principles of representativeness, openness, transparency and fairness set forth in the ICANN Bylaws.

At its 1 October 2008 meeting, the Board adopted the following resolution,"It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.10) . Staff also is directed to work with the existing GNSO constituencies to design and develop a streamlined process along with appropriate mechanisms that will assist with the Board's timely recognition and approval of existing constituencies. "

Further, "It is, Resolved (2008.10.01.15), the Board amends its previous implementation timetable and directs that the transition to a new bicameral GNSO Council voting structure take place over a phased implementation schedule that begins immediately and ends in June 2009 with the seating of the new Council. The implementation phases will be as follows:

Phase 1 - GNSO Council restructuring implementation plan submitted in advance of the December 2008 Board Meeting;

Phase 2 - Existing Constituencies submit confirmation documents to the Board for review in advance of the February 2009 Board Meeting {emphasis added};

Phase 3 - Stakeholder Groups submit formal plans for Board approval for consideration at the ICANN Mexico City Board meeting; and

Phase 4 - Stakeholder Groups with plans approved by the Board select Council representatives, and the newly structured GNSO Council is seated by the June 2009 Asia-Pacific ICANN Meeting."

The relevant Bylaw section, referenced above, is included below for your convenience:

"Article X, Section 5, Subsection 3. Each Constituency identified in paragraph 1 of this Section shall maintain its recognition, and thus its ability to select GNSO Council representatives, only so long as it in fact represents the interests globally of the stakeholder communities it purports to represent, and shall operate to the maximum extent feasible in an open and transparent manner and consistent with procedures designed to ensure fairness. No individual or entity shall be excluded from participation in a Constituency merely because of participation in another Constituency."