[council] Public Comment: GNSO Council Member Term Limits

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org; liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org]
[To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org]
[To: regional-liaisons[at]icann.org]

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-13oct08-en.htm
Public Comment: GNSO Council Member Term Limits

13 October 2008

Public comments are invited on a proposed change to the ICANN bylaws that would 
implement term limits for GNSO Council members. Currently there is no limit to 
the number of consecutive terms in which a GNSO Council member may serve. In 
November 2006, the GNSO Council passed a resolution endorsing term limits, 
wherein a council member could serve no more than two consecutive terms 
(http://gnso.icann.org/resolutions/#200611).  Moreover, a former council member 
must remain off the GNSO Council for one full term prior to serving any 
subsequent term. In light of the pending GNSO review which was underway at the 
time, the ICANN Board postponed action on term limits. The ICANN Board 
Governance Committee subsequently included term limits as a recommendation in 
the GNSO Improvements Report 
(http://www.icann.org/en/topics/gnso-improvements/gnso-improvements-report-03feb08.pdf,
 see Sec. 5.1, p. 28) The Report recommends that the preferred limit be two 
2-year terms, in order to enhance inclusiveness and enable more people to 
become involved in Council activities. The GNSO Improvements package was 
approved by the Board on 26 June 2008 
http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-26jun08.htm#_Toc76113182. The draft 
bylaws change also creates an exception, as recommended by the GNSO Council and 
the Board Governance Committee, in a "special circumstance," such as geographic 
diversity requirements, where no alternative representative is available to 
serve.

Currently, the GNSO Council, constituencies and ICANN staff are working to 
implement a new structure for constituency representation and voting for the 
GNSO Council. In considering the imposition of term limits for GNSO Council 
members, comments are particularly invited on whether the pending 
reorganization presents issues for the implementation of term limits that 
should be considered before term limits are adopted, including any other 
aspects of the new structure, such as the creation of stakeholder groups or the 
formation of new constituencies. ICANN also invites comments on when term 
limits should go into effect.

The proposed revised bylaws text can be found at: 
http://www.icann.org/en/general/bylaws-gnso-term-limits-draft-amendment-13oct08.pdf.pdf
 [PDF, 45K]

The public is invited to comment on this proposed bylaws change before 
consideration by the Board. Staff Member responsible: Liz Gasster

To submit comments: gnso-bylaw-revision@xxxxxxxxx

To view comments: http://forum.icann.org/lists/gnso-bylaw-revision/

Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://gnso.icann.org