PART II: THE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE GENERAL CHAPTER

I. The Rules of Procedure

1. Without delay after the opening of the Chapter, the Preparatory Commission submits to the Chapter the proposed Rules of Procedure.

For approval they require an absolute majority of votes of members present.

Until the Chapter approves new Rules of Procedure, the Rules of Procedure of the previous General Chapter remain in force.

2.  During the Chapter, any Capitulant can propose a modification to the approved procedure, or its suspension. In this case the Assembly’s decision requires a two thirds majority of votes of members present.

3. If, during the Chapter, a Capitulant wishes to add a new article to the Rules of Procedure he proposes it to the Central Commission which will then submit it to the Assembly. In this case an absolute majority of the members present is sufficient for its approval.

II. Organisation

4. Only the Capitulants, the support group, and other approved persons have access to the Chapter Hall.

5. In order to facilitate the work of the Chapter, the Brother Superior General and his Council, and also the Central Commission, may retain the services of some Brothers to act as translators, typists, or for any other work related to the Chapter. These do not have access to the Chapter Hall during meetings for the election of the Brother Superior General or the members of the General Council.

6. The Chapter may obtain the help of experts to deal with specific topics at a given time. A Commission can also ask for experts, with the authorisation of the Central Commission.

7. The Capitulants and the Support group are bound to confidentiality for the protection of physical and juridic persons. The Assembly decides if matters are to remain under the seal of secrecy.

8. The assembly of Capitulants at a regular meeting in the Chapter Hall is the only body competent to take decisions.

9. A tape-recording is recognised as the official record of the proceedings of the Chapter. The minutes are written up by the Secretaries of each session. They record what takes place, make a resume of the discussion of the plenary sessions, give a transcript of anything for which a Capitulant requests the insertion of the actual text, note down the decisions and the results of the votes taken. In a later session this text is submitted for the approval of the Assembly. There is no tape-recording of the election of the Superior General and the members of his Council.

10. The General Chapter sets up the Study Commissions that are needed. They must be approved by the Assembly.

11. Each Capitulant can be enrolled officially in only ONE Study Commission. He can change from this Commission during the Chapter, but only after having notified the Central Commission.

12. Special Commissions can be formed by the Chapter to study particular questions.

13. The working languages of the Chapter are French, Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Official documents are presented in one of these languages.

III. Functions

The President of the Chapter

14. The Brother Superior General is the President of the Chapter (C 138).

The Central Commission

15. The Central Commission, once it has been elected, takes over responsibility for the organisation and administration of the Chapter.

16. The Central Commission is made up of the officers who are Commissioner, Vice-commissioner, and General Secretary of the Chapter, together with a number of other Brothers elected as members by the Chapter.

The Provisional Committee proposes to the Chapter the criteria for the election of the members of the Central Commission.

Candidates should be asked for their consent before they are nominated for election to the Assembly.

17. The officers and members of the Central Commission are elected by secret ballot, by an absolute majority of votes of the members present. If, after two ballots, there is no result, the vote will be confined to two candidates who have obtained the highest number of votes, or if there are several, to the two eldest. If, after the third ballot, the candidates remain equal, the older will be deemed elected.

The Commissioner and the Vice-commissioner

18. The Commissioner convenes the Central Commission and presides over its work. The Vice-commissioner replaces the Commissioner when necessary.

The General Secretary

19. The General Secretary of the Chapter is in charge of the Secretariat. He is responsible for the organisation and the operation of the Secretariat. He is the Secretary of the Central Commission. He has the responsibility of transmitting any official information concerning the proceedings of the Chapter.

The Assistant Secretaries

20. The Central Commission will propose for approval by the Chapter, names of Brothers to be assistant secretaries for the General Assemblies, or responsible for Records or other Chapter secretarial duties. They may be non-capitulants.

21. The various Commissions or Study Groups may engage the services of Brothers who are translators for the Chapter, after consultation with the Commissioner.

The Moderators

22. The Central Commission chooses the Moderator of each General Assembly, whether from among its own members, or from the list of other Capitulants, elected for this purpose by the Assembly. The modalities of the election are to be proposed to the Assembly by the Central Commission.

23. The Moderator who chairs the Assembly gives the floor to speakers in accordance with the agenda established by the Central Commission. He directs the discussions and sees that the Rules of Procedure, or the processes decided by the Central Commission, are observed. He rules out of order those who do not keep to the subject under discussion, or who have exceeded their allotted time. He deals with any problem of procedure that may arise. All appeals against his decisions are to be submitted to the Assembly and voted on immediately. He puts the propositions to the vote.

IV. The work of the Commissions

24. Each Study Commission elects its own Officers.

25. Each Commission makes a careful study of all the matters submitted to it. The Capitulants exchange their views freely in the Commissions. If need be they take a vote.

26. If necessary the Commissions can divide into sub-commissions. These will elect their own Officers. The sub-commissions submit their reports in such a way that they can be incorporated into the Commission’s Report. To become part of the Commission’s Report, the sub-commission’s report must be accepted by a majority vote of the Commission.

27. Any Capitulant has the right to be heard on any point that is being studied by a Commission, even if he is not a member of the Commission. A Commission can also invite a Capitulant to take part in a particular meeting. It may also call for written submissions from all the Capitulants on a particular question.

28. The Reports, or parts of Reports from Commissions are to be submitted to the Assembly in their entirety, without any modification being made by anyone. If there has been a vote of the Commission, the result of the vote is to be shown.

29. These Reports will be written in one of the working languages of the Chapter.. Each Commission will make translations that may be necessary for a clear understanding bythe Capitulants.

30. When at least a third of the members of a Commission judge that they cannot support the majority report, they may draw up a minority report of their own. Such a minority report has equal right to be presented to the Assembly.

31. The Central Commission may indicate to each Commission which questions are to be given priority.

V. The work of the Assembly

32. Normally, debates in the Assembly follow parliamentary procedure. Sometimes the Central Commission may propose that the General Assembly take the form of a PLENARY COMMISSION according to a programme to be outlined by the Central Commission. The report of such a plenary commission is submitted to a subsequent General Assembly for decision.

33. If, during the course of a debate, the Moderator wishes to take part in the discussion, he will have another Moderator replace him. Once the point of discussion is finished, he will resume his function.

34. On certain occasions, when it is not necessary to follow all the steps of the method to treat a subject, the Assembly can accept a unanimous decision without actually taking a vote. In such a case, the Moderator says: "If there is no objection I propose..." If, however, someone objects, the Assembly must vote the proposition. The proposition is then decided by the majority established by the Rules of Procedure for the particular question.

35. Before adopting a text presented by a Commission, the Assembly will normally respect the following steps:

a)        The Commission distributes the text to the Capitulants.

b)        It presents the text to the Assembly. At this first session the Capitulants may ask questions of information or clarification.

c)        The Capitulants then have a reasonable time to send back to the Commission any amendments or new propositions. No amendment nor new proposition will be accepted during the plenary session.

d)         A reasonable amount of time will be allowed between the distribution of the amendments and new propositions and their discussion and voting in the Assembly.

e)         The Assembly discusses each amendment and new proposition presented by the Capitulants, and then votes on them.

f)          The Assembly then votes the amended text.

36. Those Capitulants who wish to speak during the session of the General Assembly are to make their request beforehand. They may then speak for not more than FIVE minutes.

37. If a Capitulant has not submitted his name beforehand, and wishes to speak at a General Assembly, he may make his request during the session. In this case he must restrict his words to TWO minutes.

38. The Central Commission will provide time for the evaluation of the method of working and for adapting it if necessary.

VI. Voting

39. Elections and decisions of the Chapter are normally made by secret ballot. Such a secret ballot is required if requested by at least TEN members of the Chapter.

40. Decisions require an absolute majority of votes of the members present, except for cases mentioned in the Rules of Procedure. Two thirds majority is required for the following:

–          modification or suspension of the Rules of Procedure,

–          limiting the time of discussion,

–          modification of the agenda once it has been approved,

–          putting the previous question,

–          objection to the consideration of a particular question,

–          reconsideration of a question already voted on.

41. When there is a written vote " the vote must be free, secret, certain, absolute, and determinate"( c 172). Default in any one of these conditions renders the vote invalid.

42. The checking of written votes is done by two tellers. Their election is made after proposals from the Provisional Committee or the Central Committee. It requires an absolute majority of those present. A relative majority is sufficient at the third ballot.

43. Under ordinary circumstances the Assembly accepts the electronic vote.

44. A proposition that receives an absolute majority neither FOR nor AGAINST, is returned to the Commission concerned.

VII. Elections

45. The election of the Brother Superior General is carried out in an atmosphere of prayer and spiritual discernment, which includes the celebration of the Eucharist.

46. At the beginning of the session the tellers will distribute a ballot paper to each Capitulant.

47. Each one completes the ballot paper, folds it, and places it in an urn which is on a table carrying a crucifix and a relic of the Blessed Founder. The table is placed in front of the President of the Chapter.

48. If one of the Capitulants is present in the house in which the election is taking place, but is unable to be present, the tellers will collect his vote. ( c 167 2)

49. When all have voted, the tellers count the votes out loud in order to ensure that the number of votes is not greater than the number of voters present. If this should be the case, the ballot is null, and must be redone without examining the ballot papers. When the verification is correct, the first teller takes a ballot paper and reads aloud the name. He then gives it to the second teller.

50. The secretaries for the session take note of the names called by the tellers. The president is responsible for the correct procedure. Each ballot paper is treated in the same way.

51. When all the ballot papers have been checked, the votes counted, and the whole procedure verified, the President reads out the number of votes obtained by each one. After each ballot, the voting papers will be destroyed in view of everyone.

52. If the first ballot does not give an absolute majority to anyone, a second or more ballots will be held, in accordance with Constitutions 131.

53. The one who is elected Superior will indicate to the President whether or not he accepts the election. If he refuses, the election has no effect and a new election is held. (c 177)

54. If the one elected Superior accepts, the announcement will be made by the President in the following terms: "In the name of the Most Holy Trinity and under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, in my own name, and in the name of all those whose place it is to elect the Superior General, I declare elected Brother... who has received the required number of the votes of the Capitulants."

55. The official notification of the election will be sent immediately to all the Provinces and Districts of the Institute.

56. If the Brother President of the Chapter is elected Superior General, the Vicar General makes the above declaration.

57. For all that concerns Postulation, we follow the prescriptions of canons 180 -183.

58. If one or other of the Officers of the Chapter is elected Superior General, the General Assembly will proceed to elect a replacement for him.

A NOTE ON THE USE OF IUXTA MODUM

1. Iuxta modum is not part of the normal parliamentary procedure.

2. It was introduced in Vatican II to facilitate the progressive study of documents, leading towards a definitive vote.

By the use of iuxta modum a member of the assembly indicated that, while he was in general agreement with the text, he nevertheless had some reservation about one or two minor points.

If a member used the iuxta modum vote, he was supposed to then submit in writing the reasons for his reservation, or his suggestions for adapting the text.

3. It was not permitted to use the iuxta modum vote in these cases:

—        the election of an officer

—        the final vote on a text, whether it is a proposed amendment to that final text, or a vote on such an amendment, or when the final text itself was being voted definitively.

The Chapter therefore adopted the following two proposals submitted by the Commission for the Rules of Procedure.

1. The General Chapter accepts that capitulants may not use the iuxta modum vote for elections, nor during the phase of the final voting of a text.

2. In the case where someone uses the iuxta modum vote during an election or the voting on a final text, such a vote will be counted as an abstention.