SUMMARY OF RULES & ETIQUETTE OF THE DEBATE
Parliamentary-style

Chairman of the Debate
• Addressed as “Mr Chairman”
• Acts as Speaker of the House, calls on speakers to speak, decides disputes and keeps order
• If the Chairman rings the bell, all Members of the House except the current speaker must resume their seats
• If the Chairman stands, the current speaker must resume his seat.

Other etiquette
• Only one Member of the House may be on his feet at one time; therefore a speaker should sit down on giving way to an interruption or when the Chairman stands
• Cries of “Hear! Hear!” (in agreement) or “Shame!” (in disagreement), and “Order!” (to draw a speaker’s attention to a Member of the House wishing to raise a point, who he has not seen), are permitted but do not overdo it
• Booing or hissing are never acceptable
• Do not refer to another Member by name; use forms of address such as “The Honourable Member from [name of University]” or “The Honourable Proposer/Opposer”.

Time Limits on Speeches
• Must not exceed 8 minutes
• Time signals: 1, 7 and 8-minute intervals.

Defining the Motion
• The Government team defines the motion
• The definition should be reasonable, and clearly and logically linked to the motion and subsequent lines of argument.

No New Matter
• A team may not introduce any new matter after its second speech
• An argument or material is new matter unless:
- it has been previously used in the Debate; or
- it is introduced to rebut or reply to an argument or material previously introduced.

Points of Information
• A “Point of Information” in an interjection which raises a point of importance or is intended to correct a debater
• The Speaker has absolute discretion whether or not to yield to a Member of the House (which includes any members of the floor) who proposes point of information
• No Point of Information may exceed 15 seconds
• No Points of Information are permitted during the 1st or final minute of a speech. (There will be time signals at 1-minute and 7-minute intervals).
• Anyone (other than a speaker from the same side as the speaker making the speech ) may offer a point of information
• A Point of Information is offered by a Member of the House by standing and putting a hand on his or her head otherwise indicating his or her intention.
• A speaker is not obliged to accept any Point of Information. However, continual refusal of proposed Point of Information, or on the other hand, numerous acceptances of Points of Information which adversely affect the speaker’s substantive speech may be regarded unfavourably in the assessment of his or her performance. It is recommended that approximately 2 points of information be accepted in a speech but there is no hard or fast rule.