A committee debates in one of two modes. The chair announces which one the house is in.
Open debate is the normal mode for debating a resolution.
Speakers in favour and speakers against are taken in whatever order the chair recognises them. There is no separate pool of time for each side. The chair sets one debate time for the resolution and works through the house within it.
Amendments may only be submitted during open debate time. See Amendment of the first degree.
Closed debate is required for amendments.
It splits into time in favour and time against. The chair announces the entry into closed debate and sets the time. See Time for and time against.
Closed debate is the norm for amendments. The house debates the amendment, not the resolution around it, and then votes on the amendment.
If a second degree amendment is moved. Debate on it does not count against the time for the first degree amendment. The clock on the first degree amendment stops while the house deals with the amendment to it. See Amendment of the second degree.
If you are unsure. Write down where you are. Confusing debate on an amendment with debate on the resolution is a common chairing mistake. Once the house is confused it takes real time to unpick. Say out loud what is being debated before you recognise the next speaker.
Each resolution is debated in a vacuum. If one resolution passes on a topic, that does not discredit another resolution on the same topic. A delegate arguing that a topic has already been dealt with is not making a procedural point.
The Security Council debates clause by clause rather than resolution by resolution. The modes are the same, but what is on the floor is different. See Security Council procedure and Clause by clause debate.
In MEDIMUN, the committee state is always declared in the MediBook control panel. Lobbying, debating, voting and so on. If the committee is on a break, the state is waiting. See Chair committee state.
SCREENSHOT: /medibook/sessions/22/committees/ga1/debate/control - the committee state control, showing the states a chair can set