A point of parliamentary inquiry is a question to the chair about the Rules of Procedure.
Use it when you do not know how something works. How to move an amendment. Whether you may abstain. What a motion needs before the chair will take it.
It does not interrupt a speaker.
Wait to be recognised. Name the point, then ask the question.
Ask about the rules, not about the debate. A question about a fact or about the agenda is a point of information to the chair.
The chair repeats the point back to the house, then explains the rule to the whole house.
Explain the rule itself, not only the answer to this one delegate. A delegate who understands why the rule works that way will not need to ask again.
There is no penalty for raising this point. A delegate asking how the rules work is taking the committee seriously. Never make a delegate feel slow for asking.
If you are unsure. Ask the house to wait. Check with your co-chair. Look it up. If you still do not know, tell the house you will find out and come back to them. Then ask the secretariat. Do not invent a rule to fill the silence.
The answer to a point of parliamentary inquiry is the rule as it stands. It is not what the chair would prefer the rule to be.
In MEDIMUN, a chair may not deviate from the Rules of Procedure. See Chairs may not deviate from the Rules of Procedure.
If the delegate is challenging the chair's procedure. That is a point of order. Answer the substance either way, and tell the house which point it was.
All points are out of order during voting. The one exception is a point of order about the conduct of the vote itself. See Voting procedure.
In MEDIMUN, the Rules of Procedure live in this library and are open to every delegate. See Rules of Procedure.