Quorum loss and appealing from chair's ruling

[JamesMcLean]

This question is about noticing at a meeting that quorum has been lost, and whether that affects the validity of business that was conducted immediately previously.  But read on, my question is not that basic.  Robert's (11th ed, p. 349) says that normally this does not impact prior business, but if there is clear evidence that the business occurred without a quorum, the presiding officer may rule that the business is void.  This ruling is subject to appeal.

My question is, how would such an appeal be handled?  On one hand, appeals must be made immediately after the ruling.  But on the other hand, this would occur after quorum is lost, so it is impossible to hold a vote to resolve the appeal.  Can the appeal be made after quorum is re-established (which might not be until the next meeting)?  Or perhaps the appeal must be declared immediately, but the vote to resolve it occurs at the next meeting?

[Richard Brown]

I don't have my RONR in front of me to give you a page citation, but the book says that procedural motions related to Quorum issues can be decided notwithstanding the absence of a quorum hi. If no one else posts the citation, I will post it later when I can look it up.

[Atul Kapur]

Even in the absence of a quorum: "...other motions may also be considered if they are related to ... the conduct of the meeting while it remains without a quorum. "  page 347 line 35 - page 348, line 2.

The appeal would fall within this definition so could be heard and decided at the inquorate meeting.

[Josh Martin]

8 hours ago, JamesMcLean said:

My question is, how would such an appeal be handled?  On one hand, appeals must be made immediately after the ruling.  But on the other hand, this would occur after quorum is lost, so it is impossible to hold a vote to resolve the appeal.  Can the appeal be made after quorum is re-established (which might not be until the next meeting)?  Or perhaps the appeal must be declared immediately, but the vote to resolve it occurs at the next meeting?

While I agree with my colleagues, I would add that since this constitutes a continuing breach, a Point of Order (followed by an Appeal, if necessary) may also be raised regarding this matter at a later meeting. Note that an Appeal must immediately follow a Point of Order, so it would be necessary to raise a new Point of Order, followed by an Appeal.

I would also suggest that regardless of the determination by the inquorate meeting, this does not prevent a Point of Order (and an Appeal, if necessary) from being raised again at a later meeting with a quorum present.

Edited May 2, 2018 at 11:20 AM by Josh Martin

[Dan Honemann]

1 hour ago, Josh Martin said:

I would also suggest that regardless of the determination by the inquorate meeting, this does not prevent a Point of Order (and an Appeal, if necessary) from being raised again at a later meeting with a quorum present.

I think this is worth exploring at some length (in another thread devoted to the topic), but since I'm about to be called away for the rest of the day, it won't be done by me anytime soon.  🙂

[Shmuel Gerber]

On 5/1/2018 at 10:48 PM, JamesMcLean said:

This question is about noticing at a meeting that quorum has been lost, and whether that affects the validity of business that was conducted immediately previously.  But read on, my question is not that basic.  Robert's (11th ed, p. 349) says that normally this does not impact prior business, but if there is clear evidence that the business occurred without a quorum, the presiding officer may rule that the business is void.  This ruling is subject to appeal.

My question is, how would such an appeal be handled?  On one hand, appeals must be made immediately after the ruling.  But on the other hand, this would occur after quorum is lost, so it is impossible to hold a vote to resolve the appeal.  Can the appeal be made after quorum is re-established (which might not be until the next meeting)?  Or perhaps the appeal must be declared immediately, but the vote to resolve it occurs at the next meeting?

James,

You may also be interested in a follow-up thread on this topic:

https://robertsrules.forumflash.com/topic/32000-point-of-order-regarding-lack-of-quorum-at-prior-meeting/