Changes

===Provision of Advice===

===Provision of Advice===

Since the adoption of the original Bylaws, ACs have been tasked with "report[ing] their findings and recommendations to the Board."<ref name="ogbl">[https://www.icann.org/resources/unthemed-pages/bylaws-1998-11-06-en#VII ICANN Bylaws, Article VII], as adopted November 6, 1998</ref> The original Bylaws did not prescribe any particular method of reporting.<ref name="ogbl" />

Since the adoption of the original Bylaws, ACs have been tasked with "report[ing] their findings and recommendations to the Board."<ref name="ogbl">[https://www.icann.org/resources/unthemed-pages/bylaws-1998-11-06-en#VII ICANN Bylaws, Article VII], as adopted November 6, 1998</ref> The original Bylaws did not prescribe any particular method of reporting.<ref name="ogbl" /> The Bylaws adopted as part of the [[2002 Evolution and Reform Process]] provided more detail regarding the structure and remit of each modern-day AC, but did not set any procedural or structural expectations for the delivery of advice.<ref>[https://www.icann.org/resources/unthemed-pages/bylaws-2002-12-15-en#XI ICANN Bylaws, Article XI], as amended December 15, 2002</ref>  

The current Bylaws establish that the ACs exist to advise the ICANN Community and Board on topics within each AC's purview.<ref name="art12" /> This is done through the submission of "clear and unambiguous written statement[s]," including a rationale for the provision of the advice. "The Board will respond in a timely manner to ''formal'' advice from all Advisory Committees explaining what action it took and the rationale for doing so"<ref name="art12" /> (Section 12.3 of Article 12; emphasis added). Although there is no definition of "formal advice," the inferred definition is advice submitted in written form as described in Section 12.3.  

The Bylaws adopted as part of the [[IANA Transition]] relocated the Advisory Committees to (now Roman) Article 12, and added prescriptive language regarding the provision of advice: advice is to be delivered through the submission of "clear and unambiguous written statement[s]," including a rationale for the provision of the advice.<ref>[https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/bylaws-2016-09-30-en#article12 ICANN Bylaws, Article 12], as amended October 1, 2016</ref> The current Bylaws maintain this language, noting that the ACs exist to advise the ICANN Community and Board on topics within each AC's purview.<ref name="art12" /> The Board's obligations regarding advice are also unchanged from the 2016 amended Bylaws: "The Board will respond in a timely manner to ''formal'' advice from all Advisory Committees explaining what action it took and the rationale for doing so"<ref name="art12" /> (Section 12.3 of the current Article 12; emphasis added). Although there is no definition of "formal advice," the inferred definition is advice submitted in written form as described in Section 12.3.  

This leaves open the question of how, if at all, ACs may interject in other conversations that impact their constituencies. The [[First Accountability and Transparency Review]] recommended that the board seek methods of soliciting and incorporating advice into its decision making process in a more defined and transparent manner:

This leaves open the question of how, if at all, ACs may interject in other conversations that impact their constituencies. The [[First Accountability and Transparency Review]] recommended that the board seek methods of soliciting and incorporating advice into its decision making process in a more defined and transparent manner:

<blockquote>6. The Board should clarify, as soon as possible but no later than June 2011 the distinction between issues that are properly subject to ICANN’s policy development processes and those matters that are properly within the executive functions performed by the ICANN staff and Board and, as soon as practicable, develop complementary mechanisms for consultation in appropriate circumstances with the relevant SOs and ACs on administrative and executive issues that will be addressed at Board level.<ref>[https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/final-recommendations-31dec10-en.pdf ATRT1 Final Recommendations], December 31, 2010 (PDF)</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>6. The Board should clarify, as soon as possible but no later than June 2011 the distinction between issues that are properly subject to ICANN’s policy development processes and those matters that are properly within the executive functions performed by the ICANN staff and Board and, as soon as practicable, develop complementary mechanisms for consultation in appropriate circumstances with the relevant SOs and ACs on administrative and executive issues that will be addressed at Board level.<ref>[https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/final-recommendations-31dec10-en.pdf ATRT1 Final Recommendations], December 31, 2010 (PDF)</ref></blockquote>