Rapporteur

In Model UN, a Rapporteur is typically the third member of a committee dais, ranking after the Chair and Vice-Chair. The role borrows directly from real United Nations and European Union practice, where a rapporteur is designated to compile a committee's discussions into a formal report. In MUN settings, the rapporteur usually handles procedural record-keeping: taking attendance, maintaining the speakers list, tallying votes, tracking working papers and draft resolutions, and ensuring submitted documents meet formatting requirements before they are introduced to the floor. Some conferences expand the role to include moderating caucuses or delivering the closing report on committee outcomes.

In the actual UN system, each of the six Main Committees of the General Assembly elects a rapporteur as part of its bureau at the start of each session. The rapporteur presents the committee's report to the GA plenary, summarizing draft resolutions and decisions for adoption. The International Law Commission also uses Special Rapporteurs — individual experts who lead the drafting of reports on specific topics of international law, such as state responsibility or treaty reservations, over multi-year work cycles.

The Human Rights Council maintains a parallel but distinct system of Special Rapporteurs under its Special Procedures mechanism. These are independent experts with country-specific or thematic mandates (for example, on torture, freedom of expression, or the situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) who conduct country visits, receive individual complaints, and report annually to the Council and General Assembly. They serve in their personal capacity, are unpaid, and may serve a maximum of six years.

In the European Parliament, rapporteurs are MEPs assigned by a committee to shepherd a specific legislative file, drafting the parliamentary report and negotiating on the Parliament's behalf in trilogue with the Council and Commission.