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Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

Background of the Nominating Committee

ICANN's bylaws provide for the establishment of an independent review process by which contested actions of the ICANN Board may be subjected to independent third-party review. At its meeting in Cairo, Egypt on 10 March 2000, the ICANN Board adopted an Independent Review Policy intended to result in formation of a nine-member Independent Review Panel.

An Independent Review Panel Nominating Committee (IRP NomCom) was to nominate members of the Independent Review Panel subject to confirmation by a vote of the ICANN Board.

IRP Nominating Committee Process

After significant delays in the appointment process, an IRP Nominating Committee consisting of six members was appointed by ICANN's Supporting Organizations:

Member of IRP Nominating Committee	Appointed By	Term
Tim Berners-Lee	PSO	2 years
Scott Hemphill	DNSO	3 years
Olivier Iteanu	DNSO	2 years
Ching-Yi Liu	ASO	3 years
Joon Kook Park	ASO	2 years
Houlin Zhao	PSO	3 years

The members of the IRP Nominating Committee served as volunteers and were not compensated.

On 7 May 2001 the ICANN Board directed the ICANN Secretary to notify the IRP Nominating Committee that the initial nine vacancies on the Independent Review Panel should be filled. That notification was made on 22 May 2001.

Under Section 5.9 of the Independent Review Policy, the IRP Nominating Committee ordinarily has 45 days after the notification of a vacancy to forward its nomination to the Board. In its resolution 01.51, the ICANN Board scheduled the IRP Nominating Committee's submission of its nominees for 20 August 2001.

The IRP Nominating Committee conducted an open call to the Internet community for potential nominees, which closed on 26 July 2001.

The NomCom was unable to provide the slate of nine nominees on that schedule and requested an extension. At its Montevideo meeting, on 10 September 2001, the ICANN Board extended the time for the NomCom to complete its work until 15 October 2001.

The NomCom was not able to provide its nominations by the extended deadline. On 5 February 2002, three members of the NomCom provided a submission including a slate of nine nominees, but noting that the other three members of the NomCom had not participated in the process of compling the list.

Current Status

On March 2002, the ICANN General Counsel submitted a Report on Status of Independent Review Nominating Committee to the ICANN Board, noting that due to the lack of participation by a quorum of the IRP NomCom, the committee had been unable to complete its task. The report also described the very difficult (and perhaps impossible) challenges of finding a slate of candidates for the Independent Review Panel given the conditions required by the March 2000 Independent Review Policy. The report proposed immediately commencing a review of the March 2000 policy, with a view toward developing a more workable policy.

At its 14 March 2002 meeting in Accra, Ghana, the ICANN Board thanked the members of the IRP NomCom for their service in attempting to carry out the extremely challenging task presented to them and the committee was excused from further service. The Board referred the issues concerning an independent review mechanism to the Committee on ICANN Evolution and Reform for its consideration in the context of its ultimate recommendations on ICANN evolution and reform.

During 2002, ICANN underwent an evolution and reform process. On 15 December 2002, new bylaws arising from that process went into effect. Article IV, Section 3, of those bylaws calls for an independent review process not involving a nominating committee.