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Newly Revised 12th Edition

Hardcover
$35.00
|
5.6" x 7.4"
Paperback
$18.99
|
5" x 7"
E-Book
$24.99
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Robert’s Rules of Order is America’s foremost guide to parliamentary procedure. It is used by more professional associations, fraternal organizations, and local governments than any other authority.  As indispensable now as the original edition was more than a century ago, Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised is the acknowledged “gold standard” for meeting rules.

Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) 12th Edition released September 2020 supersedes all earlier editions as the parliamentary authority in organizations that have adopted Robert’s Rules of Order in their bylaws.  It is important for all members of an organization to use a single parliamentary guide.  Older editions of Robert’s Rules have significant differences in their guidelines and page and section references, which can exacerbate disagreements instead of helping to settle them.

Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised is readily available at most bookstores and online retailers. If the multiplicity of similar titles is confusing, insist on the edition shown above (or the deluxe edition, which is sold without a dust jacket and has the same title, edition number, and “double-R” logo, stamped on a brown cover). Other versions may be less expensive, but they will leave you looking in vain for a passage or a page that other group members have in front of them.

Because Robert’s Rules of Order has been in use for so long, some of the earliest editions (published in 1915 or earlier) are no longer protected by copyright. They have therefore been republished and revised by different writers with variable qualifications in parliamentary law.  There is even one book published under the “Robert’s Rules” name which contains an entirely different text.  None of these books is a definitive source on parliamentary law.  Only Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised 12th Edition is today’s official handbook.

Coinciding with publication of this edition, the authors have once again published an updated  3rd edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief, a simple and concise introductory guide cross referenced to this manual with its new “section and paragraph” referencing system.

For information on how your organization can adopt Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised as its parliamentary authority, see the page on How to Adopt.

Now available in Ebook and CD-ROM/USB versions: Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised 12th Edition and In Brief 3rd Edition are now available in fully functional eBook formats from popular online retailers, as well as in CD-ROM or USB format for use on PC operating Microsoft Windows from American Legal Publishing.

Major Changes

Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised 12th Edition include the following new and enhanced features:

  • Section based paragraph numbering to facilitate cross-references and eBook compatibility
  • Expanded Appendix of charts, tables and lists
  • Sample rules for electronic meetings
  • Helpful summary explanations about postponing a motion, reconsidering a vote, making and enforcing points of order and appeals, and filling blanks
  • New provisions regarding debate on nominations, reopening nominations, and completing an election after its scheduled time
  • Dozens more clarifications, additions, and refinements to improve the presentation of existing rules, incorporate new interpretations, and address common inquiries
View Key Section Changes

The 12th Edition also clarifies, modifies, and expands upon the rules in previous editions, as situations occurring in assemblies point to a need for more fully developed rules to go by in particular cases.  In this edition, a number of sections or subsections have been substantially revised, most notably in the following respects:

  1. Section 14 covering Postpone to a Certain Time, to have this motion’s Standard Descriptive Characteristics 1 and 2 more closely comport with the rules relating to Point of Order and Appeal; to avoid unnecessary repetition of the rules found in section 41 dealing with procedures to be followed when postponed items are taken up again; and to clarify the rules concerning the effect of postponement on motions adhering to the motion postponed and on subsequent debate and methods of voting.
  2. Section 15 covering Limit or Extend Limits of Debate, to clarify the varying effects that adoption of the different forms of this motion will have on the making of subsidiary motions, and to eliminate the distinction between motions that provide only for closing debate and those that also specify when the vote shall be taken.
  3. Section 17 covering Lay on the Table, to rearrange these rules into a more orderly and logical sequence.
  4. Section 23 covering Point of Order, to clarify and expand upon the rules setting forth remedies for violations that have given rise to a continuing breach.
  5. Section 34 covering Take from the Table, to clarify the rules that impose time limits on taking questions from the table and the rules setting forth the status of motions taken from the table.
  6. Section 37 covering Reconsider, by the insertion at the beginning of the section of a summary of the rules relating to reconsideration of votes, followed by a substantial rearrangement of the order in which the rules in this section are discussed.
  7. The rules relating to the device of filling blanks (12:92–113), to provide substantially greater guidance concerning the proper procedure to be followed in making, debating, and voting on suggestions.
  8. The rules relating to the office of vice-president (47:23–31), for purposes of clarification and in order to incorporate relevant provisions previously found only scattered elsewhere throughout the book.
  9. That portion of section 48 which deals with minutes (48:1–15), to more clearly present the various procedures for their approval; to state how an assembly may specify the inclusion of different information than that prescribed by this book, either for a particular meeting or on a regular basis; to more clearly identify those occasions when the number of votes on each side of a question is to be recorded; to provide that the secretary may include as an attachment committee reports that the assembly has ordered to be entered in; and to describe how corrections made to previously adopted minutes are recorded.
  10. Refinement of the rules governing the sending of notice (the “call”) of regular meetings, including the conditions under which notice is required to be sent (9:2–4).
  11. Clarification of what the obligation of secrecy of an executive session does and does not entail, and how the secrecy may be lifted (9:26–27).
  12. Clarification of the circumstances in which the assembly may adopt an incidental main motion that conflicts with a provision of the bylaws in the nature of a rule of order (10:26(1)n1).
  13. Clarification that the prohibition against making a motion to Amend that raises a question already decided applies only during the session at which the decision was made (12:13, 12:25, 12:28, 12:48, 12:63, 12:65, 12:74, 12:90).
  14. Recognition of circumstances in which use of electronic devices such as voting keypads can fulfill a requirement that voting be by ballot (45:42).
  15. New provisions regarding debate on nominations (46:27–29).
  16. More detailed provisions governing the completion of an election and its relation to filling a vacancy in office (46:44–45).
  17. Clarification of procedures for making minutes of a board available to others who are not board members (49:17–19).
  18. Recognition that, when the bylaws specify the number of years in a term of office, the actual term of office may be more or less than a whole number of calendar years (56:27).
  19. Requirement that a bylaws revision is in order only when prepared by a committee authorized to draft it (57:5).
  20. Clarification of the procedure to be followed for presentation and adoption of convention standing rules (59:30–34).
  21. Expanded explanation of the procedure for making and enforcing points of order and appeals in the subsection Remedies for Abuse of Authority by the Chair in a Meeting (62:2–7).
  22. Inclusion of an appendix containing sample rules for electronic meetings.
Download a PDF of all significant changes