Rules for writing a meeting protocol

Does anybody know the rules for a protocol in English? Apparently in German protocol are always written in the present tense. It says: "Mr. X says the following" - even though the meeting might have been two weeks ago.

in team meetings we always alternated who took the minutes and they would generally be in the relevant tense, ie when updated following the meeting, then in past tense, unless they were real current actions or future actions, requests etc.

In Canada (and I assume the US) official meeting minutes (ex. board of directors meetings, shareholders meetings) are taken in the past tense.

From my experience, using Robert's rules of order. You should not write what people say in the minutes anyways..

Isn't it necessary to summarize matters discussed at a meeting in the minutes of that meeting in order for the minutes to be complete?

Answer:
Not only is it not necessary to summarize matters discussed at a meeting in the minutes of that meeting, it is improper to do so. Minutes are a record of what was done at a meeting, not a record of what was said. [RONR (10th ed.), p. 451, l. 25-28; see also p. 146 of RONR In Brief.]

Online Robert's Rules

In particular #60 concerns the minutes:
The Form of the Minutes may be as follows:

At a regular meeting of the M. L. Society, held in their hall, on Thursday evening, March 19, 1914, the president in the chair, and Mr. N acting as secretary, the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. The Committee on Applications reported the names of Messrs. C and D as applicants for membership, and on motion of Mr. F they were admitted as members. The committee on ... reported through Mr. G a series of resolutions, which were thoroughly discussed and amended, and finally adopted, as follows:

typical case for Plusquamperfeckt , or would that be overkill ?

Could someone change the title of this thread, please? It's a bit misleading, especially since in yesterday's thread it was (unanimously, I think) agreed that "protocol" used in this sense is Denglish for "meeting minutes".

thanks for your help

The ones I have to write are in past tense but you don't write everything that is said, just the general overview...well, I think that's right...work are happy enough...

There are two kinds of minutes: Records of decisions taken and complete record of the meeting (what was actuallz said). Both are written in the past tense.

I would say the difference is whether you are taking minutes or you are taking notes.

I usually take hours!