Kashmiri Bhatta

18061948 Rules of procedure of the Commission (S/AC.12/4/Rev.1) (Adopted at the 4th meeting, held on 18 June 1948 in Geneva, and amended at the 11th meeting on 3 July 1948)

18061948 Rules of procedure of the Commission (S/AC.12/4/Rev.1) (Adopted at the 4th meeting, held on 18 June 1948 in Geneva, and amended at the 11th meeting on 3 July 1948)

I. Meetings

Rule 1

Meetings of the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (hereinafter called the Commission) shall be held as occasion may require by decision of the Commission, or its Chairman, or at the request of the Security Council, or of a representative on the Commission.

Rule 2

The date and place of each meeting, if not decided on at a previous meeting of the Commission, shall be notified by the Secretariat to the representatives of the Commission whenever possible not less than twenty-four hours in advance.

II. Agenda

Rule 3

The provisional agenda for each meeting of the Commission shall be drawn up by the Secretariat in consultation with the Chairman and shall be communicated to the representatives on the Commission, when practicable in advance of the scheduled meetings.

Rule 4

The provisional agenda shall include:

Items proposed by the Commission at a previous meeting;

Items proposed by any member of the Commission;

Items proposed by the Security Council;

Items proposed by a sub-commission of the Commission;

All items, communications, or reports which the Chairman or the Secretariat may deem necessary to put before the Commission.

Rule 5

The first item on the provisional agenda of any meeting of the Commission shall be the adoption of the agenda.

III. Representatives

Rule 6

Each representative on the Commission may be accompanied by alternative representatives, advisers, and secretaries.

Rule 7

An alternate representative or adviser may act as a representative upon designation by the representative.

Rule 8

The credentials of representatives and the names of alternate representatives, advisers, and secretaries shall be transmitted to the Secretariat of the United Nations as early as possible. The credentials shall be issued either by the Head of the State or Government, by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, or the chief representative to the United Nations. The credentials shall be examined by the Secretariat, which shall submit a report thereon to the Commission.

IV. Officers

Rule 9

The Commission shall elect from among its representatives its Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Rapporteur.

The chairmanship of the Commission shall be assumed immediately after adoption of the rules of procedure by the representative of the member delegation first in the English alphabetical order; and the Vice-Chairman shall be the representative of the delegation next in the English alphabetical order;

The Chairman shall hold office for a period of three weeks and shall be succeeded by the Vice-Chairman, at which time the representative of the delegation next in the English alphabetical order shall become Vice-Chairman;

This procedure shall be successively and automatically followed during the lifetime of the Commission, with succession of the first delegation after the last in the English alphabetical order has served.

Rule 10

The Chairman shall declare the opening and closing of each meeting of the Commission, shall direct its discussions, ensure observance of these rules, accord the right to speak, put questions, and announce decisions. He shall rule on points of order and, subject to these rules, shall have complete control of the proceedings of the Commission and over the maintenance of order at its meetings.

Rule 11

If the Chairman finds it necessary to be absent during one or several meetings or a part of a meeting, the Vice Chairman shall take his place.

V. Secretariat

Rule 12

The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity in all meetings of the Commission and such subsidiary bodies as it may establish. He may designate a member of the staff to act in his place at these meetings.

Rule 13

The Secretary-General shall provide and direct the staff required by the Commission and such subsidiary bodies as it may establish.

Rule 14

The Secretariat shall receive, translate, and distribute the documents of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies; prepare working papers; interpret speeches made at the meetings; prepare and circulate the records of the meetings; have the custody and proper preservation of the documents; publish the reports of the meetings and generally shall be responsible for all the necessary arrangements for meetings and other activities of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies.

Rule 15

No decision involving expenditures shall be made by the Commission until the Secretariat has had an opportunity of stating the effect of the proposal upon the budget estimates of the United Nations.

VI. Languages, Records

Rule 16

For purposes of extra ediency, the Commission will conduct its work in English except when French may be required.

Rule 17

Members of the Commission and other persons who may address the Commission in a language other than either of the working languages of the United Nations shall, as a rule, provide their own interpreters. If a person who appears at the instance of the Commission is unable to employ any of the official languages and provide his own interpreter, the Secretariat shall provide for the interpretation.

Rule 18

As a general rule, only summary records of public and private meetings shall, whenever possible, be drawn up, unless the necessity for verbatim records in respect of a specific meeting or part of a meeting is recognized by the Commission, after consultation with the Secretariat. The records shall be made available as soon as possible to the representatives. The representatives shall inform the Secretariat not later than twenty-four hours after receipt of the records, of any corrections they wish to have made. Each representative shall have the right to annex verbatim or explanatory statements to the summary record.

Rule 19

The summary records in which no corrections have been requested, or which have been corrected in accordance with rule 18, shall be considered as the official records of the Commission.

VII. Public and Private meetings

Rule 20

Meetings of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies shall be held in public, unless the Commission or the subsidiary body decides otherwise.

Rule 21

Official Press communique's shall be previously approved by the Chairman of the Commission. Press releases and verbal briefings may be issued by the Secretariat, unless instructions to the contrary are given by the Commission.

VIII. Conduct of Business

Rule 22

A majority of the members constitute a quorum. the Commission shall

Rule 23

No representative may address the Commission without having previously obtained the permission of the Chairman. The Chairman shall call upon speakers in the order in which they signify their desire to speak. The Chairman may call a speaker to order if his remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion.

Rule 24

The Chairman or the Rapporteur of a subsidiary body may be accorded precedence for the purpose of explaining the conclusion arrived at by the subsidiary body.

Rule 25

The Secretary-General or a member of the Secretariat delegated by him may make to the Commission subsidiary bodies any oral or written statement which the Secretary-General considers desirable. any of its

Rule 26

During the discussion of any matter, a representative may rise to a point of order and the point of order shall be immediately decided by the Chairman in accordance with the rules of procedure. A representative may appeal against the ruling of the Chairman. The appeal shall immediately be put to the vote, and the Chairman's ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of the members present and voting.

Rule 27

The Commission may limit the time to be allowed to each speaker.

Rule 28

During the course of a debate the Chairman may announce the list of speakers, and, with the consent of the Commission, declare the list closed. He may, however, accord the right of reply to any member if a speech delivered after he has declared the list closed makes this desirable.

Rule 29

During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the adjournment of the debate on the item under discussion. Permission to speak on the adjournment of the debate shall be accorded to the proposer of the motion and one member opposing the motion, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote.

Rule 30

A representative may at any time move the closure of the debate on the item under discussion whether or not any other representative has signified his wish to speak. Permission to speak on the closure of the debate shall be accorded only to one speaker opposing the closure, after which the motion shall be immediately put to the vote. If the Commission is in favour of the closure the Chairman shall declare the closure of the debate.

Rule 31

During the discussion of any matter, a representative may move the suspension or the adjournment of the meeting. Such motion shall be immediately put to the vote.

Rule 32

Subject to rule 26, the following motions shall have precedence in the following order over all other proposals or motions before the meeting :

(a) To suspend the meeting;

(b) To adjourn meeting;

(d) For the closure of the debate on the item under discussion. the

Rule 33

Subject to rule 32, any motion calling for a decision on the competence of the Commission to adopt a proposal submitted to it shall be put to the vote immediately before a vote is taken on the proposal in question.

Rule 34

Proposals and amendments should normally be introduced in writing and handed to the Secretariat, which shall circulate copies to the delegations. As a general rule, no proposal shall be discussed or put to the vote at any meeting of the Commission unless copies of it have been circulated to all delegations not later than the day preceding the meeting. The Chairman may, however, permit the discussion and consideration of amendments, or of motion as to procedure, even though these amendments and motions have not been circulated or have only been circulated the same day.

Rule 35

A motion may be withdrawn by its proposer at any time before voting on it has commenced, provided that the motion has not been amended. A motion which has thus been withdrawn may be reintroduced by any member.

Rule 36

When a motion has been adopted or rejected it may not be reconsidered at the same meeting unless the Commission, by the majority vote, so decides. Permission to speak on a motion to reconsider shall be accorded only to two speakers opposing the motion, after which it shall be immediately put to the vote.

IX. Voting

Rule 37

Each member of the Commission shall have one vote.

Rule 38

Excepting cases provided for in rule 26, decisions in the Commission shall be taken by a majority of not less than three concurring votes of members present and voting.

Rule 39

For the purposes of these rules, the phrase members. present and voting means members casting an affirmative or negative vote Members who abstain from voting are considered as not voting.

Rule 40

The Commission shall normally vote by show of hands, but any representative may request a roll-call. The roll-call shall be taken in the English alphabetical order of the names of the members. The name of each member shall be called in any roll-call and he shall reply "Yes", "No", or "Abstention". The result of the voting shall be inserted in the record in the English alphabetical order of the names of the members.

Rule 41

After the Chairman has announced the beginning of voting, no representative shall interrupt the vote except on a point of order in connexion with the actual conduct of the voting. Explanations of their votes by members may, however, be permitted by the Chairman either before or after the voting.

Rule 42

Parts of a motion or draft resolution shall be voted on separately if a representative so requests. The resulting motion or draft resolution shall then be put to the vote in its entirety.

Rule 43

When an amendment is moved to a motion or draft resolution, the amendment shall be voted on first. When two or more amendments are moved to a motion or draft resolution, the Commission shall first vote on the amendment furthest removed in substance from the original motion or draft resolution and then on the amendment next furthest removed there from, and so on, until all the amendments have been put to the vote. If one or more amendments are adopted, the amended motion or draft resolution shall then be voted upon. A motion is considered an amendment if it merely adds to, deletes from, or revises part of a motion or draft resolution.

Rule 44

If two or more motions or draft resolutions relate to the same question, the Commission shall, unless it decides otherwise, vote on the motion or draft resolution in the order in which they have submitted. The Commission may, after each vote on a motion or draft resolution, decide whether to vote on the next motion or draft resolution.

Rule 45

If, when only one person or member is to be elected, no candidate obtains in the first ballot the majority required, a second ballot shall be taken, which shall be restricted to the two candidates obtaining the largest number of votes. If, in the second ballot, the votes are equally divided, and a majority is required, the Chairman shall decide between the candidates by drawing lots.

Rule 46

If a vote is equally divided on matters other than elections, the proposal shall be regarded as rejected.

X. Subsidiary bodies.

Rule 47

The Commission may set up such sub-commissions and other subsidiary bodies as it deems necessary and define their composition and their functions.

Rule 48

Unless otherwise decided by the Commission, each sub commission and other subsidiary body shall elect its own officers.

Rule 49

The rules of procedure of the Commission shall apply to the proceedings of the sub-commissions and other subsidiary bodies in so far as they are applicable. XI. Oral and Written Statements

Rule 50

The Commission may at its discretion invite or admit representatives of Governments or organizations or private individuals to submit oral or written statements. Requests for oral hearings shall contain an indication of the subject or subjects on which the applicant desires to express his views.

Rule 51

The Commission may refer to a sub-commission for examination and recommend such requests to present oral statements as it deems advisable.

Rule 52

The Commission, in consultation with the Secretariat, shall in each case decide the time and place of the hearing of any person from whom it may decide to receive an oral statement. The Commission may request any person to submit his statement in writing.

Rule 53

The Commission may limit either the number of persons desiring to present an oral statement or the time to be allowed to any such person.

Rule 54

A sub-committee or a subsidiary body set up by the Commission enjoys such rights as accorded to the Commission under rules 50-54 unless the Commission decides otherwise.

XII. Amendments and Suspensions

Rule 55

These rules of procedure may be amended or suspended by decision of the Commission taken by a majority of the members present and voting.

Documents

18061948 Rules of procedure of the Commission (S/AC.12/4/Rev.1) (Adopted at the 4th meeting, held on 18 June 1948 in Geneva, and amended at the 11th meeting on 3 July 1948)