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Rules of Procedure of the International Advisory Committee (Draft) |
Rule 1 - Membership
Rule 2 - Functions
Rule 3 - Sessions
Rule 4 - Agenda
Rule 5 - Bureau
Rule 6 - Functions of the Chairperson
Rule 7 - Functions of the Vice-Chairpersons
Rule 8 - Subsidiary bodies
Rule 9 - Secretariat
Rule 10 - Working languages
Rule 11 - Working Documents
Rule 12 - Right to speak
Rule 13 - Order of speeches
Rule 14 - Points of orders
Rule 15 - Suspension, adjournment, closure
Rule 16 - Voting rights
Rule 17 - Voting
Rule 18 - Show of hands and roll-call
Rule 19 - Secret ballot
Rule 20 - Equally divided votes
Rule 21 - Amendment
Rule 22 - Suspension
Rule 23 - Reports
Art. 3.1 of the Statutes
1.1 The Committee shall be composed of 14 members, appointed
by the Director-General after consultation of the National Commissions
of the States concerned, and serving in a personal capacity.
Art. 3.2 of the Statutes
1.2 The term of office of members of the Committee shall be
four years. It is renewable once.
Art. 3.3 of the Statutes
1.3 Every two years, half the membership of the Committee
shall be renewed.
The Committee shall discharge the functions assigned to it by
Article 2 of its Statutes.
Art. 4 of the Statutes
The Committee shall normally meet in ordinary plenary session
once every two years.
Art. 8.2 of the Statutes
The agenda shall be drawn up by the Director-General
after consultation with the Chairperson of the Committee. It shall
be communicated to the members of the Committee two months before
the opening of each session.
Art. 5.1 of the Statutes
5.1 At each of its ordinary sessions, the Committee shall
elect a Chairperson, three Vice-Chairpersons and a Rapporteur
who shall constitute the Bureau of the Committee. The members
of the Bureau shall remain in office until the election of a new
Bureau. Members of the Bureau shall be eligible for re-election.
Art. 5.2 of the Statutes
5.2 Meetings of the Bureau may be convened between sessions
of the Committee at the request of the Director-General.
Rule 6 - Functions of the Chairperson
6.1 In addition to exercising the powers conferred upon him or her elsewhere by these Rules, the Chairperson shall have the following powers: he or she shall declare the opening and closing of meetings, direct the discussions, ensure observance of these Rules, accord the right to speak, put questions to the vote and announce decisions. He or she shall rule on points of order and, subject to these Rules, shall control the proceedings and the maintenance of order.
6.2 If the Chairperson is no longer able to hold office, the Bureau
shall choose one of the Vice-Chairpersons to become Chairperson
for the unexpired portion of the term of office. If that Vice-Chairperson
is also no longer able to hold office, the Bureau shall choose
another of the Vice-Chairpersons to become Chairperson for the
unexpired portion of the term of office.
Rule 7 - Functions of the Vice-Chairpersons
In the absence of the Chairperson during the session, his or her
functions shall be exercised in turn by the Vice-Chairpersons.
In order to discharge the duties assigned to it by its Statutes,
the Committee may establish such subsidiary bodies as it considers
necessary for the conduct of its business within the limits of
the funds approved by the General Conference.
Art. 5.2 of the Statutes
9.1 The Director-General of UNESCO or his or her representative
shall participate in the work of the Committee, its Bureau or
its other subsidiary bodies without the right to vote. He or she
may at any time submit either oral or written statements to the
Committee, to the Bureau or to any other subsidiary body on any
matter under discussion.
Art. 6 of the Statutes
9.2 The secretariat of the Committee shall be provided by
the General Information Programme of UNESCO.
The working languages of the Committee shall be English and French.
The working documents for each session of the Committee shall,
as a rule, be communicated to the members six weeks before the
opening of the session.
Observers may, with the authorization of the Chairperson, speak
during the discussions of the Committee or its subsidiary bodies.
The Chairperson shall call upon speakers in the order in which
they have expressed the desire to speak. Members of the Committee
shall be accorded precedence.
During the discussion on any matter, a member of the Committee
may at any time raise a point of order, which point of order shall
forthwith be decided upon by the Chairperson. Any member may appeal
against the ruling of the Chairperson, which can only be overruled
by a majority of the members present and voting. A member may
not, in raising a point of order, speak on the substance of the
matter under discussion.
Rule 15 - Suspension, adjournment, closure
Any member of the Committee may at any time propose the suspension or adjournment of a meeting or the adjournment or closure of a debate. Such a motion shall be put to the vote immediately and decided upon by a majority of members present and voting.
Subject to the provisions of Rule 14 above, the following motions shall take precedence, in the following order, over all other proposals or motions:
(a) to suspend the meeting;
(b) to adjourn the meeting;
(c) to adjourn the debate on the matter under discussion;
(d) to close the debate on the matter under discussion.
Each member of the Committee shall have one vote.
17.1 Decisions shall be taken by a majority of the members present and voting, except in the cases specified in Rules 21 and 22.
17.2 In its deliberations the Committee should give precedence to seeking consensus.
17.3 For the purpose 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 18 - Show of hands and roll-call
Voting shall normally be by show of hands, except that any member
may, before the voting starts, request a roll-call. The vote or
abstention of each member participating in a roll-call shall be
recorded in the report.
All elections shall be by secret ballot unless, in the absence
of objections on the part of any one of its members, the Committee
decides otherwise.
Rule 20 - Equally divided votes
If a vote is equally divided, the proposal shall be regarded as
rejected.
These Rules of Procedure, except when they reproduce provisions
of the Committee's Statutes or decisions of the General Conference,
may be amended by a decision of the Committee taken by a two-thirds
majority of the members present and voting, provided that the
proposal for amendment has been placed on the agenda.
Any provision of these Rules, except when it reproduces provisions
of the Statutes or decisions of the General Conference, may be
suspended by a decision taken by a two-thirds majority of the
members present and voting.
Art. 8.3 of the Statutes
The Committee shall present reports on its work and its recommendations
to the Director-General and to the Intergovernmental Council for
the General Information Programme.