RULES OF PROCEDURE (from
Annex III of the decisions adopted at COP-1)
Rules of procedure for meetings of the
Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
PURPOSES
Rule 1
These rules of procedure shall apply to any meeting of the Conference
of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal convened in accordance
with article 15 of the Convention.
DEFINITIONS
Rule 2
For the purposes of these rules:
1. "Convention" means the Basel
Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and their Disposal, adopted on 22 March 1989;
2. "Parties" means, unless the text otherwise indicates, Parties
to the Convention;
3. "Conference of the Parties to the Convention" means the
Conference of the Parties established in accordance with article 15 of the
Convention;
4. "Meeting of the Conference of the
Parties" means the meeting of the Parties convened in accordance with
article 15 of the Convention;
5. "Political and/or economic
integration organization" means an organization defined in article 2,
paragraph 20, of the Convention;
6. "President" means the
President elected in accordance with rule 21, paragraph 1, of the present
rules of procedure;
7. "Secretariat" means the
international organization designated as Secretariat of the Convention by
the Conference of the Parties to the Convention in accordance with
paragraph 3 of article 16 of the Convention;
8. "Meeting" means any ordinary
or extraordinary meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
PLACE OF MEETINGS
Rule 3
The meetings of the Conference of the Parties shall take place at the
seat of the Secretariat, unless other appropriate arrangements are made by
the Secretariat in consultation with the Parties.
DATES OF MEETINGS
Rule 4
1. Ordinary meetings of the Conference of the Parties shall be held
every other year, unless the Parties decide otherwise.
2. At each ordinary meeting, the Conference
shall decide on the date and duration of the next ordinary meeting.
3. Extraordinary meetings of the Conference
of the Parties shall be convened at such times as may be deemed necessary
by a meeting of the Conference of the Parties, or at the written request
of any Party, provided that, within six months of the request being
communicated to them by the Secretariat, it is supported by at least one
third of the Parties.
4. In the case of an extraordinary meeting
convened at the written request of a Party, it shall be convened not more
than ninety days after the date at which the request is supported by at
least one third of the Parties in accordance with paragraph 3 of this
rule.
Rule 5
The Secretariat shall notify all Parties of the dates and venue of the
meetings at least two months before the meeting.
OBSERVERS
Rule 6
1. The Secretariat shall notify the United Nations and its specialized
agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency and any State and any
political and/or economic integration organization not party to the
Convention of any meeting so that they may be represented by observers.
2. Such observers may, upon invitation of
the President, and if there is no objection from at least one third of the
Parties present, participate without the right to vote in the proceedings
of any meeting.
Rule 7
1. The Secretariat shall notify any body or agency, whether national
or international, governmental or non-governmental, qualified in fields
relating to the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes as well as
their management and disposal, which has informed the Secretariat of its
wish to be represented, of any meeting so that they may be represented by
observers, subject to the condition that their admission to the meeting is
not objected to by at least one third of the Parties present at the
meeting.
2. Such observers may, upon invitation of
the President, and if there is no objection from at least one third of the
Parties present, participate without the right to vote in the proceedings
of any meeting in matters of direct concern to the body or agency they
represent.
AGENDA
Rule 8
In agreement with the President, the Secretariat shall prepare the
provisional agenda of each meeting.
Rule 9
The provisional agenda of each ordinary meeting shall include:
1. Items specified in article 15 of the
Convention;
2. Items the inclusion of which has been decided at a previous meeting;
3. Items referred to in rule 15 of the present rules of procedure;
4. Any item proposed by a Party before the Agenda is circulated.
5. The provisional budget as well as all questions pertaining to the
accounts and financial arrangements.
Rule 10
The provisional agenda, together with supporting documents, for each
ordinary meeting shall be distributed by the Secretariat to the Parties at
least two months before the opening of the meeting.
Rule 11
The Secretariat shall, with the agreement of the President, include
any question suitable for the agenda which may arise between the dispatch
of the provisional agenda and the opening of the meeting in a
supplementary provisional agenda, which the meeting shall examine together
with the provisional agenda.
Rule 12
The meeting when adopting the agenda may add, delete, defer or amend
items. Only items which are considered by the meeting to be urgent and
important may be added to the agenda.
Rule 13
The provisional agenda for an extraordinary meeting shall consist only
of those items proposed for consideration in the request for the holding
of the extraordinary meeting. It shall be distributed to the Parties at
the same time as the invitation to the extraordinary meeting.
Rule 14
The Secretariat shall report to the meeting on the administrative and
financial implications of all substantive agenda items submitted to the
meeting, before they are considered by it. Unless the meeting decides
otherwise, no such item shall be considered until at least forty-eight
hours after the meeting has received the Secretariat's report on the
administrative and financial implications.
Rule 15
Any item of the agenda of an ordinary meeting, consideration of which
has not been completed at the meeting, shall be included automatically in
the agenda of the next ordinary meeting, unless otherwise decided by the
Conference of the Parties.
REPRESENTATION AND CREDENTIALS
Rule 16
Each Party participating in the meeting shall be represented by a
delegation consisting of a head of delegation and such other accredited
representatives, alternate representatives and advisers as may be
required.
Rule 17
An alternate representative or an adviser may act as a representative
upon designation by the head of delegation.
Rule 18
The credentials of representatives and the names of alternate
representatives and advisers shall be submitted to the Executive Secretary
of the meeting if possible not later that twenty-four hours after the
opening of the meeting. Any later change in the composition of the
delegation shall also be submitted to the Executive Secretary. The
credentials shall be issued either by the Head of State or Government or
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs or, in the case of a regional political
and/or economic integration organization, by the competent authority of
that organization.
Rule 19
The officers of any meeting shall examine the credentials and submit
their report to the meeting.
Rule 20
Pending a decision of the meeting upon their credentials
representatives shall be entitled to participate provisionally in the
meeting.
OFFICERS
Rule 21
1. At the commencement of the first session of each ordinary meeting,
a President, three Vice-Presidents and a Rapporteur are to be elected from
among the representatives of the Parties present at the meeting. They will
serve as the bureau of the meeting. In electing its bureau, the meeting of
the Conference of the Parties shall have due regard to the principle of
equitable geographical representation. The offices of President and
Rapporteur of the meeting of the Conference of the Parties shall normally
be subject to rotation among the five groups of States referred to in
section I, paragraph 1, of General Assembly resolution 2997(XXVII) of 15
December 1972, by which the United Nations Environment Programme was
established.
2. The President, three Vice-Presidents and
the Rapporteur elected at an ordinary meeting shall remain in office until
their successors are elected at the next ordinary meeting and shall serve
in that capacity at any intervening extraordinary meetings. Exceptionally,
one or more of these officers may be re-elected for one further
consecutive term.
3. The President shall participate in the
meeting in that capacity and shall not at the same time exercise the
rights of a representative of a Party. In such a case, the President or
the Party concerned shall designate another representative who shall be
entitled to represent the Party in the meeting and to exercise the right
to vote.
Rule 22
1. In addition to exercising the powers conferred upon him elsewhere
by these rules, the President shall declare the opening and closing of the
meeting, preside at the sessions of the meeting, ensure the observance of
these rules, accord the right to speak, put questions to the vote and
announce decisions. The President shall rule on points of order and,
subject to these rules, shall have complete control of the proceedings and
over the maintenance of order thereat. The President may propose to the
Conference of the Parties the closure of the list of speakers, a
limitation on the time to be allowed to speakers and on the number of
times each representative may speak on a question, the adjournment or the
closure of the debate and the suspension or the adjournment of a session.
2. The President, in the exercise of his
functions, remains under the authority of the Conference of the Parties.
Rule 23
If the President is temporarily absent from a session or any part
thereof, he shall designate a Vice-President to act as President.
Rule 24
If an officer of the bureau resigns or is otherwise unable to complete
his term of officer or to perform his functions, a representative of the
same Party shall be named by the Party concerned to replace him for the
remainder of his mandate.
Rule 25
At the first session of each ordinary meeting, the President of the
previous ordinary meeting, or in his absence, a Vice-President, shall
preside until the meeting has elected a President for the meeting.
COMMITTEES AND WORKING GROUPS
Rule 26
1. The meeting may establish such committees or working groups as may
be required for the transaction of its business.
2. The meeting may decide that such committees or working groups may meet
in the period between ordinary meetings.
3. Unless otherwise decided by the meeting, the chairman for each such
committee or working group shall be elected by the meeting. The meeting
shall determine the matters to be considered by each such committee or
working group and may authorize the President, upon the request of the
chairman of a committee or working group, to adjust the allocation of
work.
4. Without prejudice to paragraph 3 of this rule, each committee or
working group shall elect its own officers.
5. A majority of the Parties designated by the meeting to take part in the
committee or working group shall constitute a quorum, but in the event of
the committee or working group being open-ended, one quarter of the
Parties shall constitute a quorum.
6. Unless otherwise decided by the meeting, these rules shall apply mutatis
mutandis to the proceedings of committees and working groups, except
that:
(a) The chairman of a committee or working
group may exercise the right to vote; and
(b) Decisions of committees or working groups shall be taken by a majority
of the Parties present and voting, except that the reconsideration of a
proposal or of an amendment to a proposal shall require the majority
established by rule 38.
SECRETARIAT
Rule 27
1. The head of the international organization designated as
Secretariat of the Convention shall be the Secretary-General of any
meeting. He may delegate his functions to a member of the Secretariat. He
or his representative, shall act in that capacity in all sessions of the
meeting and in all sessions of committees or working groups of the
meeting.
2. The Secretary-General shall appoint an
Executive Secretary of the meeting and shall provide and direct the staff
required by the meeting and the committees or working groups of the
meeting.
Rule 28
The Secretariat shall, in accordance with these rules:
(a) Arrange for interpretation at the
meeting;
(b) Receive, translate, reproduce and distribute the documents of the
meeting;
(c) Publish and circulate the official documents of the meeting;
(d) Make and arrange for keeping of sound recordings of the meeting;
(e) Arrange for the custody and preservation of the documents of the
meeting in the archives of the international organization designated as
Secretariat of the Convention; and
(f) Generally perform all other work that the meeting may require.
CONDUCT OF BUSINESS
Rule 29
Sessions of the meeting and of committees and working groups
established by the meeting shall be held in private, unless the meeting
otherwise decides.
Rule 30
The President may declare a session of the meeting open, permit the
debate to proceed and have any decisions taken when representatives of at
least two thirds of the Parties are present.
Rule 31
1. No one may speak at a session of the meeting without having
previously obtained the permission of the President. Without prejudice to
rules 32, 33, 34 and 36, the President shall call upon speakers in the
order in which they signify their desire to speak. The Secretariat shall
be in charge of drawing up a list of speakers. The President may call a
speaker to order if his remarks are not relevant to the subject under
discussion.
2. The meeting may, on a proposal from the President or from any Party,
limit the time allowed to each speaker and the number of times each
representative may speak on a question. Before a decision is taken, two
representatives may speak in favour of and two against a proposal to set
such limits. When the debate is limited and a speaker exceeds the allotted
time, the President shall call him to order without delay.
Rule 32
The chairman or rapporteur of a committee or working group may be
accorded precedence for the purpose of explaining the conclusions arrived
at by his committee or working group.
Rule 33
During the discussion of any matter, a representative may at any time
raise a point of order which shall be decided immediately by the President
in accordance with these rules. A representative may appeal against the
ruling of the President. The appeal shall be put to the vote immediately
and the ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of the Parties
present and voting. A representative may not, in raising a point of order,
speak on the substance of the matter under discussion.
Rule 34
Any motion calling for a decision on the competence of the meeting to
discuss any matter or to adopt a proposal or an amendment to a proposal
submitted to it shall be put to the vote before the matter is discussed or
a vote is taken on the proposal or amendment in question.
Rule 35
Proposals and amendments to proposals shall normally be introduced in
writing by the Parties and handed to the Secretariat, which shall
circulate copies to delegations. As a general rule, no proposal shall be
discussed or put to the vote at any session unless copies of it have been
circulated to delegations not later than the day preceding the session.
The President may, however, permit the discussion and consideration of
amendments to proposals or of procedural motions even though these
amendments or motions have not been circulated or have been circulated
only the same day.
Rule 36
1. Subject to rule 33, the following motions shall have precedence, in
the order indicated below, over all other proposals or motions:
(a) To suspend a session;
(b) To adjourn a session;
(c) To adjourn the debate on the question under discussion; and
(d) For the closure of the debate on the question under discussion.
2. Permission to speak on a motion falling within (a) and (d) above shall
be granted only to the proposer and, in addition, to one speaker in favour
of and two against the motion, after which it shall be put immediately to
the vote.
Rule 37
A proposal or motion may be withdrawn by its proposer at any time
before voting on it has begun, provided that the motion has not been
amended. A proposal or motion withdrawn may be reintroduced by any other
Party.
Rule 38
When a proposal has been adopted or rejected, it may not be
reconsidered at the same meeting, unless the meeting, by a two-thirds
majority of the Parties present and voting, decides in favour of
reconsideration. Permission to speak on a motion to reconsider shall be
accorded only to the mover and one other supporter, after which it shall
be put immediately to the vote.
VOTING
Rule 39
1. Except as provided for in paragraph 2 of this rule, each Party
shall have one vote
2. Political and/or economic integration organizations, in matters within
their competence, shall exercise their right to vote with a number of
votes equal to the number of their member States which are Parties. Such
organizations shall not exercise their right to vote if their member
States exercise theirs, and vice versa.
Rule 40
1. The Parties shall make every effort to reach agreement on all
matters of substance by consensus. If all efforts to reach consensus have
been exhausted and no agreement reached, the decision shall, as a last
resort, be taken by a two-thirds majority vote of the Parties present and
voting, unless otherwise provided by the Convention, the financial rules
referred to in paragraph 3 of article 15 of the Convention and the present
rules of procedure.
2. Decisions a meeting on matters of procedure shall be taken by a simple
majority vote of the Parties present and voting.
3. If the question arises whether a matter is one of procedural or
substantive nature, the President shall rule on the question. An appeal
against this ruling shall be put to the vote immediately and the
President's ruling shall stand unless overruled by a majority of the
Parties present and voting.
4. If on matters other than elections a vote is equally divided, a second
vote shall be taken. If this vote is also equally divided, the proposal
shall be regarded as rejected.
5. For the purposes of these rules, the phrase "Parties present and
voting" means Parties present at the session at which voting takes
place and casting an affirmative or negative vote. Parties abstaining from
voting shall be considered as not voting.
Rule 41
If two or more proposals relate to the same question, the meeting,
unless it decides otherwise, shall vote on the proposals in the order in
which they have been submitted. The meeting may, after each vote on a
proposal, decide whether to vote on the next proposal.
Rule 42
Any representative may request that any parts of a proposal or of an
amendment to a proposal be voted on separately. If objection is made to
the request for division, the President shall permit two representatives
to speak, one in favour of and the other against the motion, after which
it shall be put immediately to the vote.
Rule 43
If the motion referred to in rule 42 is adopted, those parts of a
proposal or of an amendment to a proposal which are approved shall then be
put to the vote as a whole. If all the operative parts of a proposal or
amendment have been rejected the proposal or amendment shall be considered
to have been rejected as a whole.
Rule 44
A motion is considered to be an amendment to a proposal if it merely
adds to, deletes from, or revises parts of that proposal. An amendment
shall be voted on before the proposal to which it relates is put to the
vote, and if the amendment is adopted, the amended proposal shall then be
voted on.
Rule 45
If two or more amendments are moved to a proposal, the meeting shall
first vote on the amendment furthest removed in substance from the
original proposal, then on the amendment next furthest removed
therefrom,and so on, until all amendments have been put to the vote. The
President shall determine the order of voting on the issue in question.
Rule 46
Voting, except for election, shall normally be by show of hands. A
roll-call vote shall be taken if one is requested by any Party. It shall
be taken in the English alphabetical order of the names of the Parties
participating in the meeting, beginning with the Party whose name is drawn
by lot by the President. However, if at any time a Party requests a secret
ballot, that shall be the method of voting on the issue in question.
Rule 47
The vote of each Party participating in a roll-call vote shall be
recorded in the relevant documents of the meeting.
Rule 48
After the President has announced the beginning of voting, no
representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in
connection with the actual conduct of the voting. The President may permit
the Parties to explain their votes, either before or after the voting. The
President may limit the time to be allowed for such explanations. The
President shall not permit the proposer of a proposal or of an amendment
to a proposal to explain his vote on his own proposal or amendment, except
if it has been amended.
Rule 49
All elections shall be held by secret ballot, unless otherwise decided
by the meeting.
Rule 50
1. If, when one person or one delegation is to be elected, no
candidate obtains in the first ballot a majority of the votes cast by the
Parties present and voting, a second ballot restricted to the two
candidates obtaining the largest number of votes shall be taken. If in the
second ballot the votes are equally divided, the President shall decide
between the candidates by drawing lots.
2. In the case of a tie in the first ballot among three or more candidates
obtaining the largest number of votes, a second ballot shall be held. If a
tie results among more than two candidates, the number shall be reduced to
two by lot and the balloting, restricted to them, shall continue in
accordance with the procedure set forth in paragraph 1 of this rule.
Rule 51
1. When two or more elective places ar to be filled at onetime under the
same conditions, those candidates, not exceeding the number of such
places, obtaining in the first ballot the largest number of votes and a
majority of the votes cast by the Parties present and voting shall be
deemed elected.
2. If the number of candidates obtaining such majority is less than the
number of persons or delegations to be elected, there shall be additional
ballots to fill the remaining places, the voting being restricted to the
candidates obtaining the greatest number of votes in the previous ballot,
to a number not more than twice the places remaining to be filled,
provided that, after the third inconclusive ballot, votes may be cast for
any eligible person or delegation.
3. If three such unrestricted ballots are inconclusive, the next three
ballots shall be restricted to the candidates who obtained the greatest
number of votes in the third of the unrestricted ballots, to a number not
more than twice the places remaining to be filled, and the following three
ballots thereafter shall be unrestricted, and so on until all the places
have been filled.
LANGUAGES
Rule 52
The official languages of the meetings shall be Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Rule 53
1. Statements made in an official language of the meeting shall be
interpreted into the other official languages.
2. A representative may speak in a language other than an official
language of the meeting, if he provides for interpretation into one such
official language.
Rule 54
Official documents of the meetings shall be drawn up in one of the
official languages and translated into the other official languages.
SOUND RECORDS OF THE MEETING
Rule 55
Sound records of the meeting, and whenever possible of its committees
and working groups, shall be kept by the Secretariat in accordance with
the practice of the United Nations.
AMENDMENTS TO RULES OF PROCEDURE
Rule 56
1. These rules of procedure may be amended by consensus by the
Conference of the Parties.
2. Paragraph 1 of this rule shall likewise apply in case the Conference of
the Parties deletes an existing rule of procedure or adopts a new rule of
procedure.
OVERRIDING AUTHORITY OF THE CONVENTION
Rule 57
In the event of any conflict between any provision of these rules and
any provision of the Convention, the Convention shall prevail. |
