Procedure at International Conferences Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the second edition
- List of abbreviations and conference references
- Introduction
- 1 Historical development of rules of procedure of conferences and attempts to establish model rules
- 2 Adoption of rules of procedure
- 3 Rules of procedure and international law
- 4 Invitations, participation and credentials
- 5 Presiding officer and other officers of the conference
- 6 Meetings
- 7 Statements by delegations
- 8 Submission of proposals
- 9 Adjournment and closure of debate
- 10 Amendments
- 11 Withdrawal and reconsideration of motions
- 12 Procedural motions and points of order
- 13 Priorities between different proposals
- 14 Decision taking and method of voting
- 15 Majority required
- 16 Consensus
- 17 Separate votes
- 18 Conduct of voting – interruption of voting and correction of vote
- 19 Languages, records and documents
- 20 Committees
- 21 Suspension and amendment of rules of procedure
- Bibliography
- Index
16 - Consensus
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the second edition
- List of abbreviations and conference references
- Introduction
- 1 Historical development of rules of procedure of conferences and attempts to establish model rules
- 2 Adoption of rules of procedure
- 3 Rules of procedure and international law
- 4 Invitations, participation and credentials
- 5 Presiding officer and other officers of the conference
- 6 Meetings
- 7 Statements by delegations
- 8 Submission of proposals
- 9 Adjournment and closure of debate
- 10 Amendments
- 11 Withdrawal and reconsideration of motions
- 12 Procedural motions and points of order
- 13 Priorities between different proposals
- 14 Decision taking and method of voting
- 15 Majority required
- 16 Consensus
- 17 Separate votes
- 18 Conduct of voting – interruption of voting and correction of vote
- 19 Languages, records and documents
- 20 Committees
- 21 Suspension and amendment of rules of procedure
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Defining consensus
The UNGA rules of procedure do not refer to consensus. The UN Model Rules propose:
Rule 51
Consensus
1. The Conference shall make every effort to ensure that its decisions on all matters of substance are taken by consensus or general agreement, or otherwise without a vote.
2. Notwithstanding any measures that may be taken in compliance with paragraph 1, a proposal or motion before the Conference shall be voted on if a representative so requests.
Decision making by consensus is a fairly recent innovation in the procedure of international conferences and there is, as yet, no clear agreement as to its significance.
Skubiszewski refers to three meanings of consensus:
Means of adopting a resolution.
A kind of agreement, often loosely formulated, which concludes the deliberations, usually conducted in an organ or by a conference.
Consensus is said to perform the role of a law formative agency other than custom or treaty.
The present analysis centres on the first meaning, namely ‘means of adopting a resolution’.
In order to avoid voting, and thus raising the issue of States that were in arrears, the UNGA, at its Nineteenth Session, adopted a ‘no objection’ system described by Plant as being ‘tantamount to unanimity’. The system was in reality decision making by consensus and the President of the session explicitly referred to the fact that ‘decisions were taken on the basis of a non-voting consensus’.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Procedure at International ConferencesA Study of the Rules of Procedure at the UN and at Inter-governmental Conferences, pp. 335 - 346Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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