Procedure at International Conferences A Study of the Rules of Procedure at the UN and at Inter-governmental 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
21 - Suspension and amendment of rules of procedure
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 July 2009
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
Summary
Suspension of rules of procedure
The UN Model Rules propose:
Rule 84
Suspension
Any of these rules or any of its supplementary rules may be suspended by the Conference, provided that twenty-four hours' notice of the proposal for the suspension has been given, which may be waived if no representative objects; subsidiary organs may by unanimous consent waive rules pertaining to them. Any such suspension shall be limited to a specified and stated purpose and to a period required to achieve that purpose, and shall not be inconsistent with the decisions of the General Assembly taken to achieve administrative simplification and budgetary savings in the conduct of conferences, with any decisions of the convening organ, or with the rights of States participating in the Conference but temporarily absent from a given meeting.
The wording up to, and including, the phrase ‘and to a period required to achieve that purpose’ has been adopted by most subsequent conferences. The final phrases of the proposed model rule have not been adopted.
There is no provision in the rules of procedure of the UNGA concerning their suspension. The Canadian representative to the Sixth Committee of the 1949 session of the UNGA raised the issue but did not press for any action.
Practice in international conferences as to suspension
Conforti comments, I believe correctly, that:
There is no doubt that, just as they are issued by the majority, rules of procedure can be modified by the same majority. However, it is necessary that the modification be general and abstract and that it be made only after an examination of the reasons that objectively make it necessary. […]
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- Procedure at International ConferencesA Study of the Rules of Procedure at the UN and at Inter-governmental Conferences, pp. 427 - 436Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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