1 PA (05) AA PPI E PRACTICAL AND PROCEDURAL INFORMATION Washington, D.C., 1 TO 5 JULY 2005

2 PRACTICAL AND PROCEDURAL INFORMATION Washington, D.C., 1-5 July 2005 This  document  seeks to give a brief and basic guide to the procedures of the Assembly and the practical arrangements relating to them. It is not exhaustive, and should be read in conjunction with the Rules of Procedure. General Committees The Rapporteur of each General Committee will present a report, which will form the basis of the debate in the General Committee. The text of the report is the responsibility of the Rapporteur, and should be prepared or approved by him or her. The Rapporteur will also present a draft resolution based on the conclusions and recommendations of the report. The draft resolution is subject to amendment by Members of the Assembly in accordance with the provisions of Rule 21(1) of the Rules of Procedure set out below. Amendments should relate to the subjects addressed by the Rapporteur in the Draft Resolution. Plenary Session The draft Final Document to be debated and adopted at the Plenary Session on  Tuesday, 5 July will be, in  principle,  a  composite  of  the  three  resolutions  of  the  General  Committees.  In  the  event  of incompatibilities  between  the  texts  adopted  by  the  General  Committees,  a  Drafting  Committee composed of the representatives of the three General Committees and others appointed by the President will seek to reconcile them (Rule 37 (3)). Speakers Members wishing to speak in the general debate in the Plenary Session on Monday, 4 July should  enter their names in a register provided for the purpose  in the Table Office at the latest before the opening of the sitting. No Member may speak for more than five minutes in the debate (Rule 25 (2 and 7). Election of Officers of the Assembly^* Elections of the Officers of the Assembly will be held on the last day of the Plenary Session, 5 July. All Officers will be elected by secret ballot (Rule 5(1-3)). In considering proposed candidates the Assembly shall take into account the national composition of the Assembly (Rule 4(9)). * For your convenience attached is a list of the Officers of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and its General Committees.

3 President The President will be elected for a period of one year, until the closure of the 2006 Annual Session (Rule 4(6)). The President may be re-elected only once to the same office (Rule 5(6)). President Alcee Hastings who was elected at the Edinburgh Session in 2004 is eligible for re-election. In accordance with Rule 5(1) “The President shall be elected by secret ballot and each Member entitled to vote may cast one vote. If, on the first ballot, no candidate has obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, a second ballot shall be held between the two candidates who obtain the most votes in the first ballot. The candidate who, on the second ballot, obtains the most votes shall be elected. In the event of a tie, the issue shall be decided by lot.” Vice-Presidents The Vice-Presidents may be re-elected once to the same office (Rule 5(6)). Vice-Presidents Barbara Haering (Switzerland), and Gert Weisskirchen (Germany) who have been elected once, are eligible for re-election. Vice-President Ihor Ostash (Ukraine) who has been elected twice, is not eligible for re- election. Therefore, there will be the election of three Vice-Presidents who will serve for three years until the end of the 2008 Annual Session. The procedure for the election of the Vice-Presidents will be the same as that for the election of the President (Rule 5(2)). The Assembly will vote on all three positions of Vice-Presidents simultaneously. The three candidates obtaining the greatest number of votes will serve for three years until the end of the 2008 Annual Session. Treasurer The Treasurer shall hold office from the close of the Annual Session in which he is elected  to the close of the second Annual Session thereafter (Rule 4(8)). The Treasurer may be re-elected twice to the same office (Rule 5(6)). Mr. Jerry Grafstein who was re-elected once as Treasurer of the Assembly for a two-year term at the Twelfth Annual Session in Rotterdam, is eligible for re-election for another two-year term. Therefore, there will be election of the Treasurer in Washington, D.C.

4 Elections of Officers Under  Rule  4(5),  candidates  for  the  offices  of  President  and  Vice-President  must  be  sponsored  in writing by twenty-five (25) or more Members of the Assembly. Nomination papers should be handed in at the Table Office no later than 10.00 a.m. on Monday, 4 July. In accordance with Rule 4 (5), the Bureau will verify the candidatures, prior to submission to the Assembly. The ballot will be held on Tuesday, 5 July between 09.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. (the procedure to be confirmed by the Standing Committee or the Bureau). The details of distribution of ballot papers, etc. will  be  announced  at  the  Washington  Session.  Each  Member  must  vote in person. The Chair will appoint three tellers to supervise the elections and count the ballots. If the number of the candidates nominated is less or equal to the number of the positions to be filled, the candidates shall be declared elected by acclamation. Election of General Committee Officers General Committees shall elect a Chair, a Vice-Chair and a General Rapporteur, who are the Officers of General Committees, at the close of the sitting at each Annual Session for the following year (Rule 34(5)). Candidates shall be sponsored in writing. Unless the General Committee decides otherwise, they shall be nominated before the opening of the last scheduled meeting of the General Committee during the Annual Session. The General Committee Officers shall be elected by a majority of votes cast in a secret ballot. If no candidate has obtained a majority, a second ballot shall be held between the two candidates having obtained the highest number of votes in the first ballot.  In the event of a tie, the issue shall be decided by lot.  If there is only one candidate nominated for an office the candidate shall be declared elected by acclamation. In the event of a vacancy arising during the course of the year, the Standing Committee may appoint a substitute. Voting Under Rule 30 (1), the Assembly shall vote by show of hands except in cases where a roll-call vote or secret ballot is required. Only affirmative and negative votes shall count in calculating the number of votes cast. The number of abstentions shall be recorded. Where the Assembly's accounts show that a Member country has not made its due contribution for a period of 9 months, Members of its delegation shall not be allowed to vote until the contribution has been received (Rule 39 (5)).

5 IMPORTANT: Please pay special attention to the Rules of Procedure and the deadlines regarding the submission of Supplementary and Urgency items and Amendments. Supplementary Items 1. “The agenda of the Annual Session may be supplemented by an item or a motion on any matter within the competence of the OSCE, which does not relate directly to subjects proposed by the General Rapporteurs to the three General Committees. Such supplementary item shall be in a form of a draft resolution and it shall be received at the Secretariat at least twenty-one days before  the  opening  of  the  first  plenary  session  with  signatures  of  at  least  twenty  Members representing at least four different countries. The first signatory of a supplementary item will be its principal sponsor. The Standing Committee shall decide by a two thirds majority of the votes cast whether to refer a supplementary item to the competent Committee or to submit it to the plenary of the Assembly. 2. If more than one supplementary item is presented on the same issue, the President may ask the principal sponsor of the draft resolution which was received first to consult the principal sponsors of the other draft resolutions on the same issue in order to present a compromise draft resolution. If such a compromise draft resolution is received at the Secretariat at least sixteen days before the opening of the first plenary session with signatures of the principal sponsors and at least half of the signatories of each of the two or more draft  resolutions in question, it shall be presented to the Annual Session as a supplementary item and all other draft resolutions on the same issue shall fall. The principal sponsor of the draft resolution which was received first shall be the principal sponsor of the compromise draft resolution. If there is no agreement on a compromise draft resolution, the draft resolution which was received first shall be presented to the Annual Session and others on the same issue shall fall.” Therefore, a supplementary item must be received at the International Secretariat in Copenhagen not later than on Friday, 10 June. A compromise draft resolution must be received at the International Secretariat in Copenhagen not later than on Wednesday, 15 June. Amendments:     The Standing Committee approved the Washington Programme, including the opening of the Inaugural Plenary Session of the Assembly  on Friday, 1 July. Members are reminded that paragraph 1 of Rule 21 (Amendments) of the Rules of Procedure states: “Amendments to the draft resolutions presented by the General Rapporteurs or to supplementary items shall be submitted in writing and signed by at least five Members representing at least two OSCE countries. Amendments to draft resolutions prepared by the General Rapporteurs shall be received at the Secretariat with the required signatures at least fourteen days before the opening of  the  first  plenary  session.  Amendments  to  supplementary  items  shall  be  received  at  the Secretariat with the required signatures at least seven days before the opening of the first plenary session. The first signatory of an amendment will be its principal sponsor.” Therefore, amendments to the Draft Resolutions must be received at the International Secretariat in

6 Copenhagen not later than on Friday, 17 June. Amendments to supplementary items must be presented to the International Secretariat in Copenhagen not later than on Friday, 24 June. It would be greatly appreciated if the attached forms could be used for submitting amendments. Compromise Amendments “A compromise amendment may be submitted in writing and signed by at least ten Members, representing  at  least  three  OSCE  countries,  including  at  least  two  principal  sponsors  of amendments already submitted in accordance with Rule 21 on the same issue to the same draft resolution. Any compromise amendment shall be submitted no later than 6 pm on the day of the opening of the plenary session. “ (Rule 22, paragraph 1) Members  are  also  reminded  of  certain  other  provisions of Rule 21 (Amendments) of the Rules of Procedure: - the amendments will be considered in the same Committee in which the resolution or supplementary item, to which the amendment relates, is considered. The Chair of the Committee shall decide whether the amendment is in order. If the Chair decides that the amendment is not in order because it is not relevant to the Committee’s area of competence or is not a compromise amendment in accordance with Rule 22, any sponsor of that amendment may refer the matter to the President. The President will determine which Committee is competent to deal with the amendment; - each amendment may only relate to one paragraph of the draft resolution presented by the Rapporteur; - amendments may be grouped for discussion; - where   there   are   two   or   more   amendments   relating   to   the  same  paragraph,  the amendments shall be voted in the following order: - amendments to delete the entire paragraph; - amendments to delete part of the paragraph; - amendments that amend the paragraph; - amendments that add to the paragraph Delegations are particularly requested NOT to present amendments which incorporate or  re-order large sections  of  the  original  Rapporteur’s  text.  It  is  necessary  in  order  to  allow  proper  debate  that  any amendments be addressed specifically to individual paragraphs of the Rapporteur’s text. Amendments should not take the form of alternative resolutions.

7 Urgency 1. Questions of urgency may be placed on the agenda of the Assembly at any time on the proposal of the Standing Committee, or in the absence of a meeting of the Standing Committee, on the proposal of the Bureau. Such questions of urgency must be pertinent to the OSCE process and relate to an event, which has taken place or come to public knowledge less than twenty-four days before the opening of the first plenary session. 2. Such question of urgency shall be in a form of a draft resolution and it shall be signed by at least twenty-five Members representing at least ten countries. The first signatory of the draft resolution shall be the principal sponsor of the question of urgency. 3 In the event of the Standing Committee or the Bureau deciding not to        recommend the inclusion of such an item on the agenda, the proposers       shall have the right to appeal in writing to the Assembly, which may decide by a majority of two thirds of the Members of the Assembly to place the proposal on the agenda.