OSCE, Alm.del - 2011-12 - Bilag 32: OSCE PA's årlige session i Monaco: Rraktik og procedurer

Election of the Officers of the Assembly……………………………. 2 - 4President of the Parliamentary Assembly………………………Vice-Presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly……………….Treasurer…………………………………………………………Election of the General Committee Officers……………………Voting……………………………………………………………..Voting cards………………………………………………………334445

Documents…………………………………………………………….. 5 - 8Supplementary Items…………………………………………….Amendments……………………………………………………...Compromise Amendments………………………………………Questions of Urgency……………………………………………Validation of Signatures…………………………………………Submission of Documents……………………………………….567788

OVERVIEWGeneral CommitteesThe Rapporteur of each General Committee will present a report which will form the basis of the debatein the General Committee. The text of the report is the responsibility of the Rapporteur, and should beprepared or approved by him or her.The Rapporteur will also present a draft resolution based on the report. The draft resolution, but not thereport, is subject to amendment by Members of the Assembly in accordance with the provisions of Rule22, paragraph 1 of the Rules of Procedure. Amendments should, therefore, relate only to the subjectsaddressed by the Rapporteur in the Draft Resolution.

Plenary SessionThe draft Final Document to be debated and considered at the Plenary Session onMonday, 9 July 2012will be, in principle, a composite of the three resolutions of the three General Committees. In the event ofincompatibilities between the texts adopted by the General Committees, a Drafting Committee composedof representatives of the three General Committees and others appointed by the President will seek toreconcile them (Rule 39, paragraph 3).List of Speakers for General DebateMembers wishing to speak in the general debate in the Plenary Session onSunday, 8 July 2012shouldenter their names in a register provided for that purpose in the Table Officebefore the opening of thesitting, at the latest.In all cases, the Chair shall determine the order in which Members shall be called tospeak. Unless the Chair decides to grant additional time, no Member may speak for more than fiveminutes or for no more than one minute on a point of order in the debate (Rule 27, paragraph 7).

Election of the President, Vice-Presidents and Treasurer will be held in Plenary on the last day of theAnnual Session,9 July 2012.These Officers will be elected by secret ballot (Rule 5, paragraphs 1-4).Inconsidering proposed candidates the Assembly shall take into account the national composition ofthe Assembly(Rule 4, paragraph 9).Under Rule 4, paragraph 5 candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President must be sponsoredin writing by twenty-five (25) or more Members of the Assembly. Nomination papers should be handedin atthe Table Office no later than 10.00 a.m. on Sunday, 8 July 2012.In accordance with Rule 4,paragraph 5 the Bureau will verify the candidatures prior to submission to the Assembly.2

The election will be held onMonday, 9 July 2012 between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.Details regardingdistribution of ballot papers and the organisation of the election will be announced during the MonacoSession. Proxy voting is not allowed. Each voting member shall cast their ballot in person.In accordance with Rule 31, paragraph 3 “a Member who has an unavoidable obligation to leave theAnnual Session before the day of the election of a President, Vice-President and a Treasurer has the rightto vote earlier, provided that he or she has notified the Assembly President accordingly in writing. Earlyvoting shall start only when all candidates have been duly nominated”.In accordance with Rule 32, paragraph 4 the Chair will appoint three tellers to supervise the elections andcount the ballots. All duly appointed candidates or those that represent them have the right to monitorvoting procedure, the counting of the ballot papers and the tabulation of the votes in all polling places.If the number of the candidates nominated is less or equal to the number of the positions to be filled, thecandidates shall be declared elected by acclamation.

President of the Parliamentary AssemblyThe President will be elected for a period of one year, until the closure of the 2013 Annual Session (Rule4, paragraph 6). The President may be re-elected only once to the same office (Rule 5, paragraph 6).ThePresident, Mr. Petros Efthymiou, who was elected at the Oslo Session in 2010 and re-elected at theBelgrade Session in 2011, is not eligible for re-election.In accordance with Rule 5, paragraph 1 “The President shall be elected by secret ballot and each Memberentitled to vote may cast one vote. If, on the first ballot, no candidate has obtained an absolute majority ofthe votes cast, a second ballot shall be held between the two candidates who obtain the most votes in thefirst ballot. The candidate who, on the second ballot, obtains the most votes shall be elected. In the eventof a tie, the issue shall be decided by lot.”

Vice-Presidents of the Parliamentary AssemblyIn Monaco there will be elections for three Vice-Presidents who will serve for three years until theend of the 2015 Annual Session and for one Vice-President who will serve for one year until the endof the 2013 Annual Session.Vice-President Benjamin CARDIN (USA): elected in Brussels in 2006 and re-elected in Vilniusin 2009 is not eligible for re-election.Vice-President Oleg BILORUS (Ukraine): elected in Washington in 2005 and re-elected inAstana in 2008 (Having temporarily left parliament in 2009 he only served one year of his secondterm). After a decision of the Bureau, Mr. Bilorus was allowed to run again in 2010 in Oslo wherehe was elected for a two-year term until the 2012 Annual Session.Vice-President Jean-Charles GARDETTO (Monaco): elected in Vilnius in 2009 is eligible for re-election3

The Vice-Presidents may be re-elected once to the same office (Rule 5, paragraph 6). A Vice-Presidentwho has served less than two three year terms is eligible for re-election (Rule 5, paragraph 7). TheAssembly will vote on all three positions of Vice-Presidents simultaneously. The three candidatesobtaining the greatest number of votes will serve for three years until the end of the 2015 Annual Session(Rule 4, paragraph 7), and the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes shall be elected to fillthe remaining unexpired term of the fourth Vice-President (Rule 5, Paragraph 2).

TreasurerThe Treasurer shall hold office from the close of the Annual Session in which he or she is elected to theclose of the second Annual Session thereafter (Rule 4, paragraph 8). The Treasurer may be re-electedtwice to the same office (Rule 5, paragraph 6).Mr. Roberto Battelli (Slovenia) was re-elected Treasurer of the Assembly at the 2011 Belgrade AnnualSession. In Monaco there will be no election for Treasurer.

Election of General Committee OfficersGeneral Committees shall elect a Chair, a Vice-Chair and a General Rapporteur, who are the Officers ofGeneral Committees, at the close of the sitting at each Annual Session for the following year (Rule 36,paragraph 5). Candidates shall be proposed in writing. Unless the General Committee decides otherwise,they shall be nominated before the opening of the last scheduled meeting of the General Committeeduring the Annual Session.The General Committee Officers shall be elected by a majority of votes cast in a secret ballot. If nocandidate has obtained a majority, a second ballot shall be held between the two candidates havingobtained the highest number of votes in the first ballot. In the event of a tie, the issue shall be decided bylot. If there is only one candidate nominated for an office, the candidate shall be declared elected byacclamation. In the event of a vacancy arising during the course of the year, the Standing Committee mayappoint a substitute (Rule 36, paragraph 5).

VotingUnder Rule 32, paragraph 1 the Assembly shall vote by a show of hands except in cases where a roll-callvote or secret ballot is required. Only affirmative and negative votes shall count in calculating the numberof 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 aperiod of 9 months, Members of its delegation shall not be allowed to vote until the contribution has beenreceived (Rule 41, paragraph 5).4

Voting CardsEach delegation will receive colour-coded voting cards for the three General Committees and for theplenaries.The voting cards for the three General Committees will be distributed according to Rule 36, paragraphs 2and 4. The OSCE PA International Secretariat will distribute the voting cards divided equally among theGeneral Committees to the extent possible. The difference between voting cards distributed for eachcommittee shall not exceed one.

Supplementary ItemsRule 21 of the Rules of Procedure states:1. The agenda of the Annual Session may be supplemented by an item or a motion on any matterwithin the competence of the OSCE, which does not relate directly to subjects proposed by theGeneral Rapporteurs to the three General Committees. Such a supplementary item shall be in theform of a draft resolution with signatures ofat least twenty Membersrepresentingat least fourdifferent countries.The first signatory of a supplementary item will be its principal sponsor.Asupplementary item must be received by the Secretariat after the General Rapporteurs havesubmitted their reports, but at least 35 days before the opening of the first plenary session.The Standing Committee shall decide by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast whether toinclude a supplementary item on the agenda of the Annual Session. The Standing Committeeshall then decide by a majority of votes cast whether to refer a supplementary item to thecompetent Committee or to submit it to the plenary.2. If more than one supplementary item is presented on the same issue, the President may ask theprincipal sponsors of the draft resolutions on the same issue to hold consultations in order topresent a compromise draft resolution. If such a compromise draft resolution is received at theSecretariatat least fourteen days before the opening of the first plenary sessionwithsignatures of the principal sponsors andat least ten signatories of each of the two or moredraft resolutions in question,it shall be presented to the Annual Session as a supplementaryitem and all other draft resolutions on the same issue shall fall. The principal sponsor of the draftresolution which was received first shall be the principal sponsor of the compromise draftresolution. If there is no agreement on a compromise draft resolution, the draft resolution whichwas received first shall be presented to the Annual Session and others on the same issue shall fall.

AmendmentsParagraph 1 of Rule 22 of the Rules of Procedure states:Amendments to the draft resolutions presented by the General Rapporteurs or to supplementaryitems shall be submitted in writing and signed byat least five Membersrepresentingat least twoOSCE countries.Amendments to the draft resolutions prepared by the General Rapporteurs shallbe received at the Secretariat with the required signaturesat least fourteen days before theopening of the first plenary session.Amendments to supplementary items shall be received atthe Secretariat with the required signaturesat least seven days before the opening of the firstplenary session.The first signatory of an amendment will be its principal sponsor.The forms for submitting amendments to supplementary items will be forwarded to you shortly.

Members are also reminded of certain other provisions of Rule 22 (Amendments) of the Rules ofProcedure:The Amendments will be considered in the same Committee in which the resolution, orsupplementary item, to which the Amendment relates, is considered. The Chair of the Committeeshall decide whether the Amendment is in order. If the Chair decides that the Amendment is notin order because it is not relevant to the Committee’s area of competence or is not a compromiseamendment in accordance with Rule 23, any sponsor of that Amendment may refer the matter tothe President. The President will determine which Committee is competent to deal with theAmendment;Each Amendment may only relate to one paragraph;If two or more Amendments relate to the same paragraph, they will be voted upon according tothe following order:

Compromise AmendmentsParagraph 1 of Rule 23 of the Rules of Procedure states:A compromise amendment may be submitted in writing and signed byat least ten Members,representingat least three OSCE countries,including at least two principal sponsors ofamendments already submitted in accordance with Rule 22 on the same issue to the same draftresolution.Any compromise amendment shall be submitted no later than 10 a.m. on the daybefore the Assembly or relevant Committee starts consideration of amendments.

Questions of UrgencyRule 26 of the Rules of Procedure states:1. Questions of urgency may be placed on the agenda of the Assembly at any time on the proposalof the Standing Committee, or in the absence of a meeting of the Standing Committee, on theproposal of the Bureau. Such questions of urgency must be pertinent to the OSCE process andrelate toan event, which has taken place or come to public knowledge less than twenty-fourdays before the opening of the first plenary session.2. Such question of urgency shall be in a form ofa draft resolution and it shall be signed by atleast twenty-five Members representing at least ten countries.The first signatory of the draftresolution 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 ofsuch an item on the agenda, the proposers shall have the right to appeal in writing to theAssembly, which may decide by a majority of two thirds of the Members of the Assembly toplace the proposal on the agenda.

OFFICERS OF THE OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLYMEMBERS OF THE BUREAUNameMr. Petros EfthymiouMr. Benjamin CardinMr. Jean-Charles GardettoMr. Oleh BilorusMr. Riccardo MiglioriMs. Isabel PozueloVacantMs. Walburga Habsburg DouglasMr. Tonino PiculaMr. Wolfgang GrossruckMr. Roberto BattelliMr. João SoaresSwedenCroatiaAustriaSloveniaPortugalCountryGreeceUSAMonacoUkraineItalySpainPositionPresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentVice-PresidentTreasurerPresident EmeritusTermTo end 2012 SessionTo end 2012 SessionTo end 2012 SessionTo end 2012 SessionTo end 2013 SessionTo end 2013 SessionTo end 2013 SessionTo end 2014 SessionTo end 2014 SessionTo end 2014 SessionTo end 2013 SessionTo end 2012 Session

I. GENERAL COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL AFFAIRS AND SECURITY

II. GENERAL COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

III. GENERAL COMMITTEE ON DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN QUESTIONS