Distr.
GENERAL
FCCC/CP/1996/2
22 May 1996
Original: ENGLISH
CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES
Second session
Geneva, 8 - 19 July 1996
Item 4 (b) of the provisional agenda
1. Pursuant to Article 7.3 of the Convention, "the Conference of the Parties shall, at its first session, adopt its own rules of procedure as well as those of the subsidiary bodies established by the Convention ... ." The present document contains the draft rules of procedure which were previously contained in document A/AC.237/L.22/Rev.2. In this regard, the footnote to rule 30 which was inadvertently omitted in that document has been incorporated into the present document.
2. As decided by the Conference of the Parties (COP) at the start
of its first session, the draft rules of procedure are at present
being applied by the COP and its subsidiary bodies, with the
exception of draft rule 42: "Voting" (see FCCC/CP/1995/7, para. 10),
which appears in bold type in the present document. The President of
the Conference conducted consultations on the rules during the first
session and, towards the end of the session, undertook to continue
such consultations with a view to advancing consensus before the
second session of the Conference (FCCC/CP/1995/7, para. 14). The
President will report to the second session on the results of her
consultations.
3. The Conference is invited to adopt its rules of procedure at
its second session.
GE.96
These rules of procedure shall apply to any session of the
Conference of the Parties to the Convention convened in accordance
with Article 7 of the Convention.
For the purposes of these rules:
1. "Convention" means the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted at New York on 9 May 1992 and opened for signature in Rio de Janeiro on
4 June 1992;
2. "Parties" means Parties to the Convention;
3. "Conference of the Parties" means the Conference of the Parties established by
Article 7 of the Convention;
4. "Session" means any ordinary or extraordinary session of the
Conference of the Parties convened in accordance with Article 7 of
the Convention;
5. "Regional economic integration organization" means an organization defined in
Article 1, paragraph 6 of the Convention;
6. "President" means the President of the Conference of the
Parties elected in accordance with Rule 22, paragraph 1 of these
rules;
7. "Secretariat" means the permanent secretariat designated by the
Conference of the Parties in accordance with Article 8, paragraph 3
of the Convention.
8. "Subsidiary body" means those bodies established by Articles 9
and 10 of the Convention, as well as any body, including committees
and working groups, established pursuant to Article 7(2)(i) of the
Convention.
The sessions of the Conference of the Parties shall take place at
the seat of the secretariat, unless the Conference of the Parties
decides otherwise or other appropriate arrangements are made by the
secretariat in consultation with the Parties.
1. Ordinary sessions of the Conference of the Parties shall be
held once every year, unless the Conference of the Parties decides
otherwise.
2. At each ordinary session, the Conference of the Parties shall
decide on the date and duration of the next ordinary session. The
Conference of the Parties should endeavour not to hold such a session
at a time which would make the attendance of a significant number of
delegations difficult.
3. Extraordinary sessions of the Conference of the Parties shall
be held at such times as may be deemed necessary by 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, in a
timely manner, by the secretariat, it is supported by at least one
third of the Parties.
4. In the case of an extraordinary session held at the written
request of a Party, it shall be held 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.
The secretariat shall notify all Parties of the dates and venue of
a session at least two months before the session is
held.
1. The United Nations, its specialized agencies, any international
entity or entities entrusted by the Conference of the Parties
pursuant to Article 11 of the Convention with the operation of the
financial mechanism, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, as
well as any State member thereof or observers thereto not Party to
the Convention, may be represented at sessions of the Conference of
the Parties as observers.
2. Such observers may, upon invitation of the President,
participate without the right to vote in the proceedings of any
session, unless at least one third of the Parties present at the
session object.
1. Any body or agency, whether national or international,
governmental or non-governmental, which is qualified in matters
covered by the Convention and which has informed the secretariat of
its wish to be represented at a session of the Conference of the
Parties as an observer may be so admitted unless at least one third
of the Parties present at the session object.
2. Such observers may, upon invitation of the President,
participate without the right to vote in the proceedings of any
session in matters of direct concern to the body or agency they
represent, unless at least one third of the Parties present at the
session object.
The secretariat shall notify those entitled to be observers
pursuant to Rules 6 and 7 above of the date and venue of any session
scheduled by the Conference of the Parties so that they may be
represented by observers.
In agreement with the President, the secretariat shall draft the
provisional agenda of each session.
The provisional agenda for each ordinary session shall include, as
appropriate:
(a) Items arising from the articles of the Convention, including
those specified in Article 7 therein;
(b) Items the inclusion of which has been decided at a previous
session;
(c) Items referred to in Rule 16 of the present rules of
procedure;
(d) Any item proposed by a Party and received by the secretariat
before the provisional agenda is circulated;
(e) The proposed budget as well as all questions pertaining to the
accounts and financial arrangements.
For each ordinary session, the provisional agenda, together with
supporting documents, shall be distributed in the official languages
by the secretariat to the Parties at least six weeks before the
opening of the session.
The secretariat shall, in agreement with the President, include
any item which is proposed by a Party and has been received by the
secretariat after the provisional agenda has been produced, but
before the opening of the session, in a supplementary provisional
agenda.
The Conference of the Parties when adopting the agenda may decide
to add, delete, defer or amend items. Only items which are considered
by the Conference of the Parties to be urgent and important may be
added to the agenda.
The provisional agenda for an extraordinary session shall consist
only of those items proposed for consideration in the request for the
holding of the extraordinary session. It shall be distributed to the
Parties at the same time as the invitation to the extraordinary
session.
The secretariat shall report to the Conference of the Parties on
the administrative and budgetary implications of all substantive
agenda items submitted to the session, before they are considered by
it. Unless the Conference of the Parties decides otherwise, no such
substantive agenda item shall be considered until at least
forty-eight hours after the Conference of the Parties has received
the report of the secretariat on the administrative and budgetary
implications.
Any item of the agenda of an ordinary session, consideration of
which has not been completed at the session, shall be included
automatically in the agenda of the next ordinary session, unless
otherwise decided by the Conference of the Parties.
Each Party participating in a session shall be represented by a
delegation consisting of a head of delegation and such other
accredited representatives, alternate representatives and advisers as
it may require.
An alternate representative or an adviser may act as a
representative upon designation by the head of
delegation.
The credentials of representatives as well as the names of
alternate representatives and advisers shall be submitted to the
secretariat if possible not later than twenty-four hours after the
opening of the session. Any later change in the composition of the
delegation shall also be submitted to the secretariat. 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
economic integration organization, by the competent authority of that
organization.
The Bureau of any session shall examine the credentials and submit
its report to the Conference of the Parties.
Representatives shall be entitled to participate provisionally in
the session, pending a decision by the Conference of the Parties to
accept their credentials.
1. At the commencement of the first meeting of each ordinary
session, a President, seven Vice-Presidents, the Chairmen of the
subsidiary bodies established by Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention,
and a Rapporteur shall be elected from among the representatives of
the Parties present at the session. They will serve as the Bureau of
the session. Each of the five regional groups shall be represented by
two Bureau members and one Bureau member shall represent the small
island developing states. The offices of President and Rapporteur
shall normally be subject to rotation among the five regional
groups.
2. The officers referred to in paragraph 1 above, shall remain in
office until their successors are elected at the next ordinary
session and shall serve in that capacity at any intervening
extraordinary sessions. No officer may serve on the Bureau for more
than two consecutive terms of one year.
3. The President shall participate in the session in that capacity
and shall not at the same time exercise the rights of a
representative of a Party. The Party concerned shall designate
another representative who shall be entitled to represent the Party
in the session and to exercise the right to vote.
1. In addition to exercising the powers conferred upon the
President elsewhere by these rules, the President shall declare the
opening and closing of the session, preside at the meetings of the
session, 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.
2. 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 meeting.
3. The President, in the exercise of the functions of that office,
remains under the authority of the Conference of the
Parties.
The President, if temporarily absent from a meeting or any part
thereof, shall designate a Vice-President to act as President. The
President so designated shall not at the same time exercise the
rights of a representative of a Party.
If an officer of the Bureau resigns or is otherwise unable to
complete the assigned term of office or to perform the functions of
that office, a representative of the same Party shall be named by the
Party concerned to replace the said officer for the remainder of that
officer's mandate.
At the first meeting of each ordinary session, the President of
the previous ordinary session, or in the absence of the President, a
Vice-President, shall preside until the meeting has elected a
President for the session.
1. These rules shall apply mutatis mutandis to the
proceedings of the subsidiary bodies.
2. The Conference of the Parties may establish, in accordance with
Article 7.2(i), such subsidiary bodies as are deemed necessary for
the implementation of the Convention.
3. In the case of a subsidiary body that is not open-ended, a
majority of the Parties designated by the Conference of the Parties
to participate therein shall constitute a quorum.
4. The Conference of the Parties shall decide on the dates of the
sessions of the subsidiary bodies, taking note of the desirability of
holding such sessions in conjunction with the sessions of the
Conference of the Parties.
5. Unless the Conference of the Parties decides otherwise, the
Chairman of any subsidiary body other than those established by
Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention, shall be elected by that
subsidiary body from among the representatives of the Parties present
at the session. The Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and Rapporteurs of such
subsidiary bodies shall be elected with due regard to the principle
of equitable geographical representation and shall not serve for more
than two consecutive terms of one year.
6. Each subsidiary body shall elect its own Vice-Chairman and
Rapporteur.
7. Subject to Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention, the Conference
of the Parties shall determine the matters to be considered by each
subsidiary body and may authorize the President, upon the request of
the Chairman of a subsidiary body, to adjust the allocation of
work.
1. The head of the secretariat of the Convention, or the
representative of the head of the secretariat, shall act in that
capacity in all sessions of the Conference of the Parties and of its
subsidiary bodies.
2. The head of the secretariat of the Convention shall arrange for
the provision of staff and services required by the Conference of the
Parties and its subsidiary bodies, within available resources. The
head of the secretariat of the Convention shall manage and direct
such staff and services and provide appropriate support and advice to
the presiding and other officers of the Conference of the Parties and
of its subsidiary bodies.
In addition to the functions specified in Article 8 of the
Convention, the secretariat shall in accordance with these
rules:
(a) Arrange for interpretation at the session;
(b) Receive, translate, reproduce and distribute the documents of
the session;
(c) Publish and distribute the official documents of the
session;
(d) Make and arrange for keeping of sound recordings of the
session;
(e) Arrange for the custody and preservation of the documents of the
session; and
(f) Perform all other work that the Conference of the Parties may
require.