Contents:

• Composition
• Sessions
• Presidency
• Agenda
• Deliberations - Quorum - Vote
• Secretariat
• Adoption and Amendment of Rules
  

RULE 1

The Executive Committee shall be composed of the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council, twelve members elected and the President of the Co-ordinating Committee of the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians in conformity with Article 23 of the Statutes.

RULE 2

1. A member of the Executive Committee who is unable to participate in a session may be replaced by another representative of the Union Member concerned, duly mandated for that purpose; if the President of the Co-ordinating Committee of the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians who is an ex officio member of the Executive Committee is unable to attend, she may be replaced by the First Vice-President or the Second Vice-President of the Co-ordinating Committee, as the case may be.

2. If a member of the Executive Committee dies, resigns or ceases to be a parliamentarian, such a member shall be substituted for or replaced in the manner stipulated in Article 23, paragraph 5, of the Statutes.

3. The number of substitutes may not exceed half of the participants at a session.

RULE 3

1. The Executive Committee shall meet in ordinary session at least twice a year on convocation by the President of the Council.

2. It shall be convened in extraordinary session if the President deems it necessary or if two of its members so request.

RULE 4

1. The Executive Committee shall fix the place and date of its ordinary sessions.

2. The place and date of extraordinary sessions shall be fixed by the President in agreement, whenever possible, with the members of the Committee.

RULE 5

1. The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council shall preside ex officio over the Executive Committee.

2. A Vice-President of the Executive Committee shall be appointed by the Executive Committee each year at its last session to replace the President of the Council in case of the latter's absence, or to exercise the latter's functions until the election of a new President by the Council in case of resignation, loss of parliamentary mandate, death or of the suspension of the affiliation of the Member of the Union to which the President belongs.

RULE 6

1. The President shall open, adjourn and close the meetings, direct the work of the Committee, ensure respect for the Rules, call upon members to speak, put matters to the vote, announce the results of the voting and declare sessions closed. The President's decisions on these matters shall be final and shall be accepted without debate.

2. The President shall make a decision in all cases not covered by these Rules, such decision to be based on the general rules of procedure contained in the Rules of the Inter-Parliamentary Council.

RULE 7

1. The provisional agenda of each session shall be fixed by the Secretary General in agreement with the President. It shall be communicated to the members of the Committee at least one month before the opening of each ordinary session.

2. A member of the Executive Committee may request the inclusion of supplementary items in the agenda.

3. The definitive agenda of each session shall be fixed by the Executive Committee at the opening of each session.

RULE 8

The members of the Executive Committee shall deliberate in private.

RULE 9

The Executive Committee may hold valid deliberations and take valid decisions only if six members or regularly appointed substitutes are present.

RULE 10

1. The members of the Executive Committee or their regularly appointed substitutes shall have one vote each.

2. The President shall participate in the voting only if the votes are equally divided.

RULE 11

1. The Executive Committee shall normally vote by show of hands. However, if the President deems it necessary or if one member of the Committee so requests, a secret ballot shall be held.

2. Subject to the provisions of Rule 15, the Executive Committee shall take all its decisions by a majority of the votes cast.

3. In calculating the number of votes cast, only positive and negative votes shall be taken into consideration.

RULE 12

1. In the interval between sessions, the President, acting through the Secretary General, shall, if necessary, consult the Executive Committee by correspondence.

2. For the results of this consultation to constitute a valid decision, the Secretariat must have received replies from at least six members of the Committee within 20 days of the date of despatch of the communication by which they were consulted.

RULE 13 (cf. Secretariat, Rule 6)

1. The Secretary General or the Secretary General's representative shall assist the President in directing the work of the Executive Committee.

2. The Secretary General or the Secretary General's representative may speak on any question under consideration.

RULE 14

1. The Secretariat of the Union shall receive or prepare all documents necessary to the deliberations of the Committee and shall distribute them to its members in English and French. It shall ensure the simultaneous interpretation of the debates in these two languages, as well as in Arabic and Spanish.

2. It shall prepare provisional summary records of the sessions which shall be sent to the members of the Committee within 40 days of the close of each session and submitted for their approval at the opening of the next session.

RULE 15

1. The Committee shall adopt and amend its Rules by an absolute majority of the members or substitutes present at the time of the vote.

2. Proposals to amend the Rules of the Executive Committee must be formulated in writing and sent to the Secretariat of the Union at least three months before the next meeting of the Committee. The Secretariat shall immediately communicate such proposals, as well as any proposals for sub-amendments, to the members of the Committee.