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Rules for Regional Meetings NB
Articles 1. Composition
of Regional Meetings Rules for Regional Meetings Text adopted by the Governing Body at its 1. Each Regional Meeting shall be composed of two Government delegates, one Employers' delegate, and one Workers' delegate for each State or territory invited by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office to be represented at it. Acceptance by a State or territory of an invitation to be represented at a Regional Meeting implies that it assumes responsibility for the travel and subsistence expenses of its tripartite delegation. 2. (1) Delegates may be accompanied by advisers and by such additional advisers as may be appointed by a State as representatives of non-metropolitan territories for whose international relations the State is responsible. (2) Any delegate may by notice in writing addressed to the Chairperson appoint one of his or her advisers to act as his or her substitute. (3)An adviser who is acting as substitute for his/her delegate may speak and vote under the same conditions as the delegate who is being replaced. 3. Ministers from States or territories represented at the Meeting or from constituent States or provinces thereof whose departments deal with the questions discussed by the Meeting and who are not delegates or advisers may also attend the Meeting. 4. Employers' and Workers' delegates and advisers shall be chosen in agreement with the industrial organizations, if such organizations exist, which are most representative of the employers or workers as the case may be in the State or territory concerned. 5. Any Member of the International Labour Organization from a different region and any State which is not a Member of the International Labour Organization which has been invited by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office may be represented at the Meeting by an observer delegation. 6. Liberation movements recognized by the Organization of African Unity or the League of Arab States which have been invited by the Governing Body may be represented at the Meeting by an observer delegation. 7. Representatives of official international organizations and of non-governmental international organizations which have been invited by the Governing Body, either individually or as a result of a standing arrangement, to be represented at the Meeting may attend it as observers. Article 2 The Governing Body
shall establish the agenda for the Regional Meetings. Article
3 Subject to any specific
indication by the Governing Body to the contrary, the decisions of Regional
Meetings shall take the form of resolutions on matters relating to the
item(s) on the agenda, conclusions or reports addressed to the Governing
Body. Article
4 1. The International Labour Office shall prepare a report on the item(s) on the agenda designed to facilitate an exchange of views on the issues referred to the Meeting. 2.
The report shall be dispatched by the Office so as to reach governments
at least two months before the opening of the Meeting. The Officers
of the Governing Body may approve shorter intervals if exceptional circumstances
so require. Article
5 1. Each Regional Meeting shall elect as Officers a Chairperson and three Vice-Chairpersons. For the election of the Chairperson, account should be taken of the need to afford all Members and groups the opportunity to hold office. 2.
The three Vice-Chairpersons shall be elected by the Meeting on the nomination
of the Government, Employers' and Workers' delegates respectively. Article
6 1. It shall be the duty of the Chairperson to declare the opening and closing of the sittings, to bring before the Meeting any communication which may concern it, direct the debates, maintain order, ensure the observance of the present Rules, put questions for decision and announce the results of any voting. 2. The Chairperson shall not take part in the debates and shall not vote, but may appoint a substitute in accordance with article 1, paragraph 2(2), of these Rules. 3. If the Chairperson is absent during any sitting or part of a sitting he or she shall be replaced by one of the Vice-Chairpersons, who shall act in rotation. 4. A Vice-Chairperson acting as Chairperson shall have the same rights and duties as the Chairperson. 5.
The Officers of the Meeting shall arrange its programme of work, organize
the discussions, determine, where appropriate, a time limit for speeches
and fix the date and time of the sittings of the Meeting and of its
subsidiary bodies, if any; they shall report to the Meeting on any controversial
matter requiring a decision for the proper conduct of its business. The Director-General of the International Labour Office,
being charged with the organization of the Meeting, is responsible for
the secretariat-general of the Meeting and the secretariat services
under its control, either directly or through a deputy appointed by
him. Each Regional Meeting shall appoint a Credentials Committee and any other subsidiary body as the Meeting may consider appropriate. Any such subsidiary body shall operate mutatis mutandis under the Rules applicable to the Meeting, unless the Meeting decides otherwise. 1. The credentials of delegates and their advisers at Regional Meetings shall be deposited with the International Labour Office at least fifteen (15) days before the date fixed for the opening of the Meeting. 2. The Credentials Committee shall consist of one Government delegate, one Employers' delegate and one Workers' delegate. 3. The Credentials Committee shall examine the credentials of delegates and their advisers and any objection alleging that an Employers' or Workers' delegate or adviser has not been nominated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 of article 1 of these Rules. The Committee may also consider any complaint alleging that a Member has failed to carry out its responsibility in accordance with article 1, paragraph 1, to pay travel and subsistence expenses of the tripartite delegation. 4. An objection shall not be receivable in the following cases: (a) if the objection is not lodged with the secretariat of the Meeting by 11 a.m. on the first day of the Meeting, unless the Committee considers that there were valid reasons why the time limit could not be respected; (b) if the authors of the objection remain anonymous; (c) if the objection is based upon facts or allegations identical to those which the International Labour Conference or an earlier Regional Meeting has already discussed and recognized to be irrelevant or devoid of substance. 5.
The Credentials Committee shall promptly submit its report on each objection
to the Meeting, which may request the Office to bring the report(s)
to the attention of the Governing Body.
Article
10 1. No delegate shall address the Meeting without having asked and obtained the permission of the Chairperson, who shall normally call upon speakers in the order in which they have signified their desire to speak. 2. The Director-General of the International Labour Office or his or her representative may, with the permission of the Chairperson, address the Meeting. 3. Persons entitled to take part in the Meeting in accordance with paragraphs 3, 5 or 6 of article 1, and representatives of official international organizations may, with the permission of the Chairperson, address the Meeting during any discussion in plenary. 4. Representatives of non-governmental international organizations entitled to take part in the Meeting in virtue of paragraph 7 of article 1 may, with the permission of the Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons, make or circulate statements for information of the Meeting on matters included in its agenda. If agreement cannot be reached, the Chairperson shall refer the matter to the Meeting for decision without discussion. 5. The Chairperson may withdraw the right to speak from any speaker whose remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion. 6.
Except with the unanimous consent of the Officers of the Meeting, no
speech shall exceed five minutes. Article
11 1. Subject to the following rules, any delegate may move any motion, resolution or amendment. 2. No motion, resolution or amendment shall be discussed unless and until it has been seconded. 3. (1) Motions as to procedure may be moved without previous notice and without the handing of a copy to the secretariat of the Meeting. They may be moved at any time except after the Chairperson has called upon a speaker and before the speaker has terminated his speech. (2) Motions as to procedure include the following: (a) a motion to refer the matter back; (b) a motion to postpone consideration of the question; (c) a motion to adjourn the sitting; (d) a motion to adjourn the debate on a particular question; (e) a motion for the closure of the discussion. 4. (1) No resolution shall be moved at any sitting of the Meeting unless a copy has been handed in to the secretariat of the Meeting on the previous day. (2) Any resolution thus handed in shall be translated and circulated by the secretariat not later than during the sitting preceding that at which it is to be discussed. (3) Amendments to a resolution may be moved without previous notice if a copy of the text of the amendment is handed in to the secretariat of the Meeting before the amendment is moved. 5. (1) Amendments shall be voted on before the resolution to which they refer. (2) If there are several amendments to a motion or resolution, the Chairperson shall determine the order in which they shall be discussed and put to the vote, subject to the following provisions: (a) every motion, resolution or amendment shall be put to the vote; (b) amendments may be voted on either individually or against other amendments as the Chairperson may decide, but if amendments are voted on against other amendments, the motion or resolution shall be deemed to be amended only after the amendment receiving the largest number of affirmative votes has been voted on individually and adopted; (c) if a motion or resolution is amended as the result of a vote, that motion or resolution as amended shall be put to the Meeting for a final vote. 6. Any amendment may be withdrawn by the person who moved it unless an amendment to it is under discussion or has been adopted. Any amendment so withdrawn may be moved without previous notice by any other delegate. 7. Any delegate may at any time draw attention to the fact that the rules are not being observed, and the Chairperson shall give an immediate ruling on any question so raised. 1. Subject to the provisions of article 13, paragraph 4, of the Constitution of the International Labour Organization, every delegate shall be entitled to vote individually on all matters which are under consideration by the Meeting. 2. If one of the Members represented fails to nominate one of the non-government delegates whom it is entitled to nominate, the other non-government delegate shall be allowed to sit and speak at the Meeting, but not to vote. 3. Decisions shall, whenever practicable, be taken by consensus. In the absence of consensus duly ascertained and announced by the Chairperson, decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of the votes cast by the delegates who are present at the sitting and entitled to vote. 4. Voting shall normally be by show of hands. 5. A vote is not valid if the total number of votes cast for and against is less than half the total number of delegates at the Meeting entitled to vote. 6. The vote shall be recorded by the secretariat and announced by the Chairperson. 7.
No resolution, conclusion, report, amendment or motion shall be adopted
if the number of votes cast for and the number of votes cast against
it are equal. 1. The Governing Body shall determine the working languages of the Meeting. 2.
The secretariat shall make arrangements for interpretation and for translation
of documents into and from other languages, taking into account the
composition of the Meeting and the facilities and staff available. Subject to these Rules each group shall control its own procedure. *** NB. See also the Introductory Note adopted by the Governing Body at its 283rd Session (March 2002). |