Challenge on procedural grounds of the still unratified credentials of the parliamentary delegations of Montenegro, San Marino and Serbia

Resolution 1789 (2011)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 26 January 2011 (6th Sitting) (see Doc. 12488, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs, rapporteur: Mr Haibach). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 January 2011 (6th Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. On 24 January 2011, the still unratified credentials of the parliamentary delegations of Montenegro, San Marino and Serbia were challenged on procedural grounds, in accordance with Rule 7.1 of the Parliamentary Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, on the ground that their delegations comprised no female representative, in violation of Rule 6.2.a of the Rules of Procedure.

2. The Parliamentary Assembly reiterates its commitment to promoting a balanced representation of women and men in political and public decision making and to applying the principle of gender equality in its internal structures, in particular by encouraging a balanced representation of women and men in national delegations.

3. The Assembly notes that the composition of the three delegations in question does not fulfil the conditions laid down in Rule 6.2.a of its Rules of Procedure and that their credentials have been legitimately challenged. It notes that the delegations have stated that it had been impossible for them to satisfy the condition laid down by the Rules of Procedure in the time available and that they undertake to ensure full compliance at the earliest opportunity.

4. Accordingly, the Assembly decides:

4.1 with regard to the credentials of the delegation of Montenegro, to ratify the credentials of the parliamentary delegation, but to suspend the voting rights of its members in the Assembly and its bodies in accordance with Rule 7.3.c of the Rules of Procedure, with effect from the beginning of the Assembly’s April 2011 part-session, until the composition of this delegation is brought into conformity with Rule 6.2.a in so far as it relates to the appointment in a national delegation of, at a very minimum, one member of the under-represented sex as a representative;

4.2 with regard to the credentials of the delegation of San Marino, to ratify the credentials of the parliamentary delegation, but to suspend the voting rights of its members in the Assembly and its bodies in accordance with Rule 7.3.c of the Rules of Procedure, with effect from the beginning of the Assembly’s April 2011 part-session, until the composition of this delegation is brought into conformity with Rule 6.2.a in so far as it relates to the appointment in a national delegation of, at a very minimum, one member of the under-represented sex as a representative;

4.3 with regard to the credentials of the delegation of Serbia, to ratify the credentials of the parliamentary delegation, but to suspend the voting rights of its members in the Assembly and its bodies in accordance with Rule 7.3.c of the Rules of Procedure, with effect from the beginning of the Assembly’s April 2011 part-session, until the composition of this delegation is brought into conformity with Rule 6.2.a in so far as it relates to the appointment in a national delegation of, at a very minimum, one member of the under-represented sex as a representative.