Challenge on procedural grounds of the still unratified credentials of the parliamentary delegation of the Slovak Republic
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 26 January 2017 (7th Sitting) (see Doc. 14247, report of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities
and Institutional Affairs, rapporteur: Mr Jordi Xuclà; and Doc. 14252, opinion of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
rapporteur: Ms Elena Centemero). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 26 January 2017 (7th Sitting).
1. On 23 January 2017, at the opening
of the Parliamentary Assembly session, the still unratified credentials
of the parliamentary delegation of the Slovak Republic were challenged
on procedural grounds, in accordance with Rule 7.1 of the Assembly’s
Rules of Procedure, on the ground that the delegation 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
the 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. The Assembly
also recalls its
Resolution 2111 (2016) “Assessing
the impact of measures to improve women's political representation”
and its support for the principle of gender parity as the ultimate
goal in political representation.
3. The Assembly notes that the composition of the Slovak delegation
does not fulfil the conditions laid down in Rule 6.2.a of the Rules of Procedure and
that its credentials have been legitimately challenged. It notes
that the delegation has stated that it undertakes to ensure full
compliance with the condition laid down by the Rules of Procedure
at the earliest opportunity.
4. Accordingly, the Assembly decides to ratify the credentials
of the Slovak parliamentary delegation, but to suspend the voting
rights of its members in the Assembly and its bodies in accordance
with Rule 10.1.c of the Rules
of Procedure, with effect from the beginning of the Assembly’s April
2017 part-session, if the composition of the delegation has not
been brought into conformity with Rule 6.2.a of
the Rules of Procedure insofar as it relates to the appointment
in the delegation of, at a very minimum, one member of the under-represented
sex as a representative.
