Part-sessions
of the Assembly and meetings of committees, the Bureau and the Standing
Committee organised in a hybrid or remote manner
Rule 68Hybrid
or remote Assembly sessions
68.1. In exceptional
circumstances which do not allow a part-session to be held under
normal conditions, namely in the physical presence of all members,
the Bureau of the Assembly may convene a part-session to be held
in a hybrid manner (combined remote and in-person participation
of members) or by electronic means of remote communication. The
initiative to convene such a part-session may be taken by the President
of the Assembly, by the Presidential Committee or at the request
of at least one third of the national delegations representing at
least half of the members of the Assembly. It
is for the Bureau to determine the existence of exceptional circumstances
and to decide in which manner the part-session shall be held (in
a hybrid manner or by electronic means of remote communication). The decision
of the Bureau shall be taken by a simple majority of the votes cast
with a quorum of one third of the members.
68.2. Exceptional circumstances
refer to events such as armed conflict or acts of war, acts of terrorism,
disturbances of public order of a political or social nature (riot,
insurrection), a major sanitary crisis, a pandemic or epidemic,
or a natural, environmental or technological disaster, which, by
their unusual scale and gravity, are likely to expose members of
the Assembly to direct and immediate danger or potential risk, likely
to endanger their safety, security or health, or to be a serious
impediment to their travel to the seat of the Council of Europe.
68.3. When
drawing up the draft agenda for a part-session to be held in a hybrid
manner or remotely, in accordance with Rule 27.3.
, the Bureau shall fix its dates and
duration, taking account of organisational and technical constraints.
68.4. The existing rules governing the
functioning of the Assembly shall fully apply to part-sessions and
sittings of the Assembly held in a hybrid manner or remotely, unless
otherwise stipulated as follows:
68.4.a. the
credentials of representatives and substitutes shall be transmitted
to the President of the Assembly not later than one week before
the opening of a part-session (Rule 6.1.
); a delegation which fails to meet this
deadline may submit its credentials at the next part-session or
Standing Committee meeting;
68.4.b. in the event of a challenge
to a delegation’s still unratified credentials (Rules
and
), the President or Vice-President chairing
a sitting held in a hybrid manner or remotely shall invite those
members who support the challenge to indicate their support by using
the available voting system;
68.4.c. the
participation of substitutes authorised to sit and vote in place
of absent representatives shall be notified not later than three
working days before the opening of a part-session and shall be for
the whole duration of this part-session (Rules 12
and 40.1.
);
68.4.d. with
regard to the amendment procedure (Rule 34
):
- amendments shall
be tabled at least two working days before the opening of the sitting
concerned and sub-amendments shall be tabled before the beginning
of the sitting preceding the sitting concerned;
- amendments with a scanned
handwritten or an electronic signature shall be admissible;
- the President or Vice-President
chairing a sitting shall strictly interpret Rule
on the consideration of oral amendments;
- members who object to
an oral amendment or oral sub-amendment being taken into consideration
shall indicate their position using the available voting system;
- if a committee has not
been able to take a position on amendments to its report that have
been tabled, the floor shall be given to the rapporteur;
68.4.e. the application of
Rule 29.2.
(and Rule 30.2.
for committees) on
simultaneous interpretation in sittings in a language other than
the official or working languages shall be suspended;
68.4.f. the application of Rules 40.4.
to 40.8.
shall be suspended with regard to the
roll-call procedure as well as the display of results in the Chamber
and the automatic publication of members’ individual votes on the
Assembly’s website, if these are not technically feasible;
68.4.g. when a request is made to
ascertain whether there is a quorum (Rule 42
), the
President or Vice-President chairing the sitting shall invite those
members who support the request (at least one sixth of the representatives
of the Assembly authorised to vote, belonging to at least five national
delegations) to indicate their support by using the available voting
system;
68.4.h. members, whether they
are seated in the Chamber in person or connected remotely, shall
register on the list of speakers (Rule 35.2.
) using the same existing electronic
system; the list of speakers shall be closed 24 hours before the
opening of the sitting concerned:
68.4.i. the
list of speakers called upon to speak, whether they are only connected
remotely, or some are connected remotely and others are sitting
in person, shall be drawn up in strict compliance with the criteria
of political, geographical, national and gender balance; the President
of the Assembly shall assess the application of these criteria when
drawing up the list of speakers for each debate;
68.4.j. the speaking time during the sittings
is modified as follows: rapporteurs shall have ten minutes to present
their report and three minutes to reply; members shall have one
minute for questions to guest speakers, the presentation of an amendment
or a procedural motion, or a point of order (speaking time for speakers,
rapporteurs for opinion and committee chairpersons remains unchanged
at three minutes);
68.4.k. undelivered
speeches (Rule 31.2.
) may
only be published in the verbatim report if the registered speakers
who are remotely connected can report their actual presence during the
debate concerned at the closure of the debate.
