Representatives and substitutes
Rule 8Challenge
of still unratified credentials on substantive grounds
8.1. The
unratified credentials of a national delegation as a whole may be
challenged on the substantial grounds set out in paragraph 2 by:
8.1.a. at least thirty
members of the Assembly present in the Chamber, belonging to at
least five national delegations, or
8.1.b. a report of the
Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member
States (Monitoring Committee).
The authors shall state the reasons for the challenge.
8.2. The
substantive grounds on which credentials may be challenged are:
8.2.a. serious violation
of the basic principles of the Council of Europe mentioned in Article 3
of, and the Preamble
to,
the Statute; or
8.2.b. persistent failure
to honour obligations and commitments and lack of co-operation in the
Assembly’s monitoring procedure.
8.3. Credentials
which are challenged on substantive grounds at the opening of a
part-session or of a meeting of the Standing Committee shall be
referred without debate to the appropriate committee for report
and to the Committee on Rules, Ethics and Immunities for opinion. They
may also be referred, if necessary, to other committees
for opinion. The committee shall report within twenty-four hours
if possible and the Assembly shall consider it as soon as possible.
These deadlines do not apply to the Standing Committee.
8.4. Any report
of the Monitoring Committee calling into question the unratified
credentials of a national delegation shall be placed on the agenda
for a part-session, or the agenda of a meeting of the Standing Committee,
to be debated not later than twenty-four hours after the opening
of the part-session or as one of the first items on the agenda of
the Standing Committee.
