Committees
Rule 44Appointment
of committees
44.1. At
the beginning of each ordinary session, the Assembly shall set up
the following general committees:
1. Committee on Political
Affairs and Democracy (81 seats),
2. Committee on Legal
Affairs and Human Rights (81 seats),
3. Committee on Social
Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development (81 seats),
4. Committee on Migration,
Refugees and Displaced Persons (81 seats),
5. Committee on Culture,
Science, Education and Media (81 seats),
6. Committee on Equality
and Non-Discrimination (81 seats),
7. Committee on the
Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the
Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) (85 seats),
8. Committee
on Rules, Ethics and Immunities (32 seats),
9. Committee on the Election of
Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (20 seats).
44.2. France,
Germany, Italy, Türkiye and the United Kingdom shall have four seats
in each of the first six committees.
Poland, Romania, Spain and Ukraine
shall have three seats in each of the first six committees.
Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria,
the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal,
Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland shall have two seats in each of the
first six committees.
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia,
Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, the Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia,
Norway, San Marino, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia shall have
one seat in each of the first six committees.
For each seat, the national delegation shall appoint a full
member and an alternate.
Delegations shall strive for equal representation between
women and men, whilst ensuring a minimum of one third of each sex
in their appointments to each committee.
44.3.a. For
the Monitoring Committee, the Committee on Rules, Ethics and Immunities
and the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court
of Human Rights, the Bureau shall appoint the members (and in the
case of the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European
Court of Human Rights also alternates) on the basis of candidatures
presented by the political groups and taking into account gender
balance and regional balance, by applying the apportionment ratio
based on the D’Hondt method. Two additional appointments to the
Committee on Rules, Ethics and Immunities are allocated from among
members of the Assembly who do not belong to any political group.
44.3.b. At the beginning of each
ordinary session, each political group shall present candidatures
to each of these committees, striving for equal representation between
women and men, whilst ensuring at least one third of each sex in
their nominations to each committee. The political groups shall
nominate the members with a view to ensuring a fair representation
of national delegations where applicable. The Bureau shall appoint members,
striving for equal representation between women and men, whilst
ensuring that each committee includes at least one third of each
sex.
44.3.c. Not more than two members
of a national delegation from a state under monitoring procedure
or involved in a post-monitoring dialogue may sit on the Monitoring
Committee.
44.3.d. These nominations shall
be submitted to the Assembly or the Standing Committee for ratification.
In the event of
objection, the matter shall be referred back to the Bureau, which
may submit revised nominations to the Assembly.
44.4.a. The Assembly
may also set up ad hoc committees for specific purposes. A motion
to set up an ad hoc committee is considered by the
Bureau. If the Bureau approves it, it refers the proposal to the
committee concerned by the proposal’s subject matter, for report,
and to the Committee on Rules, Ethics and Immunities, for opinion.
An ad hoc committee should include
at least 40% of each sex, whilst striving for equal representation
between women and men.
44.4.b. An ad hoc committee
shall cease to exist after its report has been considered by the
Assembly.
44.5. Subject
to ratification by the Assembly or the Standing Committee, the Bureau
of the Assembly may also set up ad hoc committees reporting
to it, in which case it shall prescribe their duration, terms of
reference and composition. An ad hoc committee should
include at least 40% of each sex, whilst striving for equal representation
between women and men. An account of their work shall be given to
the Assembly as part of the Progress Report of the Bureau and the
Standing Committee. However, reports on the observation of elections
may be presented to the Assembly or the Standing Committee.
44.6. Substitutes,
like representatives, may be appointed members of a committee.
44.7. No member
of the Assembly can be a full member of more than two committees,
with the exception of committees whose members are nominated by
the political groups.
44.8. Without
prejudice to Rule 44.3.a.
,
candidatures for membership of the committees shall be addressed
to the President of the Assembly, who shall submit to the Assembly,
the Standing Committee or, failing that, the Bureau proposals for
their composition. Any disputed nominations shall be forwarded by
the President of the Assembly to the national delegation concerned. If
confirmed proposals or new proposals are disputed, the Assembly
or the Standing Committee shall decide.
44.9. If,
without prejudice to Rule 44.3.a.
,
no candidatures for membership of a committee are submitted by a
national delegation by the end of the June part-session of a parliamentary year,
the President of the Assembly shall bring this to the attention
of the chairperson of the national delegation concerned.
44.10. Where
a seat is vacant on a committee other than the Monitoring Committee,
the Committee on Rules, Ethics and Immunities and the Committee
on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights,
it may be provisionally occupied by a representative or substitute
from the national delegation to which the seat is allotted, the
representative or substitute being appointed by the chairperson
of that delegation.
44.11. If, without prejudice
to Rule 44.3.a.
, in the course
of a parliamentary year
the average level
of participation of a national delegation in the meetings of a committee
is below 33%, the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly
shall inform the President of the Assembly, the chairperson of the
Committee on Rules, Ethics and Immunities and the chairperson of
the national delegation concerned. The President of the Assembly
shall bring this to the attention of the speaker of the national
parliament concerned and the Bureau of the Assembly.
