Special guests, observers, partners
for democracy and other
guests
Rule 62Special guests
62.1. The Bureau may
grant special guest status to national parliaments of European non-member
States which have applied for membership of the Council of Europe.
62.2. Any formal request for special
guest status shall be addressed to the President of the Parliamentary
Assembly by the President of the parliament concerned.
62.3. If
the Bureau, having consulted the Committee on Political Affairs
and Democracy, approves such a request, the President of the Parliamentary
Assembly shall invite the parliament concerned to assume special
guest status.
62.4. The number of members of
a special guest delegation, which shall not exceed eighteen, shall
be the same (without substitutes) as the number of seats likely
to be appropriate were the special guest state to become a full
member of the Council of Europe. This number shall be fixed by the
Bureau, on the proposal of the Committee on Political Affairs and
Democracy.
62.5. In so far
as the size of its delegation allows, a parliament with special
guest status shall appoint members so as to ensure a fair representation
of the political parties or groups in that parliament.
62.6. The
credentials of members of special guest delegations shall be sent
to the President of the Parliamentary Assembly if possible not less
than one week before the opening of the session. These credentials
shall be submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly for ratification
at the same time as those of representatives and substitutes.
Credentials of members
of special guest delegations may be contested on stated grounds
based on paragraph 1 above. Contested credentials shall be referred
without debate to a joint meeting of the Committee on Political
Affairs and Democracy and the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities
and Institutional Affairs, presided over by the chairperson of the
Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs.
These committees shall report to the Bureau as soon as possible.
62.7. Members
of special guest delegations may sit in the Assembly but without
the right to vote. They shall have the right to speak with the authorisation
of the President of the Assembly.
62.8. Members
of special guest delegations may participate in committee meetings
as provided in Rule 48.5.
.
They may submit to the committee chairperson proposals concerning
the draft agenda of committee meetings and proposals for amendments
to draft texts examined in these meetings. The committee chairperson
shall decide on any further action. They may sign motions for resolutions
and recommendations and written declarations. However, they shall
not be taken into account for the number of signatures required.
Members of special guest delegations may participate in the work
of political groups according to the conditions established by the
groups.
62.9. The
Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, or at least twenty
members, may request of the President that special guest status
be suspended or withdrawn. The President shall immediately inform
the Bureau of any such request. If the request was not made by the
Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, the President shall
forthwith seek that committee’s opinion which shall forward it to
the Bureau.
62.10. The
members of the Bureau shall be informed of the consideration of
such a matter at least two weeks before the meeting of the Bureau
at which it will take place. The decision of the Bureau shall be
taken by a two-thirds majority.
62.11. Where
special guest status has been withdrawn, the parliament concerned
shall make a further formal request if it wishes to assume this
status again. Suspension of special guest status may be lifted by
the Bureau deciding by a two-thirds majority if it considers that
the conditions having led to the suspension no longer exist.
