Additional
provisions relating to Assembly debates
Additional
provisions relating to Assembly debates
(adopted by the Bureau of the Assembly on 25 March 2002 and
17 December 2007)
i.Organisation
of debates
In accordance with Rule 38
, the
modalities for the organisation of Assembly debates are as follows:
1. The time allotted
for debating – as well as voting – in the agenda in respect of each
report or group of reports should be adhered to. Therefore, the
general debate will have to be interrupted somewhat earlier, so
as to leave time for consideration of amendments and final voting
of all texts. The President may allow the sitting to continue beyond
the indicative closing times agreed by the Assembly if this is necessary
to complete the business the Assembly has agreed to take at those
sittings.
2. So that it may
be known in advance how long voting is likely to take, unless the
Bureau decides otherwise and except for debates under urgent procedure,
all amendments shall be tabled in accordance with the following
deadlines:
— for the first
day of a part-session, three hours before the opening of the sitting;
— for debates on
the second day, not later than 4 p.m. on the first day of the part-session;
— for debates on
the subsequent days of a part session, not later than twenty-three
and a half hours before the opening of the sitting at which the
debate is to begin.
Unless the Bureau decides otherwise,
sub-amendments must be tabled at least one hour before the scheduled
end of the sitting preceding that in which the debate begins.
3. If speakers whose
names have been duly entered on the list and who are actually present, are
not able to speak for lack of time, they shall be authorised to
hand in the text of their speech in writing, in a final and legible
form at the end of the debate, in one of the official or working languages,
for publication in the Official report, provided that it does not
exceed the speaking time they would have been allowed.
The text, in electronic format
and no longer than 400 words, shall be submitted to the Table Office
not later than four hours after the list of speakers is interrupted.
4. To ensure that
the speaking time is respected, the time available is displayed
and a bell rings when the time ends.
ii.List of speakers
In pursuance of Rule 35.2.
of the Rules of Procedure (Right to
speak) and of the provisions relating to the organisation of debates,
the following criteria will be applied for drawing up the list of
speakers:
1. Names will be
entered in the register in chronological order of the arrival date
and time of the request.
2. As soon as the
draft agenda of the part-session has been published, and up to the
closing date, names of members of the Assembly may be entered online
via the Pace‑apps platform, or, in the event of malfunctioning of
the application, sent by e‑mail (
[email protected]), by secretaries
of national delegations or secretaries of political groups, to the
Table Office of the Parliamentary Assembly. Names may not be entered
on the list of speakers for a debate under urgent procedure or a
current affairs debate until a specific request is placed on the
draft agenda.
3. Any subsequent
modification of a previous registration will be considered as a
new registration and the name concerned will be placed at the end
of the list.
4. The list of speakers
for a debate taking place during a morning sitting shall be closed
at 4.00 pm on the previous day, and for a debate taking place during
an afternoon sitting at 9.00 am the same day.
iii.Order of speakers
The order of speakers on the list for
each sitting will be determined according to the following criteria:
1. In a first round
all established Political Groups have the possibility to speak in
the order based on the number of members affiliated to their Group.
In the case of two or more Political Groups having the same number
of members, the order of members speaking on behalf of these groups
will be established on the basis of the membership of groups in
the last year before this situation has occurred.
2. A rotation between
the Political Groups will be ensured for the opening of each debate. This
rotation will be started anew at each Part-session.
3. After the first
round, the d’Hondt system will be applied taking also into account
the other criteria mentioned hereafter.
4. The order of speakers
will be governed by the d’Hondt system based on the same criteria as
those used for the distribution of chairmanships in Assembly committees.
The youth rapporteur for the committee for report, where registered
for that debate, will be included in the second round, applying
the d’Hondt system.
5. A maximum of two
speakers from the same national delegation (even if belonging to
a different Political Group) shall follow each other on the list.
This does not apply to members speaking on behalf of Political Groups,
to rapporteurs for report or for opinion and to the end of the list
of speakers when no alternation is possible.
6. If a member’s
name appears amongst the first 10 speakers after the first round
for more than one debate (or two debates in the case of youth rapporteurs),
the member shall appear further down the list the other times, unless
he/she has been unable to speak in the debate.
7. During one part-session,
members shall be entitled to enter their name on the register for a
maximum of five debates only, indicating an order of priority and
shall be allowed to address the Assembly during one Part-session
not more than three times. This does not apply to rapporteurs for
report or for opinion, committee chairpersons as part of their function
and to members speaking on behalf of Political Groups.
8. Subject to the provisions
of paragraph 14, the first half of a list of speakers shall not
include more than 50% of the members of a national delegation.
9. In the case of
a debate on a report particularly relevant to a member country,
a special guest, observer or partner for democracy country, the
list shall be drawn up in such a way as to allow for politically
balanced contributions from the countries concerned.
10. The ten members
who, during the previous Assembly part-session, have participated
in the highest number of votes taken in plenary shall be moved up
seven positions on the lists of speakers on which they have been
placed.
11. For the establishment
of the d’Hondt calculation for the order of speakers, Non Registered members
will be treated like a Political Group and inserted accordingly
in the list.
12. Members of special
guest, observer and partner for democracy delegations shall follow
on the list of speakers each time (with the exception of the first
round) after a member of the smallest Political Group has taken
the floor.
13. If a speaker
whose name is on the list is prevented from taking the floor during
the debate, and he/she has notified the Chair before he/she has
been called, the first on the list of subsequent speakers from the
same Group will be moved up in his/her place.
14. The drawing up
of the final list for a debate shall be the responsibility of the
President of the Assembly. The occupant of the Chair shall take
responsibility for any changes in the list which become necessary
during the debate. The final list of speakers may not include more members
of a delegation than the number of seats held by that delegation
in the Assembly.
iv.Speaking time
1. Speakers registered
for a debate, including youth rapporteurs, shall have three minutes’ speaking
time, unless the Bureau decides at the start of the part-session,
owing to a high number of registered speakers for a particular debate,
to reduce speaking time for that debate to two minutes. Speakers
on behalf of the political groups shall have three minutes’ speaking
time.
2. Rapporteurs shall
have a total of ten minutes, of which, indicatively, seven minutes
for the presentation of the report and three minutes for the reply
at the end of the debate. The co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee
shall have five minutes each to present their report and five minutes
to reply, to be shared between them.
Rapporteurs may, after the first round
of speakers on behalf of the political groups, request the floor
to reply; this speaking time shall be deducted from the time of
reply at the end of the debate.
3. Rapporteurs for
opinion shall have the same speaking time to present the opinion
as the speakers registered for the debate concerned. Rapporteurs
of the Bureau ad hoc committees on the observation of elections
shall have five minutes to present the report.
4. For the chairpersons
of committees submitting a report, the time for reply shall be three minutes
or two minutes if the speaking time has been reduced to two minutes
for the other speakers.
5. For statements
concerning an amendment or a procedural motion, thirty seconds.
v.Order No. 316
(adopted on 23 January 1971, Doc. 2858) on addresses
by guest speakers at plenary sittings of the Assembly
The Assembly,
1. Considering that
the time available for debates in plenary sitting is strictly limited
and that the number of addresses by guest speakers at such sittings
has increased considerably;
2. Considering also
that its debates must be conducted on the basis of the best available
information, and that such information can be provided by representatives
of national governments and international organisations;
3. Considering that
it must preserve its function as an international parliamentary
forum,
4. Instructs the
Bureau, in discharging its duties under Rule 16
(now Rule 27) of
the Rules of Procedure in matters relating to the preparation of
the agenda (and the order of business) for Assembly sessions, to
observe the following principles:
a. Under Rule 50.1
(now
Rule 58.1.) of the
Rules of Procedure, any member of the government of a member state
has the right of access to the Assembly and the right to speak;
this also applies to the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe;
b. Without prejudice
to Order No. 299 (1970) on the participation of parliamentarians from
non-member countries in debates on development co-operation, exchanges
of views during sessions with delegations from parliamentary and
inter-parliamentary assemblies of non-member states must remain
restricted to one a year, the position of parliamentary observers
being governed as hitherto by Rule 55
(now Rule 64) of the
Rules of Procedure;
c. The proper place
for meetings with officials and experts is in the committees, which organise
for that purpose hearings, symposia and round tables, the results
of which are stated in the committees’ reports to the Assembly;
d. If, nonetheless,
as an exception, the Bureau decides to invite someone who is neither a
Minister nor a member of parliament to address the Assembly, such
an invitation must be approved by the Standing Committee; it shall
be strictly personal and the guest speaker must be informed of the
nature and the desired length of his address.
vi.Guidelines for questions to guest speakers
A. Questions to the
Chairperson-in-office of the Committee of Ministers (Rule 62.2. of the Rules
of Procedure)
I. Oral questions
1. In order to enable members
of the Assembly to put their questions to the Chairperson of the
Committee of Ministers and to hear the replies, the presentation
of the report on the activities of the Committee of Ministers may
not exceed one-third of the total time allotted for the communication
from the Committee of Ministers.
2. Representatives
or substitutes wishing to put an oral question to the Chairperson
of the Committee of Ministers must enter their names on the appropriate
register within the prescribed time (see “Additional provisions
relating to Assembly debates” - ii. List of speakers, paragraph 5).
When they enter their names on the register, they will be asked
to state the subject of their question.
3. If there is sufficient
time, the President of the Assembly may authorise the author of
a question to the Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers to ask
a supplementary question following the latter’s answer.
4. Each political
group may appoint a spokesperson to put a question to the Chairperson
of the Committee of Ministers.
II. Written
questions
5. Representatives
or substitutes wishing to put a written question to the Chairperson
of the Committee of Ministers must enter their names on the appropriate
register and submit the text of the question at least one week before
the opening of the part-session.
6. Written questions
on the same subject or related subjects may receive a joint answer.
B. Questions to other guest speakers
7. Representatives and substitutes
and members of partner for democracy delegations may put written
questions to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for
oral answer. They must enter their names on the appropriate register
and submit the text of the question at least one week before the
opening of the part-session. Written questions on the same subject
or related subjects may receive a joint answer. This exercise requires
the consent of the Secretary General.
8. Representatives
or substitutes and members of partner for democracy delegations
may put spontaneous questions to guest speakers when this is provided
for in the agenda of the part-session or authorised by the President
of the Assembly during a sitting. Questions may be restricted to
political groups’ spokespersons. No supplementary question may be
asked.
C. Criteria applicable to questions
9. The time allowed
for the presentation of all questions or supplementary questions
by their author shall be limited to thirty seconds.
10. The President
of the Assembly shall decide whether questions are in order and
determine the order in which questions are called.
11. To assess whether
a question is in order, the following considerations shall be taken
into account:
— the question must be of general interest and not relate to
strictly personal matters;
— the question shall be formulated
clearly and concisely and be restricted to the elements which are
absolutely essential for an understanding of the question;
— the question shall be interrogatory
in form and contain only one request;
— the question shall not
contain any personal accusation against third parties mentioned
by name, or any insulting or defamatory remarks;
— a question to the Chairperson-in-office
of the Committee of Ministers must fall within the competence of
the Organisation and the sphere of responsibility of the Committee
of Ministers.
12. Oral answers shall
be published in the report of the sitting. Written answers shall
be published as an official Assembly document distributed before
the opening of the sitting at which the communication from the Committee
of Ministers is to be presented.
vii.Protection
against attacks on a person's honour and reputation (Rule 22.6 of
the Rules of Procedure) - right of reply
1. Any member of
the Assembly who has been named or referred to directly and considers that
his or her reputation has been adversely affected by a statement
made in the course of a debate by another member may ask the President
of the Assembly the authorisation to take the floor for not more
than two minutes at the end of the debate. The President has the
discretion to decide on how to respond to such a request. He or
she may ask the person who made the statement to provide an explanation.
2. Any person who
has been named or referred to directly and considers that his or
her reputation has been adversely affected by a statement made in
the course of a debate by a member of the Assembly may submit a
written request to the President of the Assembly for an appropriate
response to be included in the official report.
3. The written request
shall be reasoned, make reference to the impugned statement in the report
and shall not contain any vexatious or offensive wording; it shall
be submitted within three months of the date of the sitting during
which the statement at issue was made.
4. The President
shall examine the request and decide:
— either to include in the report a note in respect of the impugned
statement along the following model: "By letter dated …, [person's
name] disagrees with the assertion/statement appearing in this report,
on the ground that …";
— or not to include such a note.
5. This provision
shall not apply if the words spoken have been struck from the report
in accordance with Rule 22.6.
.
viii.Conduct
of members of the Parliamentary Assembly during Assembly debates
(Rule 22 of the Rules of Procedure)
1. Pursuant to Rules 20.1.
and 22
of
the Rules of Procedure, the President of the Assembly maintains
order and decorum and ensures that debates are conducted in a civil
and orderly manner, in conformity with the rules and practices in
force.
2. Members of the
Parliamentary Assembly shall behave in a courteous, polite and respectful manner
towards each other and towards the President of the Assembly or
any other person who is presiding. They shall refrain from any action
that may disrupt the proceedings. This provision shall apply mutatis
mutandis to meetings of the Bureau and of committees.
3. With regard to
Assembly members' discipline and observance of the rules of conduct,
paragraphs 27 to 42 of the Code of conduct for members of the Parliamentary
Assembly shall apply.
