RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COUNCIL OF COMMON INTERESTS (CCI)

Transcription

1 RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COUNCIL OF COMMON INTERESTS (CCI) (The Council approved its Rules of Procedure under Article 154(3) of the Constitution in its meeting held on 12 th January 1991) GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN CABINET SECRETARIAT (Cabinet Division)

2 2 GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN CABINET SECRETARIAT (Cabinet Division) In exercise of the powers conferred by Clause 3 of Article 154 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Council of Common Interests has made the following Rules of Procedure:- RULE OF PROCEDURE OF THE COUNCIL OF COMMON INTERESTS (CCI) 1. Short Title.- These rules may be called the "Rules of Procedure of the Council of Common Interests". requires: 2. Commencement.- These rules shall come into force at once. 3. Definitions.- In these rules, unless the context otherwise (a) "Article" means Article of the Constitution; (b) "Council" means the Council of Common Interests; (c) "Chairman" means Chairman of the Council; (d) "Secretary" means the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan in the Cabinet Division. 4. Cases to be submitted to the Council.- Cases relating to formulation and regulation of policies in relation to the following matters and supervision and control over the related institutions shall be submitted to the Council :- (a) Railways

3 3 (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) Mineral oil and natural gas, liquids and substances declared by Federal law to be dangerously inflammable. Development of industries, where development under Federal control is declared by Federal law to be expedient in the public interest; institutions, establishments, bodies and corporations administered or managed by the Federal Government immediately before the 14th August, 1973, including Water and Power Development Authority and the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation; all undertakings, projects and schemes of such institutions, establishments, bodies and corporations; industries, projects and undertakings owned wholly or partially by the Federal or by a corporation set up by the Federation. Fees in respect of any of the matters specified above but not including fees taken in any court. Offenses against law with respect to any of the matters specified above. Inquiries and statistics for the purposes of any of the matters specified above. Matters incidental or ancillary to any of the matters specified above. Electricity (entry 34 of Concurrent Legislative List). Complaints as to interference with water supplies (Article 155 of the Constitution). Implementation of the directions given by the parliament for action by the Council [Article 154(4) of the Constitution]. 5. Meetings of the Council.- (1) The Chairman may, from time to time, summon a meeting of the Council to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit. There shall be at least one meeting of the Council in a year. (2) When the Council is summoned, the Secretary shall intimate

4 to each member the date, time and place of the meeting. 4 (3) If less than five members are present, the Chairman shall either adjourn the meeting or suspend the meeting until at least five members are present. of the five (5) members constituting the quorum for meetings of the Council, at least three shall be Chief Ministers of the provinces. (4) The Chairman shall preside at every meeting of the Council. 6. Council may associate others concerned.- The Council may associate other Federal or Provincial Ministers and officials with its deliberations as and when considered necessary. 7. Committee of the Council.- The Council may constitute such committees to deal with specified matters as it may consider necessary from time to time and elect their members. 8. Preparation of Summaries.- A Summary for the Council should indicate :- (a) The name of the sponsoring Federal Division or Department of the Provincial Governments. (b) (c) (d) Subject of the Summary. Name and designation of the officer forwarding the Summary (Secretary/Additional Secretary Incharge in the case of Federal Divisions and Chief Secretary/ Additional Secretary in the case of Provincial Government) The date of submission. 9. Heading of Summary.- The words "Summary for the Council of Common Interests" should invariably appear at a prominent place, above the subject.

5 5 10. Manner of preparing Summary.- All the Summaries should be self-contained, concise but lucid. Normally, the Summary should not exceed two printed foolscap pages (the annexes or appendices, if any, being in addition). The Summary itself should invariably be printed and marked 'Secret' unless the subject matter requires a higher Security grading. Each Summary should contain the facts of the case, the points for decision and the recommendation and 40 copies of the Summary should be sent to the Cabinet Division. 11. Consultation with authorities concerned.- Where a case concerns more than one Division or the Provinces, the Summary normally should not be submitted to the Council until it has been considered by these concerned. In case of dis-agreement, the points of difference should be stated in the Summary. The Provinces and the concerned Ministries/Divisions of the Federal Government should furnish their comments/views on the summaries for the Council circulated for the purpose, within two weeks. The requirement of prior consultation may be waived in very exceptional circumstances but the Summary must, in that case, be sent to others concerned with the request to send their views (40 copies) direct to the Cabinet Division by a given date. The Cabinet Division would circulate the views, if received in time, alongwith or in continuation of the Summary. 12. Reference to previous decisions.- Where a reference is required to a previous decision, the decision should be reproduced in the body of the Summary provided it is a short one, otherwise a copy of the previous decision should be annexed as an appendix to the Summary. Summaries not conforming to the above instructions would not be accepted. 13. Matters not included in the agenda not to be discussed.- No case shall be discussed, nor any issue raised, in the

6 6 meeting unless the Summary relating to it has been formally included in the agenda and circulated, except with the permission of the Chairman who may dispense with this requirements if he is satisfied that the circumstances were such that a working paper could not be supplied and the matter could brook no delay. 14. Action on decisions of the Council.- (1) The minutes of the meeting should be circulated by the Cabinet Division to all the members who shall return the same after perusal. The discrepancies, if any, shall be reported by the members within seven (7) days of the receipt of the minutes. (2) The Cabinet Division shall also pass on the decisions of the Council to all concerned for necessary action but the primary responsibility for the proper implementation of the decision would be that of the sponsoring Secretary or Chief Secretary, who would ensure that the decisions had been duly passed on to all the agencies concerned. (3) The record of discussion (minutes) of the meeting shall be treated as Secret. These shall be kept in the personal custody of the officer to whom those are sent and shall not be passed down unless these contain points which require further consideration or action in the Division or Provincial Department, in which case only relevant extracts from the minutes and not full minutes shall be passed down. (4) The Cabinet Secretary shall watch the implementation of the decisions and the Secretary of the Division concerned or the Chief Secretary of the Provincial Government concerned shall supply to the Cabinet Secretary such documents as the latter may, be general or special request, require to enable him to complete his record of the case, and to satisfy himself that the decision has been fully implemented. ****