WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION EXECUTIVE BOARD Twenty-ninth Session Provisional agenda item 5 ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTE 1 December 19б1 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY A review of the Rules of Procedure of the World Health Assembly has been made with the object of removing any inconsistencies in the text, of improving the drafting and of suggesting modifications to make the rules more effective. Draft amendments were submitted to the Board at its twenty-eighth session when it was decided to postpone consideration of this item until the twenty-ninth session in order to give members more time for study of the proposed amendments. 工 The suggested amendments are therefore resubmitted to the Board for consideration and for transmission to the World Health Assembly, should the Board approve them. The amendments are contained in the annex to this document together with comments on each amendment. 1 EB28/Min/5 Rev.l, p. 114
EB29/14 ANNEX page 1 AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OP PROCEDURE OF THE WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY Rule In the first paragraph^ delete the word "related" in the sixth line and in the seventh line insert "admitted into relationship with the Organization^ between "organizations" and п invited", In the second paragraph, delete the words "or States which were represented in any way at the International Health Conference in New York in 19 斗 6. As a consequence the word "and" should be inserted before the word "States" in the third line. Rule 5 (a), by "an Annual Rule 5 (b) new paragraph Replace "the Annual Report" Report". Delete and replace by as followss "(b) all items that the Health Assembly has, in a previous session, ordered to be included." Rule 5 (f) Delete the words tt a formal agreement, subject to the relevant provisions thereof" and replace by "effective relations" Rule 8. In the second and elevénth lines of this rule, delete the word "other". Rule 10. In the second line of this rule, delete the word "other". The suggested amendment aims at making this prevision consistent with the working principles governing the admission of nongovernmental organizations into relations with WHO. These words have now become superfluous and may be deleted from the rule. The Annual Report of the Director- General is not referred to expressly anywhere else in the Organization 1 s statutes. II: therefore would be more appropriate to say "an" instead of TT the TI. The suggested amendmenl aims at improving the drafting WHO has not concluded, formal agreements with certain specialized agencies and it is consequently suggested that the existence of such, agreements should not be made a condition for the proposal of agenda items by the agencies concerned The word "other" in these rules is superfluous
EB29/l^ page 2 Rule 12. In the fourth line insert the word health", before "Assembly. The addition is suggested for the sake of uniform terminology throughout the text Rule 13 n if any", In lines 2-5 delete the words The reservation "if any" could imply that items having neither technical, administrative, nor financial implications might be placed on the Agenda. Rule 16. words "act 工 n : the first line replace the as" by the words "be the". Rule 17» In the first line delete the words "and supervise" Rule 19. Delete "related" from the end of the first paragraph and revise as follows: " and non-governmental organizations admitted into relationship with the Organization, r Rule 20. Delete and replace, by new rules as follows: Rule 20 "Plenary meetings of the Health Assemblyshall be held in public unless the Health Assembly decides that exceptional circumstances require that the meeting be held in private. Decisions of the Health Assembly taken at a private meeting shall be announced at an early public meeting of the Health Assembly." The suggested amendment aims at improving the drafting. The words "and supervise" are unnecessary. See first comment under Rule 3 above. The suggested amendments aim at improving the drafting. It would also seem more appropriate that decisions of the Health Assembly taken at private meetings should be announced at a public meeting rather than through the issue of a communiqué. Rule 20 (bis)! 'Subjoct to any decision of the Health Asoombly^ the Director-General shall make appropriate arrangements for the admission cf the public and of r J pre s ent at. злг e s of the press.and of oth-?r inf^rnmt.ion agencies to the plenary meetings of the Health Assembly."
ЕВ29Л 斗 page 3 Rule 21 (a) Delete "related from the second line and revise as follows: Rule 26 в n.. and invited organizations tt Revise as follows: "In addition to exercising the powers which are conferred upon him elsewhere by these Rules, the President shall declare the opening and closing of each plenary meeting of the session, shall direct the discussions in plenary meetings, ensure observance of these Rules, accord the right to speak, put questions arid announce decisions. He shall rule on points of order, and, subject to these Rules, shall have complete control of the proceedings at any meeting and over the maintenance of order thereat. The President may, in the course of the discussion of an item, propose to the Health Assembly the limitation of the time to be allowed to speakers, the limitation of the number of times each delegate may speak on any question, or the closure of the list of speakers." Rule 32 (a) followings Delete and replace by the "decide the time and place of all plenary meetings, of the meetings of the main committees and of all meetings of committees established at plenary meetings during the session. Whenever practicable, the- General Committee shall make known a few days in advance the date and hour of meetings of the Health Assembly and of the committees." Improvement in drafting which defines those organizations which are invited. The revised rule sets out the duties and prerogatives of the President in greater detail than the present rule. Provisions relating to the calling to order of speakers whose remarks are irrelevant are, as a result of the amendment, carried over to the new Rule. 52 (bis) below. The Committee on Programme and Budget and the Committee on Administration, Finance and Legal Matters are the main committees of the Health Assembly in accordance with the provisions of Rule and under that Rule it is 110 longer nseessary for the Health Assembly to establish them at each session. The amendment to this paragraph is suggested in order to take account of the provisions of Rule 53.
EB29/-14 page 4 Rule 32 (b). In the second line of this paragraph, delete the ivcrd "of" and replace by the word "during". Rule 32 (e) After the words "co-ordinate the work of" insert the words the main committees and" Rule At the end of the last paragraph but one, replace "on the agenda" by "of the agenda". Hule 45. At the end of this rule delete "the circulation" and replace by "their circulation" Rule 51. In the fourth line of this rule, delete the words "and editing". Rule 52» Iminediately following this rule, insert a new rule as follows: Rule 52 (bis) "No delegate may address the Health Assembly without having previously obtained the permission of the President. The President shall call upon speakers in the order in whi eh they signify their desire to speak The President may call a speaker to order if his remarks are not relevant to the subject under discussion Rule 60 Immediately following this rule, insert a new rule, as follows: Rule 60 (bis) Subject to Rule 60> any motion calling for a decision on the competence of the Health Assembly to adopt a proposal submitted to it shall be put to the vote before a vote is taken on the proposal in question. 11 The suggested change brings the wording of this paragraph into line with that of paragraphs (a) and (e) of Rule 32. The suggested change brings the wording of this paragraph into line with that of paragraphs (a) and (e) of Rule 32. The present wording is somewhat colloquial. The suggested amendment aims at improving the drafting. The General Committee does not edit reports and therefore the reference to editing should be omitted See comment under Rule 26 above. The existing rules contain no provision dealing with questions of competence. The addition is therefore suggested of a new rule to cover this point.
EB29/l^ page 5 Rule 62 In the seventh line, after the words "put to the vote", insert the following: "Where> however, the adoption of one amendment necessarily implies the rejection of another amendment, the latter amendment shall not be put to the vote." Rule 70* Immediately following this rule, insert a new rule as follows: Rule 70 (bis) "After the President has announced the beginning of voting, no delegate shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connexion with the actual conduct of voting/ 1 The suggested amendment sets out in express terms the existing practice of the World Health Assembly» The existing rules contain no provision covering the interruption of the voting procedure. As difficulties have arisen in the past, an amendment Is suggested to cover this question. Rule 71 (footnote) See The interpretative footnote of this rule adopted by the Eighth World Health Assembly reads as follows: "A decision under this rule by the Health Assembly whether or not to vote by secret ballot may be taken by show of hands; if the Assembly has decided to vote on a particular question by secret ballot, no other moda of voting (show of hands or roll-call) may be requested or decided on This interpretative statement does not clearly settle a problem which has arisen from time to time. This problem is whether it is permissible under the general practice of meetings for a decision whether or not to vote by secret ballot to be taken by roll- call, it having been suggested on occasion that this practice tends tc destroy the secrecy of the ballot. Since the vote on a decision whether or not to use the secret ballot is in the nature of a
EB29/l4 page б Rule 71 (footnote) (continued) Rules 84 to 87. the following: Delete and replace by- Rule 84 "Verbatim records of all plenary meetings and summary records of the meetings of the General Committee and of committees and sub-committees shall be made by the Secretariat. Unless otherwise expressly decided by the oommittee concerned, no record shall be made cf the proceedings of the Corrimittee on Nominations or of the Committee on Credentials other than the report presented by the Committee to the Health Assembly." Rule 85 "The summary records referred to in Rule 84 shall be sent as soon as possible to delegations, to representatives of Associate Members and to the representatives of the Board, who shall inform the Secretariat in writing not later than forty-eight hours thereafter of any corrections they wish to have made." procedural decision, there would not appear to be any great object in recording the votes cast and, therefore, in the interests of finally settling this question, the Assembly might wish to consider ruling that decisions whether or not to vote by secret ballot may only be taken by a show of hands. In this case the text could be reworded to read: "A decision under this rule by the Health Assembly whether or not to vote by secret ballot may only be taken by a show of hands; if the Assembly has decided to vote on a particular question by secret ballotj no other mode of voting may be requested or decided upon." These rules have been redrafted in order to improve their presentation and to remove inconsistencies. In particular, the provisions relating to the drawing up of the records have been consolidated, in a single rule (Rule 84) and distinguished from the other provisions relating to correction and distribution.
EB29/ ; 14 page 7 Rule 86 w As soon as possible after the close of each session, copies of all verbatim and summary records, resolutions, rec ommendat i oris and other formal decisions adopted by the Health Assembly shall be transmitted by the Director- General to Members and Associate Members, to the United Nations and to all specialized agencies with which the Organization has entered into effective relations." Rule 67 "Verbatim and summary records of public meetings and the reports of all committees and subcommittees shall be published in the Official Records of the Organization. Rule 107. In the third line of this rule, replace "the senior officer" by "the next senior officer". The present wording of this rule suggests that the Dire с tor-general and the Secretariat are separate entities.