HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL RULES OF PROCEDURE MiMUN-UCJC October 26 2015
CONTENTS I. General considerations II. Membership III. Programme of work IV. Officers V. Procedures
THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL The Human Rights Council is the inter-governmental body within the United Nations responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council s main mission, according to the mandate approved by the General Assembly, is to address situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States that are elected to serve for three years by secret ballot at the UN General Assembly. The Council s headquarters are at the UN Office in Geneva. The Council meets regularly and holds a minimum of three formal sessions a year. The aim of the Council is to help United Nations Member States fulfil their duties regarding human rights. In each session, violations of human rights around the world are addressed and recommendations made. Furthermore, every four years, States are obliged to submit a report in which they have the opportunity to relate the situation regarding human rights in their own countries and any challenges they face and difficulties they may encounter in complying with their international duties. I. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS Rule 1. Rules of Procedure The Human Rights Council (hereafter the Council ) is governed by the present rules of procedure and, by extension, by the General Rules of Procedure. For all matters not covered by these rules, the workings of the Council are subject to the General Rules of Procedure. In case of any contradiction or conflict between the two, the specific rules of the latter will apply. The Organising Committee reserves the right to modify the present rules of procedure at any time, being required immediately to notify and publish any changes in such a way as to guarantee the right of participants to be informed of them. Rule 2. Language English shall be the official working language of the Council. It should be used in all the Council s activities including, but not limited to, the caucus, informal sessions and the drafting of Council documents. II. REPRESENTATION Rule 3. Members of the Council The Council shall comprise 15 delegations, corresponding to Member States, to be elected according to their contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and following criteria of regional diversity.
The Organising Committee shall be able to modify the composition of Council membership, at its own discretion and in accordance with availability or the functioning of the model. Rule 4. Observers Where appropriate, the Council may invite observers to attend its deliberations, as established by the Secretariat and the Organising Committee. In accordance with rule 16 of the General Rules, observers shall have a voice but no vote in matters both substantive and procedural. Nor shall they be entitled to endorse draft resolutions or amendments. Rule 5. Participation of non-member States Member States of the United Nations that are not members of the Council, non-member States of the UN, national human rights institutions, NGOs and other organisations of civil society may take part in the deliberations of the Council through the figure of the Representative to the Council. Representatives designated to this end shall have a voice but no vote in matters either substantive or procedural. Nor shall they be entitled to endorse draft resolutions or amendments. A representative may work on a draft resolution or amendment, but these may be introduced only at the request of a Council Member, through the corresponding motion see rules 43 and 44 of the General Rules of Procedure. Rule 6. Appearances before the Human Rights Council The Council may call upon a Member State present in the model, but not represented in the Council, to appear before it if it considers that the interests of that State are affected in a special way. The appearance may be requested by any Council Member in writing to the Chair who shall rule whether or not it is in order taking into account the progress of the debate. Likewise, the Chair itself may require the appearance of a Member State before the Council, by notifying the Chair of the relevant commission. The delegate of a Member State summoned to appear shall be questioned by members of the Council, under the moderation of Chair, which shall stipulate the length of replies that, in no case, shall exceed a total of ten minutes. At the request of the delegate, and should the Chair deem it appropriate, he/she may make a statement clarifying his/her country s position regarding the subject matter under consideration, lasting no more than two minutes. III. PROGRAMME OF WORK Rule 7. Agenda The Chair shall decide the matters to be treated by the Council, in accordance with rule 5 of the General Rules of Procedure. Only those items, of which notice has been given to members of the Council, as set out in the aforementioned rule 5, may be included in the provisional agenda.
At the start of each session, the Chair shall communicate the agenda to Council delegates, as well as any additions or modifications to it. Rule 8. Adoption of the agenda At the beginning of each day of the sessions, there shall be a procedural vote to determine the order of the subjects included in the programme of work. Rule 9. Adjournment of an item The Council shall automatically include any unfinished business on the agenda in the following session s agenda, except if there is an agreement to the contrary. Rule 10. Proposal for the inclusion of an item The Secretary General, Members of the Council or any other United Nations Member States may draw the attention of the Council to any controversy that comes within its remit. A proposal for its inclusion on the agenda should be submitted in writing to the Chair at the start of the session. The Chair is empowered to analyse and approve the proposal and may, if it so desires, subject it to a Council vote. If approved, the subject matter shall be included as a fully-fledged item in the Council s programme of work. Rule 11. Supplementary items The Secretary General, the President or the Organising Committee may add supplementary items to the agenda at any time during the sessions. Rule 12. Emergency session Faced with an emergency situation related to serious violations of human rights, the Council may hold an extraordinary meeting. The said emergency meeting shall be communicated immediately and delegates should interrupt whatever other business they may have to go immediately to the Council room whose doors shall be sealed and the meeting begin. The extraordinary session shall start with an oral report by the Secretary General regarding the events that have caused the meeting to take place. This shall be followed by a round of questions and answers whose duration shall be at the discretion of the Chair. Then the usual sessions procedure established in the General Rules of Procedure shall be adopted. An emergency session shall have priority in the Council s programme of work. IV. OFFICERS Rule 13. Chair
The Chair of the Council, its President and Vice-President shall, in collegiate form, exercise the Presidency of the Council. The President shall represent it before the rest of the Organisation and elsewhere as an organ of the United Nations. Rule 14. Powers of the Chair The Chair shall be entrusted to ensure compliance with the present rules of procedure by exercising all the powers contained therein. Equally the Chair shall have the powers outlined in rule 12 of the General Rules of Procedure. Rule 15. Secretariat The Secretary General, or any member of the Secretariat to whom he/she may delegate totally or partially his/her functions, may attend and take part in Council sessions. His/her powers, apart from those outlined in rule 10 of the General Rules of Procedure, also include the following: 1. To bring to the attention of the Council matters that come under its remit. 2. To modify the Council agenda with the agreement of the Chair and the Organisation. 3. To mediate in negotiations, both formal and informal, between Council members. 4. To act as guarantor of the treaties, dispositions and measures decreed by the Council. V. PROCEDURE Rule 16. Voting Voting, both procedural and substantive, shall be subject to the general rules outlined in MiMUN s General Rules of Procedure. Rule 17. Quorum The Chair may declare a meeting open and permit the debate to proceed when representatives of at least one third of the members of the Council are present.