PROVISIONAL RULES OF PROCEDURE
OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL
(adopted by the Security Council at its 1st meeting and
amended at its 31st, 41st, 42nd, 44th and 48th meetings, on 9 April, 16
and 17 May, 6 and 24 June 1946; 138th and 222nd meetings, on 4 June and
9 December 1947; 468th meeting, on 28 February 1950; 1463rd meeting, on
24 January 1969; 1761st meeting, on 17 January 1974; and 2410th meeting,
on 21 December 1982. Previous versions of the provisional rules of procedure
were issued under the symbols S/96 and Rev. 1-6)
UNITED NATIONS
New York, 1983
CHAPTER I . MEETINGS
Rule 1
Meetings of the Security Council shall, with the exception of the
periodic meetings referred to in rule 4, be held at the call of the President
at any time he deems necessary, but the interval between meetings shall
not exceed fourteen days.
Rule 2
The President shall call a meeting of the Security Council at the request
of any member of the Security Council.
Rule 3
The President shall call a meeting of the Security Council if a dispute
or situation is brought to the attention of the Security Council under
Article 35 or under Article I I (3) of the Charter, or if the General Assembly
makes recommendations or refers any question to the Security Council under
Article 11 (2), or if the Secretary-General brings to the attention of
the Security Council any matter under Article 99.
Rule 4
Periodic meetings of the Security Council called for in Article 28 (2)
of the Charter shall be held twice a year, at such times as the Security
Council may decide.
Rule 5
Meetings of the Security Council shall normally be held at the seat of
the United Nations.
Any member of the Security-Council or the Secretary-General may propose
that the Security Council should meet at another place. Should the Security
Council accept any such proposal, it shall decide upon the place and the
period during which the Council shall meet at such place.
CHAPTER II. AGENDA
Rule 6
The Secretary-General shall immediately bring to the attention of all representatives
on the Security Council all communications from States, organs of the United
Nations, or the Secretary-General concerning any matter for the consideration
of the Security Council in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.
Rule 7
The provisional agenda for each meeting of the Security Council shall be
drawn up by the Secretary-General and approved by the President of the
Security Council.
Only items which have been brought to the attention of the representatives
on the Security Council in accordance with rule 6, items covered by rule
10, or matters which the Security Council had previously decided to defer,
may be included in the provisional agenda.
Rule 8
The provisional agenda for a meeting shall be communicated by the Secretary-General
to the representatives on the Security Council at least three days before
the meeting, but in urgent circumstances it may be communicated simultaneously
with the notice of the meeting.
Rule 9
The first item of the provisional agenda for each meeting of the Security
Council shall be the adoption of the agenda.
Rule 10
Any item of the agenda of a meeting of the Security Council, consideration
of which has not been completed at that meeting, shall, unless the Security
Council otherwise decides, automatically be included in the agenda of the
next meeting.
Rule 11
The Secretary-General shall communicate each week to the representatives
on the Security Council a summary statement of matters of which the Security
Council is seized and of the stage reached in their consideration.
Rule 12
The provisional agenda for each periodic meeting shall be circulated to
the members of the Security Council at least twenty-one days before the
opening of the meeting. Any subsequent change in or addition to the provisional
agenda shall be brought to the notice of the members at least five days
before the meeting. The Security Council may, however, in urgent circumstances,
make additions to the agenda at any time during a periodic meeting.
The provisions of rule 7, paragraph 1, and of rule 9, shall apply
also to periodic meetings.
CHAPTER III. REPRESENTATION AND CREDENTIALS
Rule 13
Each member of the Security Council shall be represented at the meetings
of the Security Council by an accredited representative. The credentials
of a representative on the Security Council shall be communicated to the
Secretary-General not less than twenty-four hours before he takes his seat
on the Security Council. The credentials shall be issued either by the
Head of the State or of the Government concerned or by its Minister of
Foreign Affairs. The Head of Government or Minister of Foreign Affairs
of each member of the Security Council shall be entitled to sit on the
Security Council without submitting credentials.
Rule 14
Any Member of the United Nations not a member of the Security Council and
any State not a Member of the United Nations, if invited to participate
in a meeting or meetings of the Security Council, shall submit credentials
for the representative appointed by it for this purpose. The credentials
of such a representative shall be communicated to the Secretary-General
not less than twenty-four hours before the first meeting which he is invited
to attend.
Rule 15
The credentials of representatives on the Security Council and of any representative
appointed in accordance with rule 14 shall he examined by the Secretary-General
who shall submit a report to the Security Council for approval.
Rule 16
Pending the approval of the credentials of a representative on the Security
Council in accordance with rule 15, such representative shall be seated
provisionally with the same rights as other representatives.
Rule 17
Any representative on the Security Council, to whose credentials objection
has been made within the Security Council, shall continue to sit with the
same rights as other representatives until the Security Council has decided
the matter.
CHAPTER IV. PRESIDENCY
Rule 18
The presidency of the Security Council shall be held in turn by the members
of the Security Council in the English alphabetical order of their names.
Each President shall hold office for one calendar month.
Rule 19
The President shall preside over the meetings of the Security Council and,
under the authority of the Security Council, shall represent it in its
capacity as an organ of the United Nations.
Rule 20
Whenever the President of the Security Council deems that for the proper
fulfilment of the responsibilities of the presidency he should not preside
over the Council during the consideration of a particular question with
which the member he represents is directly connected, he shall indicate
his decision to the Council. The presidential chair shall then devolve,
for the purpose of the consideration of that question, on the representative
of the member next in English alphabetical order, it being understood that
the provisions of this rule shall apply to the representatives on the Security
Council called upon successively to preside. This rule shall not affect
the representative capacity of the President as stated in rule 19, or his
duties under rule 7.
CHAPTER V. SECRETARIAT
Rule 21
The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity in all meetings of the
Security Council. The Secretary-General may authorize a deputy to act in
his place at meetings of the Security Council.
Rule 22
The Secretary-General, or his deputy acting on his behalf, may make either
oral or written statements to the Security Council concerning any question
under consideration by it.
Rule 23
The Secretary-General may be appointed by the Security Council, in accordance
with rule 28, as rapporteur for a specified question.
Rule 24
The Secretary-General shall provide the staff required by the Security
Council. This staff shall form a part of the Secretariat.
Rule 25
The Secretary-General shall give to representatives on the Security Council
notice of meetings of the Security Council and of its commissions and committees.
Rule 26
The Secretary-General shall be responsible for the preparation of documents
required by the Security Council and shall, except in urgent circumstances,
distribute them at least forty-eight hours in advance of the meeting at
which they are to be considered.
CHAPTER VI. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS
Rule 27
The President shall call upon representatives in the order in which they
signify their desire to speak.
Rule 28
The Security Council may appoint a commission or committee or a rapporteur
for a specified question.
Rule 29
The President may accord precedence to any rapporteur appointed by the
Security Council.
The Chairman of a commission or committee, or the rapporteur appointed
by the commission or committee to present its report, may be accorded precedence
for the purpose of explaining the report.
Rule 30
If a representative raises a point of order, the President shall immediately
state his ruling. If it is challenged, the President shall submit his ruling
to the Security Council for immediate decision and it shall stand unless
overruled.
Rule 31
Proposed resolutions, amendments and substantive motions shall normally
be placed before the representatives in writing.
Rule 32
Principal motions and draft resolutions shall have precedence in the order
of their submission.
Parts of a motion or of a draft resolution shall be voted on separately
at the request of any representative, unless the original mover objects.
Rule 33
The following motions shall have precedence in the order named over all
principal motions and draft resolutions relative to the subject before
the meeting:
1. To suspend the meeting;
2. To adjourn the meeting;
3. To adjourn the meeting to a certain day or hour;
4. To refer any matter to a committee, to the Secretary-General or
to a rapporteur;
5. To postpone discussion of the question to a certain day or indefinitely;
or
6. To introduce an amendment.
Any motion for the suspension or for the simple adjournment of the meeting
shall be decided without debate.
Rule 34
It shall not be necessary for any motion or draft resolution proposed by
a representative on the Security Council to be seconded before being put
to a vote.
Rule 35
A motion or draft resolution can at any time be withdrawn so long as no
vote has been taken with respect to it.
If the motion or draft resolution has been seconded. the representative
on the Security Council who has seconded it may require that it be put
to the vote as his motion or draft resolution with the same right of precedence
as if the original mover had not withdrawn it.
Rule 36
If two or more amendments to a motion or draft resolution are proposed,
the President shall rule on the order in which they are to be voted upon.
Ordinarily, the Security Council shall first vote on the amendment furthest
removed in substance from the original proposal and then on the amendment
next furthest removed until all amendments have been put to the vote, but
when an amendment adds to or deletes from the text of a motion or draft
resolution, that amendment shall be voted on first.
Rule 37
Any Member of the United Nations which is not a member of the Security
Council may be invited, as the result of a decision of the Security Council,
to participate, without vote, in the discussion of any question brought
before the Security Council when the Security Council considers that the
interests of that Member are specially affected, or when a Member brings
a matter to the attention of the Security Council in accordance with Article
35 (1) of the Charter.
Rule 38
Any Member of the United Nations invited in accordance with the preceding
rule, or in application of Article 32 of the Charter, to participate in
the discussions of the Security Council may submit proposals and draft
resolutions. These proposals and draft resolutions may be put to a vote
only at the request of a representative on the Security Council.
Rule 39
The Security Council may invite members of the Secretariat or other persons,
whom it considers competent for the purpose, to supply it with information
or to give other assistance in examining matters within its competence.
CHAPTER VII. VOTING
Rule 40
Voting in the Security Council shall be in accordance with the relevant
Articles of the Charter and of the Statute of the International Court of
Justice
CHAPTER VIII. LANGUAGES
Rule 41
Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish shall be both the
official and the working languages of the Security Council.
Rule 42
Speeches made in any of the six languages of the Security Council shall
be interpreted into the other five languages.
Rule 43
[Deleted]
Rule 44
Any representative may make a speech in a language other than the languages
of the Security Council. In this case, he shall himself provide for interpretation
into one of those languages. Interpretation into the other languages of
the Security Council by the interpreters of the Secretariat may be based
on the interpretation given in the first such language.
Rule 45
Verbatim records of meetings of the Security Council shall be drawn up
in the languages of the Council.
Rule 46
All resolutions and other documents shall be published in the languages
of the Security Council.
Rule 47
Documents of the Security Council shall, if the Security Council so decides,
be published in any language other than the languages of the Council.
CHAPTER IX. PUBLICITY OF MEETINGS, RECORDS
Rule 48
Unless it decides otherwise, the Security Council shall meet in public.
Any recommendation to the General Assembly regarding the appointment of
the Secretary-General shall be discussed and decided at a private meeting.
Rule 49
Subject to the provisions of rule 51, the verbatim record of each meeting
of the Security Council shall be made available to the representatives
on the Security Council and to the representatives of any other States
which have participated in the meeting not later than 10 a.m. of the first
working day following the meeting.
Rule 50
The representatives of the States which have participated in the meeting
shall, within two working days after the time indicated in rule 49, inform
the Secretary-General of any corrections they wish to have made in the
verbatim record.
Rule 51
The Security Council may decide that for a private meeting the record shall
be made in a single copy alone. This record shall be kept by the Secretary-General.
The representatives of the States which have participated in the meeting
shall, within a period of ten days, inform the Secretary-General of any
corrections they wish to have made in this record.
Rule 52
Corrections that have been requested shall be considered approved unless
the President is of the opinion that they are sufficiently important to
be submitted to the representatives on the Security Council. In the latter
case, the representatives on the Security Council shall submit within two
working days any comments they may wish to make. In the absence of objections
in this period of time, the record shall be corrected as requested.
Rule 53
The verbatim record referred to in rule 49 or the record referred to in
rule 51, in which no corrections have been requested in the period of time
required by rules 50 and 51, respectively, or which has been corrected
in accordance with the provisions of rule 52, shall be considered as approved.
It shall be signed by the President and shall become the official record
of the Security Council.
Rule 54
The official record of public meetings of the Security Council, as well
as the documents annexed thereto, shall be published in the official languages
as soon as possible.
Rule 55
At the close of each private meeting the Security Council shall issue a
communiqué through the Secretary-General.
Rule 56
The representatives of the Members of the United Nations which have taken
part in a private meeting shall at all times have the right to consult
the record of that meeting in the office of the Secretary-General. The
Security Council may at any time grant access to this record to authorized
representatives of other Members of the United Nations.
Rule 57
The Secretary-General shall, once each year, submit to the Security Council
a list of the records and documents which up to that time have been considered
confidential. The Security Council shall decide which of these shall be
made available to other Members of the United Nations, which shall be made
public, and which shall continue to remain confidential.
CHAPTER X. ADMISSION OF NEW MEMBERS
Rule 58
Any State which desires to become a Member of the United Nations shall
submit an application to the Secretary-General. This application shall
contain a declaration made in a formal instrument that it accepts the obligations
contained in the Charter.
Rule 59
The Secretary-General shall immediately place the application for membership
before the representatives on the Security Council. Unless the Security
Council decides otherwise, the application shall be referred by the President
to a committee of the Security Council upon which each member of the Security
Council shall be represented. The committee shall examine any application
referred to it and report its conclusions thereon to the Council not less
than thirty-five days in advance of a regular session of the General Assembly
or, if a special session of the General Assembly is called, not less than
fourteen days in advance of such session.
Rule 60
The Security Council shall decide whether in its judgement the applicant
is a peace-loving State and is able and willing to carry out the obligations
contained in the Charter and, accordingly, whether to recommend the applicant
State for membership.
If the Security Council recommends the applicant State for membership,
it shall forward to the General Assembly the recommendation with a complete
record of the discussion.
If the Security Council does not recommend the applicant State for
membership or postpones the consideration of the application, it shall
submit a special report to the General Assembly with a complete record
of the discussion.
In order to ensure the consideration of its recommendation at the
next session of the General Assembly following the receipt of the application,
the Security Council shall make its recommendation not less than twenty-five
days in advance of a regular session of the General Assembly, nor less
than four days in advance of a special session.
In special circumstances, the Security Council may decide to make
a recommendation to the General Assembly concerning an application for
membership subsequent to the expiration of the time limits set forth in
the preceding paragraph.
CHAPTER XI. RELATIONS WITH OTHER UNITED NATIONS ORGANS
Rule 61
Any meeting of the Security Council held in pursuance of the Statute of
the International Court of Justice for the purpose of the election of members
of the Court shall continue until as many candidates as are required for
all the seats to be filled have obtained in one or more ballots an absolute
majority of votes.
Appendix
PROVISIONAL PROCEDURE FOR DEALING WITH COMMUNICATIONS FROM
PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL BODIES
A. A list of all communications from private individuals
and non-governmental bodies relating to matters of which the Security Council
is seized shall be circulated to all representatives on the Security Council.
B. A copy of any communication on the list shall be
given by the Secretariat to any representative on the Security Council
at his request.
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