Rules of procedure
Annex III
Resolution 1898 (XVIII) adopted on the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Committee
on the Improvement of the Methods of Work of the General Assembly (a)
The General Assembly,
Recalling with appreciation the initiative taken by the President of the sixteenth session of the General Assembly in his memorandum of 26 April 1962 on the methods of work of the Assembly, [Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventeenth Session, Annexes, agenda item 86, document A/5123].
Recalling its decision of 30 October 1962 establishing the Ad Hoc Committee on the Improvement of the Methods of Work of the General Assembly and its resolution 1845 (XVII) of 19 December 1962, by which it decided to continue the Committee,
Having considered the report submitted by the Ad Hoc Committee in pursuance of the above-mentioned resolution, [Official Records of the General Assembly, Eighteenth Session, Annexes, agenda item 25, document A/5423]
Conscious of the need to adapt its methods of work to the changed circumstances in the General Assembly, in particular those resulting from the recent increase in the number of Member States,
Concerned however to avoid reducing in any way the possibilities for action available to the General Assembly under the Charter of the United Nations and the rules of procedure of the Assembly,
Convinced that it is in the interests of the Organization and of Member States that the work of the General Assembly should be carried out as efficiently and expeditiously as possible and that, save in quite exceptional cases, the duration of regular sessions should not exceed thirteen weeks,
Takes note of the observations contained in the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Improvement of the Methods of Work of the General Assembly and approves the recommendations submitted by the Committee, in particular those which provide that:
- (a) The President of the General Assembly should make every effort to ensure that the general debate proceeds in a methodical and regular manner, and should close the list of speakers, with the consent of the Assembly, as soon as he considers it feasible;
- (b) All the Main Committees, except the First Committee, should begin their work not later than two working days after they have received the list of agenda items referred to them by the General Assembly;
- (c) The First Committee should meet as soon as possible to organize its work, determine the order of discussion of the items allocated to it and start the systematic consideration of its agenda; at the beginning of the session, such meetings might be held when there is an interruption in the general debate; later, plenary meetings might be held during one part of the day, the other part being reserved for the First Committee, thus enabling the Committee to proceed with its regular work as soon as possible after the opening of the session;
- (d) Each of the Main Committees should establish its programme of work as soon as possible, including the approximate dates on which it will consider the various items referred to it and the date on which it proposes to conclude its work, on the understanding that this programme will be transmitted to the General Committee to enable it to make such recommendations as it may deem relevant, including, when the General Committee considers it appropriate, recommendations as to the dates by which Main Committees should conclude their work;
- (e) Each of the Main Committees should consider the establishment, in the circumstances referred to in paragraphs 29 to 32 of the report of the Ad Hoc Committee, [These paragraphs read as follows:
"29. The increase in the number of Members of the United
Nations has created a situation in which it frequently happens that more
than 100 delegations are present and most of them participate in the
debates in the Main Committees. Although the presence of such a large
number of delegations involves no practical difficulties when statements
of the positions of Governments are being made, it makes it more difficult
to discuss concrete points, to have a rapid exchange of views on subjects
where ideas differ or to draft and modify texts. The Committee is of the
opinion that in many cases the examination of agenda items by the
committees would be greatly facilitated if, as soon as possible and
especially when the main points of view have been expressed, the
committee decided, on the initiative of its Chairman or of one or more of
its members, to set up a subcommittee or working group, in conformity
with rule 104 [now 102] of the rules of procedure (98 [now 96] in the case
of the plenary Assembly). This procedure might be particularly helpful
when there is general agreement on the question under discussion but disagreement on points of detail.
"30. The Ad Hoc Committee would recall in this connection that
in the course of the first sessions of the General Assembly frequent use
was made of subcommittees and working groups and that they were of
great assistance to the General Assembly in the preparation of texts which
to this day govern the structures of the United Nations in the formulation
of important international instruments and in the solution of difficult
political problems (one example is the sub-committee which dealt with the
future status of the former Italian colonies). As far back as 1947, the report
of the Committee on Procedures and Organization expressed itself on this
subject as follows: "'The Main Committees should consider carefully at an early stage
in their work how their programmes might be expedited by the
establishment of sub-committees. It is, of course, impossible to adopt
fixed rules on this matter. If the debate in full committee showed that there
was general agreement on the question under discussion but disagreement
on points of detail, it would clearly be desirable to set up a small drafting
committee to prepare a resolution for submission to the Main Committee.
Technical questions on which there is no substantial disagreement should
be referred to sub-committees as quickly as possible. In some cases the
work of sub-committees would be facilitated by working informally, and
on occasion, in private.' (A/388, para. 21.) "31. The subcommittees or working groups could, in most cases,
consist of representatives of the delegations with the closest interest in the
agenda item, representatives who are especially competent to deal with the
problem under discussion and others chosen in such a way as to ensure
that the sub-committee or working group will be broadly representative,
geographically and politically. "32. These bodies could meet either in public or in private,
according to the circumstances, and could either follow formal procedures
or discuss matters informally. Their function would be to make it possible
for those primarily interested in an item to exchange views, thus
facilitating subsequent agreement and compromise solutions; they could
prepare draft resolutions or at least formulate alternative solutions: they
could appoint rapporteurs to present their conclusions and to give the
necessary explanations to the committee which established them. The
committee itself would be entirely free to take final decisions but, since all
aspects of the problem would have been given minute examination, it
would undoubtedly find its own work greatly facilitated both with regard
to substance and to the time thus saved. It would also often be possible for
the committee to consider other items on its agenda while the subcommittee
or working group was carrying out its assignment."] of subcommittees or working groups of limited size but representative of its membership, for the purpose of facilitating its work;
- (f) The General Committee should fulfil its functions under rules 40, 41 and 42 of the rules of procedure and, in particular, make appropriate recommendations for furthering the progress of the Assembly and its Committees, in such a way as to facilitate the closing of the session by the date fixed; to this end, the General Committee should meet at least once every three weeks;
- (g) Presiding officers should make use of the resources provided by the rules of procedure and exercise their prerogatives under rules 35 and 108 [Rule 106 of the present rules of procedure], in order to accelerate the work of the General Assembly; to that effect they should, inter alia:
- (i) Open meetings at the scheduled time;
- (ii) Urge representatives to take the floor in the order in which they were inscribed on the list of speakers, it being understood that representatives prevented from so doing will normally be placed at the end of the list, unless they have arranged to change places with other representatives;
- (iii) Apply the rules of procedure in such a way as to ensure the proper exercise of the right of reply, explanation of votes and points of order.
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(a) Adopted by the General Assembly at its 1256th plenary meeting, on
11 November 1963.