Article 30 of the Charter of the United Nations states that the Security Council shall adopt its own rules of procedure, including the method of selecting its President. The Security Council adopted its Provisional Rules of Procedure at its first meeting held on 17 January 1946, and has since amended them 11 times. Although the Provisional Rules have not been amended since 1982, the Security Council has clarified its working methods and procedure by notes of the President, the most recent of which are the comprehensive Note by the President of 30 August 2017 (S/2017/507) and subsequent notes addressing individual topics. For more information on the working methods of the Council, see the Security Council Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions (IWG).
The Repertoire covers the practice of the Council in relation to the Provisional Rules of Procedure. The relevant chapters or parts of the Repertoire relating to procedural issues generally highlight any discussion in the Security Council on the interpretation of the Rules of Procedure and provide examples citing any unusual cases.
The information included here is divided into 11 sections:
Contents
Representation and credentials
Status of the Provisional Rules of Procedure
Procedural developments during the COVID-19 pandemic
A. Meetings and records
Article 28 (1) of the Charter, which states that the Security Council shall be so organized as to function continuously, and rules 1-5 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure cover the rules for holding and convening meetings. Issues relating to the procedure for requesting meetings, holding High-Level meetings or holding meetings away from Headquarters were included in the Repertoire. In addition, from the volume covering the period 1996-1999 onwards, the Repertoire featured procedural developments relating to meetings concerning such topics as the format of formal meetings and meetings with the troops-contributing countries (TCCs).
Rules 48-57 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure are concerned with access to information about Security Council meetings and documents. The Repertoire covers issues related to the publicity of meetings and records, such as several cases in which the Council decided to publish verbatim records after private meetings, the way the Council handled speakers’ requests to publish supporting documents as part of their statements in verbatim records, and instances when the requirement laid in rule 49 concerning the timing of the issuance of verbatim records was waived.
Starting with the 2008-2009 volume, both topics of meetings and records are jointly covered.
Meetings
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Meetings, publicity and records
B. Agenda
Rules 6-12 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure govern the agenda of the Security Council. The Repertoire, in general, covers the following topics: (1) the provisional agenda, (2) adoption of the agenda, and (3) matters of which the Security Council is seized. The original volume of the Repertoire covering the period 1946-1951 contains additional materials under a section entitled Consideration of the adoption or amendment of rules 6-12.
1. The provisional agenda
Information on the practice of the Security Council with regard to the preparation and communication of the provisional agenda is found under this topic. This is relevant to rules 6-8 and 12 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure.
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2. Adoption of the agenda
Adoption of the agenda contains material dealing with questions that were discussed in connection with the adoption of the agenda, such as consideration of requirements for the inclusion of an item in the agenda, the effect of the inclusion of an item in the agenda, order of discussion of items on the agenda, the scope of items on the agenda vis-à-vis the scope of discussion, phrasing of items and postponement of consideration of items. It also provides instances when votes were taken concerning the provisional agenda. Much of this material relates to rule 9 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure. From the 2008-2009 volume onwards, new agenda items introduced during the period are covered here.
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3. Matters of which the Security Council is seized
(1) The agenda: matters of which the Security Council is seized
This relates to the agenda items under the Council’s consideration. Under this heading, an overview of the Council’s decisions with regard to the addition, retention and deletion of items of which the Council is seized is provided. This is relevant for rules 10 and 11 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure.
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(2) Agenda items discussed by the Security Council
This contains tables of the agenda items under the Council’s consideration during a given period, on the basis of the statements prepared by the Secretary-General on items of which the Council is seized or has maintained on its agenda (“seizure statements”) in accordance with rule 11 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure. From 1969 to 2007, the Repertoire presents the agenda items discussed by the Council in 3 tables: (a) the new items introduced during the period under review, (b) the retained items that continued to be under the Council’s consideration and (c) the deleted items. From 2008 onwards, given that newly added agenda items are treated under "Adoption of the agenda" above, there are only two tables: (a) one indicating both deleted and retained items; and (b) the other presenting the agenda items discussed during the period under review.
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C. Representation and credentials
Rules 13-17 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure govern the representatives of Member States who serve on the Council and the process of providing them their formal credentials to serve on the Council. Case studies in the Repertoire include instances where questions were raised on the credentials of representatives, for instance, following a change of Government.
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D. Presidency
Rules 18-20 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure govern the procedural aspects regarding the presidency of the Security Council. This covers the monthly rotation of the presidency, instances of the temporary cession of the chair by the President in consideration of issues in which his country is directly involved and other related issues.
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In addition, other parts of the Repertoire touch upon other functions of the Presidency under the Provisional Rules of Procedure:
- For materials relating to conduct of meetings, including the President’s power, see Conduct of business
- For materials relating to the President’s efforts to inform non-member States and others about Council decisions and deliberations, see publicity and records
- For the presidential functions in connection with agenda, see agenda
- For the presidential functions in connection with voting, see voting
- For the presidential functions in connection with applications for membership to the United Nations, see Membership in the United Nations
E. Secretariat
Rules 21-26 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure delineate the specific functions and powers of the Secretary-General in connection with the meetings of the Security Council. Up to 1988, other functions and powers of the Secretary-General than those of an administrative nature in relation to the working of the Security Council, such as the exercise of his powers under Article 99 of the Charter, can also be found in the studies below. From 1989 onwards, those non-administrative functions are included in the section on Relations with the Secretariat. Furthermore, for the period of 2004-2007, the Repertoire also covers topics such as briefings by the Secretariat, documentation, notification, distribution of statements, communication with the Secretariat and outside, and newly elected members. The 1946-1951 volume also contains a section called Appendix to Provisional Rules that covered procedure for dealing with communications from individuals and non-governmental organizations.
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F. Conduct of business
Rules 27-36 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure set out the conduct of business in the Security Council. Topics covered in this section include the order of speakers, the ability to create subsidiary organs, points of order, order of voting, suspension of meetings, amendments, and submission of proposals or resolutions by non-members of the Council. Materials relating to rule 28 concerning subsidiary organs of the Security Council are found here.
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