The Chair's Activities in Guiding the Work of a Committee

The Chair’s Activities in Guiding the Work of a Committee

Ensuring Committees Conduct Business

An essential role of Chairs is to ensure that committees conduct their business in the manner they deem appropriate, in light of the Rules of Procedure and their understanding of the mandate and the wishes of delegates.

To this end, the Chair can use four different techniques (or combinations thereof) set out in the following sections. They can:

1. Grant permission and allow things to happen
2. Facilitate their happening
3. Indirectly cause them to happen
4. Do them themselves

Allowing Things to Happen

The Chair keeps order by selectively permitting some activities and/or deciding when they take place. Thus:

1. A Committee cannot undertake any formal activity if the Chair (or Vice-Chair) is not chairing.
2. The conference is not in session until the Chair says so.
3. No delegate may speak (formally) without permission from the Chair, and the Chair can withdraw that permission.
4. The conference cannot act (e.g., start discussion on an agenda item) unless the Chair permits it.
5. The conference has not taken a decision until the Chair actually confirms it.
6. The conference is in session until the Chair declares it formally closed.

But, just as keeping a gate shut blocks activity, opening it permits activities to take place.

Thus, for example, the PGA:

1. Opens the first Plenary meeting of each session, thus enabling the delegations to start work.
2. Initiates each action or decision (e.g., closure of discussion on one agenda item and proceeding to the next).

Similarly, the Chair of a Committee:

1. Opens the first Committee meeting, thus enabling the delegations to start work on the agenda items that have been allocated to it, and
2. Initiates each action or decision (e.g., closure of discussion on one agenda item and proceeding to the next).

Facilitating the Work of the Conference

The Chair has many techniques at their disposal for facilitating the work of the conference, including:

1. Allowing adequate time for debate and informal consultations
2. Resolving any issues over procedure, thereby enabling the conference to continue its work in the appropriate manner
3. Suspending the session for informal consultations

Indirectly Causing Things to Happen

Examples of this technique include:

1. Inviting a delegate to make a statement
2. Suggesting that informal consultations take place
3. Appointing a “Friend of the Chair” or facilitator to conduct consultations or to try to find consensus on a particular issue
4. Asking the Secretariat to provide a particular service (e.g., interpreter service for a night session)

Personal Initiatives by the Chair

Ultimately (many experienced chairs say “as a last resort”), the Chair can play a very “hands-on” role. They can, for example:

1. Personally convene a contact group and chair it
2. Act as intermediary, facilitator, or “broker” to resolve disagreements among delegates
3. Propose a procedural step, such as laying an issue aside or referring it to another body
4. Present formulations or whole draft texts to the Committee in their own name (as further explained below)

The Chair as Organizer

The Chair accepts responsibility for seeing that the Committee performs and completes its work. Thus, they can plan, oversee and lead:

1. The development of a Programme of Work, including:
2. The allocation of work to committees and other subsidiary bodies
3. The allocation of time for each task (e.g., for the discussion of an agenda item)
4. The execution of the work programme, whereby they can:
5. Initiate debate on each agenda item
6. Ensure that the debate is orderly
7. Initiate decision-making
8. Ensure that results are recorded