Verification of new members' credentials
| Publisher | Council of Europe: Committee of Ministers |
| Publication Date | 19 March 2013 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Resolution 352 (2013) |
| Reference | 24th Session |
| Cite as | Council of Europe: Committee of Ministers, Verification of new members' credentials, 19 March 2013, Resolution 352 (2013), available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/51bef1654.html [accessed 25 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Congress:
1. Draws national delegations' attention to the provisions relating to the term of office of delegates as set out in Article 3.3 of the Congress' Statutory Resolution, namely that such delegates are appointed for four years and may be withdrawn from the delegation before the end of that term of office only if they have lost their local or regional mandate, resign or have died, regardless of whether local or regional elections have taken place;
2. Reminds all delegates of their obligation to sign a written declaration affirming and stating that they subscribe to the aims and basic principles of the Council of Europe;
3. With regard to Article 4.1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Congress which stipulates that "a member state which has a region or regions with legislative powers must include at least one delegate from one such region in the Chamber of Regions":
a. notes that this provision has, in the past, been unevenly applied by delegations and not been strictly enforced by the Congress itself;
b. refers to its decision, as part of its reform process, to monitor more closely the application of the provisions laid out in its Charter and Rules of Procedure;
c. reaffirms its intention to continue in this spirit, notably with regard to its verification of credentials of members to ensure that this is done in a systematic and equitable fashion by member states;
d. acknowledges that this exercise has shown that certain member states with regions with legislative powers have encountered serious difficulties in including them in their delegations;
e. therefore mandates its Bureau and relevant committees to examine this issue, in particular in the light of its on-going re-evaluation of levels of governance and membership and representativity criteria with a view to clarifying and, where necessary, refining the criteria pertaining to such regions and proposing a possible revision of the Congress Rules of Procedure;
f. decides that, until the next renewal session in October 2016, delegations not in strict compliance with the specific provisions of Article 4.1 pertaining to regions with legislative powers may, nevertheless, be approved by the Congress upon the Bureau's proposal.
4. Regrets the absence of a Serbian delegation for the second consecutive session and expresses its hope that the Serbian authorities will shortly be able to come to an agreement on the composition of their delegation, thereby enabling its delegates to play a full role in the Congress' different bodies.
5. Approves the credentials of the members of the 46 national delegations contained in List I of the 24th Session.
1 . Debated and adopted by the Congress on 19 March 2013, 1st Sitting (see Document CG(24)2), Rapporteurs: Anders KNAPE, Sweden (L, EPP/CCE) and Ludmila SFIRLOAGA, Romania (R, SOC)
