Rules of Procedure of the Assembly (January 2023)
(Resolution 1202 (1999) adopted on 4 November 1999) with subsequent modifications of the Rules of Procedure* ![* Resolutions 1220 (2000),
1234 (2000), 1235 (2000), 1266 (2001), 1275 (2002), 1284 (2002),
1296 (2002), 1325 (2003), 1343 (2003), 1348 (2003), 1356 (2003),
1368 (2004), 1369 (2004), 1379 (2004), 1395 (2004), 1431 (2005),
1432 (2005), 1445 (2005), 1447 (2005), 1448 (2005), 1490 (2006),
1491 (2006), 1503 (2006), 1504 (2006), 1515 (2006), 1529 (2006),
1554 (2007), 1583 (2007), 1584 (2007), 1585 (2007), 1658 (2009),
1698 (2009), 1699 (2009), 1712 (2010), 1780 (2010), 1799 (2011),
1841 (2011), 1842 (2011), 1854 (2011), 1903 (2012), 1911 (2012),
1937 (2013), 1965 (2013), 2002 (2014), 2058 (2015), 2102 (2016),
2169 (2017), 2182 (2017), 2208 (2018), 2278 (2019), 2287 (2019),
2349 (2020), 2350 (2020), 2360 (2021), 2392 (2021), 2405 (2021)<br><br>Wherever used herein, the masculine form refers to both women and men, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The words "President", "Vice-President", "Secretary General", "Representative", "Substitute", "chairperson", etc. refer to persons of both sexes.](http://assembly.coe.int/nw/images/icon_FootnoteCall.png)
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Rule 53 - Current affairs debates
53.1. The Assembly
may hold one or two current affairs debates on a subject matter
which is not on the draft agenda of the part-session as approved
by the Bureau and for which the Assembly has not decided on urgent
procedure.
53.2. A
request for a current affairs debate shall be addressed to the President
of the Assembly by at least twenty representatives or substitutes,
by one political group, by one national delegation or by one committee.
It shall be submitted in writing in time for the last meeting of
the Bureau before the opening of the part-session.
53.3. The
Bureau of the Assembly may decide to accept only one request, to
accept two requests or to reject all requests.
This decision
shall be endorsed by the Assembly. ![If a member of
the Assembly objects to the decision of the Bureau to reject a request
for a current affairs debate, and if the Assembly endorses the decision
of the Bureau, by a majority of the votes cast, the Assembly will
not hold such a current affairs debate. If the Assembly rejects
the decision of the Bureau, by a majority of the votes cast, the
Assembly will hold this current affairs debate.A member of the Assembly
who objects to the decision of the Bureau to reject all requests
for a current affairs debate shall specify their objection, clarifying
which specific current affairs debate they wish to propose to be
held by the Assembly. If the Assembly approves the decision of the
Bureau, by a majority of the votes cast, the Assembly will hold
no current affairs debate. If the Assembly rejects the decision
of the Bureau, by a majority of the votes cast, the Assembly will
hold the current affairs debate which has been the subject of the
contestation.The Assembly does not have the competence to turn a request
for a current affairs debate into a debate under urgent procedure. The
Assembly does not have the competence to change the title of a current
affairs debate.](http://assembly.coe.int/nw/images/icon_FootnoteCall.png)
![When
proposing to the Assembly to hold a current affairs debate, the
selection criteria for the Bureau shall be the following: the topicality
of the subject-matter (as opposed to the urgency); the interest
in the subject-matter by a large number of members of the Assembly
and member States of the Council of Europe; the input which a debate
could provide for an Assembly committee thereafter to draw up a
report; the visibility in the media which a debate could engender.The Bureau shall have right to transform a request for a
current affairs debate into an urgent procedure debate. The Bureau
shall have right to change the title of a current affairs debate.
For both the transformation of a request and the change of the title
by the Bureau, the prior agreement of those who made the original
request (or their representatives) shall be required. If such an agreement
is not obtained, the Bureau cannot proceed with neither transformation
of a request nor change of the title.](http://assembly.coe.int/nw/images/icon_FootnoteCall.png)
![If a member of
the Assembly objects to the decision of the Bureau to reject a request
for a current affairs debate, and if the Assembly endorses the decision
of the Bureau, by a majority of the votes cast, the Assembly will
not hold such a current affairs debate. If the Assembly rejects
the decision of the Bureau, by a majority of the votes cast, the
Assembly will hold this current affairs debate.A member of the Assembly
who objects to the decision of the Bureau to reject all requests
for a current affairs debate shall specify their objection, clarifying
which specific current affairs debate they wish to propose to be
held by the Assembly. If the Assembly approves the decision of the
Bureau, by a majority of the votes cast, the Assembly will hold
no current affairs debate. If the Assembly rejects the decision
of the Bureau, by a majority of the votes cast, the Assembly will
hold the current affairs debate which has been the subject of the
contestation.The Assembly does not have the competence to turn a request
for a current affairs debate into a debate under urgent procedure. The
Assembly does not have the competence to change the title of a current
affairs debate.](http://assembly.coe.int/nw/images/icon_FootnoteCall.png)
53.4. A current
affairs debate may not exceed one and a half hours. It shall be
opened by one of the members who requested the debate, as chosen
by the Bureau. He or she shall be allowed ten minutes.
53.5. At
the end of a current affairs debate, the Assembly shall not vote
but the Bureau may subsequently propose that the subject be referred
to the appropriate committee for report.