Informal Memorandum on Possible Rules of Procedure Doc. 25, April 23 I. Establishment of Commissions, Technical Committees and Subcommittees 1. It is suggested that upon adoption by the Conference in plenary session of an organizational plan for the Conference, the President of the Conference would request the presidents of the commissions, in consultation with the Secretary-General of the Conference, to call the first meetings of their respective commissions as soon as possible. The secretary-general of each delegation would as soon as possible inform the Secretary-General of the Conference as to the commissions and technical committees on which his delegation desires to be represented and the name of the member or members designated in each case. 2. At the appropriate time the presidents of the respective commissions would request the chairmen of the technical committees to call the first meetings of their respective committees. 3. Subcommittees would begin meetings when requested to do so by the respective technical committees. II. Submission of Formal Proposals Formal proposals which a delegation desires to submit to the Conference would be transmitted through the Secretary-General to the Steering Committee or, upon authorization of the Steering Committee, to the Executive Committee. The committee to which such a formal proposal is transmitted should determine the procedure to be followed with respect to it, including its reference to a commission or technical committee. No such proposal should be discussed in the commission or technical committee to which it is referred unless the text has been distributed to all delegations not less than 24 hours preceding the meeting. III. Right To Address the Conference Speakers should be recognized by the presiding officer in the order in which they have signified their desire to speak. The president, chairman, or rapporteur of a commission or committee might be accorded precedence for the purpose of explaining or clarifying the conclusions arrived at by a commission or committee. IV. Voting 1. Each delegation would have one vote in each body of the Conference on which it is represented. 2. Voting in Public Sessions and Meetings In all public sessions and meetings of the Conference (in plenary sessions and public meetings of the commissions) voting on questions of procedure, it is suggested, would be by majority vote of the delega tions present, and voting on a text or other substantive questions would be by two-thirds vote of the delegations present. 3. Voting in Closed Meetings The voting procedure and rules in closed meetings of the Conference (in closed meetings of the commissions and in meetings of the technical committees), it is suggested, would be decided, on an ad hoc basis, by the body concerned. 4. The Conference should normally vote by a show of hands except that any delegation in any body of the Conference might request a roll call which would be taken by countries in English alphabetical order. V. Languages 1. English, Russian, Chinese, French, and Spanish should be the official languages of the Conference. 2. The final text of the Charter will be prepared and opened for signature in each of the five official languages. If time does not permit the completion of the texts in each of these languages before the closing of the Conference, the texts which have not been completed by that time should be opened for signature at a later date. 3. The Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, supplemented by the Crimea proposal on voting procedure in the Security Council, would be issued in all five official languages as the first document of the Conference. 4. As a practical matter it would be helpful if English were to be used as the working language of the Conference. All Conference documents, records, and the official Journal would be issued in English. Upon request by the chairman of a delegation to the Secretary-General, the Secretariat would endeavor so far as possible, to issue important documents of the Conference (in addition to those mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3 above) in other official languages as well as in English. For mechanical reasons, however, it is suggested that, apart from the documents mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3, no printing would be done in any language other than English and that requests for reproduction in typewritten form of important documents in languages other than English be held to a minimum. The Secretariat would be prepared to assist delegations in translating Russian, Chinese, French, or Spanish documents into English. In addition, the Secretariat would comply, so far as possible, with requests for assistance in translating draft texts or proposals into Russian, French, or Spanish. 5. Deliberations of the plenary sessions of the Conference and of the commissions should normally be conducted in English. Delegates speaking in other languages should, if possible, furnish an English interpretation or an English translation of their remarks. The Secretariat would provide assistance in interpreting from Russian, French, and Spanish into English at plenary sessions, and at other meetings so far as possible. English should also generally be used in the meetings of the technical committees and subcommittees. Delegates should provide their own interpreters to enable them to follow discussions in English. VI. Records 1. No stenographic transcript of proceedings would be kept except at plenary sessions of the Conference and at public meetings of the commissions. 2. For all other meetings the Secretariat would prepare a brief summary of the discussion and of the decisions reached. 3. Both stenographic transcripts and summaries of proceedings would be prepared first in provisional form for clearance, prior to general distribution, with the appropriate members of the bodies concerned. After corrections have been made the transcript or summary would be issued in final form. VII. Document Classification The classification and distribution of each document would be determined by the body of the Conference which originates it. There would be two classifications of documents: 1. Unrestricted, for distribution to all delegations, to accredited press, radio, and newsreel representatives, and to the public so far as the supply permits; 2. Restricted, for distribution only to delegations. VIII. Public-Information Policy Plenary sessions of the Conference and meetings of the commissions would be held in public, subject to the reservation that the commissions in their discretion might hold closed meetings. In addition, principal officers of the Conference would hold regular meetings with the accredited press, radio, and newsreel representatives. The meetings of the technical committees and subcommittees would be closed. IX. Hours of Assembly 1. Plenary sessions of the Conference would normally convene at 10:30 a.m. or 3:30 p.m. Meetings of the commissions and technical committees would normally be from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Meetings could, of course, be arranged for other hours by decision of the bodies concerned. Alternative Proposals on Conference Voting (To Form Section IV of the Conference Rules of Procedure) Doc. 141, May 8 1. I. Original Proposal (Contained in the Secretariat's memorandum of April 23, with verbal modifications necessary to put it in final instead of proposal form) Each delegation shall have one vote in each body of the Conference on which it is represented. 2. Voting in Public Sessions and Meetings In all public sessions and meetings of the Conference (in plenary sessions and in public meetings of the commissions) voting on ques |