RULE 1
The General Committee is composed of two members of legislative and/or consultative assemblies or similar bodies from each member of the Union designated by their delegation to the Conference (Article 10-1 of the Statute

RULE 2
A Member of the General Committee who is unable to attend shall be replaced by another member from among representatives of his respective Parliament for the remaining period (Article 10-2 of the Statute)

RULE 3
The Chairmen of the Committees shall participate in General committee sessions in an advisory capacity when questions concerning the work of their Committees are being discussed. These Committees shall submit their reports and recommendations to the General committee.( Article 7-1 of the Statute).

RULE 4
Representatives of regional and international organizations may be invited by the General committee as observers. Representatives of other bodies to which observer status has been accorded by the General committee may also be invited as observers.

SESSIONS

RULE 5
The General committee shall convene once a year, in accordance with provisions stipulated in the Statute (Article 10-3 of the Statute)

RULE 6
The General committee shall determine the venue and the date of its forthcoming session proposed by the Executive Committee, taking into account the geographic rotation. The session of the General committee during the course of each Conference shall constitute the annual session for that year.

RULE 7

1. An extra-ordinary Session of the General committee may be convened on the request of its Chairman or any of the Union’s Members, if the request meets the support of the majority of the Union’s Members (Article 10-4 of the Statue).
2. The Executive Committee shall determine the venue and the date of the Extra- Ordinary General committee Session.
3. Upon prior approval by the President of the General committee, the Secretary General may convene Coordination Meetings on the sideline of International or Regional parliamentary gatherings.  Participants to such Meetings should be Parliamentarians belonging to Member Countries of the PUIC regardless of any quorum.

3.1    Chairmanship of these Meetings shall be assumed by the most senior in age in case of absence of the President, one of the Vice-Presidents or a member of the General Committee respectively.

3.2    Resolutions could be taken by simple majority on the basis of one country one vote, and shall be binding only to the yes voter countries.  

3.3    The Secretary General shall submit such resolutions to the first following ordinary session of the General committee.

CHAIRMANSHIP

RULE 8
The Chairman of the General committee shall be elected for one year by acclamation . The same procedure shall be applied in electing the two vice-Chairmen. (Article 10-5 of the Statute).

RULE 9
The Chairman of the General committee shall preside over the Extra-Ordinary session(s) during his term of office.

RULE 10

Candidatures for the chairmanship of the General committee shall be communicated in writing to the Secretary General of the Union at least 24 hours before the opening of the annual session.

RULE 11

1. If the Chairman is absent, one of the Vice-Chairmen, designated in conformity with Art  10-5  of the Statute chairs the session.
2. In case of absence of the Chairman of the General committee by death, resignation or loss of parliamentary mandate, the General committee at the beginning of its first meeting shall elect the new chairman proposed by the same geographic group for the remaining period. Pending the election of the new chairman, this meeting shall be convened and chaired by the Vice-Chairman, elected from the geographic region expected to assume the chairmanship of the next annual session of the General committee.

RULE 12

1. The Chairman shall open, suspend and close the sessions, direct the work of the General committee, ensure respect for the rules, call upon the speakers, put the subjects to the vote and announce the results of voting. The Chairman's ruling on these matters shall be final and accepted without debate.
2. The Chairman decides on all matters not covered by these Rules. Such decisions shall be based on general rules contained in the present Rules of Procedure of the General committee.

AGENDA – RESOLUTIONS - DECISIONS

RULE 13

1. A draft agenda shall be drawn up by the Executive Committee. It shall be communicated to all members of the General committee by the Secretary General at least 15 days before the opening of the ordinary sessions.
2. The General committee may alter or approve its agenda.
3. The General committee shall adopt its agenda at the beginning of its first session.
4. The Extra-Ordinary Session can only consider item(s) for which it is convened (cf. Statute, Art 10-4)  .

RULE 14

1. Any member of the General committee may submit a motion or a draft resolution on items contained in the agenda.
2. Texts of motions or draft resolutions shall be prepared in Arabic, French and English.

RULE 15

1. Any member of the General committee may submit amendments, orally or in writing, to a motion or draft resolution.
2. Amendments submitted shall be related directly to the text and may envisage an addition, a deletion or rectification with regard to the initial draft, without having the effect of changing its scope or nature.
3.  The Chairman shall rule whether or not amendments are in order.

RULE 16

1. Amendments shall be discussed before discussing the text subject to amendment to which they relate. They shall likewise be voted on before the initial draft.
2. The above- mentioned procedure should be applied on such amendments.

RULE 17
Unless the Chairman decides otherwise, the only speakers to be heard in discussing an amendment shall be the author of the amendment and a member holding a contrary opinion.

SPEAKING RIGHTS – ORDER – POINTS OF ORDER

RULE 18
No member of the General committee may speak without the authorization of the Chairman.

RULE 19

1. Members of the General committee shall speak in the order in which they request the floor.
2. Speakers may only be interrupted by other members on a point of order, and after the authorization of the Chairman. They may, with the Chairman’s authorization, yield the floor so as to allow other members’ request for clarification.
3. The Chairman shall not allow debate when talking is about a point of order.

RULE 20
On the proposal of the Chairman, or at the request of one of its members, the General committee may decide by a majority of the votes cast to limit speaking time in the discussion of a particular item on the agenda.

RULE 21
The Chairman shall draw attenton of a speaker when the latter does not keep to the subject under discussion. The Chairman may, if necessary, withdraw permission to speak.
 
RULE 22
The Chairman shall deal immediately with any incident, which may arise during session and take all necessary measures required for the smooth functioning of the General committee debates.

RULE 23

1. The procedural motions shall have priority over the substantive questions; debate on the latter shall be suspended while the former are being considered.
2. The mover shall make a brief presentation of the motion without entering into the substance of the question under debate.
3.  In the debate of procedural motions, only the mover of the proposal and one delegate holding a contrary opinion shall be heard, after which the General committee shall decide.

RULE 24
General committee deliberations shall be public. They shall not be held in secret unless the General Committee so decides by a majority of the votes cast

VOTING– QUORUM - MAJORITIES

RULE 25

1. A member of the General Committee, or his duly appointed substitute, shall have one vote.
2. The Chairman shall not vote, unless he enjoys as well the capacity of being one of the two members constituting the delegation of his country to the General Committee

RULE 26

1. The General committee shall normally vote by show of hands or standing and sitting. However, if the Chairman deems it necessary or a member of the General committee so requested, a vote by roll-call/ secret ballot may be taken.
2.  In case of voting, only positive and negative votes shall be taken into consideration.

RULE 27

1. Any member of the General committee may request a part, or a paragraph, of a text submitted to the General committee be put to vote separately.
2.   If any objection is raised, the request for division shall be voted upon without debate.

RULE 28

1. Nobody may interrupt a vote once it has commenced, except to obtain clarification on the manner in which the voting is being conducted.
2.  Members of the General committee who wish to explain their vote, may be authorized to do so briefly by the Chairman, after voting has taken place.
3.  Any proposal  on amendments or points of order shall not be admissible.

RULE 29

1. Vote may only be taken if at least half of the members of the General committee or their duly appointed substitutes participating in the session are present in the meeting room at the time.
2.  For each session, the quorum shall be established on the basis of the number of members of the General committee or substitutes effectively participating in the Opening Session. The quorum shall be announced by the Secretary General of the Union at that time.

RULE 30
General Committee's decisions, resolutions and recommendations shall be adopted by consensus to the extent possible, otherwise by a two- third majority of the members present and voting.

BUDGET PROGRAMMING AND AUDITING

RULE 31
The General committee, based on the proposal of the Executive Committee, shall approve annual programme and budget of the Union (cf. Statute, Art.11.5).

RULE 32
The Union's account, after having been examined by the External Auditor, shall be submitted each year by the Secretary General to the two Auditors appointed by the General committee from among its members(cf. Statute, Article 11-6).

SECRETARIAT

RULE 33

1. The Secretary General or one of the Assistant Secretaries General shall assist the Chairman of the General committee in directing his work.
2. Secretary General or Assistant Secretaries General may be invited by the Chairman to speak on any question under consideration.

RULE 34

1. The Secretariat of the Union shall receive all documents, reports and draft resolutions and distribute them in Arabic, French and English. It shall ensure the simultaneous interpretation of the debates in the three languages.
2. It shall prepare provisional summary records of the meetings, which shall be circulated to members within 60 days of the close of the session and submitted for the approval by the General committee at the beginning of its next session.

RULE 35
The Secretary General shall submit to each ordinary session of the General committee a written report on the state and work of the PUIC.

CONSULTATION

RULE 36

1. In the interval between sessions the Chairman of the General committee, acting through the Secretariat, may if necessary consult the General committee members by correspondence.
2.  For the result of this consultation to constitute a valid decision, the Secretariat must have received replies from at least half of the members represented in the General committee within 40 days of the date of dispatch of the communication by which the members were consulted.

AMENDMENT

RULE 37

1. The General committee shall adopt and amend its Rules of Procedure by a two third majority of the votes cast.
2.  Proposals for amending the General Committee's Rules Procedure shall be formulated in writing and sent to the Secretariat of the Union at least two months before the next meeting of the General committee. The Secretariat shall communicate such proposals immediately to all members. It shall communicate any proposal for sub-amendments not less than one month before the meeting of the General committee.