24. THE SETTING UP OF A CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE AND AMENDMENT OF THE RELEVANT RULES OF PROCEDURE (1982)

24. THE SETTING UP OF A CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE AND AMENDMENT OF THE RELEVANT RULES OF PROCEDURE

(from "Chairman's Report of the Thirty-Fourth Annual Meeting")

Japan had asked for the inclusion of this agenda item noting that at a Commissioners' meeting held during the 4th Special Meeting of the Commission in March 1982 no objections had been raised to the establishment of a Credentials Committee. The matter was referred to the Finance and Administration Committee for initial consideration although it was recognised that the Chairman of the Commission had already set up an ad hoc group to examine the credentials of delegates attending the present meeting.

The Committee had a wide-ranging discussion including consideration of the procedures applied in other international organisations. There were divisions of opinion on the need for a Credentials Committee. The matters discussed included practical aspects, the IWC's present flexibility, potential difficulties, and the Commission's standing. The Committee agreed that the primary objective must be to ensure that the persons attending meetings of the Commission are properly authorised and that the precise means of achieving this cannot be defined at this time. It recommended, therefore, that a decision about the establishment of a Credentials Committee be deferred until next year to allow further consideration in the light of the response to the guidelines laid down this year, and any advice forthcoming from the Chairman's ad hoc group.

The Chairman's ad hoc group, composed of delegates from Australia, Brazil, France, Norway, St Lucia and Spain, met under the Chairmanship of Mr B. Matthews (Australia) and with the assistance of the Secretary. Its terms of reference were to review the documentation submitted for the purpose of accreditation of all members of delegations and forwarded to the Secretary in accordance with the decision taken by the Commission at the previous Annual Meeting.

The ad hoc group noted two main points - the actual appointment of Commissioners themselves and the credentials of the remainder of delegates. The Rules of Procedure themselves deal only with the appointment of Commissioners and the right of deputies to vote in their absence. The recommendation of the 33rd Annual Meeting was that delegates may be notified by telex, presumably by governments or Commissioners, subject to confirmation, presumably in writing, by the second day of the meeting. The group noted the basic requirement therefore is notification by governments of appointment of Commissioners generally, that is, not for specific meetings. These notifications are considered to be valid until changed. Notification of delegations often originated from Commissioners not governments, in many cases by unconfirmed telexes, and some notifications were in the form of photocopies. It is recommended, therefore, that written communication of the composition of delegations by Governments, including their London Embassies, is always necessary and photocopies should be avoided.

In general the ad hoc group considered that, if a Credentials Committee should be established, the Rules of Procedure must be clarified. Even in the event that a Credentials Committee is not formally established, delegations must pay strict attention in future to the Rules of Procedure and the recommendations of the Annual Meeting.

The Commission considered the two reports together and agreed that the question of the establishment of a bona-fide Credentials Committee would be considered again by the Finance and Administration Committee at the next Annual Meeting. Meanwhile, and for the purposes of that meeting, delegations should take into account and act in accordance with the findings of the ad hoc group and the Finance and Administration Committee, including the ideas contained in a discussion paper presented to the latter.