Chapter IV: Place of Proceedings

Article 20
Determination of Place of Conciliation Proceeding

Unless the parties have agreed upon the place where the conciliation proceeding is to be held, such place shall be determined by the Secretary-General in consultation with the President of the Commission, or if there is no President, with the single conciliator, having regard to the circumstances of the proceeding and the convenience of the parties.

Chapter V: Working of the Commission

Article 21
Sessions of the Commission

(1).The Commission shall meet for its first session within 60 days after its constitution or such other period as the parties may agree. The dates of that session shall be fixed by the President of the Commission after consultation with its members and the Secretariat, and with the parties as far as possible. If, upon its constitution, the Commission has no President, such dates shall be fixed by the Secretary-General after consultation with the members of the Commission, and with the parties as far as possible.

(2) Subsequent sessions shall be convened by the President within time limits determined by the Commission. The dates of such sessions shall be fixed by the President of the Commission after consultation with its members and the Secretariat, and with the parties as far as possible.

(3) The Secretary-General shall notify the members of the Commission and the parties of the dates and place of the sessions of the Commission in good time.

Article 22
Sittings of the Commission

(1) The President of the Commission shall conduct its hearings and preside at its deliberations.

(2) Except as the parties otherwise agree, the presence of a majority of the members of the Commission shall be required at its sittings.

(3) The President of the Commission shall fix the date and hour of its sittings.

Article 23
Deliberations of the Commission

(1) The deliberations of the Commission shall take place in private and remain secret.

(2) Only members of the Commission shall take part in its deliberations. No other person shall be admitted unless the Commission decides otherwise.

Article 24
Decisions of the Commission

The decisions of the Commission shall be taken by a majority of the votes of all its members. Abstention by any member of the Commission shall count as a negative vote.

Article 25
Incapacity of the President

If at any time the President of the Commission should be unable to act, his functions shall be performed by one of the other members of the Commission, acting in the order in which the Secretariat had received the notice of their acceptance of their appointment to the Commission.

Article 26
Representation of the Parties

(1) Each party may be represented or assisted by agents, counsel or advocates whose names and authority shall be notified by that party to the Secretariat, which shall promptly inform the Commission and the other party.

(2) For the purposes of these Rules, the expression "party" includes, where the context so admits, an agent, counsel or advocate authorized to represent that party.

Chapter VI: General Procedural Provisions

Article 27
Procedural Orders

The Commission shall make the orders required for the conduct of the proceeding.

Article 28
Preliminary Procedural Consultation

(1) As early as possible after the constitution of a Commission, its President shall endeavor to ascertain the views of the parties regarding questions of procedure. For this purpose he may request the parties to meet him. He shall, in particular, seek their views on the following matters:

(a) the number of members of the Commission required to constitute a quorum at its sittings;

(b) the language or languages to be used in the proceeding;

(c) the evidence, oral or written, which each party intends to produce or to request the Commission to call for, and the written statements which each party intends to file, as well as the time limits within which such evidence should be produced and such statements filed; and

(d) the number of copies desired by each party of instruments filed by the other.

(2) In the conduct of the proceeding the Commission shall apply any agreement between the parties on procedural matters, which is not inconsistent with any provisions of the Additional Facility Rules and the Administrative and Financial Rules (Additional Facility).

Article 29
Procedural Languages

(1) The parties may agree on the use of one or two languages to be used in the proceeding, provided that, if they agree on any language that is not an official language of the Centre, the Commission, after consultation with the Secretary-General, gives its approval. If the parties do not agree on any such procedural language, each of them may select one of the official languages for this purpose. Notwithstanding the foregoing, one of the official languages of the Centre shall be used for all communications to and from the Secretariat.

(2) If the parties agree on two procedural languages, or each party selects a different one, any instrument may be filed in either such language. Statements made before the Commission or by one of its members in one procedural language shall, unless the Commission decides to dispense therewith, be interpreted into the other procedural language. The orders and recommendations shall be made, the report of the Commission rendered and the minutes kept in both procedural languages, both versions being equally authentic.

(3) The Commission may authorize the use of a language other than a procedural language for a specified part of the proceeding. In such event it shall determine to what extent translation and interpretation into and from the procedural languages is required.

(4) If a party uses a language other than an official language of the Centre, it shall be wholly responsible for the arrangement for and the special expenses incurred by any translation and interpretation into and from that language.

Article 30
Written Statements

Except as otherwise provided by the Commission after consultation with the parties and the Secretariat, every notice, request, written statement or other instrument shall be filed in the form of a signed original accompanied by the following number of additional copies:

(a) before the number of members of the Commission has been determined: five; and

(b) after the number of members of the Commission has been determined: two more than the number of its members.

Article 31
Supporting Documentation

(1) Documentation filed in support of any notice, request, written statement, or other instrument introduced into a proceeding shall consist of one original and of the number of additional copies equal to the number of additional copies required of the instrument to which this documentation relates. The original shall, unless otherwise agreed by the parties or ordered by the Commission, consist of the complete document or of a copy or extract duly certified by a public official.

(2) Each document which is not in a language approved for the proceeding in question shall, unless otherwise ordered by the Commission, be accompanied by a certified translation into such a language.

Article 32
Time Limits

(1) All time limits specified in these Rules or fixed by a Commission or the Secretary-General shall be computed from the date on which the limit is announced in the presence of the parties or their representatives or on which the Secretary-General dispatches the pertinent notification or instrument (which date shall be marked on it). The day of such announcement or dispatch shall be excluded from the calculation.

(2) A time limit shall be satisfied if a notification or instrument dispatched by a party is delivered at the seat of the Centre, or to the Secretary of the competent Commission that is meeting away from the seat of the Centre, before the close of business on the indicated date or, if that day is a Saturday, a Sunday, a public holiday observed at the place of delivery or a day on which for any reason regular mail delivery is restricted at the place of delivery, then before the close of business on the next subsequent day on which regular mail service is available.

(3) Any step taken after expiration of the applicable time limit shall be disregarded unless the Commission, in special circumstances and after giving the other party an opportunity of stating its views, decides otherwise.

Chapter VII: Conciliation Procedures

Article 33
Functions of the Commission

(1) It shall be the duty of the Commission to clarify the issues in dispute and to endeavour to bring about agreement between them upon mutually acceptable terms.

(2) In order to clarify the issues in dispute between the parties, the Commission shall hear the parties and shall endeavour to obtain any information that might serve this end. The parties shall be associated with its work as closely as possible.

(3) In order to bring about agreement between the parties, the Commission may, from time to time at any stage of the proceeding, make recommendations to the parties, together with arguments in favor thereof, including recommendations to the effect that the parties accept specific terms of settlement or that they refrain, while it seeks to bring about agreement between them, from specific acts that might aggravate the dispute. It may fix time limits within which each party shall inform the Commission of its decision concerning the recommendations made. The parties shall give their most serious consideration to such recommendations.

(4) The Commission, in order to obtain information that might enable it to discharge its functions, may at any stage of the proceeding:

(a) request from either party oral explanations, documents and other information;

(b) request evidence from other persons; and

(c) with the consent of the party concerned, visit any place connected with the dispute or conduct inquiries there, provided that the parties may participate in any such visits and inquiries.

Article 34
Cooperation of the Parties

The parties shall cooperate in good faith with the Commission in order to enable the Commission to carry out its functions, and shall give their most serious consideration to its recommendations. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the parties shall: (a) at the request of the Commission, furnish all relevant documents, information and explanations as well as use the means at their disposal to enable the Commission to hear witnesses and experts whom it desires to call; (b) facilitate visits to and inquiries at any place connected with the dispute that the Commission desires to undertake; and (c) comply with any time limits agreed with or fixed by the Commission.

Article 35
Transmission of the Notice

As soon as the Commission is constituted, the Secretary-General shall transmit to each member of the Commission a copy each of:

(a) the notice by which the proceeding was commenced;

(b) the supporting documentation;

(c) the certificate of registration of the notice; and

(d) any communication received from either party in response thereto.

Article 36
Filing of Written Statements

Upon the constitution of the Commission, its President or where the Commission consists of a single conciliator, such conciliator shall invite each party to file, within 30 days or such longer time limit as the President or the single conciliator may fix, a written statement of its position. If the Commission comprises more than one conciliator but upon its constitution, the Commission has no President, such invitation shall be issued and any such longer time limit shall be fixed by the Secretary-General. At any stage of the proceeding, within such time limits as the Commission shall fix, either party may file such other written statements as it deems useful and relevant.

Article 37
Hearings

(1) The hearings of the Commission shall take place in private and, except as the parties otherwise agree, shall remain secret.

(2) The Commission shall decide, with the consent of the parties, which other persons besides the parties, their agents, counsel and advocates, witnesses and experts during their testimony, and officers of the Commission may attend the hearings.

Article 38
Witnesses and Experts

(1) Each party may, at any stage of the proceeding, request that the Commission hear the witnesses and experts whose evidence the party considers relevant. The Commission shall fix a time limit within which such hearing shall take place.

(2) Witnesses and experts shall, as a rule, be examined before the Commission by the parties under the control of its President. Questions may also be put to them by any member of the Commission.

(3) If a witness or expert is unable to appear before it, the Commission, in agreement with the parties, may make appropriate arrangements for the evidence to be given in a written deposition or to be taken by examination elsewhere. The parties may participate in any such examination, and minutes shall be kept in accordance with Article 39 of these Rules, mutatis mutandis.

Article 39
Minutes

(1) The Secretary-General shall keep minutes of all hearings; these shall include:

(a) the place, date and time of the hearing;

(b) the names of the members of the Commission present;

(c) the designation of each party present;

(d) the names of the agents, counsel and advocates present;

(e) the names, descriptions and addresses of the witnesses and experts heard;

(f) a summary record of the evidence produced;

(g) a summary record of the statements made by the parties;

(h) a summary record of questions put to the parties by the members of the Commission, as well as the replies thereto; and

(i) any order or recommendation made or announced by the Commission.

(2) The minutes of the hearing shall be signed by the President of the Commission and the Secretary-General. These minutes alone shall be authentic. They shall not be published without the consent of the parties.

(3) The Commission may, and at the request of a party shall, order that hearings be more fully recorded, in which event items (f), (g) and (h) listed in paragraph (1) of this Article may be omitted from the minutes.

Chapter VIII: Termination of the Proceeding

Article 40
Objections to Competence

(1) The Commission shall have the power to rule on its competence.

(2) Any objection that the dispute is not within the competence of the Commission, shall be filed by a party with the Secretary-General as soon as possible after the constitution of the Commission and in any event no later than in its first written statement or at the first hearing if that occurs earlier, unless the facts on which the objection is based are unknown to the party at that time.

(3) The Commission may on its own initiative consider, at any stage of the proceeding, whether the dispute before it is within its competence.

(4) Upon the formal raising of an objection, the proceeding on the merits shall be suspended. The Commission may deal with the objection as a preliminary question or join it to the merits of the dispute. If the Commission overrules the objection or joins it to the merits, the proceedings on the merits shall be resumed. If the Commission decides that the dispute is not within its competence, it shall close the proceeding and draw up a report to that effect, in which it shall state its reasons.

Article 41
Closure of the Proceeding

(1) If one party fails to appear or participate in the proceeding, the Commission shall, after notice to the parties, close the proceeding and draw up its report noting the reference of the dispute to conciliation and recording the failure of that party to appear or participate.

(2) If at any stage of the proceeding it appears to the Commission that there is no likelihood of settlement between the parties, the Commission shall, after notice to the parties, close the proceeding and draw up its report noting the reference of the dispute to conciliation and recording the failure of the parties to reach a settlement.

(3) If the parties reach agreement on the issues in dispute, the Commission shall close the proceeding and draw up its report noting the issues in dispute and recording that the parties have reached agreement. At the request of the parties, the report shall record the detailed terms and conditions of their agreement.

(4) Except as the parties otherwise agree, neither party to a conciliation proceeding may in any other proceeding before arbitrators, courts or otherwise invoke or rely on any views expressed or statements or admissions or offers of settlement made by the other party in the conciliation proceeding, or the report or any recommendations made by the Commission.

Article 42
The Report

(1) The report of the Commission shall be drawn up and signed as soon as possible after the closure of the proceeding. It shall contain, in addition to the material specified in Article 41 of these Rules, as appropriate:

(a) a precise designation of each party;

(b) a description of the method of its constitution;

(c) the names of the members of the Commission, and an identification of the appointing authority of each;

(d) the names of the agents, counsel and advocates of the parties;

(e) the dates and place of the sittings of the Commission; and

(f) a summary of the proceeding.

(2) The report shall also record any agreement of the parties, referred to in Article 41 (4) of these Rules.

(3) The report shall be signed by the members of the Commission; the date of each signature shall be indicated. The fact that a member refuses to sign the report shall be recorded therein.

Article 43
Communication of the Report

(1) Upon signature of the last conciliator to sign, the Secretary-General shall promptly:

(a) authenticate the original text of the report and deposit it in the archives of the Secretariat; and

(b) dispatch a certified copy of the report to each party, indicating the date of dispatch on the original text and on all copies.

(2) The Secretary-General shall, upon request, make available to a party additional certified copies of the report.

Chapter IX: Costs

Article 44
Cost of Proceeding

The fees and expenses of the members of the Commission, as well as the charge for the use of facilities of the Centre, shall be borne equally by the parties. Each party shall bear any other expenses it incurs with the proceeding. The Secretariat shall provide the Commission and the parties all information in its possession to facilitate the division of the costs.

Chapter X: General Provisions

Article 45
Final Provision