CHAPTER I: INSTITUTION OF PROCEEDINGS

Art. 1   The Request
Art. 2   Contents of the Request
Art. 3   Registration of the Request
Art. 4   Objections to the Request
Art. 5   Settlement of Objections to the Request;
             Appointment of Special Commissioner
Art. 6   Absence of Procedural Arrangement
Art. 7   UN Register of Experts and GATT Panel on Complaints

CHAPTER II: THE COMMITTEE AND ITS WORKING

Art. 8    Number of Commissioners
Art. 9    Constitution of the Committee
Art. 10  Sessions of the Committee
Art. 11  Conduct of Investigations and Examinations
Art. 12  Decisions of the Committee
Art. 13  Notices to be Served by the Committee
Art. 14  Determinations of Questions of Procedure

CHAPTER III: TERMINATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS

Art. 15  Closure of the Proceeding
Art. 16  The Report
Art. 17  Effect to be Given to the Report

CHAPTER IV: MISCELLANEOUS

Art. 18  Cooperation with the Committee
Art. 19  Cost of the Proceeding
Art. 20  Final Provision

Schedule D: Fact-Finding (Additional Facility) Rules

CHAPTER I
INSTITUTION OF PROCEEDINGS

Article 1
The Request

(1) Any State or national of a State wishing to institute an inquiry under the Additional Facility (hereinafter called the "Requesting Party") to examine and report on facts (hereinafter called a "fact-finding proceeding") shall send a request to that effect in writing to the Secretariat at the seat of the Centre. It shall be drawn up in an official language of the Centre, shall be dated and shall be signed by the Requesting Party.

(2) The request may be made jointly by the parties to the fact-finding proceeding.

Article 2
Contents of the Request

(1) The request shall:

(a) designate precisely each party to the fact-finding proceeding and state the address of each;48(2)

(b) set forth the agreement between the parties providing for recourse to the fact-finding proceeding; and48(2)

(c) state the circumstances to be examined and reported on.

(2) The request shall in addition set forth any provisions agreed by the parties regarding the number of commissioners, their qualifications, appointment, replacement, resignation and disqualification, the extent of the powers of the Committee, the appointment of its President, and the place of its sessions, as well as the procedure to be followed in the fact-finding proceeding (hereinafter called the "Procedural Arrangement").

(3) The request shall be accompanied by five additional signed copies and by the fee prescribed by Article 5 of the Administrative and Financial Rules (Additional Facility).

Article 3
Registration of the Request

(1) As soon as the Secretary-General has satisfied himself that the request conforms in form and substance to the provisions of Article 2 of these Rules he shall register the request in the Fact-finding (Additional Facility) Register, notify the Requesting Party and the other party (hereinafter called the "Other Party") of the registration and transmit to the Other Party a copy of the request and of the accompanying documentation, if any

(2) The notice of registration of a request shall:

(a) record that the request is registered and indicate the date of the registration and of the dispatch of that notice;

(b) notify each party that all communications in connection with the proceeding will be sent to the address stated in the request, unless another address is indicated to the Secretariat; and

(c) request the Other Party to inform the Secretary-General in writing within 30 days after receipt of the notice whether it agrees with the request or it objects thereto.

(3) In agreeing with the request, the Other Party may state additional circumstances which it wishes to be examined and reported on within the scope of the agreement between the parties for recourse to fact-finding proceedings. In that event, the Secretary-General shall request the Requesting Party to inform him promptly in writing whether it agrees to the inclusion of the additional facts or whether it objects thereto.

Article 4
Objections to the Request

(1) Any objection by the Other Party pursuant to Article 3 (2) (c) of these Rules shall be filed by it in writing with the Secretary-General and shall indicate on which of the following grounds it is based and the reasons therefor:

(a) the Other Party is under no obligation to have recourse to fact-finding;

(b) the circumstances indicated in the request as the circumstances to be examined and reported on are wholly or partly outside the scope of the agreement between the parties for recourse to fact-finding.

(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to an objection by the Requesting Party pursuant to Article 3 (3) of these Rules.

Article 5
Settlement of Objections to the Request;
Appointment of Special Commissioner

(1) Promptly upon receipt of the notice of objections, the Secretary-General shall send a copy thereof to the Requesting Party or the Other Party, as the case may be, and shall invite the Parties to meet with him in order to seek to resolve the objections by agreement.

(2) Failing such agreement, he shall invite the Parties to designate within 30 days a third party (hereinafter called the "Special Commissioner") to rule on the objections.

(3) If the Parties shall not have designated the Special Commissioner within the period specified in paragraph (2) of this Article, or such other period as the parties may agree, and if they or either one of them shall not be willing to request the Chairman of the Administrative Council (hereinafter called the "Chairman") or any other authority to designate the Special Commissioner, the Secretary-General shall inform the parties that the fact-finding proceeding cannot be held, recording the failure of the parties or one of them to cooperate.

(4) The Special Commissioner shall rule on the objections only after hearing both parties and in his ruling shall decide whether or not the fact-finding proceeding is to continue, stating the reasons for his decision. If he decides that the proceeding is to continue, he shall determine the scope thereof.

Article 6
Absence of Procedural Arrangement

(1) If, or to the extent that, the request does not set forth an agreement between the parties regarding the matters referred to in Article 2 (2) of these Rules, the Secretary-General shall invite the parties to conclude in writing and furnish to the Secretariat within 30 days a Procedural Arrangement. The Procedural Arrangement may include any other matter or matters the parties may agree.

(2) If the Procedural Arrangement cannot be concluded within the period referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article, or such other period as the parties may agree, the Procedural Arrangement shall be drawn up within 30 days from the expiry of such period by the Chairman after consulting with the parties and shall be binding upon the parties.

(3) Unless the parties agree otherwise, the Procedural Arrangement drawn up by the Chairman shall provide for the appointment of three commissioners. Other provisions made by the Chairman relating to: (a) qualifications, appointment, replacement, resignation, and disqualification of the commissioners, filling up of the vacancies and consequential resumption of proceeding; and (b) incapacity of the President of the Committee and procedural matters, including procedural languages, shall, to the extent practicable, be similar to those applicable to conciliators and conciliation proceedings under the Conciliation (Additional Facility) Rules.

(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (3) of this Article, the Chairman may, whenever he is satisfied that the circumstances so warrant, include within the Procedural Arrangement provisions similar to written and oral procedures set forth in Chapter Vll of the Arbitration (Additional Facility) Rules.

Article 7
UN Register of Experts and GATT Panel on Complaints

For purposes of the fact-finding proceeding, the Secretary-General shall, upon request by the parties, use his best endeavors to enter into appropriate arrangements: (a) with the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the use of the services of experts entered in the Register of Experts for fact-finding maintained by the United Nations Secretariat pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 2329 (XXII) of December 18,1967; or (b) with the Director-General of GATT for the use of the services of experts entered in the Panel on Complaints maintained by the GATT.

CHAPTER II
THE COMMITTEE AND ITS WORKING

Article 8
Number of Commissioners

(1) Except as the parties may otherwise agree, the Committee shall consist of a sole commissioner or any uneven number of commissioners.

(2) If the Committee is to consist of three or more commissioners, one person shall be appointed the President of the Committee. References in these Rules to a Committee or a President of a Committee shall include a sole commissioner.

Article 9
Constitution of the Committee

(1) The Committee shall be deemed to be constituted and the proceeding to have begun on the date the Secretary-General notifies the parties that all the commissioners have accepted their appointments.

(2) Before or at the first session of the Committee, each commissioner shall sign a declaration in the following form:

"To the best of my knowledge there is no reason why I should not serve on the Fact-finding Committee constituted to examine certain facts under the Additional Facility pursuant to an agreement between and _________________________ and ___________________________.

"A statement of my past and present professional, business and other relevant relationships (if any) with the parties is attached hereto.

"I shall keep confidential all information coming to my knowledge as a result of my participation in this proceeding, as well as the contents of any report drawn up by the Committee.

"I shall not accept any instruction or compensation with regard to the proceeding from any source except as provided in the Administrative and Financial Rules (Additional Facility)."

Any commissioner failing to sign such a declaration by the end of the first session of the Committee shall be deemed to have resigned.

Article 10
Sessions of the Committee

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

(2) The President of the Committee shall: (a) convene its subsequent sessions within time limits determined by the Committee; (b) conduct its hearings and preside at its deliberations; and (c) fix the date and hour of its sittings.

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

(4) The sessions of the Committee shall not be public.

Article 11
Conduct of Investigations and Examinations

Each investigation, and each examination of a locality, must be made in the presence of agents and counsel of the parties or after they have been duly notified.

Article 12
Decisions of the Committee

(1) Except as the parties shall otherwise agree, all decisions of the Committee shall be taken by a majority of the votes of all its members.

(2) Abstention by any member of the Committee shall count as a negative vote.

Article 13
Notices to be Served by the Committee

The Secretary-General shall, to the extent possible, make necessary arrangements for the serving of notices by the Committee.

Article 14
Determinations of Questions of Procedure

Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, the constitution of the Committee and its procedure shall be governed by the Procedural Arrangement. Any matters not provided for in these Rules or in the Procedural Arrangement shall be determined by agreement of the parties or, failing such agreement, by the Committee.

CHAPTER III
TERMINATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS

Article 15
Closure of the Proceeding

(1) After the parties have presented all the explanations and evidence, and the witnesses (if any) have all been heard, the President of the Committee shall declare the fact-finding proceeding closed, and the Committee shall adjourn to deliberate and draw up its report (hereinafter called the "Report").

(2) If one party fails to appear or participate in the proceeding or cooperate with the Committee at any stage, and the Committee determines that as a result thereof it is unable to carry out its task, it shall, after notice to the parties, close the proceeding and draw up its Report, noting the reference to fact-finding under the Additional Facility and recording the failure of that party to appear, participate or cooperate.

Article 16
The Report

(1) The Report of the Committee shall be adopted by a majority of all the commissioners.

(2) The Report shall be signed by all the commissioners. The refusal by a commissioner to sign the Report shall not invalidate the Report. The fact of such refusal shall be recorded.

(3) If a commissioner dissents from the Report that fact will be noted in the Report. The commissioner may in addition attach a statement to the Report explaining the reasons for his dissent.

(4) The Report shall be limited to findings of fact. The Report shall not contain any recommendations to the parties nor shall it have the character of an award.

Article 17
Effect to be Given to the Report

The parties shall be entirely free as to the effect to be given to the Report.

CHAPTER IV
MISCELLANEOUS

Article 18
Cooperation with the Committee

The parties undertake to facilitate the work of the Committee and to supply it with all means and facilities necessary to enable it to become fully acquainted with, and to accurately understand, the facts in question. Without prejudice to the generality of the fore going, the parties in particular undertake to supply the Committee to the greatest possible extent with all relevant documents and information, as well as to use the means at their disposal to allow the Committee to visit the localities in question and to summon and hear witnesses or experts.

Article 19
Cost of the Proceeding

The fees and expenses of the members of the Committee and of any Special Commissioner, as well as the charges for the use of the facilities of the Centre, shall be borne equally by the parties. Each party shall bear any other expenses it incurs in connection with the proceeding.

Article 20
Final Provision

The text of these Rules in each official language of the Centre shall be equally authentic.