COE-Logo-Fil-BW

                                                                                                                                                                

Strasbourg, 28 September 2022                                                                                           CDBIO(2022)29

STEERING COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

IN THE FIELDS OF BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTH (CDBIO)

2nd meeting

2-4 November 2022

Bureau elections

At its 2nd meeting (2-4 November 2022), Delegations are invited to proceed to the election of the Chair and Vice-Chair and, subject to the result of this election, to the election of three Bureau members.

- Chair and Vice Chair for a one-year term renewable once

- The terms of three Bureau members are coming to an end. Two are not re-eligible (Pierre Mallia and Rodica Gramma) and one is re-eligible for another term of two years (Assunta Morresi).

Document prepared by the Secretariat

I.          RESOLUTION (2021) 3 ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEES AND SUBORDINATE BODIES, THEIR TERMS OF REFERENCE AND WORKING METHODS

Appendix 1 to Resolution CM/Res(2021)3, Rules of procedure for Council of Europe intergovernmental committees provides:

“Article 12 – Chair

a.         Every committee shall elect a Chair and Vice-Chair. However, the Chair of a subordinate body may be appointed by the steering or ad hoc committee to which it is answerable.

b.         The Chair shall conduct proceedings and sum up the conclusions whenever he or she thinks necessary. He or she may call to order a speaker who departs from the subject under discussion or from the committee’s terms of reference. The Chair shall retain the right to speak and to vote in her/his capacity as a member of the committee, except in cases where an additional expert from the same country has been appointed to sit on that committee.

c.         The Vice-Chair shall replace the Chair if the latter is absent or otherwise unable to preside the meeting. If the Vice-Chair is absent, the Chair shall be replaced by another member of the Bureau, appointed by the latter or, where there is no Bureau, by a member of the committee appointed by the committee.

d.         Election of the Chair and Vice-Chair shall require a two-thirds majority of members entitled to vote at the first ballot, a simple majority of members entitled to vote at the second ballot and the highest number of votes at the third ballot. In steering committees, the election shall be held by secret ballot, in other committees by a show of hands, unless a member of the committee requests a secret ballot.

e.         The term of office of the Chair and Vice-Chair shall be one year. It may be renewed once.

Article 13 – Bureau

a.         Every steering and ad hoc committee may appoint a bureau consisting of the Chair, the Vice-Chair and a limited number of other members of the committee. The number of other members shall be specified in the committee’s terms of reference. Any other committee may, if need be, appoint a bureau composed, normally, of not more than three members in addition to the Chair and Vice-Chair. The functions of the Bureau are:

- to assist the Chair in conducting the committee’s business;

- to supervise the preparation of meetings at the committee’s request;

- to ensure continuity between meetings as necessary;

- to execute other additional specific tasks delegated by its Committee.

b.         The Bureau shall not function as a drafting committee, but may occasionally be given limited drafting tasks. No decision on substantive issues shall be taken by the Bureau on behalf of the committee. In exceptional cases and due to time constraint, the Bureau may have recourse to the tacit approval of all the members of the committee through electronic communication, in order to expedite procedure on decisions requested by the Committee of Ministers.

c.         Other members of the Bureau shall be appointed in the same manner as the Chair and Vice-Chair. They shall be appointed immediately after the Chair and Vice-Chair in accordance with an equitable distribution of posts, taking into account in particular geographical distribution, gender balance and, where relevant, legal systems.

d.         The term of office of such members shall correspond to the duration of the mandate of the committee and may be renewed once. However, a member may, on expiry of her/his second term, be appointed Chair or Vice-Chair. In order to ensure partial replacement of the Bureau each year, the first term of at least one such member shall be limited to one year.

e.         A member elected to replace another whose term of office has not expired shall complete her/his predecessor’s term. The same shall apply to the offices of Chair and Vice-Chair.”

II.         PRESENT SITUATION

A.         Chair and Vice-Chair

The current situation is as follows:

-           CHAIR:

Ritva Halila (Finland), elected in November 2020, re-elected in November 2021, not renewable

-           VICE-CHAIR:

Siobhan O’Sullivan (Ireland), elected in November 2020, re-elected in November 2021, not renewable

B.         Bureau

The current composition of the Bureau is as follows:

Rodica Gramma (Moldova), re-elected in November 2020

-               Member of the Bureau until November 2022, not renewable

Pierre Mallia (Malta), re-elected in November 2020

-               Member of the Bureau until November 2022, not renewable

Mark Bale (UK), re-elected in June 2021

-               Member of the Bureau until June 2023, not renewable

JUDr. Tomáš Dolezal (Czech Republic), elected in November 2019, re-elected in November 2021

-               Member of the Bureau until November 2023, not renewable

Assunta Morresi (Italy), elected in November 2020

-               Member of the Bureau until November 2022, renewable

III.        ELECTIONS FOR the bureau of THE CDBIO IN NOVEMBER 2022

Elections will take place during the 2nd meeting (2-4 November 2022) for the following posts:

IV.        PROCEDURE FOR ELECTIONS

Representatives of member states of the Council of Europe wishing to be candidates or propose another candidate are invited to inform the Secretariat of the CDBIO as soon as possible and in any event not later than Thursday 3 November 2022, 2.00pm. An election by secret ballot will take place on Friday 4 November 2022.

APPENDIX

The members of the Bureau since DH-BIO changed into CDBIO are as follows:

November 2021

Chair: Ritva Halila (Finland)

Vice-Chair: Siobhan O’Sullivan (Ireland)

Bureau: R. Gramma (Moldova), P. Mallia (Malta), M. Bale (UK), JUDr. T. Dolezal (Czech Republic), A. Morresi (Italy)

June 2022

Chair: Ritva Halila (Finland)

Vice-Chair: Siobhan O’Sullivan (Ireland)

Bureau: R. Gramma (Moldova), P. Mallia (Malta), M. Bale (UK), JUDr. T. Dolezal (Czech Republic), A. Morresi (Italy)

November 2022

Chair: Ritva Halila (Finland)

Vice-Chair: Siobhan O’Sullivan (Ireland)

Bureau: R. Gramma (Moldova), P. Mallia (Malta), M. Bale (UK), JUDr. T. Dolezal (Czech Republic), A. Morresi (Italy)