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H. Draft statute of the international civil service commission

(as submitted by the Secretary-General to the UN General Assembly)

CHAPTER I

ESTABLISHMENT

Article 1

  • (a) The General Assembly of the United Nations establishes, in accordance with the present statute, an International Civil Service Commission, hereinafter referred to as the Commission.

    (b) The Commission shall perform its functions in respect of the United Nations and of those specialized agencies and other international organizations which participate in the United Nations common system and which accept the present statute (hereinafter referred to as the organizations).

    (c) Acceptance of the statute by such an agency or organization shall be notified in writing by its executive head to the Secretary-General.

  • CHAPTER II

    COMPOSITION AND APPOINTMENT

    Article 2

    The Commission shall be composed of 13 members appointed by the General Assembly, including three full-time members, of whom one shall be designated Chairman, and 10 part-time members.

    Article 3

  • (a) The members of the Commission shall be appointed in their personal capacity as individuals of recognized competence who have had substantial experience of executive responsibility in public administration or related fields, particularly in personnel management;

    (b) The members of the Commission, no two of whom shall be nationals of the same State, shall be selected with due regard for broad geographical distribution.

  • Article 4

  • (a) After appropriate consultations with Member States, the executive heads of the other organizations, and with staff representatives, the Secretary-General, in 0a capacity as Chairman of the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination, shall compile a list of candidates for appointment as Chairman and members of the Commission and shall consult with the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions before consideration and decision by the General Assembly.

    (b) In the same way, the names of candidates shall be submitted to the General Assembly to replace members whose terms of office have expired or who have resigned or otherwise ceased to be available.

  • Article 5

  • (a) The members of the Commission shall be appointed by the General Assembly of the United Nations for a term of tour years and may be reappointed. Of the member a initially appointed, however, the terms of tour members shall expire at the end of three years, and the terms of tour other members at the end of two years.

    (b) A member appointed to replace a member whose term of office has not expired shall hold office for the remainder of his predecessor's term.

    (c) A member of the Commission may resign on giving three months' notice to the Secretary-General.

  • Article 6

  • (a) The Commission shall be responsible as a body to the General Assembly. Its members shall perform their functions in full independence and with impartiality; they shall not seek or receive instructions from any Government, or from any secretariat or staff association of an organization in the United Nations common system.

    (b) No member of the Commission may participate in the deliberations of any organ of the organizations on any matter within the competence of the Commission unless the Commission has requested him to do so as its representative. Nor shall a member of the Commission serve as an official or consultant of any such organization during his term of office or within three years of ceasing to be a member Or the Commission.

  • Article 7

    No appointment Or a member of the Commission can be terminated unless, in the unanimous opinion of the other members, he has ceased to discharge his duties in a manner consistent with the provisions of the present statute.

    Article 8

  • (a) The Chairman shall direct the work of the Commission and its staff.

    (b) If the Chairman is unable to act, one of the other full-time members designated by him shall act as Chairman.

    (c) For the purposes of the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, the full-time members of the Commission shall have the status of officials of the United Nations.

  • CHAPTER III

    FUNCTIONS AND POWERS

    Article 9

    In the exercise of its functions, the Commission shall be guided by the principle set out in the agreements between the United Nations and the other organizations, which alma at the development of a single unified international civil service through the application of common personnel standards, methods and arrangements.

    Article 10

    The Commission shall make recommendations to the General Assembly of the United Nations on:

  • (a) The broad principles for the determination of the conditions of service of the staff;

    (b) The scales of salaries and post adjustments for staff in the Professional and higher categories;

    (c) Staff assessment.

  • Article 11

    The Commission shall establish:

  • (a) The methods by which the principles for determining conditions of service should be applied;

    (b) Rates of allowances and benefits other than pensions, the conditions of entitlement thereto and standards of travel;

    (c) The classification of duty stations for the purpose of applying post adjustments.

  • Article 12

  • (a) At the headquarters duty stations and such other duty stations as may from time to time be added at the request of the Administrative Committee on Coordination, the Commission shall establish the relevant facts for, and make recommendations as to the salary scales of, staff in the General Service and other locally recruited categories.

    (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a), the executive head or heads concerned, after consultation with the staff representatives, may request the Commission to determine the salary scales at a particular duty station instead of making a. recommendation.

    (c) In exercising its functions under paragraphs (a) and (b) above, the Commission shall, in accordance with article 29, consult executive heads and staff representatives.

  • Article 13

    The Commission shall establish Job classification standards for all categories of staff in fields of work common to several of the organizations. It shall advise the organizations on the development of consistent Job classification plans in other fields of work.

    Article 14

    The Commission shall make recommendations to the organizations on:

  • (a) Standards of recruitment;

    (b) She development of recruitment sources, including the establishment of central rosters of qualified candidates, particularly at Junior entrance levels;

    (c) The organization of competitive examination or alternative selection procedures;

    (d) Career development, staff training programmes, including interorganization programmes, and evaluation of staff.

  • Article 15

    The Commission shall make recommendations to the organizations on the development of common staff regulations.

    Article 16

    The Commission may, after appropriate consultations, make such recommendations to the organizations on other matters as it may consider necessary to achieve the purposes of the present statute.

    Article 17

    The Commission shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly, including information on the implementation of its decisions and recommendations. The report shall be transmitted to the governing organs of the other organizations, through their executive heads, and to staff representatives.

    Article 18

    The Commission as a whole shall formulate recommendations under article 10 concerning the salary system and conditions of service; approve under article 11 the rates of allowances and benefits hitherto determined by the General Assembly; adopt the annual report under article 17; propose budget estimates under article 21; and adopt its rules of procedure under article 30. It shall establish general policies within which the full-time Commissioners shall carry out the other functions of the Commission.

    Article 19

    The full-time members of the Commission shall report, as required, to the Commission as a whole with regard to the discharge of their responsibilities under the present statute.

    CHAPTER IV

    ADMINISTRATIVE, BUDGETARY AND FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS

    Article 20

  • (a) The conditions of service of the full-time members of the Commission shall be determined by the General Assembly.

    (b) Other members of the Commission shall be entitled only to travel and subsistence expenses in accordance with the rules established by the General Assembly for members of organs and subsidiary organs of the United Nations serving in their individual capacity.

  • Article 21

  • (a) The Commission shall have a staff as provided in the budget approved by the General Assembly.

    (b) The staff shall be appointed by the Secretary-General after consultation with the Chairman of the Commission and, as regards senior staff, with the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination. All staff shall be appointed after appropriate selection procedures. In carrying out their duties, they shall be responsible to the Chairman and shall be removable only after consultation with him.

    (c) Subject to paragraph (b) of the present article, the staff of the Commission shall be regarded for administrative purposes as officials of the United Nations, which shall provide the necessary administrative facilities for them.

    (d) Within the relevant budgetary provisions, the Commission may employ such experts and auxiliary staff as it may deem necessary.

  • Article 22

  • (a) The Secretary-General shall provide such office and conference facilities as the Commission may require.

    (b) The budget of the Commission shall be included in the budget of the United Nations. The budget estimates shall be established by the Secretary-General, after consultation with the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination, on the basis of proposals by the Commission.

    (c) The expenditure on the Commission shall be shared by the organizations in a manner to be agreed by them.

  • Article 23

    The seat of the Commission shall be Geneva, Switzerland.

    CHAPTER V

    PROCEDURE

    Article 24

  • (a) The Commission shall meet every year in regular session.

    (b) A special session may be convened by the Chairman when, in his opinion, it la necessary to deal with a matter prior to the next regular session.

    (c) Seven members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum.

  • Article 25

  • (a) Recommendations of the Commission under article 10 shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to the executive heads of the other organizations.

    (b) The decisions taken thereon by the General Assembly a hall be communicated by the Secretary-General to the executive heads of the other organizations for action under their constitutional procedures.

    (c) The executive head of each organization shall inform the Commission of all relevant decisions taken by the governing organ of 0a organization.

    (d) The recommendations under paragraph (a) above shall be communicated to staff representatives.

  • Article 26

  • (a) Decisions of the Commission shall be promulgated under the signature of the Chairman and transmitted to the executive heads of the organizations concerned. If they affect the interests of the staff, they shall also be transmitted to staff representatives.

    (b) The organization concerned shall be notified of the principal reasons for each decision.

    (c) The decisions a hall be applied by each organization concerned with effect from a date to be determined by the Commission.

  • Article 27

    The Commission, in making its decisions and recommendations, and the executive heads, in applying them, shall do 90 without prejudice to the acquired rights of the staff under the staff regulations of the organizations concerned.

    Article 28

    The Commission may establish subsidiary bodies for the purpose of carrying out particular tasks within its competence, The Commission may make arrangements with one or more of the organizations whereby they will carry out, on its behalf, functions of fact-finding and analysis.

    Article 29

  • (a) The Commission shall be given such information as it may require from the organizations for the consideration of any matter under examination by it. It may request from any organization or trot staff representatives written information, estimates or suggestions in regard to such matters.

    (b) Executive heads of the organizations and staff representatives shall have the right, collectively or separately, to present facts and views on any matter within the competence of the Commission. The manner in which this right shall be exercised shall be set out, after consultations with executive beads and staff representatives, in the rules of procedure established under article 30.

  • Article 30

    Subject to the provisions of the present statute, the Commission as a whole shall establish its rule a of procedure.

    CHAPTER VI

    OTHER PROVISIONS

    Article 31

    The present statute may be amended by the General Assembly. Amendments shall be subject to the same acceptance procedure as the present statute.

    Article 32

    An organization may not withdraw its acceptance of the statute unless it has given to the Secretary-General two years' notice of its intention to do so.


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