1. The Conference of the Parties shall be
the decision-making organ of this Convention.
2. The Secretariat shall call a meeting of
the Conference of the Parties not later than two years after the entry
into force of this
Convention.
3. Thereafter the Secretariat shall convene
ordinary meetings of the Conference of the Parties at intervals of not
more than three
years, unless the Conference decides otherwise,
and extraordinary meetings at any time on the written request of at least
one-third of the Parties.
4. The Conference of the Parties shall establish
and keep under review the financial regulations of this Convention. The
Conference of the Parties shall, at each
of its ordinary meetings, adopt the budget for the next financial period.
Each Party shall
contribute to this budget according to a
scale to be agreed upon by the Conference. Financial regulations, including
the provisions
on the budget and the scale of contributions
as well as their modifications, shall be adopted by unanimous vote of the
Parties
present and voting.
5. At each of its meetings the Conference
of the Parties shall review the implementation of this Convention and may
in particular:
a) review and
assess the conservation status of migratory species;
b) review
the progress made towards the conservation of migratory species, especially
those listed in Appendices I and II;
c) make such
provision and provide such guidance as may be necessary to enable the Scientific
Council and the Secretariat
to carry out
their duties;
d) receive
and consider any reports presented by the Scientific Council, the Secretariat,
any Party or any standing body
established
pursuant to an Agreement;
e) make recommendations
to the Parties for improving the conservation status of migratory species
and review the
progress being
made under Agreements;
f) in those
cases where an Agreement has not been concluded, make recommendations for
the convening of meetings of
the Parties
that are Range States of a migratory species or group of migratory species
to discuss measures to improve the
conservation
status of the species;
g) make recommendations
to the Parties for improving the effectiveness of this Convention; and
h) decide
on any additional measure that should be taken to implement the objectives
of this Convention.
6. Each meeting of the Conference of the
Parties should determine the time and venue of the next meeting.
7. Any meeting of the Conference of the Parties
shall determine and adopt rules of procedure for that meeting. Decisions
at a
meeting of the Conference of the Parties
shall require a two-thirds majority of the Parties present and voting,
except where
otherwise provided for by this Convention.
8. The United Nations, its Specialized Agencies,
the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as any State not a party
to this
Convention and, for each Agreement, the
body designated by the parties to that Agreement, may be represented by
observers at
meetings of the Conference of the Parties.
9. Any agency or body technically qualified
in protection, conservation and management of migratory species, in the
following
categories, which has informed the Secretariat
of its desire to be represented at meetings of the Conference of the Parties
by
observers, shall be admitted unless at least
one-third of the Parties present object:
a) international
agencies or bodies, either governmental or non-governmental, and national
governmental agencies and
bodies; and
b) national
non-governmental agencies or bodies which have been approved for this purpose
by the State in which they are
located.
Once admitted, these observers shall have
the right to participate but not to vote.
: ARMINES, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint Etienne
© 1999.