Chapter III
The Commission

Article 6
General Provisions

(1) Upon the dispatch of the notice of registration of the request for conciliation, the parties shall promptly proceed to constitute a Conciliation Commission.

(2) The Commission shall consist of a sole conciliator or any uneven number of conciliators appointed as the parties shall agree.

(3) In the absence of agreement between the parties regarding the number of conciliators and the method of their appointment, the Commission shall consist of three conciliators, one conciliator appointed by each party and the third, who shall be the President of the Commission, appointed by agreement of the parties.

(4) If the Commission shall not have been constituted within 90 days after the notice of registration of the request for conciliation has been dispatched by the Secretary-General, or such other period as the parties may agree, the Chairman of the Administrative Council (hereinafter called the "Chairman") shall, at the request in writing of either party transmitted through the Secretary-General, appoint the conciliator or conciliators not yet appointed and, unless the President shall already have been designated or is to be designated later, designate a conciliator to be President of the Commission.

Article 7
Qualifications of Conciliators

Conciliators shall be persons of high moral character and recognized competence in the fields of law, commerce, industry or finance, who may be relied upon to exercise independent judgment.

Article 8
Method of Constituting the Commission in the
Absence of Previous Agreement between the Parties

(1) If the parties, at the time of the registration of the request for conciliation, have not agreed upon the number of conciliators and the method of their appointment, they shall, unless they agree otherwise, follow the following procedures:

(a) the requesting party shall, within 10 days after the registration of the request, propose to the other party the appointment of a sole conciliator or of a specified uneven number of conciliators and specify the method proposed for their appointment;

(b) within 20 days after receipt of the proposals made by the requesting party, the other party shall:

(i) accept such proposals; or

(ii) make other proposals regarding the number of conciliators and the method of their appointment; and

(c) within 20 days after receipt of the reply containing any such proposals, the requesting party shall notify the other party whether it accepts or rejects such proposals.

(2) The communications provided for in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be made or promptly confirmed in writing and shall either be transmitted through the Secretary-General or directly between the parties with a copy to the Secretary-General. The parties shall promptly notify the Secretary-General of the contents of any agreement reached.

(3) At any time 60 days after the registration of the request, if no agreement on another procedure is reached, either party may inform the Secretary-General that it chooses the formula provided for in Article 6(3) of these Rules. The Secretary-General shall thereupon promptly inform the parties that the Commission is to be constituted in accordance with that provision.

Article 9
Appointment of Conciliators to Commission Constituted
in Accordance with Article 6(3) of These Rules

(1) If the Commission is to be constituted in accordance with Article 6(3) of these Rules:

(a) either party shall, in a communication to the other party:

(i) name two persons, identifying one of them as the conciliator appointed by it and the other as the conciliator proposed to be the President of the Commission; and

(ii) invite the other party to concur in the appointment of the conciliator proposed to be the President of the Commission and to appoint another conciliator;

(b) promptly upon receipt of this communication the other party shall, in its reply:

(i) name a person as the conciliator appointed by it; and

(ii) concur in the appointment of the conciliator proposed to be the President of the Commission or name another person as the conciliator proposed to be the President; and

(c) promptly upon receipt of the reply containing such a proposal, the initiating party shall notify the other party whether it concurs in the appointment of the conciliator proposed by that party to be the President of the Commission.

(2) The communications provided for in this Article shall be made or promptly confirmed in writing and shall either be transmitted through the Secretary-General or directly between the parties with a copy to the Secretary-General.

Article 10
Appointment of Conciliators and
Designation of President of
the Commission by the Chairman

(1) Promptly upon receipt of a request by a party to the Chairman to make an appointment or designation pursuant to Article 6(4) of these Rules, the Secretary-General shall send a copy thereof to the other party.

(2) The Chairman shall use his best efforts to comply with that request within 30 days after its receipt. Before he proceeds to make appointments or a designation, he shall consult both parties as far as possible.

(3) The Secretary-General shall promptly notify the parties of any appointment or designation made by the Chairman.

Article 11
Acceptance of Appointments

(1) The party or parties concerned shall notify the Secretary-General of the appointment of each conciliator and indicate the method of his appointment.

(2) As soon as the Secretary-General has been informed by a party or the Chairman of the appointment of a conciliator, he shall seek an acceptance from the appointee.

(3) If a conciliator fails to accept his appointment within 15 days, the Secretary-General shall promptly notify the parties, and if appropriate the Chairman, and invite them to proceed to the appointment of another conciliator in accordance with the method followed for the previous appointment.

Article 12
Replacement of Conciliators prior to
Constitution of the Commission

At any time before the Commission is constituted, each party may replace any conciliator appointed by it and the parties may by common consent agree to replace any conciliator.

Article 13
Constitution of the Commission

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

(2) Before or at the first session of the Commission, each conciliator 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 Conciliation Commission constituted with respect to a dispute between _________________ and __________________.

"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 Commission.

"I shall not accept any instruction or compensation with regard to the proceeding from any source except as provided in the Administrative and Financial Regulations of the Centre.

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

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

Article 14
Replacement of Conciliators after
Constitution of the Commission

(1) After a Commission has been constituted and proceedings have begun, its composition shall remain unchanged; provided, however, that if a conciliator should die, become incapacitated, resign or be disqualified, the resulting vacancy shall be filled as provided in this Article and Article 17 of these Rules.

(2) If a conciliator becomes incapacitated or unable to perform the duties of his office, the procedure in respect of the disqualification of conciliators set forth in Article 15 shall apply.

(3) A conciliator may resign by submitting his resignation to the other members of the Commission and the Secretary-General. If the conciliator was appointed by one of the parties, the Commission shall promptly consider the reasons for his resignation and decide whether it consents thereto. The Commission shall promptly notify the Secretary-General of its decision.

Article 15
Disqualification of Conciliators

(1) A party may propose to a Commission the disqualification of any of its members on account of any fact indicating a manifest lack of the qualities required by Article 7 of these Rules.

(2) A party proposing the disqualification of a conciliator shall promptly, and in any event before the proceeding is declared closed, file its proposal with the Secretary-General, stating its reasons therefor.

(3) The Secretary-General shall forthwith:

(a) transmit the proposal to the members of the Commission and, if it relates to a sole conciliator or to a majority of the members of the Commission, to the Chairman; and

(b) notify the other party of the proposal.

(4) The conciliator to whom the proposal relates may, without delay, furnish explanations to the Commission or the Chairman, as the case may be.

(5) The decision on any proposal to disqualify a conciliator shall be taken by the other members of the Commission except that where those members are equally divided, or in the case of a proposal to disqualify a sole conciliator, or a majority of the conciliators, the Chairman shall take that decision.

(6) Whenever the Chairman has to decide on a proposal to disqualify a conciliator, he shall use his best efforts to take that decision within 30 days after he has received the proposal.

(7) The proceeding shall be suspended until a decision has been taken on the proposal.

Article 16
Procedure during a Vacancy on the Commission

(1) The Secretary-General shall forthwith notify the parties and, if necessary, the Chairman of the disqualification, death, incapacity or resignation of a conciliator and of the consent, if any, of the Commission to a resignation.

(2) Upon the notification by the Secretary-General of a vacancy on the Commission, the proceeding shall be or remain suspended until the vacancy has been filled.

Article 17
Filling Vacancies on the Commission

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this Article, a vacancy resulting from the disqualification, death, incapacity or resignation of a conciliator shall be promptly filled by the same method by which his appointment has been made.

(2) In addition to filling vacancies relating to conciliators appointed by him, the Chairman shall:

(a) fill a vacancy caused by the resignation, without the consent of the Commission, of a conciliator appointed by a party; or

(b) at the request of either party, fill any other vacancy, if no new appointment is made and accepted within 45 days of the notification of the vacancy by the Secretary-General.

(3) In filling a vacancy the party or the Chairman, as the case may be, shall observe the provisions of these Rules with respect to the appointment of conciliators. Article 13(2) of these Rules shall apply mutatis mutandis to the newly appointed conciliator.

Article 18
Resumption of Proceeding after Filling a Vacancy

As soon as a vacancy on the Commission has been filled, the proceeding shall continue from the point it had reached at the time the vacancy occurred. The newly appointed conciliator may, however, require that the oral procedure be recommenced, if this had already been started.

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