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FINANCIAL REGULATIONS OF THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION

Amended in April 1996, September 1998 and April 2001

Clear here to see the latest version of the Regulations.

Contents:


APPLICABILITY

RULE 1

These Regulations shall govern the financial administration of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

FINANCIAL PERIOD

RULE 2

The financial period shall be the calendar year from 1 January through 31 December.

THE BUDGET

RULE 3

1. The annual budget of the Union shall be approved by the Council (cf. Statutes, Art. 21 (i)).

2. The annual budget estimates shall be prepared by the Secretary General (cf. Statutes, Art. 25.2 (f)) and shall be presented in Swiss francs.

3. The annual budget estimates shall be accompanied by such information annexes and explanatory statements as the Secretary General may deem necessary and useful, or as required by the Council.

4. The Executive Committee shall examine the annual budget estimates prepared by the Secretary General and submit them to the autumn session of the Council with such recommendations as it considers desirable (cf. Statutes, Art. 24.2 (e)).

5. The annual budget estimates shall be transmitted by the Secretary General to all Members of the Union at least one month prior to the opening of the session of the Council.

6. Supplementary estimates may be presented by the Secretary General whenever necessary in a form consistent with the estimates for the financial year and shall be submitted to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall review the supplementary estimates and submit them for approval to the Council with such recommendations as it considers desirable.

7. In addition to the budget estimates for the following financial period, the Secretary General shall present to the Executive Committee and the Council, for their information, provisional estimates for the next succeeding year, or such further periods as the Council shall require.

8. Should the Council reject the draft budget proposed by the Executive Committee, it shall either designate a balanced working group to study the question and submit a revised draft budget, possibly extending its sitting for that purpose, or shall decide to convene extraordinary sessions of the Executive Committee and Council before the end of the year in question in order to find a solution and adopt the budget.

APPROPRIATIONS

RULE 4

1. The appropriation voted by the Council shall constitute an authorization to the Secretary General to incur obligations and make payments for the purpose for which the appropriations were voted.

2. The Secretary General may not, without the consent of the Executive Committee, effect expenditures in excess of the overall appropriations included in the annual budget (cf. Secretariat, Rule 10.3).

3. Should the appropriations voted by the Council appear to be insufficient to cover the expenditure required for the execution of the programme and the administration of the Union, the Secretary General shall so inform the Executive Committee, which may request the Council to grant supplementary appropriations (cf. Statutes, Art. 24.2 (j); Secretariat, Rule 10.4).

4. In case of emergency, the Executive Committee may grant these supplementary appropriations and shall inform the Council of such action at the Council's next session (cf. Statutes, Art. 24.2 (j); Secretariat, Rule 10.5).

5. Appropriations shall be available for obligation for the financial year to which they relate. Any balance of the appropriations at the close of the financial year shall be submitted by the Secretary General, through the Executive Committee, to the Council for decision concerning its use.

6. Appropriations shall remain available for 12 months following the end of the financial year to which they relate, to the extent that they are required to discharge obligations in respect of goods supplied and services rendered in the financial year and to liquidate any other outstanding legal obligations of the year.

7. At the end of this 12-month period, the then remaining cash balance of these appropriations shall be subject to the same procedure as specified in Rule 4.5 above.

8. The Secretary General shall consult the Executive Committee, whenever possible, before transferring credits from one budgetary heading to another within the total amount appropriated and in the course of a single financial year.

9. The Secretary General shall be authorized to make such transfers without prior consultation of the Executive Committee, but shall submit them to the next session of the Executive Committee for its opinion before the consideration of the accounts by the Council.

PROVISION OF FUNDS

RULE 5 (cf. Statutes, Art. 5)

1. The budgetary appropriations, as well as the possible supplementary appropriations, shall be financed by:

(a) Contributions from the Members and Associate Members of the Union;

(b) Miscellaneous income;

(c) Any amount approved by the Council in accordance with the provisions of Rule 4.5 and 4.7 above.

Pending the receipt of that income, the appropriations may be financed from the Working Capital Fund.

2. The contributions from the Members shall be calculated according to the scale of assessments determined by the Council, and adjusted taking into account the membership of the Union at the date when the contributions are requested.

3. After the Council has adopted the budget, the Secretary General shall:

(a) Send the relevant documents to the Members;

(b) Inform the Members of their commitments in respect of annual contributions to the budget.

4. Contributions shall be considered as due at the beginning of the corresponding financial year and shall be payable by the thirty-first day of March in that year. The unpaid contributions at that date shall be considered to be in arrears.

5. Annual contributions shall be assessed and paid in Swiss francs.

6. Payments made by a Member shall be credited to the contributions due in the order in which the Member was assessed.

7. The Secretary General shall submit to the Executive Committee and the Council a report on the collection of contributions.

8. Newly affiliated or reaffiliated Parliaments which become Members of the Union during the first half of the year shall be required to make a contribution for the full year; those affiliated or reaffiliated in the second half of the year shall be required to pay a sum equal to one half of the assessment of their contribution.

9. When the affiliation of an IPU Member is suspended because the Parliament of the country concerned has ceased to function, any arrears of contributions owed by that Member shall be written off.

10. A Member of the Union whose affiliation was suspended for failure to meet its financial obligations towards the Union shall remain accountable for these arrears. Should such a Group subsequently present a request for reaffiliation, it shall pay, at the time of its reaffiliation, at least one-third of the outstanding arrears and shall present a plan for the settlement of the full remaining amount over a reasonable period of time. Until the full sum is paid, this amount shall remain as a special debt and shall not be considered as arrears under the terms of Articles 4.2 and 5.2 of the Statutes.

FUNDS

RULE 6

1. There shall be established a General Fund. The object of this Fund shall be to finance the expenditures of the Union within the framework of the regular budget and of any special budgets. The sources of financing of this Fund shall be the receipts provided for in Rule 5.1 above, including advances from the Working Capital Fund.

2. There shall be established a Working Capital Fund in an amount determined by the Council at a level sufficient for the following purposes:

(a) To finance expenditures pending the receipt of incomes;

(b) To finance any possible extraordinary expenditure which may be decided by the Council;

(c) To advance, to the extent required to balance receipts and expenditure, contributions not paid by Members of the Union at the closure of the financial year.

3. The sources of financing the Working Capital Fund shall be as follows:
(a) Corresponding appropriations included in the annual budget as its replenishment and/or its increase;

(b) Contributions from newly affiliated or reaffiliated Parliaments for the current year;

(c) Contributions owed by Members of the Union at the closure of the financial year;

(d) Income derived from its investments;

(e) Any other amount as decided by the Council.

4. There shall be established a Staff Pension Fund with its own Regulations.

5. Trust Funds and Special Accounts may be established by the Secretary General for activities financed from extra-budgetary sources as decided by the Council.

6. Unless otherwise provided, such funds and accounts shall be administered in accordance with the present Financial Regulations.

OTHER INCOME

RULE 7

1. Voluntary contributions, gifts or bequests, whether or not in cash, may be accepted by the Secretary General, following authorization by the Council (cf. Statutes, Art. 21 (k)).

2. Monies accepted for the purpose specified by the donor shall be treated as Trust Funds.

3. Monies accepted in respect of which no purpose is specified shall be treated as miscellaneous income.

CUSTODY OF FUNDS

RULE 8

The Secretary General shall designate the bank or banks in which the funds of the Union shall be kept.

INVESTMENT OF FUNDS

RULE 9

1. The Secretary General may make investments of monies not needed for immediate requirements.

2. Income derived from investment shall be credited to the corresponding Fund.

INTERNAL CONTROL

RULE 10 (cf. Secretariat, Rule 9)

1. The Secretary General, who is responsible for the execution of the budget of the Union and the administration of its assets, shall:

(a) Designate the officers who may receive monies, incur obligations and make payments on behalf of the Union;

(b) Maintain an internal financial control which shall provide for an effective current examination and/or review of financial transactions in order to ensure:

(i) The regularity of the receipts, custody and disposal of all funds and other financial resources of the Union;

(ii) The conformity of obligations and expenditures with the appropriations or other financial provisions voted by the Council, or with the purposes and rules relating to Funds and Special Accounts;

(iii) The economic use of the resources of the Union.

2. The Secretary General may, after full investigation, write off losses of cash, stores and other assets, provided that a statement of all such amounts written off shall be submitted to the Auditors with the annual accounts.

THE ACCOUNTS

RULE 11

1. The Secretary General shall maintain such accounting records as are necessary and shall submit annual accounts showing for the financial year to which they relate the income and expenditure of the General Account, all Funds and Special Accounts. The Secretary General shall also give such other information as may be appropriate to indicate the current financial position of the Union.

2. The accounts of the Union shall be presented in Swiss francs.

EXTERNAL AUDIT

RULE 12

1. The Executive Committee shall designate an External Auditor entrusted with auditing the accounts of the Union (cf. Statutes, Art. 24.2 (k)).

2. The External Auditor shall submit a report to the Secretary General not later than 1 March following the end of the financial year. The Secretary General shall submit this report and the audited accounts not later than 15 March to the two Auditors appointed by the Council from among its members (cf. Statutes, Art. 21 (j)).

3. The audited accounts, together with such comments as they may consider necessary, shall be presented by the Auditors to the Council for approval at its spring session. The Council shall then sanction the Secretary General's financial administration (cf. Council, Rule 41).

RESOLUTIONS INVOLVING EXPENDITURES

RULE 13

1. The Secretary General shall provide information on the administrative and financial implications of any proposal submitted to an organ of the Union which may involve expenditures.

2. No resolution or decision involving expenditures shall be executory unless approved by the Council which will, at the same time, decide the means of its financing.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

RULE 14

1. These Regulations shall be approved by the Council and shall be effective as of the date of their approval.

2. Any proposal for the suspension or amendment of a Rule or Rules of the present Regulations shall be presented in writing and sent to the Secretariat of the Union at least three months before the next meeting of the Council.

3. The Secretary General shall immediately communicate such a proposal to the Council's members and to the Executive Committee for its opinion.


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