Article 197: Constitution of Conciliation Commission

A conciliation commission shall be constituted from time to time as follows:

(a) subject to the provisions of this Article, a conciliation commission shall consist of three members;

(b) unless the parties otherwise agree, the party instituting the proceedings shall appoint one conciliator to be chosen from the List mentioned in Article 196.  The conciliator appointed may be a national of the party making the appointment.  Such an appointment shall be included in the notification mentioned in Article 195;

(c) the other party to the dispute shall appoint a conciliator in the manner set forth in sub-paragraph (b) within ten days of the notification referred to in Article 195.  If the appointment is not made within that period, the party instituting the proceedings may, within one week of the expiration of that period, either terminate the proceedings by notification addressed to the other party or request the Secretary-General to make the appointment in accordance with sub-paragraph (e);

(d) within ten days after both conciliators have been appointed, they shall appoint a third conciliator chosen from the List referred to in Article 196, and who shall be the Chairman.  If the appointment is not made within that period either party may, within the week of the expiration of that period, request the Secretary-General to make the appointment in accordance with sub-paragraph (e);

(e) within ten days of the receipt of a request under sub-paragraphs (c) and (d), the Secretary-General shall make the necessary appointments from the List referred to in Article 196 in consultation with the parties to the dispute;

(f) any vacancy on a conciliation commission shall be filled in the manner prescribed for the initial appointment;

(g) two or more Member States parties to the dispute which determine by agreement that they are of the same interest shall appoint one conciliator jointly;

(h) in disputes involving more than two parties having separate interests, or where there is disagreement as to whether they are of the same interest, the parties shall apply sub-paragraphs (a) to (f) in so far as may be possible.