Election of the Council
Rule 54
Each Contracting State which intends to stand for election to the Council may at any time so inform, in writing, the Secretary General who shall, at the opening of the session, publish a list showing the names of all the States which have so notified him. This list shall serve the purpose of information only. The official notification of candidacy may be given only at the times specified in Rules 56 and 58 and the official lists of candidatures shall be only those specified in Rules 56 b) and 58 b).
Rule 55
a) The election of the Council shall be so conducted as to enable adequate representation on the Council to be given to the Contracting States described in Article 50 b) of the Convention and shall be held in three parts as follows:
i. The first part — election of States of chief importance in air transport — shall be held within four days of the opening of the session.
ii. The second part — election of States not already elected in the first part but which make the largest contribution to the provision of facilities for international civil air navigation — shall be held immediately after the first part of the election.
iii. The third part — election of States not elected in either the first or the second part, and whether or not they were candidates in either of those parts, and whose designation will ensure that all the major geographical areas of the world are represented on the Council — shall be held as soon as possible after the expiry of twenty-four hours following the publication of the list of candidates mentioned in Rule 58 b).
b) As early as possible after the opening of the session, the Assembly shall fix the maximum number of Contracting States to be elected in each part of the election and fix also the day on which the first two parts of the election shall be held.
Notification and announcement of candidates for Parts 1 and 2
In order to comply with Rule 56 a), reproduced below, candidacies for Parts 1 and 2 must be submitted between approximately 1200 hours on Tuesday, 24 September 2019 and 1200 hours on Thursday, 26 September 2019. They must be dated within that time frame (24, 25, or 26 September 2019) and be addressed to the Secretary General of ICAO, making reference to Rule 56 a) of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure and indicating under which part of the election the candidate wishes to be considered.
The letter of notification should be signed by a national of the State presenting its candidacy. Examples of officials who would sign the letter would include a Minister, a Director-General of Civil Aviation, the Chief of the Delegation of that State at the Assembly, or, in the case of a Council Member State submitting its candidacy for re-election, by the current Representative of that State. Further information on the correct format and requirements of the letter of notification may be obtained directly from the Assembly and Council Secretariat (acsinbox [at] icao.int (acsinbox[at]icao[dot]int)).
Additional information on candidates for Parts 1 and 2 will also be issued early in the afternoon of Thursday, 26 September 2019 in accordance with Rule 56 b).
Rule 56
a) Each Contracting State which desires to stand for election in either the first or the second part shall so notify the Secretary General in writing during the period of forty-eight hours following the opening of the session.
b) At the end of the period of forty-eight hours mentioned above, the Secretary General shall publish a list of the States which have notified him, in accordance with paragraph a) above, of their candidacy for the first or the second part of the election.
c) All States entered in the aforesaid list shall be deemed to be available for consideration for the first part as well as for the second part, if necessary, of the election unless a Contracting State notifies the Secretary General that it does not wish to be considered in the first part or the second part of the election. Accordingly, and subject to the foregoing, any Contracting State included in the said list and not elected in the first part of the election will automatically be included amongst those to be considered in the second part of the election.
Notification and announcement of candidates for Part 3
Candidates for Part 3 of the election are addressed in Rules 57 and 58 of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure.
In order to comply with Rule 58 a), reproduced below, Candidacies for Part 3 must be submitted during the 48 hours following the election of Part 2 (between approximately 1200 hours on Saturday, 28 September 2019 and 1200 hours on Monday, 30 September 2019). They must be dated within that time frame (i.e. 28, 29 or 30 September 2019) and be addressed to the Secretary General of ICAO, making reference to Rule 58 a) of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure.
The letter of notification should be signed by a national of the State presenting its candidacy. Examples of officials who would sign the letter would include a Minister, a Director-General of Civil Aviation, the Chief of the Delegation of that State at the Assembly, or, in the case of a Council Member State submitting its candidacy for re-election, by the current Representative of that State. Further information on the correct format and requirements of the letter of notification may be obtained directly from the Assembly and Council Secretariat (acsinbox [at] icao.int (acsinbox[at]icao[dot]int)).
Additional information on candidates for Part 3 will be issued early in the afternoon of Monday, 30 September 2019 in accordance with Rule 58 b).
Rule 57
After the second part of the election the President of the Assembly shall declare an interval of approximately forty-eight hours specifying the hour at which that interval will expire, in order that candidatures may be presented for the third part of the election.
Rule 58
a) Any Contracting State not elected in the first or the second part of the election, and whether or not it was a candidate in either of those parts, shall, if it wishes to be a candidate for the third part, so notify the Secretary General in writing after the commencement, but before the expiry, of the interval mentioned in Rule 57.
b) A list showing the names of the States which are candidates in accordance with this Rule for the third part of the election shall be published at the end of the aforesaid interval.
Electronic voting procedure
The Council has decided that an electronic voting system using all six official United Nations languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), will be used at the 40th Session of the Assembly for the Council elections. This is with the understanding that manual votes using paper voting ballots will remain in place as a fall-back option. The electronic voting system to be used involves wireless technology and will allow delegates to cast their votes from their seats using tablets while ensuring complete anonymity.
The attention of States is drawn to Assembly Resolution A38-24, and in particular, Operative Clause 11, which stipulates that:
11. “only those States which have no outstanding annual assessed contributions except for the current year’s assessment will be eligible for election to the Council…”
Suspension of voting privileges
Delegations of States whose voting privileges have been suspended because of long-standing financial arrears will not be provided with the access information required to activate their voting tablets during the distribution phase of the election procedures.
Article 62 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation provides that the Assembly may suspend the voting power in the Assembly and in the Council of any Contracting State that fails to discharge, within a reasonable period, its financial obligations to the Organization. The attention of States is drawn to Assembly Resolution A39-31, and in particular, Operative Clause 6, which stipulates the condition for suspension of voting privileges. Any State with outstanding contributions is strongly urged to take steps to fulfill its financial obligations to ICAO as a matter of urgency by electronic transfer payment to the ICAO bank account.
Moreover, should the economic circumstances of States that are more than three years in arrears prevent immediate settlement, ICAO appeals again to them to take advantage of the special arrangements provided in Assembly Resolution A39-31, Operative Clause 4, for the liquidation of arrears in annual installments.
In the event of questions arising in relation to financial arrears, please contact:
assessments [at] icao.int (assessments[at]icao[dot]int) for details on the status of your Member State’s outstanding contributions, payment instructions, or the modalities of a special arrangement to liquidate arrears in order to restore voting power.