Regional Parliamentary Seminar on Parliamentary Rules of Procedure: Realities and the Challenges of Reform in the Arab Region

Rabat - Morocco, 28/03/2007 - 29/03/2007.

Organizer(s): Organized in partnership with the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Moroccan House of Representatives, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

This seminar brought together parliamentarians and experts from across the Arab region to participate in a regional debate on the internal governance of Arab parliaments, a key aspect which often determines the level of effectiveness of parliaments. It served as an opportunity to discuss how the current structure and functioning of Arab parliaments shape the environment in which members exercises their representative, legislative and oversight functions.

The regional seminar presented the findings of UNDP’s regional comparative study of parliamentary rules of procedure and was an opportunity to explore international and regional practices and initiate a debate on the challenges of parliamentary bylaws reform. Participants examined to what extent these internal regulations comply with the principles of democracy, transparency and accountability as outlined in IPU’s recently published guide.

Such an important gathering was also a good opportunity to disseminate knowledge across the Arab region through the launch of the Arabic version of IPU’s “Parliament and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to Good Practice” and UNDP’s “Rights and Obligations of Arab MPs: A Comparative Study of Parliamentary Rules of Procedure”.