TNAG-2816-FCO40-4062-Future-of-Hong-Kong-International-Rights-and-Obligations-(IR-1993 — Page 213

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the meetings of the groups on the Tuesday before the opening of the Conference will be considered as official meetings. During these meetings, the groups will formulate their proposals relating to the composition of the different committees including the Selection Committee;

the Conference will meet in plenary at 10 a.m. on the Wednesday in the Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations;

after the election of the President, the Conference will immediately proceed, on the basis of the proposals formulated by the groups the day before, with the election of the three Vice-Presidents as well as the appointment of the Selection Committee in accordance with article 25, paragraph 7, of the Standing Orders of the Conference;

the Selection Committee will meet immediately after in the Assembly Hall in order to fulfil its mandate as provided for in article 25, paragraph 8, of the Standing Orders;

the plenary sitting will then resume to approve the proposals of the Selection Committee;

the work of the Conference will begin on the Wednesday afternoon.

Consequently, the Conference is expected to complete its business on Tuesday, 22 June 1993, at the latest.

All delegates are kindly requested to take these arrangements into consideration.

Discussion of the reports of the

Governing Body and the Director-General

As indicated above, the discussion of these reports will probably begin in the afternoon of Wednesday, 2 June, the day the session is opened. It is therefore most desirable that a number of speakers should be ready to take the floor on that day. I should be much obliged if this could be brought to the attention of the members of your country's delegation.

In this regard I should also like to draw your attention to article 14, paragraph 6, of the Standing Orders of the Conference, as amended by the Conference at its 79th Session, which provides that "except with the special consent of the Conference no speech, whether by a delegate, a visiting minister, an observer or a representative of an international organization, shall exceed 10 minutes ...". Consequently, ministers attending the Conference and delegates will no doubt wish to take account of this reform when preparing their speeches so as not to risk being asked to resume their seats before they have concluded.