This law is called "The Internal Law of the Supreme Council of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf" and includes the rules governing the procedures for convening the council and exercising its functions.

1- The Supreme Council is composed of the heads of the member states of the Cooperation Council, and its presidency is rotational according to the alphabetical order of the names of the states.

2- Each member state shall notify the General Secretary of the names of its delegation members to the Council meeting at least seven days before its opening date.

• Taking into account the objectives of the Cooperation Council and the competencies of the Supreme Council as stipulated in articles (4 and 8) of the charter, the Council may undertake the following:

  • 1- Establish technical committees and select their members from the nominees of the member states specialized in their fields of work.

  • 2- Entrust one or more of its members with studying a specific subject and submitting a report on it to be distributed to the members well before the hearing in which the subject is discussed.

• 1-

  • A- The Supreme Council meets in a regular session once a year, and extraordinary sessions may be held at the request of any member and the support of another member.

  • B- The Supreme Council holds its sessions at the level of heads of states.

  • C- The Supreme Council holds its sessions in the countries of the member states.

  • D- The General Secretary calls for a meeting before the convening of the Supreme Council, attended by representatives of the member states, to consult on matters related to the work of its session.

• 2-

  • A- The General Secretary determines the start date of the sessions and proposes their end date.

  • B- The General Secretary sends the invitation to attend the regular session at least thirty days before the meeting date, and for the extraordinary session no more than five days before the meeting date.

1- The Supreme Council decides at the beginning of each session whether the meetings will be secret or public.

2- The convening of the Supreme Council is valid if attended by the heads of two-thirds of the member states, and it makes decisions on substantive matters by consensus of the member states present and participating in the vote, and on procedural matters by majority. A member abstaining from voting must record its non-commitment to the decision.

• 1- The Supreme Council convenes in an extraordinary session:

  • A- Based on a decision previously issued in a prior session.

  • B- Based on a request from one of the member states and the support of another state, in which case the council convenes within a maximum of five days from the date of the invitation to the extraordinary session.

• 2- No issues other than those for which the session was convened are included in the agenda of extraordinary sessions.

• 1- The presidency of the Supreme Council is assigned at the beginning of each regular session to the heads of member states in rotation based on the alphabetical order of the countries' names, and the president continues to perform the duties of the presidency until it is assigned to his successor at the start of the next regular session.

• 2- The president of a session who is a party to an ongoing dispute may not preside over the session or the hearing dedicated to discussing this matter, and in this case, the council appoints a temporary president.

• 3- The president announces the opening and closing of sessions and hearings, the suspension of hearings, the closure of discussions, ensures compliance with the provisions of the charter of the Cooperation Council and this law, grants the floor according to the order of requests, presents recommendations for consideration, manages voting, decides on points of order, announces decisions, follows up on committee work, and communicates incoming messages to the council.

• 4- The president has the right to participate in deliberations and make recommendations on behalf of the state he represents, and he may delegate this to one of his delegation members.

• 1- The Ministerial Council prepares the draft agenda of the Supreme Council, and the General Secretary communicates it along with explanatory memorandums and documents to the member states with the invitation letter for the meeting at least thirty days before its convening.

• 2- The draft agenda includes:

  • A- The General Secretary's report on the work of the Supreme Council between the sessions and the procedures taken to implement its decisions.

  • B- Reports and issues submitted by the Ministerial Council and the General Secretariat.

  • C- Issues that the Supreme Council had previously decided to include in its agenda.

  • D- Issues proposed by a member state that it deems necessary to present to the Supreme Council.

• 3- Each member state may request the inclusion of additional issues in the draft agenda of the Council, at least fifteen days before the scheduled start date of the session, and these issues are included in an additional agenda sent with its documents to the member states at least five days before the session date.

• 4- Any member state may request the inclusion of additional issues in the draft agenda of the session until the scheduled opening date, if these issues are of both importance and urgency.

• 5- The Council approves its agenda at the beginning of each session.

• 6- The Council may add new urgent issues during the session.

• 7- The regular session ends after completing the discussion of the items listed in the agenda, and the Supreme Council may decide to temporarily suspend the session before completing the discussion of the agenda and resume the sessions at a later date.

• 1- The office of the Supreme Council is formed in each regular session from the President of the Council, the President of the Ministerial Council, and the General Secretary. The President of the Supreme Council presides over the council.

• 2- The office performs the following tasks:

  • A- Reviewing the drafting of the decisions adopted by the Supreme Council without affecting their content.

  • B- Assisting the President of the Supreme Council in managing the session's affairs in general.

  • C- Other tasks mentioned in this law or tasks assigned to it by the Supreme Council.

•  1- At the beginning of each regular session, the Council may establish any committees it deems necessary to allow for a comprehensive study of the issues listed on the agenda, with representatives from member states participating in the work of these committees.

• 2- The committees continue their meetings to complete their work, taking into account the scheduled end date of the session, and issue their recommendations by majority vote.

• 3- Each committee begins its work by electing a president and a rapporteur from among its members. In the absence of the president, the committee's rapporteur acts on his behalf in managing its sessions. The president, or the rapporteur in the president's absence, must provide the Council with any clarifications requested regarding the committee's report. He may, with the approval of the session's president, participate in the deliberation without voting unless he is a member of the Council.

• 4- The Council may refer any issues listed on the agenda to the committees according to their jurisdiction for study and reporting. A single issue may be referred to more than one committee.

• 5- Committees may not discuss any issues unless the Council decides to refer them, nor may they make any recommendations on any issue listed on their agenda that would result in a financial commitment by the Council before receiving a report from the General Secretary on the financial and administrative implications of adopting the recommendation.