Here's how things go at a consensus-driven
organization like WIPO.
Since nothing can be decided unless there is "consensus," in a body composed of so many different and disparate nations, almost everything is controversial. At least, everything of importance is controversial.
So it's almost impossible to get consensus on anything controversial in the main body, during the course of formal debate.
After a particular agenda item (like the development agenda or the broadcast treaty) has been discussed ad infinitum without finding consensus, it has become standard practice for the chairman to summarize the points that were made and then to say something like "I think we will have a better chance of obtaining consensus if we move this matter to a more informal discussion."
What "informal discussion" means is out of the main body, out of the view of observers, and out of a venue where formal rules apply. The chairman will meet with the regional groups and with those delegations that are "players" on a particular matter, and the real negotiations will take place there. If any consensus is resolved in the information discussions, it is brought back up for discussion when the Assembly reconvenes.
So the process is as follows: lines are drawn and the stakes are determined in the public session, but the real discussions and decisions happen outside of the public debate.
And, when it's time to reconvene, chimes sound, and people start wandering back into the chamber. I'm hearing the sounds of chimes right now . . .
Since nothing can be decided unless there is "consensus," in a body composed of so many different and disparate nations, almost everything is controversial. At least, everything of importance is controversial.
So it's almost impossible to get consensus on anything controversial in the main body, during the course of formal debate.
After a particular agenda item (like the development agenda or the broadcast treaty) has been discussed ad infinitum without finding consensus, it has become standard practice for the chairman to summarize the points that were made and then to say something like "I think we will have a better chance of obtaining consensus if we move this matter to a more informal discussion."
What "informal discussion" means is out of the main body, out of the view of observers, and out of a venue where formal rules apply. The chairman will meet with the regional groups and with those delegations that are "players" on a particular matter, and the real negotiations will take place there. If any consensus is resolved in the information discussions, it is brought back up for discussion when the Assembly reconvenes.
So the process is as follows: lines are drawn and the stakes are determined in the public session, but the real discussions and decisions happen outside of the public debate.
And, when it's time to reconvene, chimes sound, and people start wandering back into the chamber. I'm hearing the sounds of chimes right now . . .