October 1989
1. SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE FEDERATION
1. The name of the Society shall be the International Federation of Classification Societies (IFCS).
2. The Federation shall be an international non-profit, non-political scientific organization.
3. Its purpose shall be
- to promote mutual communication, cooperation and interchange of views among all those interested in scientific principles, numerical methods, and practice of data analysis and classification in the broad sense and in as wide a range of applications as possible;
- to serve as an agency for the dissemination of technical scientific information related to its field of interest;
- to prepare international conferences;
- to publish journals and other publications.
4. As for its scientific activities the Federation is intended for all people interested in classification theory, methods and applications.
2. MEMBERS AND ORGANIZATION
1. The International Federation of Classification Societies is a single Federation whose members are scientific societies or well-defined subgroups of such Societies.
2. Additionally, there may be 'Sustaining Members' (see Section 9) and a 'Group-at-large' (see Section 2.6).
3. The business of the Federation shall be conducted by a Council and an Executive Committee.
4. After the initialization of the Federation, the Council may accept an existing scientific Society or an organized Group as a Member subject to the condition that the new Member have at least 30 individuals who declare themselves to be interested in the IFCS. For accepting a new Member, a majority of two-thirds of the members of the Council is required. Acceptance is possible only if the problems of representation of the Council, the internal structure, and the affiliation and number of individuals of the new Member have been resolved formally in accordance with the rules of the Federation.
5. Individuals shall be affiliated with the Federation only through their Society or Group or through the Group-at-large.
6. For purposes of representation on the Council all fellows outside the Member Societies or Groups shall be considered collectively as a single Group called the 'Group-at-large'.
3. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
1. The members of the Executive Committee (general officers) area:
the President,
the Vice-President,
the Secretary,
the Treasurer, and
the Publication Officer (if any).
The offices of Secretary and Treasurer may be combined.
2. The President represents the Federation in its external relations, carries out the policies of the Federation according to the guidelines established by the Council, and implements its decisions and the general activities of the Federation. He is supported by the other members of the Executive Committee. The President, in his absence the Vice-President, chairs the meetings of the Council.
3. The offices of President and Vice-President are interlocking in the following way:
The Council shall biennially elect a Vice-President who shall serve for one year, then automatically succeed to the office of President for two years, finally serving a further term of one year as Vice-President.
A vacancy in the Presidency shall be filled by the Vice-President. A vacancy in the Vice-Presidency shall be filled by an Acting Vice-President, chosen by lot from among those Members of Council who are in the final two years of their term of office. A President or Acting Vice-President coming to office in this manner shall exercise the full duties and responsibilities of office until 31 December of the same year or until the Council shall have taken steps to the appropriate succession of office, whichever date be the later.
In the event of any unscheduled succession of the Vice-President to the Presidency or any appointment of an Acting Vice-President, the Council shall determine, as early as is practicable, what new elections may be necessary to restore the regularity of succession to office. The Council may choose to elect a new President, a new Vice-President, or both, subject only to the provision that any person who has been elected to the Vice-Presidency shall subsequently serve two years as President unless he be unwilling or incapacitated.
4. The Secretary and the Treasurer shall be elected by the Council for a four-year term and cannot have more than two consecutive terms of office.
4. THE MEMBERS AND THEIR OFFICERS
1. Each Member Society of Group shall be governed by its own By-Laws and shall select its officers in accordance with its own rules. These By-Laws and rules are communicated to the Federation. The officers of a Member Society shall include a President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer (possibly combining the latter ones); a Member Group must provide a Chairman (who has the same function as a Society's President with regard to the Federation), his representative and a person responsible for financial matters.
2. For new Societies or groups without an existing structure, procedures for the selection of initial officers may be established by the Council. In particular, this applies to the Group-at-large.
5. THE COUNCIL
1. The legislative body of the Federation is the Council, which shall make all policy decisions, submitting any vital question affecting the Federation to its Member Societies for discussion. It can fix dues for Members and shall approve the receipt of gifts and bequests; it shall appoint representatives to international and other agencies; and shall act upon proposals submitted to it by its Executive Committee and by the Chairmen of other committees.
2. The Council shall consist of
- the Executive Committee,
- two Representatives from each Member Society or Group (called Member Representatives).
- four additional members, and
- the Publication Officer (if any).
3. If a simple majority of the Council members as well as a simple majority of the Member Societies are present at a Council meeting, they will constitute a quorum of the Council.
4. Each Member of the Federation shall decide the procedure to elect, appoint or otherwise select its two Member Representatives for the Council. This procedure shall be communicated to the Federation.
The terms of office of the Member Representatives shall be four years, staggered in such a way that one new Member Representative shall be elected from each Society or Group every two years. An exception to this will be made immediately upon ratification of this Constitution, at which time each Member will designate one Member Representative to serve for a period of two years, and a second to serve for a period of four years, after which the sequence of terms of office of Representatives mentioned above will ensue.
Council members should be selected, so far as possible, to be representative of the field of activity of the Federation Members. No member of Council may serve continuously more than two consecutive terms of four years each.
5. The Publication Officer (if any) and the four additional members of the Council shall be elected by majority vote of the Member Representatives, each for a term not to exceed four years. The exact dates of election and length of terms of these additional members of the Council will be otherwise left to the discretion of the Member Representatives.
The Publication Officer (if any) shall be empowered to vote on all matters before the Council, with the exception of those matters directly related to a journal or other publications of which he is Editor or Managing Editor. The editor is responsible to the Council.
6. The Resident votes only to break ties. The incoming Vice-President shall be elected from the Council members.
The members of the Council elected from the representatives of the Member Societies to become Vice-President, Secretary, or Treasurer should be replaced by new appointments to the Council, so that at any time each Member Society will have two representatives other than members of the Executive Committee.
When the Vice-President has to replace the President in the chair of a Council meeting, he has a second vote for breaking ties.
The Secretary and the Treasurer may be elected from the Council members or from outside of the Council (see $ 3.4).
7. Council votes can be performed during a business meeting, or by a mail vote.
If voting is to take place at a business meeting of the Council, each Council member can delegate his/her vote to another person, usually to another member of the same Society or Group (who then possibly has a multiple vote).
A motion is accepted if it obtains
a. in a mail vote: the simple majority of all members of the Council who vote;
b. in a business meeting: the simple majority of the Council members who are present and voting. If the latter condition is not fulfilled, any decision must be ratified by a mail vote.
The special voting rules in 2.4 and 5.6 are unaffected.
If the Council receives a mail vote proposal by one of its Member Representatives it cannot reject without serious reasons or without a detailed explanation to its Members.
8. The Secretary of the IFCS shall biennially submit the number of vacancies in the Council to the Members of the IFCS.
9. Vacancies on the Council created by the resignation or death of an ordinary Member shall be filled by appointment by the President of the Member's Society or Group for the period remaining to be served or, if this cannot be obtained, by appointment by the President of the Federation. Such appointments are subject to confirmation by the Council.
6. ACTIVITIES
Any activities which fall within the sphere of interest of the Federation may be authorized by the Council, such as international and local scientific meetings and the issuance of publications reporting the activities of the Federation, or containing other matters of interest to the Federation.
The Federation may affiliate itself with international organizations. Each Member may affiliate itself with other international organizations.
7. FINANCIAL LIMITATIONS
No part of the net earnings of the Federation shall ever insure to the benefit of any private individual. No officer, member, trustee, agent or employee of the Federation shall ever receive any compensation or any pecuniary profit whatsoever from the operations of the Federation except reasonable reimbursement for service actually rendered to the Federation in effecting one or more of its proper objects and purposes, or shall ever receive any part of its property or assets, upon its dissolution or the termination of its corporate existence or otherwise.
8. SUSTAINING MEMBERS
Institutions may be elected as Sustaining Members of the Federation. Sustaining Members shall be attached to the Federation as a whole, but each Sustaining Member may choose a member Society or Group with which to affiliate, subject to the approval of that Society or Group, and shall be entitled to designate one person to have full prerogatives of a member of this Society or Group without further payment of dues.
9. DUES
The dues of Members to be pain to the Federation shall be fixed by the Council from time to time, and may be varied according to principles laid down by the Council and considering, among other criteria, geographical criteria or exchange rates.
The dues are based on the number of individual members of that Society or Group, allowing, if necessary, for the special nature of their internal structure:
In the case of GTKI, only the members of the Section 'Datenanalyse und Numerische Klassifikation' (SEK DA-NK) are concerned.
In the case of SIS and ASYS, only the members who declare themselves to be interested in IFCS are concerned.
All Members of the Federation must provide the Federation with a list of their individual members, for direct IFS information. They must update that list at least every two years.
In the event that the Federation undertakes publication of a Journal or Journals or other publication(s), the Council may , at its discretion, make the dues for each Member dependent on the number of individual members of that Society or Group subscribing to such Journal(s) and other publication(s).
No Federation dues will be charged for student members of the Members of the Federation.
A sustaining Member shall pay annual dues as from time to time determined by the Council. One half of this sum will be allocated to the Member with which the Sustaining Member is affiliated.
10. RESIGNATION FROM THE FEDERATION
Resignation of a Society, a Group, or a Sustaining Member is effected by a written declaration, to the President, of the Member Representatives of this Member or of the Member's President (Chairman) provided they have a mandate from the members of that Society or Group.
Moreover, the membership can be terminated by a two-thirds majority vote of the Council members if the conditions of membership are no longer fulfilled, or for being in arrears with the payment of dues.
11. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Amendments to the Constitution of this International Federation of Classification Societies are possible with a two-thirds vote of the Council.
BY-LAWS of THE COUNCIL
of
the International Federation
of
Classification Societies
1. COUNCIL BY-LAWS
Council By-Laws consist of its working rules and agreements. A current copy shall be provided by the Secretary for each incoming general Officer and Member of the Council, and on request to any Member of the Federation. Council By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote or mail ballots received from Members of the Council, except that if any Member returns an alternative amendment with his ballot, both proposals shall be submitted to the Council for a final vote.
2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF COUNCIL ACTIVITIES
1. Council Meetings should be convened within proper time intervals and regularly at the symposia organized by the IFCS. The meeting place shall be selected such that travel costs are well balanced for the different Member Representatives.
2. The agenda of Council meetings shall contain sufficient information and shall be sent to the Council Members early enough such that the Members unable to attend the meeting will be able to prepare and communicate their decisions or opinions by letter before the meeting.
3. FINANCES
1. There shall be a Finance Committee consisting of four individual members from four different Members of the Federation appointed by the President with the approval of the Council. The Treasurer and Publication Officer (if any) shall serve on the Committee in an advisory capacity.
The term of each appointed member of the Finance Committee shall be four years with one member retiring and being replaced each year.
The Committee will select its own Chairman each year.
2. The Finance Committee shall inspect and coordinate the annual budget proposals of the Secretary, Treasurer, and Publication Officer (if any) and be responsible for the annual audits of the publications of the Federation. For each important item, it makes proposals concerning the scope and limits of this measure which must be finally approved by the Council. It shall report at least once each year to the Council, and make recommendations regarding Federation dues and the administration of Federation funds.
3. The Treasurer and employees of the Federation who are approved by Council shall be authorized to deposit funds to the credit of the Federation with banks and/or trust companies, and to invest monies in insured savings accounts or government bonds. All transactions of the Treasurer shall be independently audited by competent persons or firms selected with the approval of the Finance Committee.
4. RELATIONS BETWEEN REGIONS AND COUNCIL
1. At least once per year, the President of the IFCS shall send a report on the activities of the last period, on the future program, and a statement of accounts to all Presidents (Chairmen) of the Member Societies (Groups) to keep them advised of news and problems.
2. The Presidents of all Member Societies or Groups shall be sent copies of Council Memoranda by the Secretary and shall be invited to comment thereon.
3. The Member Societies or Groups shall communicate the result of their internal elections to the Secretary of Federation, who shall in turn inform the Council.
4. The Members of the Federation shall maintain up-to-date lists of members of their Society or Group, shall make them available for the Secretary of the Federation and shall forward to their members material provided by the Secretary of the Federation.
5. The Presidents/Chairmen of Societies/ Groups with vacancies in the next Council shall submit to the Secretary the names selected for each vacancy. Each Member shall develop its own procedures for selecting its representatives.
6. Official announcements and publications will be in English. Official correspondence between Council Members, General Officers and Members of the Federation may be in any language provided that mutual understanding is assured for all those which may be concerned by it. An English version of all official decisions will be available of the records.
5. SECRETARY FOR THE GROUP-AT-LARGE
A Special Secretary may be named for the Group-at-Large or any group aspiring to regular cooperation with the Federation. This Special Secretary will keep the Federation advised of appropriate news and needs from the group, and he will receive the general material sent to the Secretary of each Member provided that the annual dues for the members of the group have been transmitted.
6. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES
Each international conference sponsored by the Federation shall be arranged by an organizing committee and a program committee, both appointed by the President, with overlapping membership. The organizing committee shall include representatives of the host country and/or institution. Within general policies set by Council, this committee shall make local arrangements, handle the publicity, and have financial responsibility for the meeting. The program committee shall include representatives of the host country and of other countries. The offices of the Secretary and of the Treasurer may be called upon for such service as they can supply.
A committee on long-range planning of conferences shall be appointed by the President consisting of the Secretary, who will serve as chairman, and three Council members whose terms of service will coincide with their respective term of membership on the Council. The committee shall recommend dates and locations for future conferences and wherever possible coordinate these with meetings of other cognate societies.
7. EDITORIAL POLICY
It is the intention of the Federation to publish one or more journals. Book(s) and/or newsletter(s) may also be published from time to time, or at regular intervals. Precise editorial policy will be determined by the Council. Any Member of the Federation may, if desired, publish a journal or journals, book(s) or newsletter(s). It is hoped that such publications will be made available to the individual members of other Federation Members at favorable rates.
8. FEDERATION YEAR
The membership year of the Federation and terms of service of its officers shall coincide with the calendar year, except where specified otherwise. The membership and annual assessment of new members shall date from January 1 of the year in which they join the Federation, except for those who become members in October, November, or December. The initial assessment of such members shall apply to the following year.
The fiscal year in the offices of the Secretary, the Treasurer and of any other officers of the Federation shall extend from February 1 to January 31 of the following calendar year, unless otherwise determined by the Council.