Founding discussion during the Krakow meeting in September 2001 completed by e-mail resolution of 14.07.2003
Name, place of registration and sphere of action
- Name of the Society: “International Palaeoentomological Society" (IPS) (hereafter referred to as “the Society”)
- Place of registration: Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
- Sphere of action: The study of fossil insects and other non-marine arthropods worldwide.
Non-profit-making character and use of funds
- The Society is a non-profit society based on collegiality and non-selfish motives.
- The Society is exclusively non-commercial. Its funds can only be used as specified in the Statutes. Members do not receive funds and in their nature as members also do not receive grants from the resources of the Society. They neither have any claim to the property of the Society when they leave it nor when the society may be dissolved. No person may be benefited by financial delivery or other considerations which do not conform to the aims of the Society.
- The funds of the Society, after its dissolution, pass to its successor, if any, or otherwise to a related society selected by the Management Committee.
Membership
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There are four categories of membership:
- Founding members – those members who formally joined the Society at the meeting at which it was established during the Second International Palaeoentomological Congress held in Krakow in September 2001;
- Ordinary members – persons subsequently admitted to membership;
- Corporate members – corporate entities subsequently admitted to membership;
- Honorary members – persons honoured by a general meeting of members because of their outstanding contributions in support of the aims of the Society, being admitted to membership without any obligation to pay membership fees.
- Any person or corporate entity may become an ordinary or corporate member of the Society, provided that they subscribe to the aims of the society as set out in these Statutes.
- Admission to ordinary or corporate membership after written application is by decision of the Management Committee. In the case of non-acceptance, the Management Committee is not obliged to inform the applicant about the reasons for this.
- Admission to honorary membership after written nomination and acceptance by the Management Committee is by formal resolution of a General Meeting of members.
- The amounts of normal membership fees will be determined by a General Meeting of the members or by e-mail resolution of the members. Fees for corporate entities will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Management Committee. Fees are due annually in advance for each calendar year.
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Membership of the Society is terminated upon:
- a) The death of a member; or
- b) Notification by a member that they wish to discontinue their membership (4(7)); or
- c) Cancellation from the list of members (4(8)); or
- d) Exclusion from membership (4(9)).
- Any member may declare that they wish to discontinue their membership of the Society at any time by written communication to the Society. Membership ceases immediately upon receipt of such communication, provided that the full membership fee for the current year has been paid.
- Cancellation from the list of members automatically takes place if a member has not paid membership fees for 3 years or cannot be contacted by normal mail or e-mail.
- The Management Committee may exclude members who grossly offend against the aims of the Society or damage or injure the Society in other ways. Exclusion shall be announced to the person by written communication with inclusion of the reasons for this. The person or corporate entity affected may challenge the reasons in writing, and the Management Committee shall decide on the validity of the challenge. Such an exclusion shall be effective no sooner than 3 months after the final announcement has been delivered to the affected person.
Executive authorities
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Executives of the Society are:
- The General Meeting of Members;
- The Management Committee.
General Meetings
- Ordinary General Meetings of members are held during the triennial Congresses.
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The tasks of ordinary General Meetings are:
- Consideration and acceptance of the reports of the Management Committee and the financial auditors;
- Consideration and approval of decisions and recommendations by the Management Committee on membership and other matters;
- Consideration of motions proposed by members and transmitted by the Management Committee;
- Establishment or cancellation of sections and/or working groups, if necessary;
- Regulation of the normal membership fees;
- Election of the President and other members of the Management Committee;
- Election of two financial auditors;
- Award of honorary membership;
- Consideration and acceptance of the President’s Address;
- Establishment of new principles concerning the Statutes, if necessary;
- Amendment of the Statutes (2/3 majority of the voting members present required);
- Decision on the dissolution of the Society, if necessary.
- Proposals intended to be considered at a General Meeting may be submitted by any member and must reach the Management Committee at least 30 days before the Meeting.
- Notice of a General Meeting must be given to all members in writing (via regular or e-mail) at least 60 days before the date of the meeting; a provisional agenda is to be included with the notice, which may be included in the congress announcement or programme.
- In cases of urgency which require action before the next ordinary General Meeting, a Special General Meeting may be convened by the Management Committee on its own initiative or after receipt of a petition signed by ten percent of the members; the business of such a meeting shall be restricted to the specific items on the agenda, which must accompany the notice of meeting.
Management Committee
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The Management Committee comprises:
- The President;
- The Chairperson;
- Two Vice-Presidents;
- The Secretary;
- The Treasurer;
- The Webmaster;
- The Editor;
- Four Regional Representatives;
- Up to three other committee members.
- The Executive Subcommittee of the Management Committee (Inner Circle in the sense of § 26 BGB (German Law Book)) are: The President, the Chairperson, the Secretary and the Treasurer.
- The financial auditors shall not also be members of the Management Committee.
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In addition to the duties as specified under §6(2) for the General Meetings, the Management Committee is responsible for:
- Electing its Officers (except for the President) from amongst their number;
- Monitoring the tasks specified in the Statutes;
- Executing the resolutions of the General Meetings;
- Delegating members to represent the Scoeity and its interests to other groups, societies, institutions and committees;
- As soon as appropriate, editing a journal and providing up-to-date information on a dedicated website in the form of a Society Newsletter.
- Several functions of the Management Committee may be combined in the duties of the same member of the Committee.
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The tasks of the President are:
- Provision of strategies and direction for the Society, explicitly formulated and delivered by means of the Presidential Addresses at the ordinary General Meetings.
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The tasks of the Chairperson are:
- Representation of the Society to the public;
- Convocation and chairing of the General Meetings;
- Issuing of important instructions and execution of urgent matters.
- The Secretary is responsible for day-to-day management.
- By decision of the Management Committee, all tasks may be distributed amongst the members of the Management Committee.
- Expenditure incurred on behalf of the Society by a member of the Management Committee in good faith shall be reimbursed upon the authority of at least two members of the Executive Subcommittee (Inner Circle in the sense of § 26 BGB), including the Treasurer.
- No member of the Management Committee shall be held personally liable for claims against the Society in excess of 1 DM.
Sections, Working Groups
- Sections and working groups of the Society may be established or disestablished by a General Meeting as necessary.
General Regulations
- Activities of the members of the Management Committee shall be carried out in an honorary capacity, save that reimbursement of direct expenditure incurred on behalf of the Society shall be made.
- No person may participate in resolutions or duties for their direct benefit.
- Five members, including at least 2 members of the Executive Subcommittee (Inner Circle according to § 26 BGB), shall constitute a quorum of the Management Committee. Those members present at a General Meeting shall constitute a quorum if the notice of meeting was issued in accordance with the Statutes (§ 6.4).
- Resolutions of the executive authorities (if not agreed otherwise before a vote) are passed by simple majority; in the case of a tie vote, the proposal shall be regarded as rejected.
- Resolutions of the executive authorities and their constituent proposals shall be documented in written minutes, certified as accurate by the signature of the Chairperson only.
- The financial year is the Julian calendar year.
Voting, terms of office
- The terms of office shall be three years for all members of the Management Committee, provided that all members shall be eligible for re-election to a maximum of three terms. Financial auditors shall be elected at each ordinary General Meeting.
- Voting shall be public, provided that voting shall be by secret ballot if so demanded by at least 3 members present and voting. Voting by e-mail circular shall be legal unless objected to by at least 5 members.
- In voting for one function, a person is elected if he or she acquires an absolute majority (50% plus one legal vote) at the first ballot. At second or subsequent ballots, a person is elected who has a simple majority of the votes.
- Every committee which has elected functional members is also authorized to recall them before the end of their tenure of office. Until the first meeting of newly elected committees (not later than two months after their election), the previous committees shall continue working. In the case of by-election or complementary voting, the tenure of office of the new elected members is limited to the remaining period of the old committee.
- Election and recall can only take place if announced in a provisional agenda which must have been sent to the voting members at least 14 days before the relevant meeting.
Dissolution of the Society
- A proposal for dissolution of the Society may be considered only at a General Meeting called for that purpose and at which at least one half of the members is present. If insufficient members are present, a second General Meeting is necessary, which is to be convened at a new date which has to take place within the succeeding year, and for which the number of members attending shall constitute a quorum. In either case, such a proposal shall require a 2/3 majority of the voting members for acceptance.
Agreed by e-mail circular in Clausthal-Zellerfeld on 14.07.2003.