These 24 proposed amendments to the Bylaws were presented to IHEYOs General
Assembly in Kampala (Uganda), May 24th 2004
You find the current By Laws by clicking
here.
You can click here to read again
the discussion at the GA about these proposals.
Proposal
1 Article 1 – Section 1
Replace
old Article 1 with:
“With
this, the international non-profit organization will be founded. It shall
be called the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization. The organization
shall be known by the acronym "IHEYO". The official language of
IHEYO is English. The organisation comes under the provision and regulations
of the title III from the Belgian law of 27th of June 1921 concerning the
non-profit organisations, the International non-profit organisations and the
foundations (articles 46 to 57)”
Because: IHEYO needs this to be formally registered as an international
non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Belgian registers.
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
2 Article 1 – Section 2
Now
says: “IHEYO has its head office in the
United Kingdom.”
Change
to: “The official seat
of IHEYO is at ...; Belgium. The seat can be transferred to any other place
in Belgium by decision of the General Assembly, to be published in the Belgian
Governmental Gazette and communicated with the Federal department of Justice.”
Because: IHEYO needs this to be formally registered as an international
non-governmental organization in the Belgian registers.
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
3 Article 3 – Section 1
Add: In front of today’s
text: “The organisation is accessible for foreigners and Belgians.”
Because: IHEYO needs this to be formally registered as an international
non-governmental organization in the Belgian registers.
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
4 Article 3 – Section 3 – 1st
Paragraph
Now
says: “(...) and be democratically
governed. Full members (…)”
Change
to: “(...) and be democratically
governed. However, in special cases, such as countries where human rights
are not well established, the General Assembly may also grant full membership
to local humanist groups that are
democratically
governed but not formally constituted. Full members (…)”
Because:
It was noted in Berlin
that the formal requirements for member organizations were in some cases too
strict. This amendment attempts to loosen up some of the requirements without
making them too broad.
Proposed by: Osma Suominen and Alina Mänttäri
Proposal
5 Article 3 – Section 7 – 1st
paragraph
Now
says: “(…) acting on a proposal from the
Board, (…)”
Change
to: “(…) acting on a proposal from the
Executive Committee, (…)”
Because:
Just to clarify.
Proposed
by: Lars-Petter Helgestad
Proposal
6 Article 3 – Section 7 – 2nd
paragraph
Now
says: “(…) in clear violation of IHEYO’s
purpose as stated in the bylaws. (…)”
Change
to: “(…) in clear violation
of IHEYO’s purpose as stated in the bylaws, acting in clear violation of the
bylaws themselves, or leaving membership fees unpaid for at least three consecutive
years. (…)”
Because:
There are currently no
sanctions for unpaid membership fees or violations of the bylaws (other than
the purpose). This tries to remedy that problem...
Proposed
by: Osma Suominen, Alina
Mänttäri and Lars-Petter Helgestad
Proposal
7 Article 4 – Section 2 – 3rd
Paragraph
Now says: “To amend the bylaws, requiring a two thirds (2/3) majority
as specified in Article 8; (…)”
Change to: “To amend the bylaws, as specified in Article 8; (…)”
Because: What majority we need and other rules about amending
the bylaws is, yup, specified in Article 8, and should not be stated twice.
Proposed
by: Lars-Petter Helgestad
Proposal
8 Article 4 – Section 2 – 3rd
Paragraph
Now says: “To dissolve IHEYO, requiring a three-quarters (3/4)
majority as specified in Article 11.”
Change
to: “To dissolve IHEYO, as specified
in Article 11.”
Because: What majority we need and other rules about dissolving
is, yup, specified in Article 11, and should not be stated twice.
Proposed
by: Lars-Petter Helgestad
Proposal
9 Article 4 – Section 3
Add: In front
of today’s text: “Delegates has the full rights to speak, make motions
and vote on behalf of his or her organization.”
Because:
To clarify the difference from an
observer (see next proposal).
Proposed
by: Lars-Petter Helgestad
Proposal
10 Article 4 – Section 4
Add:
In front of today’s text: “Observers has the full rights
to speak and make motions.”
Because:
To clarify the difference from a
delegate (see the proposal in front of this one).
Proposed
by: Lars-Petter Helgestad
Proposal
11 Article 4 – Section 5 – 1st
Paragraph
Now says: “(…) any question that one-fourth (1/4) of the General
Assembly has requested be discussed. (…)”
Change
to: “(…) any question
one-fourth (1/4) of the full members has requested to be discussed. (…)”
Because:
This seems to be a logical
error that was not noticed in Berlin. It doesn't make sense to require a General
Assembly to decide what to discuss in a General Assembly!
Proposed
by: Osma Suominen and
Alina Mänttäri
Proposal
12 Article 4 – Section 5 – 1st
Paragraph
Remove:
“to aid in submission of absentee
votes.”
Because:
The concept of absentee
votes was removed from the bylaws in Berlin, so this clarification became
misleading. It can be safely removed.
Proposed
by: Osma Suominen and
Alina Mänttäri
Proposal
13 Article 5 – Section 1
Now
says: “(…) and not more than twelve (12)
persons (…)”
Change
to: “(…) and not more than ten (10)
persons (…)”
Because: We discussed this a bit at our meeting in Oslo – and
we did not conclude. I’m still not sure about this myself, but I want to make
this proposal now, so it will be able discussed further (and rather change
or remove my proposal if I feel more sure about this).
Proposed
by: Lars-Petter Helgestad
Proposal
14 Article 5 – Section 2
Now says: “(…) President, Secretary-General, Treasurer, 1 to 2
Vice Presidents, and regular members. (…)”
Change to: “(…) President, Secretary-General, Treasurer, 1 to 2
Vice Presidents, Deputy Treasurer and regular members. (…)”
Because:
As it could well be that
some board members with offices resign there should be some normative which
regulate the succession, e.g.: president -> 1st vice-president
Proposed
by: Wolfgang Huber
Proposal
15 Article 5 – Section 3 – 1st
Paragraph
Now says: “The members of the Executive Committee shall be elected
by the General Assembly for a term of two years. (…)”
Change
to: “The members of the
Executive Committee shall be elected by the General Assembly at the Annual
Meeting. Each year, at least two (2) and no more than six (6) members are
elected. Their term ends at the Annual Meeting held on the 2nd year after
the election. (…)”
Because:
This is an attempt to
formulate a system where (approximately) half of the EC is elected every year,
the other half being in the middle of their term. This ensures that there
is some continuity and there will never be a situation where all EC members
are totally inexperienced. See also the additional proposal to elect some
EC members for the (short, one-year) term 2005-2006 at the Kampala GA that
comes after the amendments.
Proposed
by: Osma Suominen and
Alina Mänttäri
Now says: “When an officer is unable to perform his or her duties,
the Executive Committee may appoint a substitute until the next General Assembly.
Such a substitution needs to be communicated fully to all members.”
Remove: The whole section.
Because:
It is a violation of democratic
principles that an elected body can
decide at its own discretion to change its composition. Additionally,
the criterion "when an officer is unable to perform his or her duties"
is extremely vague, especially in an international organization. Does not
answering e-mail messages count as inability to perform one's duties? As for
the democratic principles, what if the Republicans in US Congress (who have
a slight majority at present) suddenly decided that all Democrats were not
able to perform their duties, and
appointed substitutes (naturally from their own party)? That would
hardly count as democratic, yet similar
things could happen with the IHEYO
EC with the current bylaws.
Proposed
by: Osma Suominen and
Alina Mänttäri
Proposal
17 Article 6 – Section 1
Now
says: “IHEYO is a section of IHEU”
Remove:
The whole section.
Because:
It has been recognized
that IHEYO does not qualify as a section of the IHEU because it is international,
and IHEU is unwilling to change its definition. A widely held opinion is that
sister organizations do not need to grant each other any formal status. The
current articles that mention IHEU (Article 6, Section 2 and Article 4, Section
4) should be a good enough definition of the relation and cooperation between
IHEU and IHEYO.
Proposed
by: Osma Suominen and
Alina Mänttäri
Proposal
18 Article 7 – New Section
Add:
Section name: “Membership fee”
“For member organization with less than 1,000
members: 50 Euros.
For member organization with more than 1,000 members: 75 Euros.
For member organization with more than 3,000 members: 100 Euros.
If any organization/member cannot pay the stipulated
fees then the organization concerned has to formally state why they could
not and the EC would then decide on this.”
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
19 Article 8 – Section 1
Now
says: “The bylaws may be amended (…)”
Change
to: “Unabated the application
of the articles 50§3, 55 and 56 of the law concerning the NGO's the INGO's
and the foundations, the bylaws may be amended (…)”
Because: IHEYO needs this to be formally registered as an international
non-governmental organization in the Belgian registers.
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
20 Article 8 – Section 1
New
paragraph at the end:
“The
changes on the bylaws will come into force after the approval by the qualified
authority according to the article 50§3 of the law and after publication in
the Belgian governmental gazette according to article 51§3 of the law in question.”
Because: IHEYO needs this to be formally registered as an international
NGO in the Belgian registers.
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
21 New Article 9 (Replacing the
whole old Article 9)
Change
to: “Article 9. Financial Regulations
Section 1. Financial Resources
The financial resources of IHEYO will be comprised of dues from member organizations
and any other money IHEYO acquires, through donations or any other source.
Section 2. Governance
The Treasurer and the President may with the approval of the Executive Committee
write checks or issue payment, according to the rules in the Standing Orders.
Section 3. Fiscal Year
The IHEYO fiscal year shall conclude on each August 31.
Conformably to the provisions of article 51 of the law the accounts of
the previous fiscal year as the budget of the coming fiscal year, the Executive
Committee will create an annual budget and the Treasurer shall present it
to the General Assembly for approval prior to the start of the fiscal year.
Approval shall require a simple majority vote.
The
annual account will be conformably to the provisions of art. 51 of the law
send to the federal department of justice.
The GA appoints an independent audit committee to check whether there were
irregularities in the accounts. Other details concerning the financial regulations
will be regulated through the Standing Orders.”
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
22 Article 10 – New Section
Add:
Section name: “Standing committees and working groups”
Section: “The Executive Committee may appoint and dissolve
standing committees or temporary working groups as needed.”
Because:
The need to create working
groups and standing committees has been noted but not yet defined in the bylaws.
Whether this is the right definition remains to be seen but something like
that is needed.
Proposed
by: Osma Suominen and
Alina Mänttäri
Proposal
23 Article 11 – Section 1
Now
says: “Proposal of dissolution (…)”
Change
to: “Unabated the application
of the articles 50§3,55 en 56of the law concerning the NGO's the INGO's and
the foundations, proposal of dissolution (…)”
Because: IHEYO needs this to be formally registered as an international
NGO in the Belgian registers.
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
23 New Article (12)
Add:
Article name: “ “For everything not mentioned in
these bylaws and the publications in the Belgian governmental gazette, it
will be governed accordingly with the provisions under title III of the law
of 27th June 1921 concerning the NGO, the INGO's and the foundations.”
Because: IHEYO needs this to be formally registered as an international
NGO in the Belgian registers.
Proposed
by: The Executive Committee
Proposal
24 Extra proposal for the Kampala GA:
Proposal: Elect five (5) members to the Executive
Committee for a shorter than normal term beginning at the Annual Meeting in
2005 and ending at the Annual Meeting in 2006. The offices would be the following:
Secretary-General, 2nd Vice President and three regular members.
Because:
This would ensure a smooth
transition into the new system of overlapping EC terms of office. Thus at
the Annual Meeting in Paris 2005, half of the Executive Committee would already
exist, and the GA could elect the other half for the following two years (approximately). The offices of President,
Treasurer and 1st Vice President would be left to be decided in Paris (with
possibly one or two regular members).
Here's a graph showing how the transition would happen. I hope you can
make sense of this. If not, don't worry! :)
?01 = elected in 2005 for a shorter than normal term (one year)
?02 = elected in 2005
Y e a r 2003 2004 2005
2006 2007 2008
President --------------> ?02----------->
Sec-Gen --------------> ?01--->
?02----------->
Treasurer --------------> ?02----------->
1stVicePr --------------> ?02----------->
2ndVicePr --------------> ?01--->
?02----------->
Member --------------> ?01--->
?02----------->
Member --------------> ?01--->
?02----------->
Member --------------> ?01--->
?02----------->
Member -------------->
?02----------->
Proposed
by: Osma Suominen and
Alina Mänttäri
End of proposals. Consider them, write down your comments and bring them to
Kampala!