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Constitution
Approved at the General Assembly in London on October 16th. 1981. Last modified at the 11th World Congress in Barcelona in June, 2002.
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> I. NAME, OBJECT AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE FEDERATION
> II. CONTRIBUTIONS
> III. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Article 1
Article 1 Under the name of "International Federation for Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy" (hereinafter called "the Federation"), an association was founded the sixth of November 1972 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on the occasion of the First World Congress for Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy.
The Federation shall be governed by this Constitution
Article 2
The objects of the Federation shall be:
a) To stimulate basic and applied research and the diffusion of knowledge in matters concerning uterine cervical pathology and colposcopy.
b) To stimulate the creation of national societies.
c) To contribute to the standardization of terminology and evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the field of cervical pathology.
d) To hold at regular intervals world congresses, each successively in a different country. To sponsor on request regional or national congresses organized by affiliated societies. Where possible, to help coordinate the dates of conferences which are relevant to the field of cervical pathology.
e) To represent affiliated societies whenever joint scientific action appropiate.
f) To establish and maintain relations with other international organizations and to promote activities which further the objects of the Federation.
Article 3
The duration of the Federation shall be unlimited. Its seat will be established in a future Assembly.
Article 4
The membership of the Federation shall include the national Society or the Federation of any country representing the specialists in uterine cervical pathology of that country. When more than one Society exists in a given country, each claiming the right to represent that country, the Societies must resolve this problem within the country itself, or else, set up a coordinating committee recognized by the two or more Societies of that country. In any case, national Societies must be non-profitmaking bodies and have a Constitution in conformity with their national laws.
Article 5
A society which was not a member at the time of the creation of the Federation may become a member provided it fulfils the following conditions:
a) Sends an application in writing to the President of the Federation together with a copy of its Constitution showing that it satisfies the requirements set out in Article 4 above.
b) Declares its intention to abide by the Constitution of the Federation.
c) Undertakes to make financial contributions in such form and within such time-limits as may be decided by General Assembly.
d) Has at least ten members.
The decision as to the granting or refusal of membership shall be taken by the General Assembly which shall not be required to state the reason for its decision.
Article 6
Membership of the Federation shall be lost:
a) By withdrawel subject to a period of notice to be fixed by the By-Laws.
b) By defaulting in the payment of contributions to the Federation over a period of time fixed by the By-Laws.
c) In pursuance of a decision taken by the General Assembly, on the basis of a report by the Executive Board, by a two-thirds majority of the delegates present and entitled to vote.
The General Assembly may, in particular, exclude from the Federation and Society the attitude, action or policy of which the General Assembly regards as detrimental to the reputation or interest of the Federation or the behaviour of which casts discredit upon the profession. No exclusion may be founded upon reasons of a philosophical, religious or political nature.
Article 7
Each national Society shall pay to the International Federation a yearly contribution the amount of which shall be fixed by the General Assembly, in the proportion to the number of regular members of each Society.
Members of the Federation shall be exonerated from personal liability in respect to the financial commitments of the Federation which shall be guaranteed solely by the Federation`s assets.
Article 8
The organs of the Federation are the General Assembly and the Executive Board.
Article 9
The General Assembly is the supreme authority of the Federation. It shall be composed of the delegates of each national Society, or their alternates, and of the members of the Executive Board.
Each national Society represented al the General Assembly shall dispose of a number of votes proportional to the numbers of its members: the following scale shall be applied:
| From 10 to 50 members |
1 vote |
| From 51 to 100 members |
2 votes |
| From 101 to 200 members |
3 votes |
| From 201 to 500 members |
4 votes |
| From 501 to 1000 members |
5 votes |
| Over 1000 members |
6 votes |
Each proportional vote shall give right to the appointment of one delegate to attend the General Assembly who is entitled to speak. Votes shall be cast in accordance with the above scale, even if the number of delegates presents is less than the number of votes allotted to the affiliated Society.
Members of the Executive Board shall sit in a consultative capacity and can vote in the General Assembly, except the President who only votes when there is a split vote.
However, when a vote is taken by the General Assembly on the approval of the management report, no member of the Executive Board shall be entitled to vote.
For Extraordinary General Assemblies a country, which is prevented from being represented, may address its vote by correspondence on items appearing on the agenda; in order to be valid such a vote must reach the President of the Executive Board at least eight days prior to the opening of the General Assembly. This provision does not apply to Ordinary General Assemblies.
Article 10
The General Assembly shall meet:
In regular session: on the occasion of each international Congress organized by the Federation.
In extraordinary session: whenever it is convened by the Executive Board or at the request of one fifth at least of its members.
The agenda of the General Assembly shall be arranged by the Executive Board, but provisions shall be made for the adequate time for introduction of other topics for discussion by members of the General Assembly.
The President of the Executive Board shall act as President of the General Assembly and the Officers of the Board shall be officers of the General Assembly.
Article 11
The General Assembly shall hear reports on the work of the Executive Board and the general activities of the Federation.
It shall, after they have audited, approve the accounts for the preceding financial period and discuss the items appearing on the agenda.
The debates in the General Assembly shall be valid held irrespective of the number of members present except when amendments to the Constitution or the dissolution of the Federation are under consideration. The points on which the General Assembly may take decisions are those appearing on the agenda. However, Ordinary General Assemblies may take valid decisions on points not included in the agenda if four-fifths of the members present so decide.
Subject to the cases where a qualified majority is required by the provisions of this Constitution, decisions of the General Assembly shall be made by a simple majority of the members present and entitled to vote.
In addition to the languages used in the first three World Congresses (English, German and Spanish), the General Assembly shall determine the official languages of the Federation, in particular as regards the debates and resolutions of congresses.
It shall appoint the body responsible for the auditing of accounts the members of which shall be immediately re-eligible. This body shall submit a report to each General Assembly.
Article 12
The Executive Board shall be elected by the General Assembly and shall consists of 15 members. It shall include the officers of the Federation who are the President, immediate past-President, President-elect, Secretary General, Treasurer, Assistant Secretary/Archivist, and the Assistant Treasurer. In addition to these 7 officers the Executive Board shall include 8 members-al-large who should represent 8 countries selected on a rotating basis from other national societies not represented by the 7 above mentioned officers. Initially, 4 of the members-at-large shall be elected to serve terms of 6 years (i.e. to serve on 2 consecutive executive boards) and the 4 other members-at-large shall be elected for a term of 3 years. Thereafter, 4 new member-at-large will be elected al each meeting of the General Assembly. Their terms will be 6 years. The officers of the Federation shall be elected by the General Assembly for a term of 3 years (election of officers shall be held at each World Congress). The President can not be elected for another term. The Secretary General and the Treasurer may be re-elected without limitation.
Article 13
The Executive Board shall meet once yearly and whenever it is convened by the President or at the request of one third at least of its members.
The Board shall validly meet if six members are present or represented. Decisions of the board shall be made by a majority of its members.
If a member of the board is unable to attend a meeting, he/she may appoint by written proxy either another member of the Executive Board or another representative of his national society to represent him/her. If the event that the board member is unable to personally request a proxy, or the executive board member is unable to complete his/her term of office , the appointment of a proxy or substitute member will be made by the member`s national society.
The Secretary General shall draw up minutes of the sittings of the Board and shall sign them jointly with the President.
The Secretary General shall be responsible for the custody of the records of the Federation.
Article 14
The Executive Board shall exercise the widest powers for the management of the affairs of the Federation. It shall establish the yearly budget and determine the use to be made of the available founds. It shall decide as to renting of the premises suitable to the requirements of the Federation.
The Executive Board shall determine the action to be taken to archive the objects of the Federation.
Article 15
In respect to all acts involving the responsibility of the Federation towards third parties, it shall be validly represented by its President or by a representative duly appointed to that effect by the Executive Board.
Article 16
Any proposal for an amendment to this Constitution must be submitted by the Executive Board or by al least one tenth of the members of the Federation. The text of any proposed amendment shall be communicated to all members of the Executive Board at least six months before the opening of the Assembly and copies mailed by the Secretary General to each member Society al least four months before a General Assembly, thus enabling the Societies to brief delegates to the General Assembly.
One half of the members entitled to vote must be present at a General Assembly shall called upon to take decision on a proposed amendment to the Constitution.
Should this quorum not be reached, the General Assembly shall be convened again within the time-limit prescribed by the By-Laws. This second General Assembly may take valid decisions irrespective of the number of members present.
In no case may the Constitution be emended unless the amendment was adopted by a two-third majority of the members entitled to vote present at the General Assembly.
As an exception to the last paragraph of Article 9, vote by correspondence shall not be permissible.
Article 17
A decision to dissolve the Federation shall be taken by a General Assembly specially convened for the purpose and composed of at least two-thirds of the members entitled to vote.
Should this quorum not be reached, the General Assembly shall be convened again within the time-limit prescribed by the By-Law. This second Assemble meeting in extraordinary session may take a valid decision irrespective of the members present. In all case a two-thirds majority of the members present al the General Assembly and entitled to vote shall be required to decide on the dissolution.
As an exception to the last paragraph of Article 9, vote by correspondence shall not be permissible.
In the event that the liquidation of the Federation`s affairs and property has been voted upon by the General Assembly of the Federation at a special meeting called for the purpose, then a liquidator shall be appointed by the Executive Board, and after payment of all debts, if any, the property shall be distributed proportionately among the federated Societies.
The liquidation shall be final only after approval of the liquidation accounts by the members of the Federation who shall be consulted in writing.
Article 18
The By-Laws of the Federation shall be drawn up by the Executive Board, and submitted for approval to the General Assembly.
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