Statutes
As adopted by the IFLRY Extraordinary General Assembly in Madrid, Spain, April 6th, 1990 and translated from the original text in Dutch.
- Last amended at the 25th General Assembly in Lisse, The Netherlands (November 21st – 23rd, 2003)
A. NAME - SEAT - OBJECT
Article I.
The organisation is established as an international association with an academic and educational aim, under the name International Federation of Liberal Youth (abbreviated as IFLRY). The association is subject to the law of October 25th, 1919, as amended by the law of December 6th, 1954.
Article II.
The headquarters of the association is at Kartuizers Straat 64 / Rue des Chartreux 64, 1000 Brussels Belgium.
A decision to change the headquarters is taken by simple majority vote by the Executive Committee or if so charged by a simple majority vote by the bureau of the federation. This decision will be announced in the Annex to the Belgian State Gazette.
Article III.
The aim of IFLRY, in Belgium as well as abroad, shall be to promote liberal thoughts, and contribute to the development and promotion of human rights, democracy, free trade and cooperation on global level through political education and networking of young people. To this end IFLRY organises publications, seminars, group travel, symposia, courses and meetings with other organisations where the above themes are discussed and where an exchange of information takes place.
B. MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
Article IV.
Every national youth and student organisation having legal personality (or coming from a country where liberal or radical political youth organisations are unable to obtain legal personality) and being in agreement with the aims of IFLRY and with the principles expressed in the IFLRY MANIFESTO shall have the right to apply for candidate membership or full membership of IFLRY.
Article V.
The admission of new members is subject to the following conditions:
Full members: Every organisation wishing to become a member of IFLRY can apply for full membership after at least one year candidate member status, and can be admitted by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting at the General Assembly, including abstentions.
Candidate members: Candidate membership status can be granted by the General Assembly or the Executive Committee by simple majority of those present and voting, including abstentions and gives the organisation all rights of a full member inside IFLRY except voting rights at statutory meetings and the possibility to run candidates for any bureau or auditor position. Candidate membership will be reviewed after four years.
Observing members: Organisations wishing to co-operate closely with IFLRY without fulfilling the criteria for membership may be granted observer status. The observer status is to be granted by the General Assembly or the Executive Committee by simple majority of those present and voting, including abstentions and gives the organisation rights inside IFLRY to be decided by the Bureau.
Article VI.
The members of the association can leave the association on the following conditions:
- the members of the association can resign by themselves.
- the members of the association can be expelled or suspended.
The expulsion of full members from IFLRY is to be decided by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting at the General Assembly. Expulsion of candidate and observer member organisations is to be decided by the General Assembly or by the Executive Committee by a simple majority of those present and voting.
Suspension of any full member organisation is to be decided by a two-third majority of those present and voting at the General Assembly or Executive Committee. Suspension of candidate or observer member organisations is to be decided by the General assembly or Executive Committee by a simple majority of those present and voting.
Expulsion or suspension of a full member or a candidate member organisation or termination of an observer status must be put on the agenda sent out before the opening of the meeting to the organisation concerned.
Members that have ceased to exist and thus are no longer part of the association have no rights to the financial assets.
C. STATUTORY BODIES
Article VII.
The statutory bodies of the association are the General Assembly, the Executive Committee and the Bureau. A quorum of 50% of the full member organisations that have fulfilled their membership obligations shall be required to begin any meeting of a General Assembly or Executive Committee. For the bureau a quorum of more than 50% is needed in order for a decision to be valid. When a meeting fails to achieve a quorum, the members present may call a second meeting, giving the required notice, at which meeting no quorum shall be required.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Article VIII.
The General Assembly is the highest decision making body of IFLRY and has full powers to accomplish the aims of the association. The General Assembly is made up of the full members of the association. The votes in the General Assembly are to be distributed according to the size of the member organisation by a formula set out in the Rules of Procedure. All decisions are taken by a simple majority of those present and voting, unless otherwise stated. Decisions are only valid where half of the total votes present are cast. Abstentions shall be included for this purpose. Voting by proxy is not possible.
Article IX.
The General Assembly meets every second year under the presidency of the president of the association or one or more other persons chosen by the General Assembly.
An Extraordinary General Assembly can be called by a simple majority in the Bureau, a simple majority in the Executive Committee or by (a group of) full member organisations representing at least one-fifth of the votes that could have been cast at the most recent General Assembly or one-fourth of the full member organisations.
Article X.
The date and agenda of each meeting of the General Assembly or an Extraordinary General Assembly shall be agreed upon by the Bureau or, in the case of an Extraordinary General Assembly by those who call the meeting, and shall be announced to all member organisations at least eight weeks prior to its convention.
Article XI.
The General Assembly shall elect the members of the Bureau and determine the composition of the Executive Committee.
Article XII.
Only full members shall have voting rights.
Only organisations having fulfilled their membership obligations shall be accorded voting rights.
Article XIII.
Except in the exceptional cases determine by these Statutes or in the Rules of Procedure decisions shall be taken by simple majority of those present and voting and will be publicised to all members.
In the case of an Extraordinary General Assembly, no decisions on items not mentioned on the agenda can be taken.
Article XIV.
There shall be two auditors. The auditors will in addition to their Statutory functions also report to the General Assembly how the Bureau has carried out the decisions taken by the General Assembly and by the Executive Committee. The auditors shall be elected by the General Assembly, for a period until the next regular General Assembly.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Article XV.
The Executive Committee is the highest decision making body in IFLRY between General Assemblies. At least one representative must have Belgian nationality. The Executive Committee is responsible to the General Assembly. The Executive Committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy arising on the Bureau providing at least four weeks notice has been given of the vacancy, and there is no gathering of the General Assembly in the following 30 days.
The Executive Committee is charged with the daily running and the management of the association, with the exception of the competences reserved to the General Assembly. It can charge the Bureau with the daily running and the management of the association.
A majority of two-thirds of those present and voting at the Executive Committee meeting can overrule the deadline of calling for replacement if the resignation of the bureau member falls after this deadline.
Article XVI.
The Executive committee meets at least once a year. Place, date and agenda shall be announced by the Bureau to all member organisations at least four weeks prior to the meeting.
All decisions are taken by a majority of those present and voting, unless otherwise stated. In case of a tie the vote of the President is determinant. Voting by proxy is not allowed.
The decisions of the Executive committee shall be entered in a register signed by the president of the association and kept by the president of the association or a person appointed by the president, who will make it available to the members.
BUREAU
Article XVII.
When charged to that effect by the Executive Committee the Bureau is responsible for the day-to-day management of the association and for the control of all assets. The President acts as a legal representative of the association.
The Bureau shall be responsible for all its activities to the General Assembly and the Executive Committee.
Article XVIII.
The Bureau will be mutually responsible for all its activities and may share its internal work and responsibilities as it desires.
The Bureau may appoint a staff.
The Bureau shall meet at least six times per year. Decisions are taken by simple majority of those present; in case of a tie the vote of the President is determinant.
Article XIX.
Except in the case of special mandates all deeds that bind the association shall be signed by two members of the Bureau who are not obliged to show powers to third parties.
All legal action, be it as claimant or a defendant, shall be taken, continued and expedited by the Bureau, represented by its President or a member of the Bureau appointed by the President.
D. BUDGETS AND ACCOUNTS
Article XX.
The Bureau is responsible for all financial matters to the General Assembly and the Executive Committee. The approval of the budget and the annual accounts is the exclusive power of the General Assembly. It is the responsibility of the Executive Committee to forward them to the member organisations for inspection and approval. In the event that during one year neither the General Assembly nor an Extraordinary General Assembly is convened the member organisations are consulted in order to, as the case may be, express their disapproval.
The financial year of IFLRY shall end on December 31st of every year.
Article XXI.
The General Assembly shall elect the auditors to examine the accounts and general finances of the association and to give a report thereon to the General Assembly.
Article XXII.
The membership fees to be paid by full member organisations, candidate member organisations and observers shall be decided by the General Assembly or the Executive Committee for each calendar year. If a member organisation has failed to pay its membership fee it shall not be accorded voting rights at the Executive Committee or the General Assembly. All financial transfers between member organisations relevant to the fulfilment of membership obligations or participation in meetings of IFLRY’s statutory bodies shall be made public by written notice to the Bureau.
E. CHANGE OF STATUTES AND DISSOLUTION
ARTICLE XXIII.
Every proposal that aims to change these statutes must be made by the bureau, a simple majority in the Executive Committee or by (a group of) full member organisations. The Executive Committee or, if mandated by the Executive Committee, the Bureau shall announce the date of the General Assembly that will discuss the aforesaid proposal and the proposal at least eight weeks prior to the meeting to the member organisations. The proposal is adopted, if so decided by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting at the General Assembly.
Every proposal that aims to dissolve the association must be put forward by the bureau, a simple majority in the Executive Committee or by (a group of) full member organisations representing at least one-fifth of the votes that could have been cast at the most recent General Assembly or by one-fourth of the full member organisations. Any proposal for dissolvement of the association must be carried by two consecutive General Assemblies. At the first General Assembly the proposal must be supported by at least a two-thirds majority of those present and voting at the General Assembly.
On the second General Assembly, the same proposal needs to have a simple majority in order to take effect.
All changes to the statutes take effect immediately after the end of the General Assembly where they are adopted.
Changes in the Statutes shall only be valid after approval by Royal Decree and after the conditions concerning publication, stipulated in Article 3 of the law of October 25th, 1919 are fulfilled.
The General Assembly will determine in which manner the association is dissolved and settled.
F. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article XXIV.
The interpretation of these Statutes is subject to the decision of the General Assembly. Where the Statutes are not applicable the General Assembly decides.
The General Assembly can arrange further matters in the Rules of Procedure, as long as these matters do not contradict the Statutes.
All that is not stipulated by these statutes or by the Rules of Procedure, and the announcements which have to be made in the Belgian State Gazette; shall be arranged in accordance to the provisions of the law.