22nd General Assembly of IUPAP (1996) - Resolutions on a revised structure
Appendix 5 : Resolutions from the Council, presented to the General Assembly, on a revised structure for IUPAP
5.1. Voting in the General Assembly
In the Statutes, Section (VII) 16 shall have the following added as a third para graph:
"In addition to the votes of the Member delegates, each Commission Chair, or in his/her absence the Secretary, will carry one vote on all motions, including elections."
5.2. Administration of the Union
The resolution presented to the General Assembly was approved in an amended form. The original resolution was:
In the Statutes, Section (III) 6 shall be replaced by the following:
"The General Assembly will elect the President, the President-Designate, the Secretary-General, and the Associate Secretary-General. Together with the Past President they make up the five ex-officio Members of the Council.
The five ex-officio Members of the Council, together with the Chairs of the Commissions will meet within one year (normally about half a year) after the General Assembly to discuss an action program to implement the policy laid down by the General Assembly, and to elect five additional Members of the Council from among the Commission Chairs. One shall strive to strike a balance between the regions as well as between the various branches of physics in the membership of the Council.
Members of the Council remain in office until the close of the next ordinary General Assembly following their election. In the event that the President is unable to serve, the President-Designate shall serve in his stead.
The President is elected for one term, and is ineligible for reelection.
The President-Designate is elected for one term as such and, subject to the approval of the General Assembly, is normally elected President following the term as President-Designate.
The Secretary-General and the Associate Secretary-General are eligible for re-election.
The Council may appoint Members to vacancies occurring in the interval period between General Assemblies. Members appointed in this fashion will complete the terms of office of the Members they are replacing.
A secretariat, under the direction of the Secretary-General, administers the current affairs of the Union.
The Council shall appoint an auditor to examine the financial records of the Union and to certify an annual financial report."
The following text conforms to the amendments made to the resolution:
"The General Assembly will elect the President, the President-Designate, the Secretary-General, the Associate Secretary-General and eight Vice Presidents. Together with the Past President they make up the Executive Council.
The Council together with the Chairmen of the Commissions (see below) will meet within one year (normally within half a year) after the General Assembly to work out an action plan to implement the policy laid down by the General Assembly.
Members of the Council remain in office until the close of the General Assembly following their election. In the event that the President is unable to serve, the President-Designate shall serve in his stead.
The President is elected for one term, and is ineligible for re-election.
The President-Designate is elected for one term as such and, subject to the approval of the General Assembly, is normally elected President following the term as President-Designate.
The General Assembly will elect (a) five Vice Presidents from amongst the chairs of the Commissions, on nomination by the Council and (b) three Vice Presidents, with at least one from a less developed country, on nomination from the Council.
The Secretary-General and the Associate Secretary-General are eligible for re-election.
The Council may appoint Members to vacancies occurring in the interval period between General Assemblies. Members appointed in this fashion will complete the terms of office of the Members they are replacing.
A secretariat, under the direction of the Secretary-General, administers the current affairs of the Union.
The Council shall appoint an auditor to examine the financial records of the Union and to certify an annual financial report."
The effectiveness of this structure of the Council shall be reviewed in 1999.
5. 3. Members representing identified physics communities
In the Statutes, Section (I) 2 shall be amended as follows:
"A Member adheres to the Union through an appropriate body: either its principal scientific academy, or its national research council, or any other institution or association of institutions, or failing these, its government.
A Member should effectively represent independent scientific activity in physics in a definite territory and be listed under a name that avoids any misunderstanding about the territory represented. The word 'territory' does not imply any political position on the part of the Union which seeks to assist physicists every where in the world to cooperate on an international level.
The Union may accept as Observers regional Physical Societies and other international physics organizations. Observers may be invited to Council meet ings and General Assemblies but have no voting privileges."
Note: The third paragraph of the proposed text replaces the following:
"An applicant organization shall not normally be considered as ready for full membership unless it can fulfil the obligations thereby imposed and has a body representing the community's scientific activities in physics which, in some form, has been in existence for several years.
The Union may accept as Observers applicant organizations otherwise qualified which are not ready for full membership. Observer status is given for three years after which full membership is normally considered. In exceptional cases, the Observer status may be extended for another three-year period. Observers pay no dues and have no voting privileges."
5. 4. Scale of shares and the value of one Union share
In the Statutes, Section (VII) 14 shall be amended as follows:
"The scale of shares and the value of one Union share are set by the General Assembly, thus effectively fixing the annual budget*. A Commission on Finance appointed by the General Assembly will each year examine the ac counts and report to each General Assembly.
Each Member will pay annually to the Union a number of shares of contribution according to its chosen category, as negotiated between the Council and the adhering body concerned**. It is within the authority of the Council to decide temporary adjustments of the annual dues of a Member if special circumstances prevail. Members paying less than one share have no voting privileges."