International Auchenorrhyincha Society Statuses

Article 1 – Name and registered office
This organisation is named the „International Auchenorrhyncha Society“, with the acronym IAS.
The Association is founded according to French laws as an association of the type „Loi du 1er juillet 1901 et le DĂ©cret du 16 aoĂ»t 1901“ and is based in France.
Its current address is: MusĂ©um national d'Histoire Naturelle, CP50, 57 rue Cuvier, F‐75005 Paris, France.
The registered office can be transferred anywhere upon decision of the Board of Administrators (BoA).
Article 2 – Activities and Objectives
IAS will act as a global forum for the exchange of information about Auchenorrhyncha and will facilitate activities in support of its objectives as listed below. It is organized and operated exclusively for scientific and educational purposes.
IAS has the objectives:
1) to promote and support scientific fundamental and applied biological research on extant and extinct insects of the Hemiptera Auchenorrhyncha particularly in Systematics, Morphology, Biogeography, Ecology and Behaviour.
2) to promote access to and disseminate information about any kind of information on Auchenorrhyncha, through databases, publications, meetings and educational activity.
3) to encourage people in Auchenorrhyncha research, to promote cooperative research among Auchenorrhyncha workers throughout the world and to enable the formation of partnerships for collaborative actions and projects.
4) to collect and disseminate information about collections, publications and Auchenorrhyncha research in general.
Article 3 – Membership
Membership is open to any person and organisation with an interest in Auchenorrhyncha.
Membership categories are voting members, non‐voting members, corporate members and honorary members.
Application for membership shall be done by self electronic‐registration into the IAS member database. Meeting membership is immediately effective after validation. Submitting a membership application implies the acceptance of being named on the list of members, which might be available via the internet.
3.1 Non‐voting Members
Individuals interested in Auchenorrhyncha who have registered as a member of the IAS and who have published and registered at least two scientific papers about Auchenorrhyncha of which they are an author in the database of the IAS. Individuals without or with fewer publications can become members following recommendation from two members of the IAS.
Non‐Voting Members do not have to pay any membership fee. Non‐voting members will be asked at least once every three years and/or in the year of the general meeting to confirm their interest in continuing their membership.
3.2 Voting Members
A non‐voting member who has paid the membership dues is accepted as voting member.
3.3 Corporate Members
Corporate entities admitted to membership following application to the Executive Committee and subsequent approval.
3.4 Honorary Members
Persons and corporate entities honoured by a general meeting because of their outstanding contributions in support of the study of Auchenorrhyncha and/or of the Objectives of the Society.
Article 4 – Fees
Membership fees for voting members and corporate members and their modalities are fixed during the annual meeting. and must be paid at least every three years at the general meeting.
Membership is free for non‐voting members and honorary members.
Article 5 - Admission, Resignation, Exclusion
Any member is entitled to withdraw at any time from membership in IAS. If a member is found no longer to satisfy the criteria for IAS objectives, such member may be excluded from the Society.
Exclusion of a member requires a two‐thirds majority decision by the IAS Board of Administrators.
IAS membership is lost with the member’s death.
The Vice Treasurer will ask non‐voting members to confirm their interest in continuing as a member of the IAS at least once in three years and/or in the year of the general meeting . Membership ends if the member does not reply to this request.
Article 6 – Officers
The elected officers of the society shall be a President, a Vice President, a Treasurer, a Vice Treasurer, a General Secretary and a Vice General Secretary. Candidates are nominated by members of the BoA (see Article 8) and must be voting members of the IAS (but not necessarily members of the BoA). Elections are conducted in course of a general meeting of the IAS. Officers are elected for a period of three years, from general meeting to general meeting. The election is chaired by the chairman of the organising comittee of the general meeting. 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.
6.1 President
The President shall preside over all meetings of the IAS and shall chair the meetings of the Executive Commitee and the Board of Administrators. Furthermore, he or she is responsible for public relations issues and co‐operation projects with other entities, shall support applications of the society etc. and leads all other tasks of the IAS. He or she shall submit a report on his tasks at each annual meeting.
6.2 Vice President
The Vice President shall assume the duty of the President in the latter’s absence and supports the President‘s work.
6.3 Treasurer
The Treasurer‘s primary responsibility is to maintain records of the IAS finances. He/She shall collect all money due, pay all bills incurred by the IAS and act as business manager for expenses of the IAS.
He or she shall submit a report on his/her tasks at each annual meeting.
6.3 Vice Treasurer
The Vice Treasurer shall assume the duty of the Treasurer in the latter’s absence and supports the Treasurer‘s work. He/she keeps the membership list updated and will ask non‐voting members to confirm their interest in continuing as a member of the IAS at least once in three years and/or in the year of the general meeting
6.4 General Secretary
The General Secretary shall make and preserve the records of the society. He or she shall be responsible for notifying the membership of meetings, calls for annual reports, and all other items as directed by the Executive Committee and the Board of Administrators (see Article 8). He or she shall record minutes of meetings of the society, the executive committee and the board of administrators.
He/She is responsible for the validation of membership after receiving the application, together with the Vice General Secretary, the Treasurer and the Vice Treasurer.
6.5 Vice General Secretary
The Vice General Secretary shall assume the duty of the General Secretary in the latter’s absence.
Article 7 – Executive Committee
The activities of the society are guided by an Executive Committee comprising the President, the Vice‐President, the immediate Past President, the Treasurer, the Vice Treasurer, the General Secretary and the Vice General Secretary. The Executive Committee can be assisted by
persons/committees (e.g. International Outreach Coordinator, Website Coordinator, Database Coordinator, scientific committee, membership committee) in charge of special tasks for the IAS as needed. These persons/committees are elected by the BoA .
The Executive Committee co‐ordinates and oversees IAS business between meetings, drawing on the Board of Administrators when necessary. It shall report fully to the IAS on its conduct of the society's business. The report shall include the treasurer's accounts for approval by all voting members in course of the general meeting. The executive committee shall also consider and present to the society proposals for changes or improvements and shall transact all other business requiring attention and not otherwise assigned.
The executive committee shall hold meetings as are required to transact the business of the IAS during the year. These can be conducted by electronic mail, telephone or other methods. Other meetings of the executive committee may be called at any time by the President, the Vice President or any three members of the Executive Committee. The presence of five members of the Executive Committee at any meeting shall establish a quorum.
Article 8 – Board of Administrators
All voting members of a country are encouraged to propose one voting member as delegate to the Board of Administrators (BoA). The BoA decides to accept or reject the proposal.
Membership on the Board of Administrators shall be discontinued for any member who has not participated in two consecutive general meetings of the BoA without notifying the President in advance.
The Board of Administrators will meet at the discretion of the President. Meetings can be done as physical meetings, electronically or by email. Additional meetings shall be held if at least one third of the board members require a meeting. The quorum is achieved if at least one third of the members of the BoA take part.
Article 9 - Arbitration Board
In the case of disputes concerning IAS matters, an Arbitration Board shall be elected to decide in this matter. Both parties in dispute will nominate within four weeks two members of the BoA as referees.
These four elect a fifth person as chairman of the Arbitration Board within two weeks. In case of a tied vote, the chair will be chosen by lot. Decisions of the Arbitration Board are binding within the society.
Article 10 - Meetings
The Society shall endeavour to have a general meeting and conference every three years.
Extraordinary general meetings can be held on demand of the President, by simple majority of the members of the BoA or if demanded by at least one third of the voting members of the IAS.
The general meeting will be chaired by the President of the IAS. All voting members will be invited to these general meetings at least one month before the proposed date of the meeting. The presence of 50 per cent of the voting members shall establish a quorum. If the quorum is not achieved at the fixed date and time at the general meeting, the quorum is achieved 15 minutes later, independent of the number of voting members present.
The order of business at the general meeting shall be as follows:
1. Verification of the quorum.
2. Reports of the President and the Treasurer.
3. Approval of the reports by the voting members.
4. Election and installation of the Executive Committee for the forthcoming period.
5. Next general meeting.
6. Miscellaneous business.
In years without a general meeting, annual meetings are held as virtual meetings.
Votes and decisions are made by absolute majority (50 per cent plus one vote) of all voting members present, unless stated otherwise.
Article 11 – Budget
The budget of IAS will include membership fees, donations, contributions from sponsors, grants and any other legal incoming funds.
The IAS may use its funds for maintaining the IAS website and databases, conservation and preservation of literature and collections, disseminating information on Auchenorrhyncha and on other activities in accordance with the IAS objectives.
Decisions about substantial expenses are made on proposal of the Treasurer by absolute majority of the BoA.
Article 12 – Limitation and general prohibitions
The Society is a non‐profit organisation. No part of its funds will be used for the private benefit of any member or other individual. The IAS shall not lend any part of its funds or other property without the receipt of adequate security and a reasonable rate of interest within the objectives of the IAS.
Article 13 – Duration and Dissolution
The Society is established for an open‐ended period. Dissolution of IAS requires a two‐thirds majority of the voting members at two consecutive general meetings. In case of dissolution of IAS, surplus resources from membership fees and other property of the Society will pass forthwith to a noncommercial organization dedicated to similar purposes. The Board of Administrators (BoA) shall then deem the best qualified organisation by majority decision.
Article 14 – Amendments of the statutes and bylaws
Statutes and bylaws of the IAS may be changed at any general meeting requiring an absolute majority of the Executive Committee and the Board of Administrators and a two‐thirds majority of the voting members present. Suggestions for change of the statutes must be advertised by the Executive Commitee to the voting members at least six months before the general meeting.
The English version of the bylaws are legally binding.