STATUTES AND BY-LAWS

STATUTES OF THE ASSOCIATION

Adopted by the General Assembly at Berne, October 1967, modified at Canberra, December 1979, modified by mail ballot, 1998.

I. Objects, Composition and Membership of the Association.

1) The International Association for the Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO) is a constituent of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. The Association is subject to those articles of the Statutes and By-Laws of the Union which apply to Associations, and also to these Statutes.

2) The objects of the Association are:

(a) To promote the study of scientific problems relating to the ocean and interactions taking place at its boundaries, chiefly insofar as such study may be carried out by the aid of mathematics, physics and chemistry.

(b) To initiate, facilitate and coordinate research into and investigations of those problems of the ocean which require international cooperation.

(c) To provide for discussion, comparison and publications.

3) Those countries which adhere to the Union are Members of the Association.

By resolution of a General Assembly of the Association, other international organizations which are concerned with the study of physical sciences of the oceans may be admitted to Membership, with the status of guests.

4) The Authority of the Association shall be vested in the countries adhering to the Union, and exercised collectively by their delegates meeting in General Assembly of the Association.

5) The Association shall hold business meetings at the General Assemblies of the Union, to be held normally once every four years.

The Association may recommend to the Executive Committee of the Union, at a General Assembly of the Union, arrangement of joint sessions of two or more Associations or of joint meetings of two or more Committees or Commissions for the discussion of topics of an interdisciplinary character.

With the concurrence of the Executive Committee of the Union, the Association may arrange General Assemblies and other meetings of its own in the interval between the General Assemblies of the Union, either singly to deal with topics of specific interest, or jointly with another Association or other Associations.

6) The General Assembly of the Association shall elect the President, the two Vice-Presidents, the Secretary General and the Deputy-Secretary General of the Association.

7) The Bureau of the Association shall consist of the President and the Secretary General. Its duties shall be to conduct the affairs of the Association in accordance with the decisions of the foregoing General Assemblies of the Association. It shall prepare the Agenda for General Assemblies.

8) The General Assembly of the Association shall elect, from countries which adhere to the Union, six persons who, together with the President, immediate Past President, Vice Presidents, Secretary General, and Deputy Secretary General, shall constitute the Executive Committee of the Association.

9) A Nominations Committee of four persons from countries which adhere to the Union will be appointed by the Executive Committee. The Nominations Committee will normally include the immediate Past President as its Chairperson. Its function will be to scrutinize nominations received for positions on the Executive Committee which become vacant, to seek additional nominations where appropriate, to ensure disciplinary and geographical distribution, and to prepare a final slate of candidates for election by the General Assembly.

III. Voting

10) On scientific matters, each delegate present shall have one vote.

11) In questions of administration or of mixed, administrative and scientific character not involving questions of finance, voting shall be by countries, each country having one vote with the provision that its subscription shall have been paid up to the end of the year preceding the voting.

12) In questions involving finance, voting shall be by countries, with the same provision as for administrative questions. The number of votes for each country shall be one greater than the number of its category of membership to the Union.

13) In case of doubt as to which class a question belongs, and in all cases of equality of votes, the chairman shall decide.

14) A delegate shall represent only one Member Country. An adhering country not represented by a delegate may forward by post its vote on any specific question of an agenda.

15) Guests will not vote.

IV. General

16) These Statutes shall be changed only by a majority of two thirds of the votes cast as a General Assembly by delegates or by post.

17) The Association may make By-Laws which may be changed by a simple majority of the votes cast at a General Assembly by the delegates or by post.

18) This English text shall be the authoritative text of the Statutes of the Association.

BY-LAWS OF THE ASSOCIATION

Adopted by the General Assembly at Berne, October 1967, modified at Canberra, December 1979, modified at Honolulu, August 1995, modified by mail ballot, 1998.

I. Membership of the Association

1) It is recommended that each adhering country shall form a National Sub-Committee for the Physical Sciences of the Ocean, to which correspondence may be addressed.

2) Each adhering country and each international member may contribute to the Agenda of General Assemblies of the Association.

II. Administration

3)
(a) The President and the Vice-Presidents shall be elected for one four-year term. Their terms shall be the interval between the ends of two successive General Assemblies of the Association.

(b) The term of the immediate Past President shall run from the end of the General Assembly at which the new President is elected until the end of the next General Assembly.

(c) The Secretary General and Deputy-Secretary General shall be elected for two periods, and may be re- elected for subsequent single periods.

4) The Secretary General shall manage the routine business, conduct the correspondence, preserve the records, and arrange the preliminaries of General Assemblies. The retiring Secretary General is to publish the proceedings of the General Assembly at which his successor was elected.

5) Of the six persons referred to in Article 8 of the Statutes, not more than three may be elected to an additional term.

6) The Executive Committee shall:

(a) Prepare for the Executive Committee of the Union recommendations concerning the arrangement, at a General Assembly of the Union, of scientific meetings to be confined to joint sessions of two or more Associations or of Joint meetings of two or more Committees or Commissions, for the discussion of topics of an interdisciplinary character.

(b) Seek for the concurrence of the Executive Committee of the Union for the arrangement of General Assemblies and other meetings of the Association in the intervals between the General Assemblies of the Union, either singly to deal with topics of specific interest, or jointly with another Association or other Associations.

(c) Fill any vacancy wihich may occur among the officers of the Association between General Assemblies. Such appointments shall be subject to the subsequent approval of the next General Assembly. Tenure of office for part of a period shall not be counted as a period for the purpose of these By-Laws.

(d) Consider matters of general administration and finance, and report thereon to the General Assembly.

(e) Make recommendations on matters of policy.

(f) Frame the budget for the ensuing period and report to the General Assembly of the Association and to the Secretary General of the Union. The budget period of the Association coincides with the budget period of the Union.

(g) Advise upon the distribution of funds.

(h) Consider proposals for changes in the Statutes and By-Laws, and report thereon to the General Assembly.

7) Officers designated by these By-Laws for special duties or for special committees may appoint substitutes in their stead. Notice of the intention to do so must be sent in writing to the President or Secretary General. No substitute shall represent more than one officer.

8) Decisions and actions of the Officers and Committees of the Association, taken during and between General Assemblies, shall be subject to the sanction of the General Assembly.

9) Proposals for the Agenda of a General Assembly shall reach the Secretary General six months before the General Assembly. The Secretary General shall send the Agenda to adhering countries, through the National Sub-Committees where such exist, at least four months before the General Assembly. No question which has not been placed on the Agenda shall be discussed unless a proposal to that effect be approved by two-thirds of the votes of the countries represented at the Assembly.

10) Nominations Committee.

(a) The terms of members of the Nominations Committee referred to in Article 9 of the Statutes will expire at the end of the General Assembly following their appointment.

(b) A call for nominations for candidates for positions on the Executive Committee will be issued by the Secretary General of the Association at least six months prior to a General Assembly where an election is to take place.

(c) Nominations must be accompanied by a brief Curriculum Vitae, and will not be accepted later than three months prior to the General Assembly, except for additional candidates identified by the Nominations Committee in Accordance with Article 9 of Statute I.

(d) The Nominations Committee will prepare a slate of candidates one month prior to the General Assembly, and will confirm that the members of this slate are prepared to serve if elected.

(e) In the event of a vacancy occurring on the Executive Committee during its term of office as a result of the resignation or demise of a member, the Nominations Committee will assist the Executive Committee in finding a suitable replacement.

III. Finance

11) The President and Secretary General shall individually have power to sign documents on behalf of the Association.

12) The Secretary General shall receive the allocations of funds from the Union, and administer the funds of the Association. At the end of the calendar year preceding a General Assembly of the Union he shall prepare and send to the Secretary General of the Union the Accounts of the Association.

13) Each Account shall be audited by a qualified accountant.

14) Travelling expenses may be paid by the Secretary General, but only (a) in connection with meetings on specific Association business, and (b) when those concerned represent the Association and not adhering countries or other organizations, and (c) in cases where those concerned cannot draw proper allocations from their own national sources. Such payments may cover travelling costs and a reasonable contribution to other expenses while attending such meetings.

Return to IAPSO Home Page