Constitution
ARTICLE I
- The Federation is called the International Federation for Theatre Research.
- The Federation is an association conforming to articles 60-79 of the Swiss Civil Code. Its headquarters are: International Federation for Theatre Research, Universität Bern, Institut für Theaterwissenschaft, Mittelstrasse 43|3012 Bern, Switzerland.
- Its official language is English.
- Organisers of congresses, conferences and symposia may nominate a suitable local language to be used in addition to English.
- For the purposes of this constitution the words 'theatre research' represent 'research into all aspects of all the performing arts'.
ARTICLE II
The Federation is a charitable organisation that exists in the interest of theatre research and its aims are:
- to promote in all countries international liaisons between organisations and individuals devoted to theatre research, and to assist in organizing societies for theatre research;
- to organize international congresses, conferences and symposia;
- to encourage interdisciplinary studies involving theatre research by promoting relations with other research fields and to collaborate in undertaking works of international theatre research, as well as to aid in every way all other projects to foster theatre research in all countries;
- to facilitate the wide distribution of works of scholarship, technical works, and any important popular works in the field of theatre research, by means of books, periodicals, exhibitions, audiovisual productions, and other methods of communicating and storing information;
- to obtain facilities in libraries, museums, etc. for theatre research in all countries;
- to assist members to obtain grants for their work from foundations, trusts and other grant-making bodies.
ARTICLE III
- Membership of the Federation shall be open to any person who undertakes to promote the work and support the objectives of the Federation, who accepts these articles and who pays their annual membership fee.
- The Federation offers discounted membership for graduate and postgraduate students.
- Honorary membership may be granted at the discretion of the Executive Committee.
- Membership in any category shall cease:
a) when members resign or fail to pay their annual subscription;
b) when they are expelled as a result of a vote of the General Assembly. - In order to achieve the closest co-operation with the International Society of Libraries and Museums of the Performing Arts, SIBMAS, the Federation grants the President of SIBMAS the exceptional status of Honorary Member of IFTR and ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE IV
- The General Assembly is the sovereign power of the Federation.
- The General Assembly consists of all the members of the Federation. Each member shall have one vote, which can be exercised in person or by proxy; each member present at the General Assembly may hold only one proxy appointment, which must be communicated to the Secretary General (Administration) in writing at least seven days in advance.
- The General Assembly must meet at least once every four years. The members must be convoked three months in advance.
- Extraordinary meetings of the General Assembly can be convoked at least six months in advance by at least one fifth of the membership or the Executive Committee.
- The General Assembly establishes the broad outlines of the Federation's policy and delegates its implementation to the Executive Committee. It receives for ratification reports, recommendations and financial statements presented by the Executive Committee. It ratifies such financial charges – membership fees, contributions, etc. - as have been authorized by the Executive Committee between its meetings to be imposed on the members of the Federation.
- The General Assembly decides the number of Vice-Presidents and of elected members of the Executive Committee and the list of officers to be appointed, thus ensuring that the elected members remain in majority.
- The General Assembly may expel any member who fails to fulfil statutory obligations towards the Federation, if the Executive Committee so requests.
- The General Assembly has final control over the constitution and its modification. Any member wishing to amend the constitution must give notice in writing to the Secretary General (Administration) at least two months before the date of an Executive Committee meeting. Amendments may be presented to a General Assembly for ratification only when they have been approved by the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE V
- The Executive Committee is responsible for managing the Federation's affairs and finances and executing the decisions made by the General Assembly, and is empowered to seek, where appropriate, the means to support and maintain the aims of the Federation.
- The Executive Committee consists of the President of the Federation, the Vice-Presidents, the two Secretaries General, the Treasurer, the Editors of the periodicals published by the Federation, the President of SIBMAS, and other officers, as well as ten to fifteen elected members. In addition, there shall be one Student Member. The committee members to be elected – including President and the Vice-President(s) – are elected by ballot by all members of the Federation as prescribed in Article IV.2. All other officers, except the President and the Vice-Presidents, are appointed by the elected members of the Executive Committee, and their appointment is submitted for renewal every four years.
- All terms of elected members, except that of the Student member, shall be four years. Every member except the President may serve for two consecutive terms. The term for the Student member shall be for two years, non-renewable. Former Student members of the Executive Committee shall subsequently be eligible to stand for election as ordinary members or officers on the same terms and conditions as other members. If an elected member is appointed to a position whose holder is ex officio a member of the Executive Committee, the vacated elected seat shall be deemed to be suspended during the period of ex officio membership, and the seat holder shall be entitled to serve the remainder of the elected term on relinquishment of the appointment. Elections shall be held for one half of the elected committee members every two years. The immediate past President shall be co-opted for four years to serve with the Executive Committee. No more than two members (excluding the Student member) may be elected from any one country, defined here as country of institutional affiliation at the time of election.
- Candidates for election to the Executive Committee must be members of the Federation. Nominations can be made by ten members of the Federation or by the Executive Committee. Nominations for the Student member can be made by ten Student members or by the Executive Committee. Nominees must declare in writing that they are willing to stand as candidates. The names of all candidates that have been regularly presented shall be published and submitted for election.
- The Executive Committee shall appoint an Election Committee, which shall be responsible for inviting and receiving nominations and for the conduct of the elections. Notice of forthcoming elections and the closing date for nominations shall be published.
- The nominating period for President, Vice-President(s) and elected members of the Executive Committee shall open during the General Assembly or annual conference and last one month. The voting period shall last one month. There shall be an interval of one month between the closing of the nominating period and the opening of the voting period. The new members of the Executive Committee take up office at the second meeting of the committee after the results of the election have been declared.
- The Executive Committee has the power to co-opt members for a fixed term in addition to those defined in Article V.2. Co-opted members shall not have voting rights.
- The Executive Committee shall meet at least once a year. It must be convoked at least three months in advance. It shall decide by majority vote if it is necessary to hold additional meetings and on places and dates.
- The quorum of the Executive Committee shall consist of one half of the voting members. Only elected members of the Committee are entitled to vote. Each voting member of the Committee can vote in person, by deputy or by proxy. No member may hold more than one proxy vote. Decisions shall be taken by majority vote. The Chair does not vote unless the vote is tied.
- The Executive Committee may decide urgent matters by correspondence if it proves impossible to hold a special meeting. If an urgent matter requires a vote, the Secretaries General, in agreement with the President, will conduct a poll in writing. Two-thirds of the executive members eligible to vote must participate for decisions to be valid.
- The Executive Committee may appoint ad-hoc Sub-Committees to fulfil different tasks, whose chair persons shall be chosen from the members of the Executive Committee and whose terms of reference shall be established by the Executive Committee.
- The Executive Committee entrusts to the Treasurer the administration of funds, the preparation of the budget and the accounts. The accounts of the Federation shall be prepared every year and shall be audited every year by professionally qualified auditors who are not members of the Federation.
ARTICLE VI
- The Federation is established for an unlimited period. It shall cease to function when, for any reason, two thirds of the members shall vote to dissolve it. A motion to dissolve the Federation must be announced at least three months in advance and the voting period will last at least one month. In the event that the motion is passed, the Executive Committee shall be charged with dissolving the Federation.
- Any remaining funds shall be given to international organisations pursuing similar aims, to the publication of works of theatre research or similar objectives, as determined by the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE VII
- The Federation shall be free from any political, religious, ethnic, gender or other form of discrimination.
- In these articles, unless the context otherwise requires, the masculine gender shall include the feminine.
ARTICLE VIII
- This constitution shall, as amended from time to time, come into force at the moment of its approval by the General Assembly.
July 1957; amended 1961, 1965, 1973, 1981, 1989, 1994, 1998, 2010 and 2014.
%MCEPASTEBIN%