BY-LAWS OF THE COUNCIL of the INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF CLASSIFICATION SOCIETIES I COUNCIL BY-LAWS Council By-Laws consist of its working rules and agreements. A current copy shall be provided by the IFCS Secretary for each incoming general Officer and Member of the Council, and on request to any Member of the Federation. Council By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds majority vote (in person or by mail/e- mail ballots) of the Council, as specified in the Constitution, except that if any Member of Council returns an alternative amendment with his/her ballot, then both proposals shall be submitted to the Council for a final vote. II GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF COUNCIL ACTIVITIES 1 Council Meetings should be convened regularly at the Conferences organized by the IFCS and at other times where necessary, the time being chosen with advance notification as specified in the Rules and the meeting place being selected taking account of the travel costs for the different Member Representatives. 2 The agenda for Council meetings shall contain sufficient information and shall be sent to the Council members at least four weeks before the meeting so that the members unable to attend the meeting will be able to prepare and communicate their decisions, comments, or opinions by mail/e-mail to the IFCS Secretary for inclusion into the meeting documents. An exception is possible if, during the planned Council Meeting at an IFCS Conference, the Council decides to have a second Council Meeting during this same Conference: in this case, the agenda for the second meeting should be fixed during the first meeting. III COMMITTEES OF THE IFCS 1 The President or the Council can assign Committees for the discussion, preparation and settlement of special tasks. Committees must be approved by the Council. 2 Typically, the following standing committees will be established: a. The Finance Committee shall be appointed subject to the specifications in the By-Laws IV.1-IV.3 b. The Election Committee shall be appointed subject to the specifications described in the Election Rules c. A Long-range Planning Committee. Whenever the IFCS plans to issue prizes or awards, a special committee will be appointed by the President, the Executive Committee, or the Council. 3 There might be other special or ad-hoc committees, for as long as needed, in particular: - the Chikio Hayashi Awards Committee (Committee for the IFCS Travel Awards, formerly called TAP Awards) subject to the specifications of the CHA Guidelines. - a Publication Committee - the Fund-raising Committee IV FINANCES 1 There shall be a Finance Committee consisting of four individual members from four different Members of the Federation appointed by the Council. The Treasurer and Publication Officer (if any) shall serve on the Committee in an advisory capacity. 2 The term of each appointed member of the Finance Committee shall be four years with one member retiring and being replaced each year. The Committee will select its own Chairman each year. 3 The Finance Committee shall inspect the annual budget proposal for all IFCS incomes and expenses, and be responsible for the annual audits of the income and expenditures of any committees and of any publications of the Federation (if any). For each important item, it will make proposals concerning its scope and limits which must be finally approved by the Council. It shall report at least once each year to the Council, and make recommendations regarding Federation dues and the administration of Federation funds. 4 The Treasurer and representatives of the Federation who are approved by the Council shall be authorized to deposit funds to the credit of the Federation with banks and/or trust companies, and to invest monies in insured savings accounts or government bonds. All transactions of the Treasurer shall be independently audited by competent persons or firms selected with the approval of the Finance Committee. V RELATIONS BETWEEN REGIONS AND COUNCIL 1 At the end of each year, the President of the IFCS shall send a report on the activities of the last period, on the future program, and a statement of accounts to all Presidents (Chairmen) of the Member Societies (Groups) to keep them advised of news and problems. This report is sent to the Council members as well. 2 The Presidents of all Member Societies or Groups shall be sent copies of Council Memoranda by the Secretary and shall be invited to comment thereon. 3 The Member Societies or Groups shall communicate the results of their internal elections to the Secretary of the Federation, who shall in turn inform the President and the Council. 4 The Members of the Federation shall maintain up-to-date lists of members of their Society or Group, shall make them available for the Secretary of the Federation (see VIII.2 of the Constitution) and shall forward to their members material provided by the Secretary of the Federation, e.g., by their internal newsletters. 5 The IFCS Secretary sends a list of Council members and their addresses to all Presidents/Chairmen of IFCS Members in order to update and fill any vacancies in the Council. This list is sent to the Council members as well. Presidents/Chairmen of Societies/Groups with vacancies in the next Council shall submit to the Secretary the names selected for each vacancy before the end of December. Each Member shall develop its own procedures for selecting its representatives (VI.3 of the Constitution) and communicate them to the Secretary. At the beginning of each year the Secretary will issue a calendar in which the terms of offices of all IFCS officers, Committee members and Council members are listed, together with a list of vacancies so that all members of Council are informed regarding this schedule. 6 Official announcements and publications will be in English. Official correspondence between Council Members, General Officers and Members of the Federation may be in any language provided that mutual understanding is assured for all those who may be concerned by it. An English version of all official decisions will be available for the records. VI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES For the biennial IFCS conference, special conference guidelines are developed. Other international meetings or courses can be sponsored, after a vote of the Council members, by the IFCS President or IFCS Secretary. Criteria for sponsoring and rules for application for sponsoring will be decided on by the Council. Each international conference organized or sponsored by the Federation shall be arranged by an organizing committee and a program committee, both appointed by the IFCS President, with overlapping membership. The organizing committee shall include representatives of the host country (or institution). Within general policies set by Council, this committee shall make local arrangements, handle the publicity, and have financial responsibility for the meeting. The program committee shall include representatives of the host country and of other countries. The IFCS President and Secretary may be called upon for such service as they can supply. A committee on long-range planning of conferences shall be appointed by the President consisting of the Secretary, who will serve as chairman, and three Council members whose terms of service will coincide with their respective term of membership on the Council. The committee shall recommend dates and locations for future conferences and wherever possible coordinate these with meetings of other cognate societies. VII AFFILIATE WORKING GROUPS Within the IFCS, special working groups may be established, or accepted as affiliate working groups, and will consist of individuals related to IFCS Member Societies or Groups and dealing with special topics in the field of classification and data analysis. This does not imply any formal membership nor any financial responsibility by the IFCS. The IFCS can support such working groups by special consideration in the framework of IFCS conferences, by information in the IFCS Newsletter etc. Suitable guidelines are to be established by the IFCS Council. VIII EDITORIAL POLICY It is the intention of the Federation to support the scientific development of classification and data analysis and foster the knowledge of activities of their Member Societies by publishing one or more scientific journals. Book(s) and/or newsletter(s) may also be published. Proposals on the precise editorial policy are to be prepared by the Publication Committee, and are to be approved by the Council. Any Member of the Federation may, if desired, publish a journal or journals, book(s) or newsletter(s). It is hoped that such publications will be made available to the individual members of other Federation Members at favourable rates. IX FEDERATION YEAR AND FISCAL YEAR The membership year of the Federation and terms of service of its officers shall coincide with the calendar year, except where specified otherwise. The fiscal year extend from February 1 to January 31 of the following calendar year, unless otherwise determined by the Council. The membership and annual assessment of new members shall date from January 1 of the year in which they join the Federation, except for those who become members in October, November, or December, when the initial assessment of such members shall apply to the following year. The terms of the President and the Vice-Presidents coincide with the federation year. The terms of the Secretary, the Treasurer and of any other officers of the Federation coincide with the fiscal year.