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CIPL

Comité International Permanent des Linguistes
Permanent International Committee of Linguists

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Statutes and Bylaws

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Statutes

Adopted by the members of CIPL at the General Assembly of the 19th ICL in Geneva on 27 July 2013. This text replaces the statutes in the version of 2 September 1982 as revised on 14 August 1987.
 

Article 1

Name and registered office

The Association is named Comité International Permanent des Linguistes – CIPL (Permanent International Committee of Linguists). It was founded in April 1928 during the first International Congress of Linguists (ICL), which took place in The Hague.
It is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation whose aim is to further knowledge of linguistics throughout the world.
CIPL is an affiliated member of UNESCO’s International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (CIPSH).
It is registered in Leiden, the Netherlands.
 

Article 2

Aim

The Association’s aim is to encourage the development of linguistic science. It endeavours to achieve this aim by:

  1. organising the ICL every five years, in close collaboration with national committees or institutes devoted to linguistic research,
  2. preparing and having published (since 1948) a linguistic bibliography (Bibliographie Linguistique – BL),
  3. participating in and sponsoring special linguistic projects,
  4. all other legal means that can lead to the aim being achieved.


Article 3

Assets

The assets of the Association consist of:

  1. contributions by its members,
  2. royalties accruing to BL products,
  3. income from the organisation of the international congresses organised under the auspices of CIPL,
  4. subsidies, gifts, bequests, donations and legacies,
  5. any income from other sources.


Article 4

Membership

  1. All organisations and institutions whose main aim includes the promotion of linguistic science and to further cooperation among linguists, may become members.
  2. Election of members. An organisation or institution may join CIPL by applying to the Executive Committee, which will decide by a simple majority vote whether to accede to the request. In case of rejection, the applicant may appeal to the General Assembly, which will decide by simple majority of the members present.
  3. Contributions. Each member remits an annual contribution to CIPL. The amount is fixed by the General Assembly at the suggestion of the Executive Committee.
  4. The membership rights of any member which has not paid its contribution for three consecutive years are suspended. Any member which is in default for five consecutive years is deemed to have resigned.


Article 5

Structure of the Association

CIPL consists of a General Assembly (GA) and an Executive Committee (EC).
 

Article 5.1

General Assembly: composition, appointment and dismissal

The GA is composed of representatives of member organisations/institutions.

  1. The appointment and the dismissal of members of the GA are the prerogative of the CIPL members which delegate them.
  2. Should disagreement arise concerning the proper representative, the EC will decide by a simple majority vote which representative is to be recognised.


Article 5.2

General Assembly; task, authorisations and working methods

  1. The GA elects an EC from among its members.
  2. Meetings of the GA. The ordinary meetings of the GA take place at the ICL.
  3. Voting in the GA. Each representative in the GA has one vote. Should a representative be prevented from attending, that representative can designate another scholar from the CIPL member he/she represents as a substitute, who shall have full voting rights.
  4. To the extent that these statutes do not prescribe a larger majority, all decisions are taken with a simple majority of the votes cast. In the event of a tied vote, the proposal is rejected.


Article 5.3

Executive Committee: composition, election and dismissal

  1. The Officers of the EC shall be a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary-General (SG) and a Treasurer. The offices of Secretary-General and Treasurer may be entrusted to one person.
  2. In addition to these officers, the EC comprises up to five further members of the GA, among them usually the president of the previous ICL. The number of EC members is set by the GA.
  3. Candidates for the EC not present at the GA who have not sent apologies cease to be candidates.
  4. All members of the EC are elected by the GA by secret ballot for a term of five years and are re-eligible. The president can be elected for at most two consecutive terms.
  5. The term of office of EC members commences at the end of the session of the GA in which they were elected and terminates at the end of the session of the GA held in the year when the term of office expires.
  6. The EC fills its own vacancies as soon as possible. An incomplete EC retains its powers.
  7. A member of the EC loses the post:
    • through death;
    • by ceasing to represent an active member of CIPL;
    • by resigning;
    • by being dismissed by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the EC.


Article 5.4

Vacancies

The following procedures shall apply in the event of a vacancy arising amongst the Officers of CIPL.

  1. Any vacancy shall be filled by a temporary substitute appointed by the EC for the remainder of the term of the original holder of the position.
  2. A temporary substitute shall be eligible for immediate election to the position he or she has been holding.
  3. If the position of President falls vacant, the Vice-President shall assume Presidency immediately and continue to serve until the next meeting of the GA.


Article 5.5

Executive Committee: task and authorisations

  1. The EC represents the Association. It is charged by the GA with running the Association and co-ordinating its activities.
  2. The EC is mandated to take major decisions between the GA’s meetings and must report them to the GA.
  3. The EC is responsible for the management and spending of CIPL’s financial means.
  4. The EC is entrusted with the organisation of the ICL in collaboration with representatives of the host institution as provided for in the guidelines.
  5. The President shall determine the order of business in conjunction with the SG, but any member of the EC may propose an item of the agenda.
  6. The EC can also take decisions in ways other than during a meeting, provided that all members are given the opportunity to vote and none of them opposes this way of taking decisions. A decision is then taken if the necessary majority of the votes cast is in favour. Every decision taken outside a meeting is reported at the next meeting and set down in the minutes of that meeting.


Article 6

Officers of the EC

  1. The President acts as the scientific representative of the Association. It shall be his task to supervise the Scientific Committee of the ICL and to assist the organisers of other scientific activities in which CIPL participates, including Summer Schools.
  2. The President can delegate the SG or a Vice-President to replace him.
  3. The Vice-president shall be actively involved in the preparation of the scientific programme of the ICL.
  4. The SG or the Vice-President shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Association. The SG acts as the spokesperson and manager of CIPL.
  5. The SG, in consultation with the other members of the EC, directs the current activities of CIPL and maintains contact with the international organisations with which CIPL co-operates.
  6. Each year the SG issues a report on the work of CIPL that appraises its activities and outlines future priorities.
  7. The SG draws up the agenda for the GA and sends it to its members three months in advance.
  8. Should the President or SG be temporarily unable to carry out his or her duties, these shall be performed in the interim by the highest ranking officer in the EC.
  9. The Treasurer shall have charge of the finances and shall be responsible for their administration. He or she shall prepare annual accounts, which shall be presented to all the members of CIPL in the following year. The Treasurer shall have the power to disburse the funds of CIPL within the limits and subject to the constraints agreed from time to time by the EC.


Article 7

Nominating Committee

  1. There shall be a Nominating Committee (NC) of CIPL. The NC shall consist of at least three members of the GA. They serve for five years and are available for immediate re-election.
  2. The members and the chair of the NC are proposed by the President and the SG jointly and elected by the GA.
  3. The NC proposes candidates for the members of the EC. The candidates must be asked whether they accept candidature.
  4. No person can be a member of both the EC and the NC.
  5. Decisions of the NC shall be by simple majority vote; in the event of a tie, the Chair has the decisive vote.


Article 8

Amendment of the Statutes

  1. Any member of the GA may propose amendments to the Statutes. Such proposals must be submitted to the SG in writing (this may include email, where appropriate) not later than ten days prior to the next Meeting of the EC.
  2. The Meeting of the EC shall consider the proposals, and in the case of a vote in favour by a simple majority, the SG shall put the proposal to change the statutes on the agenda for the next meeting of the GA.
  3. Any change to the statutes requires a two-thirds majority of the votes cast in a regular meeting of the GA. When a meeting is convened in which a proposal to change the statutes is to be made, this must be stated on the agenda beforehand. Also a copy of the proposal, with the literal text of the suggested change, must accompany the notification.


Article 9

Dissolution

  1. The Association may be dissolved by a vote cast by nine-tenths of its members. Such a vote shall take place by postal ballot, by email, or by any other appropriate means of communication.
  2. The President and the SG are held to carry out the dissolution, unless the GA has accompanied the decision to dissolve the Association by appointing more administrators.
  3. The administrators shall ensure that the fact of the dissolution of the Association is recorded in the register of the Chamber of Commerce.
  4. Should CIPL be dissolved, its assets shall be transferred to UNESCO, which will devolve the obligation of using the assets for the advancement of linguistic studies.
  5. After dissolution the Association will continue to exist to the extent that this is required for administering its finances.
  6. During dissolution the stipulations of these statutes remain in force in so far as possible.
  7. Documents and announcements sent out by the Association shall carry the words “in liquidation” added to the Association’s name.
  8. Following dissolution, the books and documents of the dissolved Association remain in the possession of a person appointed by the administrators for a period of seven years. This person is held to have the appointment recorded in the aforementioned register.


Article 10

Final stipulation

Any question concerning the functioning of CIPL not covered by the present statutes may be decided by supplementary regulations adopted by the EC.

Bylaws

Supplementary regulations to the Statutes of the Comité International Permanent des Linguistes in which is included a Procedure for the Election of a Secretary-General

The following are regulations according to the CIPL Statutes § 10, whose numbering is taken up here.

Article 1

Name and registered office

Article 2

Aim

Article 3

Assets

Article 4

Membership

Article 5

Structure of the Association

Article 5.1

General Assembly: composition, appointment and dismissal

Article 5.2

General Assembly: task, authorisations and working methods

Article 5.3

Executive Committee: composition, election and dismissal

  1. The election of officers should precede the election of other EC members. The candidates who fail to become officers should remain on the list of candidates for EC membership.
  2. President and SG should not be replaced in the same year.

Article 5.4

Vacancies

Article 5.5

Executive Committee: task and authorisations

  1. EC members work for CIPL, e.g. by contacting countries for membership, by giving advice concerning CIPL-projects (bibliography, endangered languages) and by participating in the preparation of the congress (proposals for topics, invited speakers, section organisers, workshops). Non-active EC members should not be re-elected.
  2. EC members are expected to participate in the EC meetings. EC members are also expected to participate actively in the International Congress of Linguists.
  3. The EC can reimburse expenses of members of the EC or to guests invited to an EC meeting, up to a limit determined by the Treasurer.
  4. Meetings of the EC take place as follows:
    • a meeting during the ICL
    • a meeting at CIPL headquarters one year after the ICL
    • and, if the need arises, a meeting preparing the forthcoming ICL.
  5. A special meeting of the EC may be called by the President and the SG acting jointly or by at least two-thirds of the remaining members of the EC.
  6. Attendance at EC meetings is limited to the members and anyone invited to attend by the President and/or the SG.
  7. Meetings of the EC shall normally be chaired by the President. In the absence of the President, the Vice-President chairs the meeting.
  8. Each member has one vote.
  9. A member of the EC can designate in writing another member to represent himself at the meeting. A member of the EC can represent only one fellow member at the meeting.
  10. An EC meeting is quorate if half of EC members are present, among them the President or his substitute, the SG or EC members designated by these as their substitutes.
  11. Unless these statutes prescribe a greater majority, all decisions are taken with a simple majority of the votes cast. Should there be a tied vote, the proposal is rejected.
  12. Minutes are kept, by the SG or by a person appointed by the SG, of everything dealt with in the meeting. The minutes are confirmed in the next meeting and are signed by the chair of the meeting (the President or one of the Vice-Presidents) and the SG.

Article 6

Officers of the EC

  1. If the conduct of the chairperson of a meeting becomes a matter for discussion, then he or she shall vacate the chair, and the meeting shall elect another current member of the EC to act as Chair until such time as the issue has been resolved.
  2. The SG is responsible for seeing to it that the day-to-day work is carried out and that the decisions of GA and EC are implemented.

Article 6.1

Assistance of the SG

  1. The SG can be assisted in his or her duties by an Associate SG.
  2. The Associate SG shall be appointed by the SG in consultation with the EC.
  3. The Associate SG shall not be a member of the EC. The SG may invite the associate to attend the meetings of the EC.
  4. The SG remains fully responsible to the EC and the GA for the duties fulfilled by the Associate SG.
  5. In consultation with the EC, the SG may appoint delegates to assist the SG in carrying out specific tasks.

Article 7

Nominating Committee

  1. If one of the NC members is replaced in the General Assembly (GA), his/her successor will be invited to join the NC.  If he/she does not accept this invitation, the Executive Committee (EC) will approach someone else for this function.  If  it is the chairperson of the NC that leaves, one of the remaining members will be invited to become the chair.  The new representative will then join the NC as a simple member.
  2. The President and SG jointly selects two reserve members in case the representatives cannot or do not wish to be members of the NC.
  3. In case a member of the NC is not able to perform the tasks requested due to e.g. illness, the NC has to take all the measures necessary to replace this member by another one, so as to guarantee the functioning of the NC.
  4. If the members chosen for the NC are not present at the GA, the SG will write them within two months after the GA, to ask them if they accept the position.  Also those who are present at the GA will have to write a letter of confirmation to the SG within two months after the GA. This will make clear to everyone who the members of the NC (chair and at least two members) are for the coming 5 years.
  5. For the Election of the Secretary-General see below.
  6. The NC has the right to nominate persons who have provided excellent service to CIPL to a title of honour. The GA decides on the award.
  7. The NC has the right to nominate prominent linguists who have served CIPL as ‘ambassadors’of CIPL. The SG may propose that these ambassadors be charged with special, representative duties.

Preparation of Elections of EC officers

  1. In autumn prior to the year in which the GA and the congress take place, the SG will ask the NC chairperson to start  (together with the other members of the NC) composing  the so-called ‘preferred lists’ with possible candidates for President, Vice-President and for the EC.
  2. The presidency and vice-presidency is open for all members of the GA with exception of the Secretary-General.  A vice-president can be a candidate for presidency.
  3. Current members of the EC can be a candidate for a new term.
  4. Each delegate has the right to indicate candidates and bring these names to the attention of the chair of the NC, both for the function of President, Vice-President and member of the EC.
  5. The chairperson of the NC contacts each named candidate and asks whether this person is willing to accept to be a candidate and if so, to confirm this in writing.
  6. All candidates have to confirm their candidature in writing, addressed to the chair of the NC.  The letter has to include a short statement of interest and the cv of the candidate.
  7. In May in the year of the congress, the NC chair will send the list of names of confirmed candidates to the SG, who will then carry out a final check (new representatives, unpaid contributions).
  8. The list of candidatures for president and vice-president needs to contain at least two names.  In case only one name features on the list, the SG will, after consulting the NC Chair, send out a final call by e-mail for new candidates.  If no new candidates turn up after this final call, the list will be kept as it is, even if there is only one candidate, and voting will take place at the GA.
  9. In June preceding the congress, the final ballots will be sent out by the SG to all the GA members.

Procedure for Elections

  1. In order to have a normal and correct procedure for the elections, the GA appoints during its meeting an elections committee. This committee is composed of two delegates and the SG.
  2. The actual voting takes place during the GA. The voting right is limited to the delegates that are actually present and the proxy holders.  Voting will happen through a preprinted voting bill, the voters will mark the name of the candidate that is preferred.  Handing out and collecting the voting ballots will be handled by the elections committee.
  3. The elections committee will withdraw immediately after collecting the voting ballots and the proxies and will count the votes.  Voting ballots that are illegible or not filled out will not be taken into account.
  4. The candidate for president and the candidate for vice-president that have obtained most votes are elected.
  5. If there is a draw in votes, a second voting round between the two candidates with equal votes will be organized. The candidate that will then obtain most votes will be elected.
  6. If situations occur where this procedure does not provide a solution, the elections committee will decide upon procedures to adopt.
  7. The results of the elections will be disclosed immediately after the votes have been counted, in the plenary session of the GA by the chair of the elections committee.


Notes

  1. It is important that the final list should have a worldwide spread of delegates.
  2. New members/representatives preferably should not be candidates for President or Vice-President.
  3. President and Vice-President should not have the same nationality.


Procedure for the Election of a Secretary-General
 
Preliminary elements the SG has to take into account 

  • The function of the SG is a special function within the EC: the SG has to provide continuity; it is not possible to have a different SG each five years. The bureau, the administration, the relation with Brill (Linguistic Bibliography) and the fiscal continuity and the accountancy have to be taken care of in a stable way;
  • The SG and the President cannot resign in the same year;
  • The NC must make sure that additional (rival) candidates cannot present themselves, nor can they be presented during the GA.

Function requirements for the SG

  • The SG must be a resident according to Dutch law because of the fact that the Dutch government makes available  annually more than € 200.000 for the Linguistic Bibliography; 
  • The SG must be a member of CIPL for at least 3 years; 
  • The SG must have published in broad and significant way in one of the linguistic avenues; 
  • The SG must have a broad international network and be active in maintaining this; 
  • The SG must be managerial and innovative and be available for more than one term; 
  • The SG must be a team player and have a proven record of good cooperative skills;
     

Details of the Procedure

The SG asks the chair of the NC to prepare a preferred list of possible candidates for the position of SG; this list has to contain at least 2 candidates. In case only one name features on the list, the SG will, after consulting the NC Chair, send out a final call by e-mail for new candidates.  If no new candidates turn up after this final call, the list will be kept as it is, even if there is only one candidate, and voting will take place at the GA.

The SG informs the GA about the fact that elections will be held, and that candidatures for EC and SG can be sent in. For the function of SG, the candidatures have to follow the procedure and the function requirements, as approved by the EC.  The other members of the EC can renew their candidature for another term. Apart from that, each delegate has the right to suggest candidatures to the NC.

The chairperson of the NC contacts each named candidate and asks whether this person is willing to accept to be a candidate and if so, to confirm this in writing, addressed to the chair of the NC.  The letter has to include a short statement of interest and the cv of the candidate.
In May in the year of the congress, the NC chair will send the list of names of confirmed candidates to the SG, who will then carry out a final check (new representatives, unpaid contributions).

In June preceding the congress, the final ballots will be sent out by the SG to all the GA members.

(Approved by NC and EC in November 2017)


Article 8

Amendments the Statutes

Article 9

Dissolution

Article 10

Final stipulation

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