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STATUTES

I. Name

Article 1

The International Federation of Psychiatric Epidemiology, or IFPE, hereafter referred to as the Federation, is a non-profit association subject to Articles 60 to 79 of the Swiss Civil Code.

IFPE is an international non-governmental organization devoted exclusively to psychiatric epidemiology.

II. Purpose and aims

Article 2

The purpose of the Federation is to promote the acquisition, dissemination and application of epidemiological knowledge in the fields of psychiatry and mental health.

More specifically, its aims are:

• to promote the synthesis of knowledge acquired by epidemiological, clinical, social and biological research;

• to stimulate the development of epidemiological research methods;

• to facilitate the exchange of information and contacts between researchers of different nationalities and disciplines;

• to encourage the preparation and implementation of projects and the dissemination and publication of research findings;

• to organize international scientific meetings pursuing the above aims.

III. Membership

Article 3

The following are eligible for Membership of the Federation :

a)     Corporate Members: any association, society or other constituted body whose aims are in conformity with Article 2 ;

b)     Individual Members: individuals, on a personal basis, whose work has the same aims.

c)     Associate Members: persons with professional qualifications and interests relevant to IFPE, who are still students/trainees, or who do not have sufficient research experience in this field, may be approved on an individual basis for Associate Membership of the Federation. Associate Members may in due course be approved for full membership. Associate Members do not have the right to stand for office or to vote in elections. Up to two Associate Members can, however, be co-opted onto the Committee as representatives of the group, and exercise all the rights of Committee members.

The title of honorary member may be conferred by the Committee on individuals well-known internationally for their outstanding contribution to epidemiology in the fields of psychiatry and mental health .

Article 4

Application for membership shall be made to the President of the Federation. Each application is examined by the Executive, as defined in Article 8-1), which decides if the conditions required for admission are met. The decisions of the Executive come into effect immediately. They shall be ratified by a majority vote of the General Assembly.

IFPE membership may be brought to an end by resignation or termination:

a)     for corporate members, the letter of resignation shall be signed by the president of the association, society or other constituted body concerned; in the case of individual members, by the persons themselves.

b)     decisions concerning termination of membership are taken by the Executive. They shall be ratified by a two-thirds majority vote of the General Assembly.

Article 5

Corporate and individual members must pay an annual subscription fee, the amount being determined by the General Assembly in conformity with Article 6 (f). Annual subscription fees are due at the beginning of the calendar year. Subscription levels for corporate members of the Federation are based on their status and membership size. That for individual members is uniform, except that members from low-income countries (UN designation) pay at a uniformly reduced rate, agreed by the General Assembly.

Associate members are not liable for any subscription fee. Honorary members are exempted from paying a subscription fee.

IV: General Assembly and election procedures

Article 6

The General Assembly is the supreme governing body of the Federation. It is composed of the individual members and representatives of corporate members.

The General Assembly is empowered to take and / or ratify the following decisions:

1. approval of the minutes of the previous General Assembly, and approval of the general report and the accounts presented respectively by the Secretary General and the Treasurer;
   

2. admission of new members and termination of memberships;

3. election of Committee members;

4. election of the President and other members of the Executive;

5. election of two auditors;

6. determination of annual subscription fees;

7. revision of the statutes;

8. setting up of subcommittees and election to their chairs;

9. relations with other organizations;

10. future activities;

11. dissolution of the Federation.

Article 6a

In accordance with the Committee’s decision of July 2003, ratified by the General Assembly in Sept. 2004, the election of a new Committee and Officers can be conducted by an e-mail voting procedure shortly before the end of each term of office, provided the IFPE membership is notified of this intention at least 28 days beforehand. Voting is open to all individual members together with representatives of the corporate members, and the results are subject to ratification at the following General Assembly.

Article 7

The General Assembly is convened during the main international scientific meeting of the Federation, within a three-year period. The place and date of the General Assembly are fixed by the Executive. Notice of the meeting, including a provisional agenda, must be sent out at least one month in advance.

When considered necessary, the Executive may convene an Extraordinary General Assembly. The President may also do so on receipt of a written request signed by one third of the Committee members. In the latter case, notice of the meeting must be dispatched within one month.

When votes are taken at the General Assembly, each individual member and representative of a corporate member of the Federation has one vote, and each voter present may use only one proxy. For any one corporate member, the number of representatives is proportional to its status and size, according to criteria determined by the Executive. The right to vote is conditional on subscription fees having been paid in full.

The decisions of the General Assembly are taken by a majority of the valid votes cast by the members present or voting by proxy. However, a two-thirds majority must be obtained for decisions bearing on termination of membership, revision of the statutes and dissolution of the Federation. No decision may be taken on matters not included on the agenda.

When an e-mail voting procedure is adopted, basically the same conditions apply as above, but in this case decisions are taken according to a majority of all votes cast by members, and there is no voting by proxy.

V. Committee

Article 8

1. The Committee and its Officers together constitute the organizing body of the Federation. The Committee is normally elected by votes of the membership, cast in an e-mail procedure and ratified at the following General Assembly. The Committee’s officers shall comprise the President, a Vice-President, a Secretary-General and a Treasurer, who together form the Executive. In addition the Honorary Life President and the immediate Past President are members by right of the Committee.

2.      Persons proposed for election to the Committee must be individual members of IFPE, and to be eligible must have paid their subscription fees in full. Proposals for election should be made in writing to the president at least one calendar month before the date of the next election procedure.

3.      The election of each member of the Committee by the General Assembly needs a majority of the valid votes cast. As soon as the election of the Committee has taken place, the election of the President and other Officers shall proceed. Committee members are eligible for immediate re-election, up to a limit of three consecutive terms of office. However, members of the Executive may be re-elected once beyond this limit in order to serve in the same office for a continuous period of two terms. Members of the Committee whose membership has been brought to an end do not have to be replaced. Office-bearers no longer able to carry out their functions should be replaced, until the next election procedure, by another individual member, not necessarily a member of the Committee, appointed in an acting capacity by the Executive.

4.      The Committee and the Executive elected by a General Assembly stay in office until the next General Assembly. This period runs for a minimum of two years. The Committee shall be convened or consulted by the President at least once a year. It must also be convened by the President on receipt of a written request signed by one third of its members. Communication with members of the Committee falls within the remit of the Secretary General.

5.      The decisions of the Committee are taken by a majority of the valid votes cast by the members present or voting by proxy. Members present may not use more than one proxy in addition to their own vote. The President has the casting vote if the need arises.

6.      The Committee may ask particularly competent persons to become advisers to the Federation. Advisers take part in Committee meetings but do not vote. 

7.      At the end of its term of office, the Committee is given final discharge for its management by a majority vote of the General Assembly.

Article 9

The President represents the Federation in all official acts. This power can be delegated to another member of the Committee. General Assemblies, Committee and Executive meetings are normally chaired by the President.

The Committee:

1. Ensures the functioning of the Federation in conformity with the decisions of the General Assembly by which it is elected. Through the Executive, it shall manage the budget, the collection of subscription fees, the payment of expenses and the acceptance of donations, legacies and subsidies. At the next General Assembly, the Secretary General shall make a general report and the Treasurer shall present for approval the accounts of the Federation countersigned by the auditors.
   
   
2. Promotes and coordinates the scientific activities of the Federation, including:
   
   
• holding international scientific meetings, each organized under its control by a corporate member or by an individual member who has the means to do so,
• developing research and training activities in conformity with the aims listed in Article 2,
• establishing and maintaining relationships with other organizations whose aims are similar or which are also concerned with mental health issues;
  
  
3. Proposes, if necessary, a revision of the statutes. In order to do so, the President shall submit to the General Assembly a proposed revised text approved by the Executive. After discussion, the adoption of the revised text by the General Assembly shall require a two-thirds majority;
   
   
4. Proposes to the General Assembly, in the event of dissolution, a protocol for the disposal of assets. The decision to dissolve the Federation shall require a two-thirds majority.

Article 10

Subcommittees with special tasks may be set up within the Federation. The Committee shall present their terms of reference to the General Assembly, which shall approve them and proceed to the election to their chairs by a majority vote.

(Revised text of the Statutes adopted by the General Assembly on 12 September 2004; Article 3 and Article 5 were revised and approved by the Committee in February 2005, and will be verified at the 11th general assembly in 2006 )

ADDENDUM ON CORPORATE MEMBERS
Number of representatives, subscription levels and voting procedure

The statutes specify that subscription levels for corporate members of the Federation are based on their status and size (Article 5) and that when votes are taken at the General Assembly, for any one corporate member, the number of representatives entitled to vote is proportional to its status and size, according to criteria determined by the Executive (Article 7).

The following table gives the number of representatives and the amount (in Euros) of the current annual subscription fees for corporate members, based on the size of membership.

*Present or voting by proxy. 

With regard to annual subscription fees, one of the advantages of the adopted scale is that each additional representative represents an increase of 35 EUROS, equivalent to the annual subscription fee due by an individual member.

When votes are taken at the General Assembly, the right to vote is conditional on subscription fees having been paid in full and each voter present may use only one proxy (Article 7). The proxy of a representative may be used only by a voter present belonging to the same body, not by an individual member. The use of proxy votes as part of the votes allotted to any one corporate member is left to the choice of the representatives concerned. Thus, for a membership of two hundred members and over, if the six votes are not cast by six members present, a maximum of only three proxies can be used.

The implementation of this procedure requires the drawing up, before the session of the General Assembly, of a comprehensive list of voters, including voters by proxy.

(Addendum to the statutes adopted by the General Assembly on 7 March 1999)