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IAOS Statutes

At the General Assembly meeting held on 27th of August 2013 at the ISI WSC 2013 in Hong Kong, we amended our statutes to bring them into line with Dutch law and changes in the ISI statutes. We have also aligned them more closely with how we currently work. The changes were subject to a consultation through our web site and to a formal vote of the membership. The changes were approved by 96 votes in favour to 1 against.

During the COVID-19 pandemic the General Assembly meeting held on 20th August 2020 took place virtually. During this virtual meeting members were invited to approve an amendment to article 5.2 with the addition of the following new text – The General assembly meeting may be held virtually. In the case of a virtual meeting, members are given the opportunity to participate online and vote. Attendees at the virtual meeting voted to adopt the amendment with no votes against.

STATUTES INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR OFFICIAL STATISTICS

1. Name
1. 1.1. The name of the Association shall be the International Association for Official Statistics (IAOS), hereinafter called the Association. The Association shall be an Association of the International Statistical Institute (ISI) in accordance with Article 7 of the ISI Statutes and para. 3 of the ISI By-laws.* (* cf. Attachment).
2. Objectives
1. 2.1. The objectives of the Association shall be to promote the understanding and advancement of official statistics and related subjects and to foster the development of effective and efficient official statistical services through international contacts among individuals and organizations, including users of official statistics as well as research institutes.
2. 2.2. In order to realize its objectives, the Association may:
  1. a. organize meetings, seminars, conferences, and related activities independently or in collaboration with other organizations;
  2. b. collaborate with international, national, regional and other organizations and institutions having objectives consistent with those of the Association, including official statistical offices, and other ISI Associations;
  3. c. publish periodicals, pamphlets, books, information circulars, etc. independently or in cooperation with other organizations; and
  4. d. undertake or participate in cooperative activities, make business transactions and take all other necessary action for the advancement of the objectives of the Association.
3. Membership
1. 3.1. The membership of the Association shall be of two types, without any restriction on number:
  1. a. individual members; and
  2. b. institutional members which may be educational and scientific institutions, government and non-profit organizations, business enterprises, etc., each of which shall be entitled to designate a representative who may attend meetings of the Association, and participate in the Association’s scientific program of meetings with the same privileges as the individual members. Institutional members shall be entitled to receive one set of the publications of the Association on the same conditions as individual members.
2. 3.2. Members of the International Statistical Institute may become individual members of the Association by applying to the Executive Director and paying any prescribed dues. Payment of Association dues by members of the Institute shall be in accordance with the By-laws of the ISI.
3. 3.3. Individuals who are not members of the ISI and institutions, who are interested in the objectives of the Association, may become members by applying to the Executive Director and paying any prescribed dues.
4. 3.4. Membership shall be terminated either by resignation, or for non-payment of the dues of the Association during the preceding calendar year, or for other reasons as may be prescribed by the Executive Committee.
4. Organs
1. 4.1. The organs of the Association are:
  1. a. the General Assembly composed of the individual members, and one designated member from each institution which is a member; and
  2. b. the Executive Committee composed of the Officers of the Association in accordance with Article 6.3.
5. General Assembly
1. 5.1. The General Assembly shall be the highest authority of the Association.
2. 5.2. A meeting of the General Assembly shall as a general rule be convened every year, if possible, conjointly with the ISI World Statistics Congress and the biennial IAOS conference. The General assembly meeting may be held virtually. In the case of a virtual meeting, members are given the opportunity to participate online and vote.
3. 5.3. Subject to Article 5.2, the meetings of the General Assembly shall be held at such times and places as the Executive Committee may decide.
4. 5.4. Notification specifying the place and date of a General Assembly shall be sent to all members of the Association not less than two months before the date of the meeting.
5. 5.5. The convocation for the General Assembly may be sent electronically or through postal mail. In agreement with the member, the convocation may be sent electronically in a readable and reproducible form to the address made available by the member.
6. 5.6. Each individual member shall have one vote. Proxy voting is only allowed in the procedure for changing the statutes as described in article 10.
7. 5.7. The decisions of the General Assembly shall be made by a simple majority of votes cast at a meeting or by electronic means except as otherwise stated by the Statutes. Electronic voting may be organized prior to the General Assembly. Votes expressed electronically shall be considered as valid as votes in person at the General Assembly.
6. The Executive Committee
1. 6.1. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the proper management of the affairs of the Association in accordance with the policy decisions and guidelines of the General Assembly.
2. 6.2. The Executive Committee may appoint standing and ad hoc committees.
3. 6.3. The Executive Committee shall be composed of the Officers who shall be a President, a President-Elect, four EC Members, and the Director of the Permanent Office of the ISI (ex-officio) acting as the Executive Director and Treasurer. The Executive Committee may co-opt up to three further members of the IAOS to serve until the next election.
4. 6.4. The term of office of all elected Officers shall be two years. After one term, officers shall be eligible for re-election to the same office, but only two terms may be served consecutively.
5. 6.5. The elected Officers shall all be citizens of different countries (or federations of countries) and the Executive Committee shall have balanced representation from different geographic areas and from producers and users of statistics.
6. 6.6. The President shall preside over the meetings of the General Assembly and shall have general responsibility for the execution of the policies and decisions of the General Assembly. In order to ensure the continuity of management of the Association, the President shall keep the President-Elect closely informed with respect to all relevant activities.
7. 6.7. The Association shall be represented in law and otherwise by the Executive Committee or by the President and Treasurer.
8. 6.8. In the event that the Presidency is vacant or that the President is for any other reason unable to fulfil his responsibilities, the President-Elect shall serve for the remaining term of the President or until the President shall again be able to serve, as the case may be. If the President-Elect is for any reason unable to fulfil this responsibility, one of the Members shall be elected by the Executive Committee in his place.
9. 6.9. The President-Elect shall utilize his term to get acquainted with the business of the Association. Upon the expiry of his term of office the President-Elect will assume the duty of President for the next two-year term.
10. 6.10. The Officers shall assist the President in all important activities of the Association. In order to facilitate their work, they will be kept informed about all the important matters arising in the course of their term.
11. 6.11. The Director of the Permanent Office of the ISI shall provide general advice and guidance to the Association on administrative affairs and meeting arrangements, and in particular shall serve in a liaison capacity between the Association and (1) the Officers and the Permanent Office of the ISI, and (2) the Organizing Committees for the biennial sessions of the ISI and for other joint meetings with the ISI or its Associations.
12. 6.12. The Director of the Permanent Office of the ISI, acting as the Executive Director, under the general direction of the President, shall serve as an assistant to the President, co-ordinate the activities of the Association, be in charge of the executive work of the Association, and shall perform other duties as delegated by the President. The ISI Permanent Office serving under the direction of the Executive Director shall execute the administration of operating activities.
13. 6.13. The Director of the Permanent Office of the ISI, acting as the Treasurer, shall administer the funds, maintain the accounts and provide the financial records of the Association as specified by the Executive Committee.
14. 6.14. If, for any reason, an office becomes vacant, a substitute officer shall be appointed, on the nomination of the President and with the approval of a majority of the Executive Committee.
7. Election of Officers
1. 7.1. Every two years the Executive Committee shall appoint a Nominating Committee consisting of five members who shall be selected from among the individual members of the Association and shall all be citizens of different countries (or federations of countries). The task of the Nominating Committee shall be to make nominations for the posts of President-elect and the four Executive Committee members.
2. 7.2. The Executive Committee shall designate one member of the Nominating Committee as its chair. The Chair of the previous Nominating Committee shall serve as an ex officio member without voting rights.
3. 7.3. The President shall inform the members of the Association of the setting up of the Nominating Committee and invite them to submit names of possible candidates to the chair of the Nominating Committee.
4. 7.4. In nominating candidates the Nominating Committee shall give careful attention to the importance of achieving proper geographical distribution and proper balance between producers and users of official statistics.
5. 7.5. The Nominating Committee shall develop a slate of candidates. This may include a single candidate or more than one candidate for each post. The Nominating Committee shall submit this slate along with a report to the President at least six months before the General Assembly at the WSC.
6. 7.6. At least five months before the General Assembly at the WSC the final slate of candidates shall be presented by the Executive Director to the members. If the number of candidates for an office does not exceed the number of vacancies, the candidates in question shall be declared elected without vote.
7. 7.7. Where there is more than one candidate for a post, voting shall be organised by the Executive Director. The voting may be done by electronic means or by mail ballot.
8. 7.8. The voting period shall be at least 6 weeks.
9. 7.9. The results of the voting shall be laid down in a report drawn up by the Executive Director and presented to the Executive Committee at least one month before the General Assembly at the WSC.
10. 7.10. The President shall deliver a report on the outcome of the voting to the General Assembly.
11. 7.11. For each office, the candidate or candidates having received the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. In the event of a tie, the candidate who has been a member of the IAOS the longest shall be declared elected.
12. 7.12. Candidates for each office receiving the largest number of votes shall be considered elected and the membership of the Association shall be notified of the results of the elections. This notification shall include the information about any ties that may have occurred.
13. 7.13. The term of office of each Officer shall begin after the meeting of the General Assembly at which they were elected.
8. Finances
1. 8.1. Financial resources of the Association shall consist of membership dues, donations, contributions and income, if any, from other sources.
2. 8.2. No donation may be accepted unless approved by the Executive Committee.
3. 8.3. The membership dues to be paid by members, which may be different for individual and institutional members and for different countries, shall be prescribed by the Executive Committee.
4. 8.4. In exceptional cases of recognized hardship the Executive Committee may waive, reduce or postpone the payment of dues for which an individual member is liable.
5. 8.5. The Officers of the Executive Committee, except the Executive Director, shall serve without compensation.
9. Reporting
1. 9.1. The Executive Committee shall submit an annual report to the members within six months of the end of each fiscal year, unless the General Assembly extends this period.
2. 9.2. The annual report shall include the activities of the Association, a financial statement covering all income and expenditure over the preceding fiscal year and a statement of the assets and liabilities as of the last day of the three preceding years.
3. 9.3. The financial statement must have been audited by a professional qualified accountant.
4. 9.4. The report will be approved by the members of the Executive Committee and the Executive Director
10. Amendments to the statutes
1. 10.1. Amendments to the Statutes can only be decided at the General Assembly meeting at the WSC.
2. 10.2. Proposals for amending the Statutes can be submitted by the Executive Committee.
3. 10.3. Proposals can also be submitted by individual members and must be signed by at least 10 members. The delivery of the proposal has to respect the time schedule in this article.
4. 10.4. The President shall ask the Executive Director to transmit the proposals and, in case of a proposal submitted under article 10.3, the views of the Executive Committee to all members at least two months before the General Assembly.
5. 10.5. The proposals for amendments shall be brought forward to the members, who shall be asked to express their opinions. The members may express their opinions electronically before the General Assembly They may nominate a proxy, who may be the Executive Director, and direct that proxy how to vote.
6. 10.6. Opinions shall be provided and proxies nominated at least 30 days before the General Assembly. The Executive Director shall be notified of all nominations for proxies within this period.
7. 10.7. A majority of two thirds of the votes cast in person including by proxy is required for any amendment to be successful.
8. 10.8. The dissolution of the Association or the alteration of its name shall be treated as an amendment of its Statutes.
11. Language
1. 11.1. The working language of the Association shall be English.

Attachments from the Statutes and By-laws of the International Statistical Institute

Statutes 29 November 2011
1. ARTICLE 7: ASSOCIATIONS
  1. a. An ISI Association may be established by the General Assembly to promote the mission and objective of the ISI in particular areas of specialization or in particular geographical regions.An Association shall have:
    - its own members;
    - its own organizational structure, Statutes and By-laws.
  2. b. The President of the Associations shall be ex-officio member of the ISI Council (see Article 8).
  3. c. The Director of the ISI shall be an ex-officio member of the Executive Committee of the Association.
  4. d. The ISI Association shall not undertake any action that contravenes the objectives and interests of the ISI.
BY-Laws 29 November 2011
1. ARTICLE 3 : ISI ASSOCIATIONS (STATUTES ARTICLE 7)
  1. a. Each Association’s mission and objectives must be in harmony with those of the ISI.
  2. b. An Association’s statement of objectives, its rules of admission to and termination from membership, its statutes, and amendments to the foregoing shall be subject to approval by the ISI Council.
  3. c. The Associations shall provide an annual report of its activities and finances to the ISI Council.
  4. d. In addition to having their own programmes and conferences, the Associations shall participate in the scientific work of the ISI. In particular, the Associations shall be consulted regarding the scientific programme of the WSC.
  5. e. The Associations shall be supported as much as practically possibleby the ISI Permanent Office.
  6. f. In case the activities of an Association seriously contravene the objectives or statutes of the ISI, the Executive Committee may propose to the General Assembly, after consultation with the Council, to terminate the association with the ISI.The Association concerned shall be given an opportunity to appeal to the General Assembly by providing information on reasons to reconsider the decision. The General Assembly shall make the final decision on any appeal.

The September 1987 Statutes can be viewed here.

IAOS Statutes

STATUTES INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR OFFICIAL STATISTICS

Attachments from the Statutes and By-laws of the International Statistical Institute

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