1st_council_meeting_2015:statutes_changes
Table of Contents
Statutes and Manifesto changes
Statutes changes proposals
Polishing the Statutes
Proposant: PP-CZ (Vojtěch Pikal)
Change:
| proposed wording: | polish |
| changes: | http://ppeu.net/wiki/doku.php?id=1st_council_meeting_2015:statutes_changes:polish&do=diff&rev2%5B0%5D=1434240975&rev2%5B1%5D=&difftype=sidebyside |
Rational: This overall change aims to make the statutes more readable, usable and reliable by adding more numbering, changing order of statements and improving the language.
Independent Council
Proposant: PP-CZ (Mikuláš Peksa)
Change:
| Original wording: | The Board will prepare the meetings and invite all members by email at least one month before the date of the Council meeting. In urgent cases this time may be shortened to an appropriate length. |
| Proposed wording: | The Board will prepare the meetings. All members shall be invited by email at least one month before the date of the Council meeting. In urgent cases this time may be shortened to an appropriate length. |
Rational: This slight change allows for the invitation to be send out by anybody, given that other set requirements to call a Council meeting are fulfilled.
No additional fees
Proposant: PP-CZ (Vojtěch Pikal)
Change:
| Original wording: | (2) The annual Membership Fees of the Association's Ordinary Members consist of a basic fee and an additional part based on decision of the Council. |
| (3) The membership fee will be multiplied by the number of additional and supplementary votes of each Ordinary Member. | |
| Proposed wording: | (2) The annual Membership Fees of the Association's Ordinary Members are multiplied by the number of additional or supplementary votes of each Ordinary Member. |
| The rest of Article 13 is renumbered accordingly. |
Rational: There is no basis what the additional part of the fee; I would not like to see discussion if some “rich Member” should pay more just, because it is rich. Fairness of the “equal fee times number of votes” is obvious and indisputable. Lets keep it this way.
Minimal one delegate for Observer members
Proposant: PP-CZ (Vojtěch Pikal)
Change:
| Original wording: | (3) Each Ordinary Member has a minimum entitlement of two delegates. |
| Proposed wording: | (3) Each voting Member has a minimum entitlement of two delegates. Other Members are entitled to one delegate. |
Rational: Suspended Ordinary members will have only one delegate. Observer members will have certainty of one delegate. Other participant are generally allowed.
Better election procedures
Proposant: PP-CZ (Vojtěch Pikal)
Change:
| Statutes change | |
|---|---|
| Original wording: | (5) If only one candidate is to be elected, the candidate who gains more than 50% of the votes cast and most of the votes in the first round, is the person elected. Should no candidate gain more than 50% of the first round voting, a second round will be run between the two highest scoring candidates. The candidate who receives more than 50% of the votes cast and most of the votes in the second round is elected. (6) If several candidates are to be elected, the candidates who gain more than 50% of the votes cast in order of the highest result to the lowest are elected, until all positions are filled. If not enough candidates have reached 50% of the votes cast, a second round of voting will be held. In the second round only those candidates who got the highest number of votes will be eligible. The number of candidates shall be double the number of positions still needing to be filled. The candidates who gain more than 50% of the votes cast in order of the highest result to the lowest are elected in the second round, until all positions are filled. (8) Method of voting will be approval voting, meaning that every voter may have one vote per candidate. |
| Proposed wording: | (5) Method of voting will be approval voting, meaning that every voter may have one vote per candidate. Only candidates who gains more than 50% of the votes cast can be elected. Paragraphs detailing election method are omitted. Other paragraphs in Article 17. are renumbered accordingly. |
| Rules of Procedure change | |
| Proposed wording: | New Article 7. Art. 7 Elections (1) Election consists of two rounds of voting. (2) If fewer candidates than to be elected receives a majority of the votes, they are elected. Otherwise, a second round is held. (3) In the second round each voter may give preferential vote to as many candidates as should be elected. Candidates are elected in order of the number of preferential votes, in case of equality in the number of votes from the first round and then by lot. Other Articles are renumbered accordingly. |
Rational: The election procedures as listed in statutes are clunky, may result into deadlock or some unfairness. (i.e. tree or more candidates getting the same number of votes, two or more candidates with second highest number of votes..)
It is reasonable to put just the provisions for election process into statutes and specify the rest in Rules of Procedure.
Also, my version is shorter and better unerstandable.
Inactivity of Board member by Board itself
Proposant: PP-CZ (Vojtěch Pikal)
Change:
| Original wording: | (13) The Board must be elected anew completely, if the number of the active Board members in office drops below four. The Council may decide with a simple majority of the votes cast that a Board member is inactive. The remaining active Board members have to issue an invitation to an Extraordinary Council meeting. If no active Board members are left, any Ordinary Member may issue an invitation to an Extraordinary Council meeting acting by at least one of their official delegates. The Extraordinary Council meeting shall only convene to elect a new Board. No other topics may be decided upon. Except for an appropriately shortened time between the invitation and the date of the Council meeting, all other rules regulating Ordinary Council meetings shall apply. |
| Proposed wording: | (13) The Board must be elected anew completely on Extraordinary Council meeting, if the number of the active Board members in office drops below four. The Board may decide The Extraordinary Council meeting shall only convene to elect a new Board. No other topics may be decided upon. Except for an appropriately shortened time between the invitation and the date of the Council meeting, all other rules regulating Ordinary Council meetings shall apply. |
Rational: Inactivity shall be decided by Board. The requirements on calling Council meeting by members are repaired elsewhere.
Standing Council
[Proposal S5-a] Standing Council
Proposant: Board of PPEU (Antonios Motakis)
Change:
| Proposed wording: | New article proposal for the statutes: Article 15 - Standing Council (1) The Council can deliberate and take certain decisions online, outside of a Council meeting, via the Standing Council. (2) The Standing Council is not a separate body from the Council; the same regulations apply regarding allocation of votes and delegates. Members of the association are not obliged to appoint delegates separately, unless they explicitly announce that they wish to do so. (3) Certain powers of the Council can only be exercised in a Council meeting, and not via the Standing Council. In particular the Standing Council cannot: a) decide on the admittance, suspension and exclusion of Ordinary and Observer Members; b) adopt and change the Statutes of the Association; c) decide on the dissolution of the organization (4) To activate the Standing Council, a separate Rules of Procedure needs to be adopted in a Council meeting, either online or offline. This document needs to specify at minimum the technical means and procedures the Standing Council will adopt in order to deliberate and take decisions online. Following Articles will by renumbered accordingly. |
Rationale:
This article makes it straightforward to adopt procedures that will allow the Council to take decisions via email, or to adopt an e-democracy system in the future if it wishes to do so. The Council may pick its own tools and procedures, without requiring changes in the statutes. This allows for an independent Council that can take decisions quickly if needed.
Big decsions, such as accepting new members, changing the statutes, and dissolving the organization are explicitly required to be taken in Council meetings.
Otherwise the Standing Council is not intented to be a new body, but only a way for the same Council to take decisions outside of Council meetings.
[Proposal S5-b] Urgent meetings of the Council
Proposant: Board of PPEU (Maxime Rouquet)
Proposed change:
| insert at the end of [Article 14 - Composition and Powers of the Council] (11) The Board may organise an online referendum of the Council to deal with an urgent question to bypass the one month minimum delay. In such cases, the Board shall write a unique proposal that the Council will vote on. The Council members will be asked to either accept or reject the proposal. Alternatively they can refuse to vote this proposal in urgence by abstaining. The votes will be opened for one week, but the Board can chose to enter its result into force as soon as a majority would be reached for the acceptance or the reject of the proposal. If no majority is found at the end of one week, the proposal will be added to the agenda of the next Council meeting. This procedure for urgent voting cannot be used for matters related to memberships, statute amendments and pirate manifesto, or dissolution of the association. |
[Proposal S5-c] Extraordinary council meetings and referendums
Proposant: PP-CZ (Vojtěch Pikal)
Proposed change:
| Proposed wording with changes: | Number (7) in Article 14. now reads: (7) The Council will meet at least once in a calendar year, more often if requested by at least one-quarter of the Ordinary Members or by a decision of the Board or Council. Meeting may be in person or online. If the Council meeting is in person, remote participation of non-attending members shall be possible. The Board will prepare the meetings. For Ordinary meetings all members shall be invited by email at least one month before the date of the Council meeting. In urgent cases Add new number (11) to article Article 14 that reads: (11) Instead of meeting, Council may decide via referendum, which may be called in same cases as meeting with unique written proposal of decision. The Council members will be asked to either accept, reject or abstain on the proposal. Referendums can be decided only by majority from all voting members of association. The votes will be opened for one week, but the Board can chose to close it as soon as a majority would be reached for the acceptance or the reject of the proposal. If no majority is found at closing the votes, the proposal will be added to the agenda of the next ordinary Council meeting. Number (13) of Article 17 now reads: (13) The Board must be elected anew on Extraordinary Council meeting completely, if the number of the active Board members in office drops below four. The Council may decide with a simple majority of the votes cast that a Board member is inactive. |
Rationale:
Several changes going on there:
- Council may call its own meetings (instead of possibly tasking Board to do that): More independence, separation of powers, checks and balances.
- Invitations not necessarily send out by the board: viz proposal Independent Council
- Ordinary meetings month in advance: just clearing the wording.
- Extraordinary meetings in shortened time: just using what was already there (both shortened terms and Extraordinary meeting in part about Board). Extraordinary meeting are “one issue only” + nothing serious can by done there
- Adding referendum as separate thing: Who can call for meeting (Board, Council, 1/4 of Ordinary members), can call an referendum, if decision proposal is provided. Referendums can decide on anything, but are only binding, if majority from all voting members of association is reached. (Where bigger (super)majority is needed, it naturally applies.)
- Removing moved provisions for Extraordinary meeting from Board powers.
Manifesto changes
/var/www/wiki.ppeu.net/web/data/pages/1st_council_meeting_2015/statutes_changes.txt · Last modified: 2015/06/28 18:12 by vojtechpikal