SOCIETE EUROPENNE POUR L’ETUDE DES CIVILISATIONS DE L’HIMALAYA ET DE L’ASIE CENTRALE

STATUTES

TITLE I

PURPOSE AND COMPOSITION OF THE SOCIETY

Article 1

By the present statutes, an association is herewith founded, governed by the Law of 1^st July 1901 and the Decree of 16 August 1901, and having for name:

« SOCIETE EUROPENNE POUR L'ETUDE DES CIVILISATIONS DE L'HIMALAYA ET DE L'ASIE CENTRALE , EUROPEAN SOCIETY FOR STUDIES OF CENTRAL ASIA AND HIMALAYAN REGIONS » (SEECHAC).

Article 2: Purpose

The objective of the Society is to increase awareness and knowledge of the civilisations of the countries of the Himalayan and of Central Asia regions, and the spread of Buddhism in these areas.

The Society organises symposiums and conferences, and favours scientific publications specialised in its field. The content of these publications is subject to the approval of the Board of Administrators.

Article 3: Headquarters

The headquarters of the Society is established at the Musée Cernuschi, 7 avenue Vélasquez, 75008 PARIS - FRANCE.

The headquarters could be transferred after decision of the Board of Administrators and ratification of the General Meeting.

Article 4: Composition

The association is composed of:

1 – Honorary Members

2 – Contributing Members

3 – Active members

Article 5: The members

• Are considered honorary members:

the persons having created the association, those persons who have done significant services for the association and those who have furthered in a significant manner the scientific knowledge in the fields of specialty of the association. The title of honorary member is awarded by the Board of Administrators. The honorary members are exempted from paying a subscription.

• Are considered contributing members:

the persons who pay an annual subscription equal to at least five (5) times the subscription of an active member.

• Are considered active members:

the persons who pay an annual membership subscription.

Article 6: Annual subscription

The annual subscription is initially that of:

Active members: €40 (forty euros)

Students: €20 (twenty euros)

The annual subscription is revisable by the Board of Administrators.

Article 7: Admission

In order to become a member of the association, the interested person must make a request for this purpose and the person in question must be proposed for membership by two (2) members.

Article 8: Radiation

The status of member is lost by

- demission addressed to the President of the Board of Administrators

- death

- cancellation pronounced by the Board of Administrators for non-payment of the subscription or for any serious motive, with the concerned party having been requested by registered letter to present his written or oral explanations.

TITLE II

ADMINISTRATION AND FUNCTIONING

Article 9

The association is directed by a Board and a Bureau.

Article 10: Board

The association is directed by a Board composed of at least eight (8) elected members and eight (8) appointed members. The Board includes:

1 – A minimum of eight elected members.

Any member of the association who would like to be elected to the Board shall have to submit his candidature by post to the Board at least fifteen (15) days prior to the General Meeting. The elected Members are designated by the General Meeting by secret ballot for a period of four (4) years, half of which are renewable every two (2) years.

In the case of vacancy, the Board temporarily fills the replacement of its members. The definitive replacement takes place at the next General Meeting.

The mandates of the members elected in this way end at the time when the mandate of the replaced members would normally expire. No person can be part of the Board who has not attained his legal majority.

2 – Eight appointed members.

Eight members appointed by the Board must respectively belong to the following institutions, and must present, by their special fields, affinities with the purpose and goals of the Society:

· Collège de France

· Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, fourth section

· Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, fifth section

· Musée des Arts Asiatiques GUIMET

· CNRS

· Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient

· Musée Cernuschi

· A teacher from a European university

The Board decides upon the orientations followed by the association. It meets at least once a year and according to the needs of the administration of the association, it is convened by its President or upon the request of one quarter (1/4) of its members. The President or his representative presides the meeting. The decisions are voted by a majority of votes. The presence of one-third (1/3) of the members of the Board is necessary for the deliberations to be considered valid. In the event of a tie in the voting, the President or his representative shall have the casting vote.

A report of the meetings held is drafted. After unanimous approval of the members of the Board, these reports are signed by the President and the General Secretary; they are established without blank spaces and without deletions or alterations on numbered sheets and conserved at the headquarters of the Society.
Persons who are not members of the Society can be present at all or part of the Board, without voting rights, upon simple decision of the Board.

Article 11: Bureau

The Board chooses among its members, by secret ballot, a Bureau at the minimum composed of:

• A President
• A Vice-president
• A General Secretary
• An Assistant General Secretary
• A Treasurer
• An Assistant Treasurer

The Bureau administers the association and proposes the objectives that must be approved by the Board. The Bureau meets according to the needs of the administration of the association. The President or his representative presides the meeting. The decisions are voted by majority vote. In the event of a tie in the voting, the President or of his representative has the casting vote.

Article 12: Ordinary General Meeting

The Ordinary General Meeting is composed of all the members of the association. It is held at least once a year. The members of the association are informed by post at least fifteen (15) days before the date set for the General Meeting.

Each of the legal persons who are part of the Society is represented by a single delegate. Each member who is present can only have ten (10) proxies for those members who are absent.

The agenda of the General Meeting is established by the Board of Administrators.

The President, assisted by the members of the Board, presides the General Meeting.
The General Meeting hears the reports on the management of the Board and on the financial and moral situation of the association. It approves the accounts of the ended financial year, votes the budget for the next financial year, and votes, if so necessary, after exhaustion of the agenda, the renewal of the outgoing members of the Board of Administrators by secret ballot. The annual reports and accounts are kept each year at the disposition of all the members of the Society, and shall be transmitted to them.

The ordinary decisions of the Ordinary General Meeting are made by simple majority vote of the members who are present or validly represented. In the event of a tie in the voting, the President has the casting vote.

Article 13: Extraordinary General Meeting

If need be, or upon the request on one-third (1/3) of the registered members, the President can convene an Extraordinary General Meeting, as per the formalities provided for in Article 12.

Article 14

Expenditures are authorised by the President or by his representative. The President represents the association in legal actions and in all the acts of a civil nature.

TITLE III

THE RESOURCES

Article 15

The resources of the association are composed of:

• the annual subscriptions
• the sums paid in return for services supplied by the associations
• subventions
• all other resources authorised by the legislative and statutory texts, and, in particular, donations.

Article 16

The accounts are kept where an operating account, the operating result and a statement of accounts are prepared and shown annually.

Article 17: Internal rules and regulations

Internal rules and regulations can be established by the Board of Administrators, which then has the said rules and regulations approved by the General Meeting.

TITLE IV

MODIFICATION OF THE STATUTES – DISSOLUTION

Article 18: Modification of the statutes

The statutes of the association can be modified upon proposal of the Board of Administrators or of one tenth (1/10) of the members making up the General Meeting, by the said Assembly giving a ruling with the majority of two-thirds (2/3) of the members present.

In the one case as in the other, the proposals of modifications are put on the agenda of the next General Meeting.

Article 19: Dissolution

The General Meeting called upon to reach a decision pertaining to the dissolution of the association and convened specially for this purpose, must include, at least, one half (1/2) plus one (1) of the registered members present or duly represented. If this proportion is not reached, the General Meeting is convened again, but after an interval of at least fifteen (15) days, and, this time, it can deliberated whatever the number of members present or represented may be.

In all cases, the dissolution can only be voted by a two-thirds (2/3) majority of the members present.

Article 20

The President of the association or his representative are responsible for carrying out and fulfilling all the formalities of declarations and publications in compliance with the Law of 1^st July 1901 and with the Decree of 16 August 1901.