Rules of Procedure

Admission and Exclusion of Members

  1. Prospective Members shall submit an application for membership to the Secretary General for the attention of the Executive Committee. lnformation on current activities, the statutes, the latest annual report and financial report, etc. must be attached to the application.
  2. The Executive Committee shall consider the application. It can demand further information and it can ask a Full Member to investigate the matter or to present an opinion.
  3. After completion of the evaluation process the Executive Committee shall make a proposal, in the case of Associate Members to the Federal Council and in the case of Full Members to the General Assembly.
  4. A representative of the organisation seeking admission must present the application in person.
  5. In well-founded cases the Executive Committee may of itself or upon the proposal of a Full Member propose the exclusion of a Member. The Member concerned must be invited to present its case. Exclusion because of failure to meet financial obligations is an exception to this rule (10.3 of the Statutes).
  6. The admission and exclusion of Members require an absolute majority of votes cast (half of the votes cast plus at least one must be affirmative).
  7. Members are obliged to complete the annual questionnaire whose format will be prepared by the Secretary General.

Elections and Votes

  1. Full Members from any country have a total of two votes, independent of the number of delegates.
  2. If two organisations from a single country are Full Members, both organisations shall have one vote each regardless of their participation. If in an extraordinary case more than two organisations from a single country are Full Members they shall achieve written agreement on the sharing of votes prior to the meeting. This written agreement must be submitted to the President at the beginning of the meeting. If no agreement is achieved, the voting rights of all Members of the respective country shall be suspended until agreement is achieved.
  3. Members must be present to vote and cannot vote behalf of other members.
  4. Elections and voting are generally conducted openly and, unless otherwise provided by the Statutes or the Rules of Procedure, by simple majority of the votes cast.
  5. If a Member proposes election by written ballot or if there is more than one candidate nominated for a given function, elections will be held by written ballot.
  6. If during an election no candidate reaches a simple majority of the votes cast, the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes is removed from the next ballot, end this process continues until one candidate obtains the simple majority of votes cast.
  7. If a member of the Executive Committee resigns, all Members shall in due course be invited to nominate candidates. The Federal Council will usually hold a discussion on the candidates and propose one person to the General Assembly for election.

Order of Business

  1. The Secretary General shall keep a list of requests for the floor. The President shall decide on the sequence of speakers.
  2. During the meeting every Member, including the members of the Executive Committee, is entitled to raise a motion calling for a vote on the issue under discussion and closure of the debate. Following such a motion only those speakers who are already on the list of requests will be granted the floor and then a vote will be held on the motion of whether to vote on the issue under discussion and close debate.
  3. Discussions are held in English French, or German. The Executive Committee is responsible for the provision of proper translation in these working languages.
  4. The Executive Committee may in well-founded exceptional cases permit a Member to speak in another language. Translation into one of the working languages must be provided in such cases.
  5. The President and the Secretary General may permit guests to take part in FICE meetings.
  6. Minutes of official FICE-meetings must be prepared. These must be presented for approval at the immediately subsequent meeting of the same kind.

Travel Costs and Expenses

  1. The members of the Executive Committee are reimbursed travel costs for trips on official FICE business upon presentation of receipts (second class rail, economy-class air fare). Official trips require the approval of the Executive Committee.
  2. Other expenses incurred (accommodation, telephone, telefax, postage, etc.) will be refunded upon presentation of a detailed statement of expenses.
  3. The Executive Committee may, in exceptional cases, also authorize reimbursement of travel costs and other expenses of persons who are not members of the Executive Committee.

Miscellaneous Provisions

  1. Amendments to these Rules of Procedure must be placed on the agenda of the Federal Council and proposals must be sent out with the invitation.
  2. The original of these Rules of Procedure is in the German language. In case of dispute the German text shall prevail.
  3. These Rules of Procedure shall enter into force immediately upon their acceptance.

These Rules of Procedure were accepted by the Federal Council on October, 13, 1995 in Geneva.

FICE - Fédération Internationale des Communautés Educatives
Internationale Gesellschaft für erzieherische Hilfen
International Federation of Educative Communitie

Robert Soisson, President Thomas Mächler, Secretary General