Bylaws

All members may vote by show of hands or a secret ballot at the IPSO Business Meeting. The Chair of the meeting (the President or their delegate) shall have the deciding vote when votes have been equally cast for and against a business item, except for voting on amending the Constitution and Bylaws, which requires a two-thirds majority.

The President-Elect shall circulate (through the IPSO’s website and direct email to representatives, e-lists, and current membership list) a provisional agenda to the members attending the IPSO Business Meeting.

Resolutions which are not proposed amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws passed by the IPSO Business Meeting, are binding on IPSO until the next IPSO Business Meeting. If the desire is to make the make the Resolution permanent, it must be presented in the form of a proposed amendment to the Constitution and/or Bylaws according the provisions of Article 6.
Resolutions expressing a preference, if passed by the IPSO Business Meeting, are not binding on IPSO.

Resolutions included in a prepared agenda of any IPSO Business Meeting.
Any member may propose a Resolution provided it is submitted, duly signed and seconded, by the President-Elect of IPSO. The IPSO ExCom may move a Resolution. Resolutions, if passed by a majority of members, are to be regarded as binding on IPSO.
Motions or Amendments to proposed Resolutions moved from the floor.
a. Any two IPSO members may move and second a motion or an amendment to a proposed resolution from the floor of the IPSO Business Meeting.
b. The President may rule that action on a motion from the floor be deferred for consideration at a meeting of the IPSO ExCom which shall take place before the meeting terminates.

The ExCom of IPSO will be composed of the following 12 Elected Officers: President/President Elect; three (3) Vice-Presidents/three (3) Vice-President Elects; Treasurer, Treasurer Elect; Editor, and Editor Elect. On election or appointment to the ExCom, it is emphasized that each member is then regarded as an officer and a representative of IPSO, and not of the officer’s own local society. The IPSO ExCom carries out the day-to-day business of IPSO on its behalf, wherever possible,
relevant or necessary, in consultation with the IPSO members.

(a) President Elect
The President-Elect role will rotate between the three regions: Europe, Latin America and North America (in that order). Candidates interested in this position shall inform the Vice-President of their region and the current President Elect in writing. 

b) Vice-Presidents Elect
Each Vice-President (with the help of the regional IPSO Representatives) writes to all IPSO Representatives in their region, requesting nominations. They shall inform the current Vice-President and Vice-President-Elect of that region of their interest before the elections.

(c) Editor Elect
Candidates for the position of Editor Elect may come from any region. It is preferred that the Editor Elect has some prior Editorial/Publishing/Website development experience. A working knowledge of English and Spanish is preferable, as the website, and parts of the Newsletter and journal are bilingual publications.

(d) Treasurer Elect
Candidates for the position of Treasurer Elect may come from any region, provided they can have easy access to the IPSO central account in London and can readily transfer money to the various regions.

B. Formal bids for nomination shall include:
– A statement by the proposed nominee indicating their willingness to serve through the end of their term, regardless of whether or not they graduate during their term of office.
– A Curriculum Vitae, limited to two (2) pages in Times New Roman font size 12, 1.5 spacing
– A photo of the nominee
– A cover letter from the nominee, where they can present themselves and their reasons for running, examples of how they meet the competencies required for the role, and also some proposals and/or ideas they might have for the position, limited to two (2) page Times New Roman font size 12, 1.5 spacing
– A statement in writing that the nominee is not currently involved in any disputes relating to their ethical conduct.
– A statement in writing from the director of their training institute stating that the nominee is in good standing. Good standing means a candidate has actively engaged in an IPA training program according to the training model of the institute where the candidate is training.

(a) The IPSO Executive Committee shall inform the nominees and secure their willingness to serve. To be elected, every ballot winner must be present at the IPSO Business Meeting of the congress.

(b) IPSO Elections shall follow an electronic balloting system, to function as follows: By February 1st (in the year of the IPSO Congress), the IPSO President, along with the IPSO Regional Vice-Presidents and their Elects, shall write to the IPSO Representatives, requesting nominations. Candidates wishing to run for office must present all the required information for the formal bids, as stated above, by March 1st. On March 15th of the congress year, the ballots shall be sent to all Full IPSO Members, and ballots shall be counted if received up to April 30th of the congress year, or such earlier date as the IPSO Executive Committee may establish. This deadline may be extended prior to the commencement of the balloting period by the IPSO Executive Committee if, in the IPSO Executive Committee’s reasonable opinion, there are special circumstances which make it appropriate to do so.

For all IPSO ExCom officers the term of office is four (4) years. Two (2) years as President Elect /
Vice-President Elect /Editor Elect / Treasurer Elect, and two (2) years as President / Vice-President / Editor / Treasurer. The maximum term for each IPSO ExCom officer is four (4) years.

(a) President Elect, Vice-President Elect, Treasurer Elect and Editor Elect
1. When only one candidate is nominated, the candidate shall be declared elected without a ballot.
2. When two (2) candidates are nominated, a simple majority of the votes cast shall decide.
3. When three or more candidates are nominated, each member shall vote according to the Single Transferable Vote System.

Subject to Bylaw 9, the IPSO ExCom officers announced as newly elected shall be installed on the last day of the IPSO Congress and serve until they are succeeded at the end of the following IPSO Congress, or until their term of office ends in accordance with Bylaw 8. 

There shall be a joint out-going and in-coming IPSO ExCom meeting, presided by the new President at the end of the IPSO Business Meeting. 

No elected or appointed IPSO ExCom officer shall be eligible to serve for more than one (1) executive term in the IPSO ExCom.

(a) Resignation

An ExCom officer who wishes to resign their office will serve in writing, addressed to the IPSO ExCom, notice of resignation confirming the effective date of resignation. They must give at least one months’ notice, and during their notice period, they must provide a reasonable level of tutoring for their successor. 

(b) Removal

In the event an ExCom officer is deemed by a vote of two-thirds of the remaining ExCom officers incapable of fulfilling their duties on the basis of mental, physical, or professional incapacity, malfeasance, illegal or unethical conduct, or chronic neglect of official responsibilities, the ExCom officer will first be invited at a meeting of the ExCom officers to resign their office. 

If the ExCom officer does not resign upon invitation, or otherwise in accordance with Bylaw 8(a), the IPSO ExCom shall be entitled to hold a meeting at which a vote of no confidence will be held to determine whether the ExCom Officer will be removed. The ExCom officer who is the subject of the vote is entitled to attend the meeting and make representations prior to the matter being put to a final vote. In the event that two-thirds of the remaining ExCom officers vote in favour of removal, such ExCom Officer will be immediately removed from their office. The Officer will no longer be able to hold future IPSO office. 

If fewer than two-thirds of the remaining ExCom officers vote in favour of removal, the vote of no confidence is not passed, and the officer shall remain in post. There may not be another vote of no-confidence unless and until new information comes to light. 

In the event that it is necessary to replace an officer of the IPSO ExCom, the following procedure shall be adopted:

a) When it is necessary to replace the President, the President Elect will assume office. If it is not possible for the President Elect to assume the Presidency, another IPSO ExCom officer shall consult all voting members of the IPSO ExCom as to which present member of the IPSO ExCom from the same geographical area as the presiding President if possible, should become the replacement President.

b) When it is necessary to replace the President Elect, the President will consult with all members of the IPSO ExCom to determine a nominee and hold a special election, either at the next meeting of members or by email. (See section on extraordinary meetings). The new President Elect must come from the same region as the resigning President Elect.

c) When it is necessary to replace a Vice-President, the Treasurer, or the Editor, the Elect for that post will take over, and a new Elect will be chosen using the procedure set out in Bylaw 9d below.

d) When it is necessary to replace a Vice President Elect, Treasurer Elect or Editor Elect, the runner-up at the last election for that post will be invited to assume the role. If this is not possible, the relevant Vice President, Treasurer or Editor will propose to the ExCom an IPSO member who meets the competencies for the role and is willing to assume the role. The ExCom will vote on the proposed candidate, and if a majority are in favour of them, will appoint that person to the Elect role. In case of a tie, the President will have a second and deciding vote. That person will remain in office as Elect until the end of the term, and will then take over as Vice President/Treasurer/Editor (as appropriate).

IPSO ExCom officers (current or previous) are not eligible for the Financial Incentive Visiting Candidate Program (FI-VCP) nor the Cross Regional Event Support Program (CRESP). 

All officers, members of committees, shall be indemnified by members of IPSO for acts carried out on their behalf against all liabilities reasonably or properly incurred by them.

For legal purposes only, the official language of IPSO shall be English. For legal purposes, the English-language version of the IPSO Constitution and Bylaws shall be the official version. The IPSO Executive Committee meeting will be held in English.

The working languages of IPSO shall be English, French, German and Spanish. To the extent that it is possible, the IPSO Business Meeting of the IPSO Congress shall be translated into the four
working languages of the IPA.

Procedures at the IPSO Business Meeting will be in accordance with the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order. Procedures will be revised in all cases in which they are applicable and in which they are inconsistent with the IPSO Constitution and Bylaws and special rules or order that IPSO may adopt.

The foregoing IPSO Constitution and Bylaws shall become effective immediately after their acceptance by a two-thirds majority vote of members in attendance at the IPSO Business meeting.

Bylaws 2, 5.A., 5.B., 7, 8.c, 9.c and 9.d) were amended, and Bylaws 8 and 10 were added, by a majority 2/3rds vote at the online IPSO Extraordinary Business Meetings held on the 4th of December, 2022, at 08:00 CET and 17:00 CET