Academic Network on the European Social Charter and Social Rights

 

Articles of Association

 

Article 1: Constitution, name, seat and duration

1. A non-profit organisation of unlimited duration shall be formed by persons who adhere to the present statutes, bearing the name “Academic Network on the European Social Charter and Social Rights”, hereinafter “The Network”.

2. The Network will also be designated as,
– in French, by the initials “R.A.C.S.E.”;
– in English, by the initials “A.N.E.S.C.”;

3. The Network shall be governed by Articles 21 to 79-III of the Civil Code currently in force in the Departments of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle by the Law of 1 June 1924, as by these articles of association. The Network shall be registered with the register of associations of the Court of First Instance of Strasbourg.

4. The seat of the Network shall be fixed at the Housing of Associations, 1-a Place des Orphelins, 67000 Strasbourg. It may be transferred to another place on the basis of a decision of the Coordination Council, if permitted by the rules governing the association.

5. The Network can be dissolved by a decision of its Assembly.

Article 2: Missions

1. The Network’s primary mission shall be the promotion of the European Social Charter and of social rights in Europe.

2. It shall take every initiative conducive to making the European Social Charter and the other instruments for the protection of social rights known in Europe, and to improving their application and protection both at the level of the Council of Europe and in its member states.

3. The Network’s actions shall in particular take these forms:
– Educationandtraining;
– Researchandpublication;
– Legalexpertise;
– Contributions to national and international judicial or contentious proceedings, particularly in an amicus curiae capacity.

4. The official languages of the Network are English and French.

Article 3 : Relations with the Council of Europe

The Network shall co-operate closely with the European Committee of Social Rights, the Department of the European Social Charter and the European Code of Social Security of the Council of Europe, and any other interested organ of the Council of Europe.

Article 4: Organisation

1- General Assembly of the Network

1. The Network shall have a General Assembly. It shall constitute the public meeting of all members of the association. It shall be convened by the General Coordinator at least once a year. It shall also be convened at the request of at least one third of its members.

2. The General Assembly shall be chaired by the General Coordinator or, in his (her) absence or incapacity, by the first or the second Deputy General Coordinator, or by a member of the Coordination Committee elected by a majority of the members present.

3. The General Assembly shall deliberate on the objectives specified by these articles of association. The quorum shall consist of ten (10) members, provided that at least three (3) members of the Coordination Committee are present. The quorum is calculated on the number of members present and represented by proxy, as well as on the number of members participating in the General Assembly by internet.

2- Coordination Council

1. The Network shall have a Coordination Council, comprising the members of the Co- ordination Committee mentioned below, the national section Coordinators and the Correspondents mentioned below.

2. It approves the guiding rules of the Network and the rules of procedure of the national sections and sets guidelines for the activities of the Network.

3. If neither the National Coordinator nor the Deputy National Coordinator are able to attend a meeting of the Coordination Council, they may appoint a member of their Section to represent it in an advisory capacity.

3- Coordination Committee

1. The Network shall have a Coordination Committee, composed of:
One General Coordinator
Two Deputy General Coordinators
One Secretary
One Deputy Secretary One Treasurer
Two linguistic Coordinators (one for the French language and one for the English language).

2. In the event of temporary non-availability of the members of the Coordination Committee for a period from three months to one year, the Committee may appoint a substitute on the proposal of the member to be replaced. In this case the rule of incompatibility provided for in subparagraph 6 below shall not apply.

3. The Coordination Committee is the Network’s executive body. It represents the Network and is represented by the General Coordinator.

4. The members of the Coordination Committee are elected by the Coordination Council for a term of three years. The term may be renewed only once, except for the Seretary and the Deputy Secretary (see subparagraph 5).

5. The Secretary and the Deputy Secretary are elected by the Coordination Council on the proposal of the General Coordinator at the beginning of the term of the latter and remain in office during his term except in the event of revocation by him.

6. The mandate of member of the Coordination Committee is incompatible with the mandate of the coordination of a national section.

4- National sections

a) The Network shall establish a national section by European state or each Council of Europe member state.

b) By way of an exception, one section may cover more than one state.

c) The status of national section shall be conferred by the Coordination Council. The Co- ordination Council may withdraw that status for grave reasons constituting a breach of the goals of the Network, and after having consulted the representatives of the Section concerned, and having taken into account all elements brought to its attention. Until more than one national section is created, the Coordination Committee shall perform this task.

d) Each national section is placed under the responsibility of one or more section Co- ordinators, elected by the members of the self-same section.

e) Each section shall draw up its own rules of procedure. These shall be communicated to the Coordination Committee.

f) The actions of each section are to be seen as actions of the Network. As such, their principles are submitted to the approbation of Coordination Committee by the Section’s Co- ordinator(s). The Coordination Committee is informed of each section’s development.

g) Once a year, each national section will submit to the Coordination Committee a report on its activities throughout the course of the prior year and its plans for the coming year. The report shall be made public.

h) Countries who do not have a sufficient number of members to form a section belong to the sections called “Others”. Each section “Others” may appoint a member who will represent it at the meetings of the Coordination Council in an advisory capacity.

5- Correspondents

1. In order to ensure dialogue with other parts of the world regarding social rights, the Network shall provide itself with Correspondents for the regions outside Europe. The Correspondents will be selected by the Coordination Council based on the proposals of the Coordination Committee.

2. The Correspondents participate in the meetings of the Coordination Council and of the General Assembly in an advisory capacity.

Article 5: Decisions and deliberations of the organs

1. Where the present articles of association foresee the taking of a decision after due deliberation, the decision is taken by a simple majority of voters.

2. Abstentions and blank or invalid ballots are not taken into account for the calculation of the majority of voters.

3. In the event of a tie, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

4. Where a physical meeting is impossible, the deliberation will take place electronically. The method will be determined by internal rules of procedure.

5. Any member absent from the General Assembly shall be allowed to give a proxy to another member of the Network attending the General Assembly, whether or not the two members are part of the same national section. The number of proxies is limited to two (2) per member.

Article 6: Members

1- Types of membership

a) Natural and legal persons may be members of the Network.

b) Natural persons can be full members or associated members or honorary members in accordance with the conditions defined hereinafter.

c) All members of the Network, with the exception of associated members, are, ipso facto, members of any national section that exists in the state where they reside.

2- Natural persons

a) The following categories of natural persons who work in or are enrolled with higher level education institutes, are eligible to become full members: teacher-researchers, teachers, researchers, students enrolled in PhD programmes, young persons recently awarded PhDs who fall outside the preceding categories, and academics according to the principles and rules of their state.

b) Former members of the European Committee of Social Rights are also eligible for membership of the Network. In exceptional circumstances, a person can become a member who, though not falling within the categories enumerated in the previous paragraph, fulfils the conditions of special competence and interest in the European Social Charter and social rights.

c) Serving members of the European Committee of Social Rights may be accepted as associate members. They shall participate in the activities of the Network without voting rights and shall not be committed by the positions adopted by the Network.

d) Honorary members may be admitted to the Network upon proposal by the Coordination Council and after approval by the Coordination Committee.
Honorary members (up to 3 in each section) can participate in the activities of the Network without voting rights. They do not pay any subscription.

e) The General Coordinators, at the end of their mandate, will be automatically appointed Honorary General Coordinators with voting rights. They do not pay any subscription.

3- Legal persons

Academic institutions and NGOs may also be accepted as members.

4- Accession to membership

Membership or associate membership of the Network shall be decided by the Coordination Committee at the request of the person concerned, excepting former members of the
European Committee of Social Rights who shall be invited on a personal basis to be members.

5- Withdrawal of membership

a) The Coordination Committee may withdraw membership. The decision is taken after having consulted the national section Coordinator(s) concerned and after having provided the person at issue with the opportunity to defend themselves.

b) The withdrawal of membership leads to the exclusion of the person concerned by the Network.

6- Resignation of a member

When a member resigns from the ANESC, he must do so in writing by sending an email to the General Coordinator and the Secretary.

Article 7: Resources and membership rates/subscriptions

1. The resources of the Network consist of:
– the subscriptions of members ;
– public and private grants or subsidies;
– all other resources not forbidden by laws and regulations in force.

2. Subscriptions shall be paid annually by the members. The amount, as well as the distribution of the proceeds amongst the general Network and the national sections are determined by the Coordination Council.

3. If a member has not paid his or her subscription within one year, his or her rights will be suspended. Those rights are: participating in and voting at the General Assembly, as well as the possibility to avail himself or herself of his or her position as a member of the Network.

Article 8: Internal Rules and Procedures

1. An internal rule will state the methods of implementation of the present articles of association.

2. An internal rule is established by the Coordination Committee and submitted to the Co- ordination Council.

Article 9: Difficulties of interpretation

Difficulties of interpretation concerning the application of the present articles of association are, before any judicial procedure is adopted, submitted to mediation before a board of three members of the Network. These are chosen by consensus by the parties to the dispute, are members of three distinct national sections, and are not members of the Coordination Committee or of the Coordination Council.

Article 10: Adoption of the articles of association

1. The articles of association and their modifications are adopted by a simple majority of the Network General Assembly.

2. The present articles of Association were adopted by the Constitutive Assembly held in Paris, at the Office of the Council of Europe, 29 November 2013,

by
AKANDJI-KOMBE Jean-François
BARRA Juliano Sarmento
BELORGEY Jean-Michel
CHARLOT Camille
DELIYANNI-DIMITRAKOU Christina
ENGIN Murat
FELL Simona
GUIGLIA Giovanni
NAPIWOCKA Brigitte
NOLAN Aoife
PROIETTI Fabrizio
SALCEDO BELTRAN Carmen
SINOU Despina
Apologies were received from:TEROL BECERRA José Manuel

These articles of association were revised at the General Assembly held in Turin on 16 October 2014.
Jean-François AKANDJI-KOMBE General Coordinator
Brigitte NAPIWOCKA Secretary

These articles of association were revised at the General Assembly held in Valencia on 20 October 2015
Jean-François AKANDJI-KOMBE Brigitte NAPIWOCKA General Coordinator Secretary

These articles of association were revised at the General Assembly held in Paris on 15 October 2016
Giovanni GUIGLIA Treasurer in the absence of
Jean-François Akandji-Kombé, General Co-ordinator,
and with the agreement of the members of the Co-ordination Committee
Brigitte NAPIWOCKA Secretary

These articles of association were revised at the General Assembly held in Valencia (Spain) on 15 November 2017.
Giovanni GUIGLIA Brigitte NAPIWOCKA General Coordinator Secretary

These articles of association were revised at the General Assembly held in Istanbul (Turkey) on 26 October 2018.
Giovanni GUIGLIA Brigitte NAPIWOCKA General Coordinator Secretary

These articles of association were revised at the General Assembly held in Thessaloniki (Greece) on 3 October 2019.
Giovanni GUIGLIA General Coordinator
Brigitte NAPIWOCKA Secretay