S5 Council

  • S5.1 The Council, to which the Bureau, Executive Committee, Standing Committees, Divisions, Commissions, and all other bodies of the Union are responsible, is composed of the Delegations of the Adhering Organizations. Each Delegation shall be assigned a specific number of votes/Delegates (1–6) according to principles decided by the Council. Each Adhering Organization shall appoint its Delegates for every Council meeting.
  • S5.2 Regular meetings of the Council shall take place every two years as part of a General Assembly; special meetings may be convened by the President of the Union and shall be convened by the President at the request of one-third of the total number of Adhering Organizations, which shall specify the reason for such requests.
  • S5.31 No decision of the Council shall be valid unless taken at a meeting of the Council at which at least one-half of the maximum number of votes is represented.
  • S5.32 For all voting by the Council, abstentions shall not be recorded as votes.
  • S5.33 The voting procedure to be adopted is different according to whether a proposal is a scientific or nonscientific matter. The Presiding Officer shall decide whether for the purpose of voting a matter shall be considered to be of a scientific or nonscientific nature, and that decision shall be final. The method of voting shall be specified in the Bylaws.
  • S5.34 There shall be no voting by proxy.
  • S5.4 Functions of the Council not mentioned in other Articles of these Statutes shall be as follows:
  • S5.401 to elect the Officers of the Union and the Elected Members of the Bureau;
  • S5.402 to discuss and determine the general policy of the Union;
  • S5.403 to approve the Bylaws of the Union and changes therein;
  • S5.404 to approve the terms of reference of the Bureau, Executive Committee, Standing Committees, Divisions, Commissions, and all other bodies of the Union as prescribed in the Statutes and Bylaws;
  • S5.405 to determine every four years, the one language in which the official records of the meetings of the Council, Bureau, and Executive Committee shall be kept and published;
  • S5.406 to receive and consider reports
    • (i) by the President on the state of the Union,
    • (ii) by the Bureau, Executive Committee, Division Presidents, and other bodies of the Union;
  • S5.407 to ratify decisions taken by the Bureau and Executive Committee between General Assemblies;
  • S5.408 to consider and adopt or reject the accounts of the Union;
  • S5.409 to examine and establish the budget of the Union for the next two financial years;
  • S5.410 to determine the dates and place of General Assemblies;
  • S5.411 to take such other actions as are required in the exercise of its authority under the  Statutes and Bylaws.
  • S5.5 The official text of a report shall be in the official language of the Union.