Chapter 2 - Membership and Admission Procedures

 

Article 5 - Requirements

 

All individuals can join the Club, regardless of nationality and citizenship, according to the rules and statutes of FBe and FIFe, and according to present Statute.
Admission requests from individuals sharing a cattery name with other individuals, members in a different FIFe Club, will not be accepted unless the co-owner is also applying for membership and/or change his Membership to join FBe.

Members are not allowed to participate (in cooperation or as co-organizer or support, with or without official assignment or role) to activities promoted by non-FIFe organizations, except for participating in shows organized by these organizations.

Members undertake to behave correctly and respectfully il all social activities (meetings, shows, social media, etc.), avoiding being directly involved in disputes and keeping balance in all circumstances, to respect all Members and preserve the Club’s reputation.

 

Article 6 - Procedures

 

Membership application is done by filling out an application form to be sent to the club’s Secretariat and must include the name of one member in good standing as warrantor. The application form, complete in all parts, will be submitted to the Executive Board which may at its sole discretion, accept or reject it without obligation to justify the decision. Upon accepting the application, the Executive Board sends the request to FBe that, if and when receiving consent by the FIFe National Member having territorial jurisdiction, confirms the membership which shall be notified as required by the current FIFe regulations. The membership shall become effective only upon payment of the annual membership fees as required by the Club and by FBe.

 

Article 7 - Members

 

The Club has:

• Ordinary Members

• Honorary Members

 

Ordinary Members shall be adult individuals whose membership application has been accepted by the Board and that are in compliance with the payment of all ordinary and extraordinary fees set by the Club.

Honorary Members are adult individuals that contributed to the achievement of social goals and provided services to the Club. They are proposed by any other Member or by the Executive Board and appointed unanimously by the Executive Board. Honorary members have voting rights, can receive all Club’s service, participate in all Club’s activities and shall not pay the annual membership fee.

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Article 8 - Obligations of members

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Members, except Honorary Members, are required to pay all fees and payments fixed by the Members General Assembly and, when applicable, by FBe.

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Payment of the annual membership fee must be made to the Club’s bank account and notified to the club secretariat by the 31st of December of the year previous to the one the payment refers to.

The members who are not in good standing at the established deadline will be able to fix their financial situation by paying a fee established by the General Assembly, not later than the date of the General Assembly of the Club.

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In case of loss of the status of Member, the fees paid in advance will not be refunded.

The annual membership fee due to FBe for an honorary member is paid by the Club.

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Article 9 - Loss of Membership status

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The Membership Status is lost for:

• Revocation - failure to pay the annual membership fee within the above indicated terms.

• Resignation - resignation sent to the Secretary in writing before the end of the financial year. The resignation takes immediate effect.

• Exclusion - decided by the Executive Board as a result of misconduct, unethical or harmful behaviour towards the cats or damaging the image and activities of the Club. The decision to exclude a Member must be ratified by the General Assembly. The exclusion takes immediate effect.

• Death.

 

Members that were revoked, excluded or resigned lose all rights to participate in social activities and have no right to partial or total compensation for paid annual fees.

 

Members that resigned or were revoked can re-submit the membership application again not before one year from the date of loss of membership and by repeating the entire application procedure.

In these cases, the payment of a fee is required as published in the annex.

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Chapter 3 - Bodies and structure of the Club

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Article 10 - Club’s Structure

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The Club’s is made up of the following bodies:

• General Assembly

• Executive Board

• Account Controller

• Any Commission that the Executive Board will decide to establish in order to implement the Club General Assemblies decisions.

 

Article 11 - Shareholders' Meeting

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The General Assembly is the highest authority of the Club and consists of all members in good standing with the payment of annual fees.

It is convened in ordinary session once a year. Date and agenda of the Ordinary Meetings will be sent to Members at least fifteen days before the date of the meeting.

Extraordinary meetings shall be convened in writing upon request of the Executive Board or of one fifth of the Members, indicating the agenda items. Date and agenda of the Extraordinary Meeting will be sent to Members at least seven days before the date of the meeting.

The meeting is chaired by the President or, in his absence, by the Vice President or any other person appointed by the General Assembly.

 

The General Assembly is duly constituted:

• on the first call when it represents at least half plus one of the Members; once the quorum is reached, the decisions are taken on absolute majority.

or

• in the second call without quorum; the decisions are taken with simple majority.

All Members may attend the General Assembly also by mean of a written proxy; each delegate cannot represent more than 5 (five) Members of the Club.

The General Assembly, both ordinary and extraordinary, can also take place by mean of web platform.

 

Tasks of the General Assembly are:

• Appointing scrutinises and, if necessary, the Chairman of the meeting.

• Approve the minutes of the previous General Assembly

• Approve the annual report of the President and the Annual budget Report

• Decide the amount of the annual fees

• Elect the President and the other members of the Executive Board.  

• Present proposals for changes to the present regulations, FBe and/or FIFe Regulations

• Dismiss a Commission when its task was completed or establish a new one depending on the planned activities and needs.

• Dismiss a Member which is part of one of the Club’s Bodies, from his office.

• Ratify the decisions taken by the Executive Board, including on disciplinary matters.

Decisions are taken by simple majority of the number of Members present, except in the following cases when a qualified majority (two thirds of those present) is required:

• Exclusion of a Member

• Destitution of a Members from his/her office

 

Voting shall be by show of hands. A proposal that all Members have agreed in writing shall be deemed equivalent to a decision of the General Assembly.

The General Assembly shall decide upon the date of validity of any decision and may delegate this right to the Executive Board.

 

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Article 12 - Voting procedures

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All Ordinary Members in good standing, as well as Honorary Members have voting rights and can be elected to any office.

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The Club is committed, when necessary, to arrange in order to ensure that all members may exercise their rights through the use of email, via internet and/or other communication tools.

The votes shall be valid with a majority of votes of all Members.

Decisions taken by online voting have effect at the ratification by the Executive Board.

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Article 13 - The Executive Board

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The Executive Board deals with the ordinary and extraordinary administration of the Club. It operates in accordance with the Statute of FBe and FIFe and is responsible that all decisions taken by the General Meeting are implemented.

 

Duties of the Executive Board are:

• To promote and undertake all necessary steps to achieve the Club’s goals

• To examine and decide on membership application requests

• To undertake all necessary actions in order to implement the decisions taken by General Assembly

• To assign specific tasks to Members and establish Commissions in order to carry out all the activities and/or services needed to achieve the Club’s goals

• Appoint a representative of the Club at the General Assembly of FBe

• Examine and decide on disciplinary matters with respect to the present Statute and/or those of FBe and FIFe

• Impose disciplinary sanctions

 

The Executive Board can replace in his/her functions any of its members who is unable to complete his term of office, except the President, with another member appointed ad interim until the next Members General Assembly.

 

Members of the Executive Board may be elected among all Ordinary Members in good standing that have been members of the Club for at least two years.

 

All members of the Executive Board are elected by the General Assembly and shall remain in office for three (3) years and may be re-elected.

 

The Executive Board shall meet at the request of the President or at the request of two of its Members.

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The Meeting is valid only when three quarters of the members are present.

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Decisions are taken by simple majority. In case of a tie, the President’s vote is decisive. In the absence of the President the Vice President’s vote is decisive, or in his absence the one of the Members appointed to chair the meeting is decisive.

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The Executive Board meetings may take place via web platforms, when possible and necessary.

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Article 14 - Composition of the Executive Board

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The Executive Board consist of:

• President

• Vice President

• Secretary

• Treasurer

• Counsellors

 

The President conducts and represents the Club against third parties and in courts. The President is responsible for the club’s management with the members and with FBe and for the correct development of the Club’s activities. The President is elected by all members and holds office for three (3) years, remaining in office until the General Assembly preceding the renewal of the whole Board.

 

The Vice President assumes all duties of the President in case of his absence.

 

The Secretary is responsible for all secretarial activities, assists the President and writes the minutes at the meetings of the Executive Board and General Assembly.

The function of minuting the meetings may be delegated to another Member at the request of the Secretary or the President.

He signs, together with the President, and once reviewed and approved, the minutes of meetings and of the General Assemblies.

He keeps the documents of the Club and gives supports to the Members for the activities with FBe.

 

The Treasurer manages the use of resources and funds of the Club, in implementation of the resolutions of the General Assembly and of the Executive Board. He prepares the annual provisional budget and final budget for the approval of the General Assembly and transmission to FBe. He manages the Club accounts and is responsible for the funds of the Club. The bank account of the Club must be accessible by the President at any time.

 

The Counsellors represent the Members within the Executive Board and are elected proportionally to the number of Ordinary Members. The election of a Counsellor will be done for every 50 members.

The Counsellors may be appointed by the Executive Board as temporary support to any of the other offices in the Board, if and when needed.

 

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Article 15 - Accounts Controller

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The Accounts Controller is responsible for the audit of the Club accounts and balances and in particular:

• Expresses in a specific report his opinion about the financial statements and the consolidated financial statements once prepared.

• Checks during the year the regular keeping of books and the correct recording of accounting entries.

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Article 16 - Commission

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The Executive Board may establish commissions, consisting of active Members of the Club, in order to carry out specific tasks and/or services needed for the fulfilment of the Club’s goals. 

 

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Chapter 4 - Disciplinary procedures​

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Article 17 - Jurisdiction

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The Executive Board can decide on any violation of the Statute of the Club, the statutes and rules of FBe and FIFe and any conduct taken by Members that is considered to be detrimental to the Club.

A member of the Executive Board involved in disciplinary procedure may not take part in the sessions that concerns his/her case.

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The Executive Board reviews the complaints and, if necessary, starts a procedure that shall be conducted in an objective and appropriate way.

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Article 18 - Sanctions

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The Executive Board may apply the following sanctions:

• Written warning

• Suspension

• Exclusion

All penalties shall be communicated to the Members by the Secretariat with reference to the present Statute.

After a second written warning, the Member is automatically suspended.

After a second suspension, the Board may exclude the Member from the Club.

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Article 19 - Exclusion of a Member

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The Executive Board shall report to the General Assembly, ordinary or extraordinary, on the decision of an Exclusion measure against a Member at the conclusion of the disciplinary proceedings.

The Exclusion measure must be ratified by the General Assembly to become effective.

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The Member has the right to be heard first by the Executive Board, and then by the General Assembly, if he/she so requests, against a disciplinary decision adopted by the Executive Board.

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The General Assembly, having heard the report of the Executive Board and the Member concerned, if he so requested, ratifies or rejects the measure adopted by the Executive Board.

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Chapter 5 - Final Remarks

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Article 20 - Compensations

 

All functions performed by the Members of the Club are intended for free.

 

Members in charge of a function, appointed by the Members General Assembly or the Executive Board, may be reimbursed by the Club for expenses incurred in carrying out their tasks.

 

 

Article 21 - Period of exercise

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The Financial year runs from the 1st of January to the 31st of December.

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Article 22 - Rates

 

All information related to the annual membership fee as well as fees for services provided by the Club and by FBE, are listed in Annex 1 of this Statute, which is updated on a FBe indication for all fees of its competence.

 

 

Article 23 - Changes to the Statute

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This Statute may only be amended by the Members General Assembly, ordinary or extraordinary, on proposal of Executive Board or any Member.

The changes are approved by a majority of two-thirds of the votes represented at the Members General Assembly.

 

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Article 24 - Dissolution of the Club

 

The Club dissolves automatically in case that less than six Members are enrolled.

The dissolution of the Club can only be decided by a Members General Assembly where there are at least three quarters of the Members in good standing and a vote is expressed with a majority of at least two thirds of the present Members.

 

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Article 25 - Transfer of Funds

 

In the event of dissolution, the funds will be stored in a bank account until the formation of a new Club by three quarters of the Members of the Club at the time of its dissolution.

These funds can remain blocked for a maximum time of six months, after that and in case a new Club is not established, they will be donated to an animal protection association.

 

 

Article 26 - Final remarks and entering into effect

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For all matters not provided by this Statute, reference is made to FBe and FIFe regulations and statutes.

The present Statute shall enter into force from the date of approval by the Members General Assembly.

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ANNEX 1