Article 1. The name of the Association is: European Association for Forensic Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychology & other involved professions, known in short as: EFCAP.
Seat
Article 2. The Association has its seat at Amsterdam.
Objects
Article 3.1. The objects of the Association are:
– to improve the assessment and treatment of children and young people who find themselves in the justice system, as well as that of their families and carers;
– to provide facilities for and to facilitate joint international scientific research;
– to promote interdisciplinary training and interdisciplinary education;
– to exchange data obtained from research and to exchange practical experiences and innovative research and treatment methods;
– to gather information on and to contribute to national and European policy, in so far as this policy affects young people; and
– to raise awareness of the need for constant change in the criminal and civil justice systems, so as to provide as well as possible for the interests and the developmental requirements of children and young people;
all in the broadest sense;
3.2. The Association shall endeavour to achieve these objects inter alia by:
a. organizing meetings and seminars;
b. holding meetings on a regular basis;
c. promoting training and retraining and organizing training programmes;
d. promoting publications concerned with scientific research – including the publication of newsletters;
e. acting as a support network for the collection, exchange and dissemination of information and experience, and by acting as a forum for discussion; and
f. engaging all other resources which could promote the objects of the Association.
Financial resources
Article 4.1. The financial resources of the Association shall comprise:
a. membership fees;
b. gifts, bequests and legacies;
c. donations;
d. subsidies;
e. all other income and revenues.
4.2. Legacies may only be accepted without liability for debts beyond the assets bequeathed.
4.3. Management of the financial resources of the Association shall be the responsibility of the Executive Board of the Association as referred to in Article 10 of this Constitution.
Members
Article 5.1. The Association shall be made up of:
a. members; and
b. honorary members.
5.2. Application for membership shall be made in writing to the Board, who shall decide within three months whether to accord membership.
5.3. An applicant whose application for membership has been rejected shall have the right to make an appeal by submitting his appeal in writing to the General Assembly within one month of his having been informed of the decision in question – stating the invocation of his right to make an appeal.
5.4. Membership shall be non-transferable.
5.5. Anyone aged eighteen years or older may become an member if he/she meets the following criterion: they work in that part of the justice, health care, social welfare and education system dealing with young people who have come into contact with the law, or who work in adjacent fields of activity.
5.6. Honorary members shall be appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Board.
5.7 National EFCAPs have the authority to admit national member to the EFCAP.
Termination of membership
Article 6.1. Membership shall terminate:
a. upon the death of a member; transfer by virtue of inheritance shall not be permitted;
b. by the member giving notice of termination;
c. by the Association giving notice of termination. This may be the case when a member has ceased to meet the criteria for membership set out in the Constitution, when the member fails to discharge his/her obligations to the Association, for example by non-payment of his membership fee for a period of thirteen weeks, as well as any other circumstance in which the Association cannot reasonably be expected to allow the membership to endure. At the discretion of the Board, a member debarred for non-payment of his membership fee may be readmitted if the membership fee due is subsequently paid;
d. upon expulsion. This action may only be taken if a member acts in contravention of the Constitution, standing rules or resolutions of the Association, or acts unreasonably and in some way detrimental to the Association.
6.2. Notice of termination by a member should be given in writing at least four weeks prior to the end of the corporate year of the association. A member may also terminate his membership with immediate effect when he cannot be reasonably expected to allow his membership to endure. Termination with immediate effect because of changes in the financial rights or obligations of the members shall not be possible.
6.3. Termination or expulsion by the Association shall be ordered by the Board, who shall inform the member at their earliest convenience of the reasons for the corresponding decision, at the same time stating the date on which the termination or expulsion shall take effect.
After being given notice, the member shall have one month to make an appeal to the General Assembly; this right of appeal must be stated in the notice.
For the duration of the appeal and pending the appeal, the member shall be suspended.
6.4. The Board shall be entitled to suspend a member at any time if there is cause to terminate a member’s membership or to expel him. Any suspension that endures for three months and is not followed by a resolution to effect termination or expulsion shall become invalid by the lapse of time.
Membership fee
Article 7.1. Members shall be obliged to pay an annual membership fee, the level of which shall be set by the General Assembly.
The General Assembly shall also have the authority to set a one-off initial membership charge.
7.2. When membership begins or terminates during the course of a corporate year of the association, the annual membership fee shall nevertheless be due and payable for the whole of that year.
Board
Article 8.1. The Association shall have a Board, made up of an uneven number of Board Members never numbering less than three, or as many more as the General Assembly shall appoint. In so far as possible, the Board shall be made up of members from various gender, disciplines, job types and countries (2 members per country at max).
8.2. the Board Members shall be appointed by the General Assembly from amongst the members.
8.3. The Board or members may make non-binding nominations of candidates for the appointment of Board Members.
8.4. The Board shall inform the members of its nomination no less that fourteen days prior to the General Assembly at which the election of Board Members is to be held. The names of opposing candidates may be submitted in writing to the Secretary until the beginning of the meeting, accompanied by a written declaration of willingness from the opposing candidate concerned.
8.5. The appointment of a Board Member shall endure for four yearsRe-election is possible.
8.6. When a casual vacancy has occurred, the new Board Member shall be appointed by the next General Assembly from among the members of the Association.
8.7. The Board may be supplemented by a lawyer as legal advisor.
Termination of Board membership, suspension
Article 9.1. A Board Member may be suspended or removed by the General Assembly at any time. Any suspension which is not followed by a resolution to dismiss the member in question within three months shall end on expiry of that period. A Board Member may be suspended by the Board for compelling reasons pending a resolution of the next General Assembly.
9.2. Membership of the Board shall also terminate:
a. upon termination of membership of the Association;
b. upon a Member’s retirement from the Board;
c. when a Member is not re-elected because of an elected opposing candidate.
Executive Board and Committees
Article 10.1. The Board shall elect from amongst its members a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer, who together constitute the Executive Board.
10.2. The Executive Board shall be charged with the daily running of the Association and with the implementation of the resolutions of the Board.
10.3. The Executive Board shall be entitled to form Committees. A Committee shall comprise at least one Board Member and its role shall be to supervise and to perform duties which the Board may deem, can better be carried out by a smaller body, such as a Committee.
10.4. A Committee shall be obliged to report to the Board on all its activities and working methods.
Powers of the Board
Article 11.1. The Board shall be entitled to perform all legal acts, including decisions to enter into contracts as referred to in Section 44 of Book 2 of the Netherlands Civil Code.
11.2. If any of the positions on the Board remain vacant, the Board shall nevertheless retain its powers. However, this shall not detract from the obligation of the Board to fill the vacancy.
Representation
Article 12. The Association shall be represented by the Board. Two Members of the Executive Board acting jointly shall also have the authority to represent the Association.
General Assembly
Article 13.1. The Board shall convene a General Assembly once every two years, or when it is obliged to do so by virtue of the law of the Constitution of the Association. The minimum number of Members whose participation is required at the General Assembly is either of the two options below, whichever is the higher:
– one tenth of the number of members of the Association at the time the meeting is held; and
– twenty-five members of the Association.
13.2. The Board shall also be obliged to convene a General Assembly if it receives a written request to that effect form such a number of members as is entitled to cast one tenth of the votes at the General Assembly, which meeting must be held no later than six months after the request was submitted. The request should also state the purpose of the General Assembly. If the request has not been complied with within two months, the requesters may themselves convene the General Assembly in the same way the Board convenes the meeting.
13.3. The members shall be called to the meeting by notification in writing (letter or email) at least one month in advance, not counting the day of convocation or the day of the meeting itself. The convening notice shall also state the business to be transacted at the meeting.
13.4. Also on the agenda at the meeting referred to in Article 17 Paragraph 2 shall be:
a. elections of Board members;
b. the appointment of members of the committee referred to in Article 17 Paragraph 3;
c. the setting of the annual membership fee;
d. the appraisal and – if required – the amendment of the rules on membership fees.
Article 14.1. All members who have not been suspended shall be entitled to attend the General Assembly and each of these shall have one vote at that Meeting. A suspended member shall be entitled to attend the meeting in which a resolution is to be taken on his suspension, and shall be entitled to speak on this matter.
14.2. Honorary members are also entitled to attend the General Assembly but have no voting rights.
14.3. A member with the right to vote may give another member with the right to vote written (by letter or email) authorization to cast his vote on his behalf. The number of votes to be cast by one person shall be limited to two.
Article 15. Minutes of the General Assembly shall be kept by the Secretary or by some other person appointed for that purpose by the President. These minutes shall be approved at that meeting or at a subsequent General Assembly.
Article 16.1. The General Assembly shall be chaired by the President or by his substitute. In the permanent or temporary absence of the President and his substitute, one of the other Members of the Board, appointed by the Board, shall act as Chairman. If no Chairman is appointed in this way either, the meeting itself shall appoint a Chairman.
16.2. The opinion voiced by the President on the result of a vote at the General Assembly shall be final. The same shall apply to the substance of a resolution adopted in the case of a vote held on a motion which has not been proposed in writing.
16.3. However, if the accuracy of the opinion referred to in Paragraph 2 is disputed immediately after it has been voiced, a new vote shall be held if so demanded by either the majority of the meeting or, if the original vote was not held by roll call or ballot, by a person entitled to vote who is present at the meeting.
This new vote shall render the legal consequences of the original vote invalid.
Annual report
Article 17.1. The Board shall be obliged to keep records of the Association’s financial position such that its rights and obligations can be ascertained from these at all times.
17.2. At a General Assembly held no later than six months after the end of a corporate year of the association, save for extensions to this period by the General Assembly, the Board shall render an annual report on the state of affairs of the Association and on the policies pursued. It shall submit a balance sheet and a statement of income and expenditure along with explanatory notes to the meeting for approval. These documents shall be agreed by the Board Members; if the agreement of one or more of the Board Members is missing, this shall be noted and the reason for this shall be stated. Upon expire of the period, each member can take legal action against the joint Board Members to have it ordered that they fulfil these obligations.
17.3. Every two years, the General Assembly shall appoint from amongst the members a committee of at least two people who may not be Board Members. The committee shall examine the documents referred to in Paragraph 2 of this Article and shall report its findings to the General Assembly.
17.4. If the examination of the annual records requires specialist accounting knowledge, the examining committee may call on the assistance of a specialist. The Board shall be obliged to provide the examining committee with all the information it requires, to show it the petty cash and the assets, if so required, and to allow it to inspect the books and records kept by the Association.
17.5. The duties of the committee can be revoked by the General Assembly at any time, provided that another committee be appointed immediately.
17.6. All annual records of the Association may be audited by a specialist (either a “registeraccountant” [chartered accountant] or an “accountant-administratieconsultent” [certified accountant]) appointed by the General Assembly.
17.7. Adoption of the records referred to in Paragraph 2 of this Article by the General Assembly shall discharge the Board from its liability for the actions evidenced by those records.
17.8. The Board shall be obliged to keep the records referred to in Paragraphs 1 and 2 for at least ten years.
Passing of resolutions
Article 18.1. In so far as not otherwise provided for by the law or by the Constitution of the Association, all resolutions of the bodies of the Association shall be passed by an absolute majority of the votes cast. If no absolute majority has been achieved in votes on people, a second vote shall be held between the two people securing the highest number of votes.
18.2. Unless the meeting decides otherwise at the suggestion of the President, votes on people shall be held by a ballot and votes on matters other than people shall be held orally. “Blank votes” and votes cast invalidly shall be deemed not to have been cast. In the event of a tie in votes on people, a second vote shall be held. In the event of a tie a second time, the matter shall be decided by the drawing of lots.
Amendments to the Constitution and dissolution of the Association
Article 19.1. Resolutions to amend this Constitution or to dissolve the Association can only be passed by a majority of at least two thirds of the votes validly cast at a General Assembly where at least half of the members with voting rights are in participating or represented.
19.2. If the prescribed number of members are not participating or represented at this General Assembly, the resolution can be passed at a subsequent meeting, which must be held between two
and twelve months after the first meeting, by a majority of at least two thirds of the votes validly cast regardless of the number of members entitled to vote as participant or represented.
19.3. Those parties convening the General Assembly to discuss a motion to amend the Constitution on or to dissolve the Association must deposit a copy of that motion containing the verbatim text of the proposed amendment at a suitable place where it shall be open for inspection by the members from at least five days before the meeting until the end of the day on which the meeting is held.
19.4. The agenda of the General Assembly must state the motion to amend the Constitution or to dissolve the Association, as well as the place where the motion proposed is open for inspection by the members.
19.5. An amendment to the Constitution shall not take effect until the appropriate notarial deed containing the amendment has been executed. Each of the Board Members shall be entitled to order the execution of this deed, as shall any person authorized by the General Assembly, upon production of an extract from the minutes of the meeting.
Liquidation
Article 20.1. If the Association is dissolved, the Board shall be charged with its liquidation. The Constitution of the Association shall remain in force as far as possible while the liquidation is effected. Any documents or notices issued by the Association must bear the name of the Association, appended with the words: “in liquidatie” (in liquidation).
20.2. Any credit balance left after liquidation shall accrue to the members, unless the resolution to dissolve the Association stipulated for any credit to be allocated in a different way.
Corporate year of the Association
Article 21. The corporate year of the Association shall run from January to January.
Standing Rules
Article 22.1. On the recommendation of the Board, the General Assembly shall have the right to adopt or amend Standing Rules. Such Standing Rules may not contain any provisions that are in conflict with this Constitution or the law.
22.2. Resolutions to adopt or amend Standing Rules may only be passed by a majority of at least two thirds of the validly cast votes.
Registration as an association
Article 23.1. The Board shall be obliged to register the Association as such in the Register of Associations kept by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry within whose jurisdiction the Association has its seat, and to deposit a true copy of the deed or an authentic extract from the deed containing the Constitution at the office where the Register is kept.
23.2. The Board shall ensure that the said Register shall at all times keep an accurate record of the surnames, first names and addresses of the Board Members and any others entitled to represent the association.