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By-laws of the Science Council of Asia (SCA)
Memberships, General Assembly, Management Board, Finance and Amendment
Founding membership
| 1. | The SCA shall have 10 founding member countries, namely China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. |
| 2. | Each founding member country shall nominate no more than two eligible organizations as founding member organizations of the SCA. At least one of the organizations shall be a government/public sector organization. |
| 3. | Each founding member country shall nominate two representatives from the founding member organization(s) to serve as members of the pro tem General Assembly. |
| 4. | Each founding member country shall nominate one of their representatives in the pro tem General Assembly to serve as a member of the pro tem Management Board. |
| 5. | The chairperson of the Asian Conference on Scientific Cooperation (ACSC) shall preside over the first meeting of the pro tem General Assembly to elect from the pro tem Management Board the following officers: a pro tem President, a pro tem Vice President/President-Elect and a pro tem Secretary General/Treasurer. The pro tem President shall be from the host country of the first General Assembly and the pro tem Vice President/President-Elect shall be from the host country of the second General Assembly. The pro tem Secretary General/Treasurer shall be from Japan. The officers shall conduct the subsequent meetings of the pro tem Board and the pro tem General Assembly. |
| 6. | The pro tem General Assembly shall ratify by consensus of the members present the Statutes of the SCA and the By-laws proposed by the pro tem Management Board. After the approval, the pro tem General Assembly shall become the founding General Assembly, the pro tem Management Board shall become the founding Management Board and the officers shall become founding President, founding Vice President/President-Elect and founding Secretary General/Treasurer. |
| 7. | The founding General Assembly may approve by consensus of the members present additional eligible organization(s) which may be proposed by a founding member country. There shall be no more than 3 member organizations from each member country. |
| 8. | The founding Management Board and the founding President shall serve up to the end of the first General Assembly. The founding Vice President/President-Elect will become President at the end of the first General Assembly. The founding Secretary General/Treasurer will serve until membership fee is introduced into the finances of the SCA. |
Country membership
| 9. | A founding member country may nominate only one Asian country per year to an annual General Assembly for consideration to be admitted into the SCA. Prior to the consideration, each nomination must be seconded by another founding member country.. |
| 10. | A nominated country shall become a member country of the SCA after gaining consensus approval of the members present in the General Assembly. A new member country shall nominate its organizations and representatives to participate as members in the General Assembly and as a member of the Management Board according to the conditions stated in "Organization membership and General Assembly" and "Management Board". |
| 11. | The membership of a member country of the SCA shall cease after it is absent from three consecutive meetings of the General Assembly. If the SCA has 5 member countries or less, it shall be disbanded. |
| 12. | Renewal of country membership shall require the nomination and approval stated in Articles 9 and 10 above. |
Organization membership and General Assembly
| 13. | A member country shall propose no more than three eligible organizations, at least one of which shall be preferably a government/public sector organization, to the General Assembly for approval as member organizations which shall represent the member country in the General Assembly. |
| 14. | A member country shall nominate no more than three representatives, one of which must be a member of the Management Board, from its member organizations to serve as members of the General Assembly. More than one representative may be nominated from one organization. |
| 15. | If a member country terminates its membership of the SCA, all organizations of the country shall cease to be present in the General Assembly. |
| 16. | A member country may propose international, regional or national organizations of cultural, social and/or natural sciences and technology, who are interested in the SCA's activities, to the Management Board for approval as observers in the General Assembly. |
| 17. | The General Assembly shall make decision by consensus of members present. In election of members of the Management Board, each member country shall have one vote in the General Assembly. |
| 18. | The General Assembly shall meet once a year. Between meetings, the General Assembly shall carry out its functions by correspondence. |
Management Board
| 19. | A member country shall nominate one representative from its member organizations to serve as a member of the Management Board. The Management Board shall have no more than 15 members. |
| 20. | The General Assembly shall elect the members of the Management Board when the SCA has more than 15 member countries. |
Officers
| 21. | The officers consist of a President, a Vice President/President-Elect, a Secretary General/Treasurer, and an Immediate-Past President stated in the following clause. The President shall be the Management Board of the host country of the SCA annual General Assembly, and the Vice President/President-Elect shall be the Management Board member of the host country of the following SCA annual General Assembly. |
| 22. | The president upon completing his/her term shall continue to serve on the Management Board as an officer (the Immediate Past President) until the end of the next annual General Assembly. |
Terms
| 23. | The members of the Management Board, except the officers, shall normally serve a term of two years. Each term starts at the end of an annual General Assembly and spans two consecutive annual General Assemblies. The officers shall serve from the end of an annual General Assembly in which they are elected up to the end of next annual General Assembly. |
| 24. | In the event that a representative of a member country does not complete his/her term as a member of the Management Board, the member country shall provide a replacement. The replacement shall serve the remainder of the existing term. If the representative is serving as an officer, the replacement provided must be approved by the General Assembly within 60 days. |
| 25. | In the event that an officer does not complete his/her term as officer but remains as a member of the Management Board, the General Assembly shall elect another member of the Management Board to take his/her position within 60 days. The replacement shall serve the remainder of the existing term. |
| 26. | Until the replacement of an officer has been approved by the General Assembly, the President may ask a member of the Management Board to serve as an acting officer. If the position of President remains unfilled, the Vice President/President-Elect, the Immediate Past President or the Secretary General/Treasurer, in that order, shall serve as Acting President. If the position of the President and other officer(s) remains unfilled, the Acting President may invite member(s) of the Management Board to serve as acting officer(s). If all four positions are vacant, the oldest member of the Management Board shall become Acting President and may invite other members of the Management Board to be other acting officers. The acting officers shall serve up to the time new officers are approved by the General Assembly. |
Meeting guidelines
| 27. | A meeting of the General Assembly or the Management Board shall require the presence of at least half of the members. If less than half of the members attend a meeting, the chairperson's summary of the meeting shall be sent within 30 days to the absent members before any decision taken in the meeting shall be implemented. |
| 28. | Except in case of the annual General Assembly and annual Management Board meeting specified in the Statutes, all other business can be conducted by correspondence. In all meetings, decision will be made by consensus of the members present. Voting will be allowed as stated in Articles 17 and 20 above. |
Finance
| 29. | The member countries of the SCA shall begin paying membership fees in the year that it is decided to introduce membership fees into the finances of the SCA by the General Assembly. The Management Board shall propose the membership fee and the necessary amendment of the Statutes and the By-laws to an annual General Assembly one year in advance of the time the membership fee shall be introduced into the SCA. |
| 30. | The SCJ shall bear the costs of conference facilities and costs of receptions for holding the Assembly, meeting of the Board, and other committees nominated by the Board. Other costs (communication costs, printing costs, and personnel costs, etc.) shall be borne by Member(s) in the host country. Airfares, accommodation costs and meal costs for the participants shall be borne by the respective organizations to which the participants belong. |
| 31. | The expenses for the maintenance and operations of the Secretariat shall be borne by the SCJ. |
| 32. | The host country of the General Assembly shall accept donations from international, governmental, public or private donors. |
| 33. | The Secretary General/Treasurer shall submit an annual financial report on the income and expenditures from the membership fees to the annual General Assembly after the membership fee is approved by the General Assembly. |
Amendment of the Statutes and By-laws
| 34. | A member country or the Management Board, but not a member organization, may submit changes to the Statutes and the By-laws to the President 3 months prior to the next General Assembly. No changes may be made without the consensus approval of the annual General Assembly. |
Approved on May 14, 2000
Revised on May 9, 2001
Revised on May 13, 2002
Revised on May 13, 2003
Revised on May 13, 2004
Revised on June 16, 2009