§1 Name

1. The name of the Association is

‘International Association for Research on Pottery of the Hellenistic Period (IARPotHP) e.V.’

2. The seat of the Association is Würzburg, Germany.

3. The Association is politically, ethnically and religiously neutral.

§2 Purpose and non-profit making

1. The Association “International Association for Research on Pottery of the Hellenistic Period e. V. “, based in Wurzburg pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes according to the “tax-privileged purposes” of the tax code.

Purpose of the Association is to promote the research on the pottery of the Hellenistic period as well as on wares of the preceding and succeeding periods.
This Association’s purpose is to be achieved in particular by:

a) the Organisation of conferences and publication of the presented papers;
b) the publication of relevant scientific studies, including dissertations;
c) facilitating contacts between scientists and institutions to further the dissemination of knowledge of pottery of the Hellenistic period;
d) representating the interests of all scientists who study Hellenistic pottery;
e) establishing a communication forum such as a website.

2. The Association is acting unselfishly and does not pursue its own economic purposes.

3. Association funds may only be used for purposes following the present constitution. The members receive no benefits from the Association.

4. No person can be favored through expenditures alien to the aims of the Association or through disproportionately high remuneration.

5. The Association’s offices are honorary positions.

6. If necessary, Association’s offices can be reimbursed according to the budgetary possibilities of the Association on the basis of a contract or by an appropriate compensation.

7. The decision to reward Association’s activities under paragraph 6 is taken by the Board. The same applies to the content and the termination of the contract.

8. The Board is empowered to authorize activities for the Association under payment of a reasonable compensation or an expense allowance. Desicive is the budgetary position of the Association.

9. Moreover, the members of the Association are entitled of a claim for reimbursement according to § 670 BGB for such expenses that incurred through the activities for the Association. These include in particular transport and travel costs, postage, telephone, etc. Refunds are granted only if the expenses are justified by supporting auditable documents and statements.

10. The board can set by resolution according to the tax law options the maximum amounts of reimbursement of expenses under § 670 BGB.

§3 Members

 Members of the Association may be:

a) natural persons,
b) legal persons.

§4 Acquisition of membership

1. A member of the Association shall be any natural or legal person committed to the purpose of the Association.

2. Application for admission to the Association must be submitted in writing to the board.

3. The board decides at its discretion on the acceptance of a member. There cannot be a claim for admission.

§5 Termination of membership

Membership will end in the event of one of the following conditions:

a) the death of the member;
b) voluntary resignation;
c) deletion from the member’s record;
d) expulsion from the Association;
e) if the member is a legal entity, by its dissolution.

2. A member may withdraw from the Association by providing a written request to the Board. As membership is annual, such withdrawals are possible only at the end of a calendar year. Withdrawal requests must be made at least three months in advance. A retired member shall have no claim against the assets of the Association.

3. A member may be deleted from the membership by resolution of the Board if, after two reminders for payment, he or she still has not paid the annual contribution. Removal of membership shall be communicated to the member in writing.

4. A member may be excluded from the Association by decision of the General Assembly, if he or she has violated or otherwise damaged the Association’s interests. Before any such exclusion is considered the member will have the opportunity to justify him or herself. The written statement of the person concerned shall be read aloud at the meeting.

§6 Member Assessments

1. Members must make an annual contribution fixed by the Board.

2. The contribution must be paid in advance of the respective calendar year. For purposes of convenience the payment period will extend to January 15th of the year in question.

3. Honorary members are exempt from the annual contribution.

4. Students, unemployed persons and persons on low incomes will be allowed to make a reduced contribution.

§7 Organs of the Association

Organs of the Association are

a) the Board
b) the General Assembly

§8 The Board

1. The Board consists according to § 26 BGB of seven persons, including four officers and three ordinary members. The four officers are:

a) the Chairperson
b) the Secretary
c) the Treasurer
d) the Editor

2. The board is elected by the General Assembly and shall remain in office until the next General Assembly with the exception of §9.6.

3. No Board member shall hold the same function on the Board more than twice.

4.There shall be no more than two persons of the same nationality on the Board simultaneously.

5. At least one of the regular members of the Board shall be a doctoral candidate in the field of the pottery of the Hellenistic period or of wares of the preceding or succeeding periods.

6. The duties of a Board member expire by death, expulsion from the Association, impeachment or written resignation.

7. If a member of the Board leaves office during his/her elected term, a substitute from among the Association’s members shall be selected by the Board for the remaining term of the resigned member. The same applies in the case of the resignation of the auditor and the trusted person.

§9 Powers of the Board

1. The board is responsible for all matters that are not reserved by this Constitution to other organs. It has the following main tasks:

a) the management of ongoing business for the Association;
b) the implementation of resolutions of the General Assembly;
c) the preparation of decisions incumbent on the General Assembly, particularly the preparation of an annual activity report and financial statements as well as the budget;
d) convening and chairing the General Assembly.

2. Duties of and relations between the officers shall be as follows:

a) The Chairperson shall oversee all ongoing business of the Association and represent the Association externally. He/she may convene a board meeting. He/she heads the board meetings as well as the meetings of the General Assembly and submits the annual report of the Board to the General Assembly.

b) The Secretary shall assist the president in the exercise of that office’s function and can represent him/her during his/her absence. He/she shall take the minutes at board meetings and meetings of the General Assembly. He/she shall review and distribute the newsletter of the Association and extend necessary assistance in organizing conferences or other events of the Association. He/She shall compile and distribute a list of names and addresses of all members, and update this list annually.

c) The Treasurer shall manage the finances of the Association and prepare the annual financial report and the budget for the General Assembly. He/she shall ensure the collection of contributions.

d) The Editor is responsible for overseeing the production of all publications of the Association.

3. The Board shall take its decisions, in general, at board meetings, which will be convened in writing by the president or by a two-thirds majority of its members. In each case, a notice period of three days is to be observed. A notification of the agenda is not required.

4. A resolution shall be considered decided if a majority of the Board’s members vote in its favor.

5. The board meeting passes in the absence of the chairman, another functionaries of the Board in the hierarchy of b) to d), according to § 8.1. The decisions of the Board are as evidence to be documented and signed by the chairperson. A board resolution can be passed on via email or other written electronic address as well as by telephone or via Skype.

6. The Board may decide the impeachment of a board member, if the member is delinquent or has violated the Association’s interests. The decision of the board together with its explanation must be communicated no later than one week after its taking to each member in writing addressed to the last email or other digital address given by the member in writing to the Association. The decision of the board applies if two thirds of all members of the Association do not raise a written objection to the Board no later than two weeks after receipt of the communication. This deadline begins on the day following the sending of the communication.

§10 The General Assembly

The General Assembly is in particular responsible for the following:

a) election and dismissal of members of the Board,
b) election and dismissal of an auditor, who will audit the accounts prepared by the Treasurer and submit a report to the General Assembly,
c) election and dismissal of the trusted person,
d) reception of the annual report of the Board and the report of the auditor,
e) discharge of the Board for the previous financial period,
f) determination of the amount and the maturity of the annuity,
g) resolution on the amendment of the constitution and the dissolution of the Association with the exception of § 19.4,
h) appointment of honorary members.

§11 The convening of the General Assembly

The General Assembly will meet in the context of international conferences every two to three years. The Assembly meeting will be convened by the Board at least four weeks in advance by written notice stating the Agenda of the meeting. The invitation to a member shall be considered as received if it was addressed to the last email or other digital address given by the member in writing. The agenda shall be set by the Board. Members may submit proposals for the agenda in writing no later than two months before the General Assembly to one of the officers of the Board.

§12 The resolution of the General Assembly

1. The General Assembly is to be led by the president of the Board and, in his/her absence by another officer under the hierarchy of § 8. 1.

2. In the General Assembly, each member – including also an honorary member – represents one vote.

3. Any duly convened General Assembly shall be considered a quorum regardless of the number of members present.

4. All decisions shall be taken by simple majority of valid votes cast. Abstentions are therefore not considered. To change the statutes (including the Association’s purpose) and dissolve the Association, a minimum of three quarters of the votes validly cast shall be required.

5. For the election of candidates: if on the first ballot no candidate has reached a simple majority of the valid votes, a runoff election shall be held between the two candidates with the highest numbers of votes.

6. The decisions of the General Assembly are authenticated by minutes to be signed by the Chairperson and the Secretary of the Board. In the absence of the Secretary, the minutes will be taken by another member of the Association determined by the chairman. The minutes have to include the time and place of the meeting, the name of the Chairperson and the minutes’ recorder, the number of present members, the agenda, the decisions, as well as the results of the election and the nature of the vote.

7. The election concerning personnel issues must be carried out in writing and secretly under the supervision of two campaign workers specified by the General Assembly. For all other matters the vote will be done by show of hands.

8. The General Assembly is not public. The chairman may allow guests. The approval of the press, radio and television is to be decided by the General Assembly.

§13 Subsequent to the agenda

1. Any member may submit a written request to the Board at least two weeks before the date of a General Assembly for to request that further matters be placed on the agenda. The Chairman of the Assembly has then to complete the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.

2. For additions to the agenda during a meeting of the General Assembly, the Assembly itself shall decide. To accept the petition, at least three-quarters of the votes validly cast is required. Constitutional amendments, the dissolution of the Association and the election and removal of Board members can only be decided if the requests were announced to members in advance with the agenda.

§14 Extraordinary General Meetings

1. The Board may convene an extraordinary General Meeting at any time. It must be convened when the interest of the Association requires it or when such a meeting is required in writing to the Board by a tenth of all members stating the purpose and reasons. For the extraordinary General Meeting the § § 10, 11, 12 and 13 are valid accordingly.

2. Extraordinary General meetings may be performed by the Board at any time in writing, by post, email or other electronic addresses, when there is need for a members’ voting in the interest of the Association. For the vote a period of two weeks must be considered. Votes during Extraordinary General Meetings performed in writing must be sent in writing exclusively to the Secretary of the Association. He/she must count the votes together with two other officers of the Board, and create a corresponding protocol.

3. Votes of Extraordinary General Meetings performed in writing may also be gathered in an online portal especially created for this purpose.

§15 Representation of the Association

1. Any officer can represent the Association in and out of court. Each officer can represent the Association separately. Internally, the following applies: The Treasurer is allowed to transfer amounts higher than 300 euros from the Associations’s account only after consultation with the other Board members.

2. Each officer has right of signature. All documents concerning the Association must be signed by two officers.

§16 Treasory management

1. The resources needed to achieve the Association’s purposes are derived in particular from contributions and donations. Association funds may be used for statutory purposes only.

2. The Board shall keep the record of financial transactions in accordance with § 9. 2c and § 10d and create an annual financial statement.

§17 Publications

1. Papers presented during the congresses organized by the Association shall be published in a short time, preferably before the next Congress.

2. The Association can also undertake the printing of relevant scientific papers including dissertations on Hellenistic pottery.

3. The editing of texts for the acts of the Congresses shall be the responsibility of the Editor of the Board. He/she shall also recommend to the Board and subsequently the General Assembly the admission or rejection of a publication with reasoned arguments.

4. The Association will collect and provide to its members electronically the annual releases on Hellenistic pottery. During the General Assemblies this task will be handed over to members of different countries. For gathering this information the Editor of the Board is responsible.

§18 Language

The language in which these statutes are written and accepted is German. Furthermore, if doubts or conflicts arise in the future between the German version and other translations of these Articles, the German text will prevail.

§19 Amendment of the Constitution

1. Amendment of the Constitution can only be decided by the General Assembly if it is supported by a three quarters of the votes validly cast. Prerequisite for such a decision is the presence of at least a tenth of all members. In convening, the indication of the changing sections of the statute shall be announced in the agenda.

2. A change in the statutes may also be voted in writing (mail, email) if it is approved by two-thirds of the members who have responded in writing within two months after receiving the proposed amendment.

3. The announcement of the amendment must be communicated to all members within six months.

4. A charter amendment on grounds of administrative (tax office, for example) or legal stipulations (such as requirements, conditions) may be decided by the Board.

§20 Dissolution of the Association and seizure of authority

1. The dissolution of the Association can only be decided in a General Assembly convened especially for this purpose with three-quarters majority of the votes cast. If the meeting does not constitute a quorum, it will be reconvened on a new date two months after the first session. This Assembly is then a quorum independently of the number of present or represented members.

2. With the dissolution of the Association or loss of tax-exempt purposes, the assets of the Association fall to a legal entity under public law (e.g. museum) or other tax-exempt corporation pursuing the promotion of the research on Hellenistic ceramics.

3. Unless the Assembly decides otherwise, the officers of the Board are the authorized liquidators. The above rules apply also in the event that the Association is dissolved or loses its legal capacity because of other reasons.

§21 Compliance and assurance of good scientific practice

1. The members agree to comply with and to ensure good scientific practice in accordance with the recommendations of the German Research Foundation, DFG, as well as other international research organizations.

2. Cases of scientific misconduct should be reported to a trusted person specially appointed for this purpose. The person of trust must not be a member of the Board and should be an experienced scientist of great integrity. The person of trust is elected by the members for a term of two years at the General Assembly of the Association.

3. Members who are not following the recommendations of good scientific practice act against the interests of IARPotHP and will be excluded from the Association according to §5.4 of the constitution.

§22 Protection of Cultural Property

1. The members of the Association agree to comply with the UNESCO-Convention of 1970 and the UNIDROIT-Convention of 1995. They agree to avoid to convey any purchase of antiquities, to give oral or written expertise to collectors and dealers of antiquities, to recommend or to represent dealers of antiquities. In dealing with the art trade utmost restraint is advised.

2. Members who violate this policy, damage the image and the reputation of IARPotHP e.V. and will be excluded from the Association in accordance with § 5.4.

Athens, November 13th, 2019

The General Assembly of IARPotHP e.V.