Constitution of theSouth and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Culture and Religion(SSEASR)(as per the three revisions made on December 22, 2005, May 24, 2006 and July 03, 2011)

Article 1. Name and registrationi) The Association shall be named “South and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Culture andReligion”.
ii) In languages other than English it may be referred to informally by means of appropriate equivalents.
iii) The official acronym shall be SSEASR.
iv) The Association shall be legally registered at New Delhi. In the event of disputes arising concerningthese statutes and their application informal mediation shall be sought. In the event that attempts atmediation should fail, all disputes and legal actions which might arise, shall as a last resort, to the exclusionof all other official bodies and insofar as admissible by law, be adjudicated exclusively by the judge
entitled to adjudicate in the subject of dispute in the High Court of Delhi, Delhi, India.
Article 2. Affiliation
The South and Southeast Asian Association for the Study of Culture and Religion (hereafter SSEASR) isaffiliated to the International Association for the History of Religions (hereafter IAHR). Its organisation
and activities shall be developed in a manner consistent with the well-being of the IAHR and all otherassociations affiliated thereto.
Article 3. Objectivei) The objective of the SSEASR is to promote the academic study of religions through the international
collaboration of all scholars normally resident in South and Southeast Asia whose research has a bearing on
the subject. It would cover subjects such as (and not confined only to) history, linguistics, political science,
anthropology, sociology, literature, cultural studies, law, folklore, etc. Cross-cultural studies would also bepromoted to encourage better understanding among scholars.
ii) The objective of the SSEASR is to be pursued by the usual means of scholarly activity such as thearrangement of conferences, symposia or colloquia, the encouragement of scholarly publications, theexchange of information through electronic or other means, and such other activities as the association orits elected officers shall from time to time determine. The SSEASR would also disseminate such
scholarship by the publication of a journal, books and a newsletter.
iii) The SSEASR shall stand for creating a network of scholars in the region, and for that purpose, it shallcooperate with related agencies in the region of South and Southeast Asia to develop healthy academic
atmospheres. In recent times, Asian scholars have started to work “within” Asia, such trends would befurther promoted by the SSEASR among young Asian scholars who need exposure to the standard ofresearch being conducted at various competent academic institutions in the world.
Article 4. Membershipi)

Membership of the SSEASR shall be open to all students, researchers and others who share its
objective, and who are normally or occasionally resident in or have close academic ties with Southand Southeast Asia. Membership may take the form of individual membership or honorary
membership.

1ii) Applications for individual membership shall be addressed to the appropriate officer of the SSEASR,and the Committee (cf. Article 6) shall have the right to approve or reject such applications.
iii) The membership of any individual may be terminated by decision of the General Assembly for good andsufficient reason and after an opportunity for representations to the contrary has been extended.
iv) Individual members shall pay an annual subscription, the amount of which shall be determined from time
to time by the Committee. The rights and privileges of membership depend on payment of the membershipsubscription in advance for the membership period in question. Lapsed membership may be restored withreference to a subsequent membership period without further application.
v) Life Membership shall be valid for the life span of the Individual Member, and will not be transferrable
to the heir. If the Life Member does not participate in the SSEASR Conferences for three continuoussessions, his or her Membership would be terminated. However, he/she is eligible to take up membershipafresh.
vi) Honorary membership may be granted to individuals by the General Assembly in exceptional cases withthe same rights and privileges as ordinary individual membership.
Article 5. General Assemblyi) The governing body of the SSEASR shall be the General Assembly of its members, presided over by thePresident.
ii) The General Assembly shall be convened once every two years. The date may vary, taking account of theconference program which provides the context. The Committee shall convene an extraordinary General
Assembly at the request of a minimum of two thirds of the members. The minimum notice for an
extraordinary General Assembly shall be 30 days by postmark.
iii) The General Assembly shall be convened whenever possible in the context of an academic conference
organised by the SSEASR or by affiliated institutions. Except when held in the context of a quinquennial
World Congress of the IAHR, the General Assembly shall be convened in one of the countries of South andSoutheast Asia. During a year in which a quinquennial World Congress of the IAHR is held in a country
outside of South and Southeast Asia, the General Meeting of the SSEASR may be held in the context ofthat Congress, by decision of the Committee, but in such case no decisions shall be taken regarding changes
to the constitution or dissolution of the Association.
iv) Notice of a meeting of the General Assembly shall be given by the Secretary General. When notice isgiven not less than 90 days in advance of the General Assembly a widely available form of communicationsuch as a printed bulletin or an electronic medium is sufficient. If the period of notice is shorter, noticemust be sent to all members individually in writing. The minimum period of notice is 30 days by postmark.
Non-receipt of notice by one or more members shall not invalidate the decisions of the meeting.
v) The agenda for the meeting of the General Assembly shall be published in advance when the meeting iscalled. At the decision of the Committee, or if at least ten members in good standing submit thispreference in writing, any issue can be referred for decision to a postal and/or electronic ballot which shallbe conducted by the General Secretary. Proposals for additions to the agenda shall be sent to the General
Secretary not less than three weeks before the meeting. Any additional alterations to the agenda shallrequire a two thirds majority of those present.
vi) The minimum number of members required for a meeting of the General Assembly (quorum) shall betwenty, of whom at least seven shall be members of the current Committee. If the quorum is not achieved,
a further meeting shall be called at the earliest reasonable opportunity.

2vii) Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of those present at a meeting, except for the exceptions
stated below. In the case of simple majority votes, abstentions shall be recorded but are not counted as"no" votes. Additions to the published agenda shall require a two thirds majority of all those present.
Changes to the constitution or a motion to dissolve the Association shall also require a two thirds majority(cf. Articles 8 and 9).
viii) Specific rules of procedure may be adopted by the General Assembly itself. In the absence of suchrules concerning any procedural matters which arise or in the event of dispute concerning theirinterpretation during the course of a validly convened meeting, the decisions of the president on
procedural questions relating to the conduct of the meeting in question is final. The General Assembly may
at the same meeting appoint a procedures committee to consider rules of procedure in detail and makerecommendations to a future meeting of the General Assembly.
Article 6. Committee and officersi) The business of the SSEASR shall be conducted by a Committee consisting of designated officers who
shall be elected by all the members as well as one representative from each country.
ii) The following shall be elected to designated offices: a President, two Vice-Presidents, a SecretaryGeneral, a Deputy Secretary General, a Treasurer, a Deputy Treasurer, a Membership Secretary, aPublications and/or Internet Officer. The Committee may assign additional functions to its members on anad hoc basis. The conduct of elections and the periods of office are determined in Article 7.
iii) The SSEASR may be represented formally by any of the designated officers in accordance with their
specified function or as otherwise delegated by the President or by decision of the Committee. The votingrights on the International Committee of the IAHR will be assumed by the President and the Secretary
General or other delegated committee members, taking account of the rules of the IAHR.
iv) The President, the Secretary General and the Treasurer shall present an oral or written report at eachmeeting of the General Assembly. The President in office conducts the General Assembly of the SSEASR(cf. Article 5) and the meetings of the Committee. These functions may be delegated by the President orin the event of serious illness or similar incapacitation by the Committee, to one of the Vice-Presidents.
The Secretary General may also be represented by the Deputy Secretary General.
v) The Committee shall meet not less than once annually. The meeting is called by the Secretary Generalwith the agreement of the President. A meeting of the Committee requires written notice of not less than
30 days, the attendance of the President or one of the two Vice-Presidents and at least three othermembers. Decisions are to be reached as far as possible by consensus and if necessary by simple majority
vote. Abstentions may be recorded but do not count as "no" votes.
vi) Specific rules of procedure may be adopted by the Committee itself. In the absence of such rules
concerning any procedural matters which arise or in the event of dispute concerning their interpretation
during the course of a validly convened meeting, the decisions of the President on procedural questions
relating to the conduct of the meeting in question is final. The Committee may at the same meeting appointa procedures committee to consider rules of procedure in detail and make recommendations to a future
meeting of the Committee.
Article 7. Electionsi) The members of the Committee shall be elected for a period of four calendar years running fromJanuary 1st. A member may be re-elected, except that no member shall serve in the same office for morethan three consequent terms, and no member shall be elected for a position in the Committee total of morethan five terms with or without intervening periods. The same terms apply to delegated members.

3ii) The elections shall be conducted by postal ballot. In cases where a candidate is unopposed there should
be no postal ballot. Responsibility for the conduct of the elections lies with the Committee. More specificrules for the conduct of the elections may be laid down by the General Assembly, provided always thatthey are consistent with these statutes.
iii) The right to vote is strictly limited to individuals with valid current membership as registered at theappropriate time with the Membership Secretary of the SSEASR (cf. article 4).
Article 8. Amendmentsi) Amendments to this constitution may be made by two thirds majority of the General Assembly. Details ofproposed amendments must be given to the members in advance and not later than the notice for theconvening of the General Assembly (cf. Article 5, iv). Amendments shall come into force immediately after
the conclusion of the meeting at which they are carried.
Article 9. Dissolutioni).The SSEASR can be dissolved only at the recommendation of the Committee and by decision of theGeneral Assembly for which a two thirds majority is required. In the event of dissolution such assets asremain after the settling of all liabilities shall be transferred to the IAHR if in existence or to such otherbody as has the closest affinity to the objective of the SSEASR (cf. Article 3).
This constitution is the result of the corrections automatically made by January 1, 2006, inaccordance with the enabling measure of archival article 10, now preserved archivally. The correction
furthermore was confirmed and established by the General Assembly in New Delhi on May 24, 2006.

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