Source: https://www.hmei.org/articles-of-association/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 14:01:06+00:00

Document:
Art. 1 Under the name ”Association of Hydro-Meteorological Equipment Industry (HMEI)” is established as an association with registered seat in Geneva, Switzerland in accordance with Articles 60 to 79 of the Swiss Civil Code.
advance the meteorological and hydrological science world -wide.
Art. 3 Within the legal framework set by the applicable provisions of the Swiss Civil Code, the Association may carry out any action relating directly or indirectly, wholly or in part, to its objectives or which may develop or facilitate the achievement of such objectives.
Art. 4 The funds of the Association may be obtained from contributions from members, grants, revenue from its assets, sums received in return for services provided by the Association, and any other resources authorized by the legislative and regulatory instruments.
10. Dissolution of the Association.
Art. 7 General Assemblies shall be held at such times and places as the Council shall determine.
Ordinary General Assembly meetings shall be held if the Council determines that the necessary corporate action cannot be taken by way of a written resolution.At least thirty (30) days before the due date, the members of the Association shall be given notice of the meeting by the Executive Secretary. An agenda and supporting documents shall be included with the calling notice.
The Council may upon substantiated written request of at least one fifth (20%) of the members, specifying at least the issue on which a resolution shall be passed and a respective proposal, convene an extraordinary General Assembly meeting, or initiate the proceedings for a written resolution. A minimum of fifteen (15) days notice shall be given for an extraordinary meeting. An agenda and supporting documents shall be included with the calling notice.
Only matters included on the agenda shall be considered at meetings of the General Assembly.
Non—member organizations in the meteorological and hydrological field may be invited to attend meetings of the General Assembly.
Art. 8 The General Assembly Chairman, who is elected by the General Assembly, shall preside over the General Assembly meeting and put forward the matters of relevance to the Association in accordance with the agenda. He shall appoint the Secretary of the meeting and the Scrutineers.
Art.9 The General Assembly passes resolutions and proceeds to elections in accordance with the proceedings stipulated in the Rules of Procedure.
Unless it is determined by the Council that a resolution should be adopted in a General Assembly meeting, resolutions of the General Assembly are generally adopted by way of written resolution. Unless expressly otherwise provided for, such written resolutions are passed by the simple majority of the votes cast.
Art. 10 In the absence of any provision to the contrary in the law, these Articles of Association or the Rules of Procedure, General Assembly meetings shall pass resolutions and proceed to elections by a simple majority of the votes cast. In the event of a tie vote, the vote of the Chairman of the General Assembly shall decide.
Art. 11 Within the limits set by these Articles of Association, the General Assembly shall adopt Rules of Procedure which establish the details of the administration and operation of the Association not provided in these Articles of Association.
Resolutions taken by the General Assembly in accordance with these Articles of Association or the Rules of Procedure shall be binding for all members.
Art. 12 The Council shall consist of minimum eight (8) to maximum twenty (20) Councilors, not counting the Executive Secretary who shall be a non—voting member of the Council ex-officio.
North America and one fourth the rest of the world.
If there is not a sufficient number of nominated candidates from one area or several areas for the purpose of applying the aforesaid distribution, the General Assembly shall be free to elect any nominated candidates to fill such vacant memberships.
The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council shall be appointed by the General Assembly. The Rules of Procedure shall make further provisions for the Council’s appointment procedures and composition, as well as rules of operation,including voting procedure and required quorum.
Art. 13 In general, the Council shall determine the general policy and make decisions on the strategy and the management of the Association.
Subject to the authority and direction of the General Assembly and subject to whatever power and responsibility may be delegated to another body, the Council may act on behalf of the Association with respect to all matters not specifically reserved to the General Assembly.
8. shall determine and collect the membership contributions, in accordance with the applicable provisions of these Articles of Association, the Rules of Procedure and their annexes.
Art. 15 All current members of the Association shall have reasonable access to substantial documents of the Council, which may have an impact on members’rights and duties, upon written request. In particular, the Council may restrict the access rights regarding documents which relate to one member’s trade secrets and confidential information, which have been provided to the Council under a non—disclosure agreement or where the disclosure might violate the privacy rights of a member or a third party.
All current members of the Association shall have the right to submit views and petitions to the Council.
All current members of the Association shall have the right to appeal to the General Assembly against any decision taken by the Council within 30 days after taking notice of such decision or within 90 days after the decision has been taken, whatever comes first, provided that such decision might bear upon such a members rights under these Articles of Association or the Rules of Procedure.
Art. 16 Special Committees may be established by the Council for defined tasks.
The Council shall determine the terms, the composition and the duration of the Special Committees.
Art. 17 The Secretariat shall provide logistical support to, and assist the operation of, the Association.
Art. 18 The Council shall have the power to appoint and dismiss the Executive Secretary. He shall be ex—officio non—voting member of the General Assembly and the Council.
The Executive Secretary shall be the legal representative of the Association. Subject to the Council’s power of revocation, he shall hold chief executive authority to manage and administer the affairs of the Association in all matters, apart from those which are expressly reserved for the General Assembly or the Council in these Articles of Association and the Rules of Procedure.
Art. 19 The Council shall appoint auditors, which shall be independent from the Council and the Secretariat. It shall determine the annual remuneration of the auditors. The tenure of the Auditors shall be one (1) year, subject to re—appointment.
The Auditors shall examine whether the bookkeeping and the previous year’s annual accounts comply with the law and these Articles of Association.
The Council delivers to the Auditors all required documents and provides him with the necessary information, upon request in writing.
The Auditors reports in written form shall present the result of his audit to the General Assembly, with a recommendation of approval (with or without qualiﬁcations) or rejection of the annual accounts.
Art. 20 Subject to these Articles of Association, any company developing, manufacturing, marketing and/or selling hydrological and/or meteorological hardware, software, systems and/or providing related support services (including installment, educational services, and forecasting services) shall be eligible for full membership.
Companies or organizations that are not primary manufacturers or producers of hydro-meteorological equipment, software, or systems but are closely related to the provision or support of such equipment shall be eligible for associate membership.
Any questions or disputes concerning eligibility for membership, or designation of the most appropriate class, shall be resolved by the Membership Committee.
Art. 21 Applicants have to submit their application for admission to the Association to the Council. The Council has full discretion to admit new members or to reject applications for convenience, with or without cause. There is no means of appeal against a rejection of an application for admission.
Art. 22 Members shall commit to comply with the letter and the spirit of the provisions of these Articles of Association and the Rules of Procedure and other decisions rightfully taken by the General Assembly. A member shall use reasonable efforts to further the interests of the Association.
A full member has the right to vote in written resolutions and meetings of the General Assembly. If appointed by the competent body, a full member may also attend Special Committees and other bodies established within the Association, with the respective rights of such appointment.
Art. 23 Each member shall pay such annual contribution defined in the Rules of Procedure as shall be determined by the Council, subject to confirmation by the General Assembly.
Membership contributions shall be due prior to the beginning of the calendar year for existing members, or prior to the start of all services for new members, as invoiced by the Secretariat office.
Art. 24 Membership may be terminated by dissolution of the Association or, resignation or expulsion of a member.
A member can resign at any time, by written notice to the Executive Secretary. Such resignation will neither affect a member’s obligation to pay due membership fees from previous years nor its obligation to pay the membership fee for the current financial year.
Expulsion may be resolved by the Council for non—payment of contributions or for other substantial breaches of obligations of a member.
Art. 25 In the event of the voluntary dissolution of the Association, the General Assembly which had decided the dissolution shall at the same time fix the terms of liquidation.
The liquidation shall be carried out by the Council, unless the General Assembly has appointed one or more liquidators (hereinafter collectively “liquidators”).
Upon assuming office, the liquidators shall prepare an opening balance sheet. The liquidators shall wind up the current business, liquidate the assets, collect outstanding debts and fulfill the commitments of the association. Obligees have to be notified and requested by publication in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce to file their claims.
Upon satisfaction of all its liabilities, the net assets of the dissolved association shall be distributed according to a resolution of the General Assembly.
After the liquidation has been accomplished, the Council shall notify the Commercial Register that the association has been dissolved, provided that the association has been registered with the Commercial Register.
Art. 26 The financial year of the Association shall commence on 1st January and end on 31 December.
Art. 27 An evaluation of the activities of the Association, including a review of the Articles of Association and the Rules of Procedure, should be made at regular intervals. In preparation for this, the Executive Secretary shall present a report on the activities of the Association to the Council.
Art. 28 The working language of the Associations shall be English. All the Association’s documents, reports and deliverables shall be in English language. If a document has to be filed with the competent authorities, the Executive Secretary shall have the document translated into the required official language.
Art. 29 In the event of a dispute arising between members or the members and a body of the Association, the members concerned will use all means to endeavor to solve the dispute by internal conciliation with the help of other members.
If conciliation is unsuccessful, any legal dispute arising in connection with the activities of the Association shall be dealt with under Swiss law unless the parties concerned agree otherwise.
Register and shall be authorized to take all the necessary actions in connection therewith.
Art. 31 The Chairman of the Council, the Vlce—Chairman of the Council and the Executive Secretary shall each alone be authorised to sign for the Association.
Art. 32 These Articles of Association entered into force as of the day of their adoption by the constituting General Assembly of the Association of Hydro—Meteorological Equipment Industry (HMEI), held in Madrid, Spain, on 28-Sep-2016.

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