Minutes of the FIFe General Assembly 2007
Albufiera, Portugal, 24th and 25th May, 2007
21 Proposals
Attention! For all proposals, unless indicated otherwise the following is valid:
Additions: in bold and italics - Deletions: crossed out,
Moved text: in italics only - Existing text: in normal print
21a. Proposals regarding the Statutes
The President gave the floor to the General Secretary: he would chair the meeting during Agenda item 21. He pointed out that in order to be carried, all these proposals needed to be carried with a qualifying (3/4) majority, at present 24 votes. There were proposals to change the Statutes from
- the Board
- Mundikat
- FFH
- ZFDS and they would be dealt with in this order.
from the Board
Mr. Reijers started to explain proposal 1, which had been amended.
Proposal 1 - Change of Statutes - Chapter II, art. 2.6: rewording and addition
“Members of the FIFe undertake not to allow their members to:
- take part, directly or indirectly in shows organised by non-FIFe associations which are not affiliated to the FIFe; exceptions with respect to participation at shows are listed in article 8.2 of the Show Rules.
- take part, directly or indirectly in other events organised by non-FIFe associations
- to be actively involved in non-FIFe associations as a functionary or as a judge.
Special exceptions may be granted by the Executive Board of FIFe.”
He gave the floor to Mrs. Friškovec, the Secretary of the JSC, who stated that all 5 Members had been in favour during the vote at the Open Commission meetings.
There were a few speakers and the proposal was carried with 31 yes to 1 no vote.
Mr. Reijers then went on to explain Proposal nr. 2, which was only a correction.
Proposal 2 - Change of Statutes - Chapter II, art. 2.7: rewording and addition
“Members of the FIFe may only admit as members of their clubs:
- those individuals domiciled in their countries
- those individuals, who are temporarily living outside their countries of domicile
- individuals who are living in a country where there is no FIFe Member
- individuals who have taken up a new residence abroad, provided however that there is no FIFe Member in the new country of residence
An exception to the above is listed in article 2.5 of the General Rules.”
There were no speakers. The proposal was carried with 30 yes to 2 no votes.
Mr. Reijers then went on to Proposal nr. 3, which was also only a correction.
Proposal 3 - Change of Statutes - Chapters IV, VI and VII, 4.2, 6.1 and 7.1:
To replace in the Statutes, in article 4.2, the word “appoint” by ”elect”, and in articles 6.1, and 7.1 the word “appointed” by ”elected”
There were no speakers. The proposal was carried unanimously.
Mr. Reijers then went on to explain Proposal nr. 4.
Proposal 4 Change of Statutes - Chapter V, art. 5.5: deletion
Delete the last paragraph:
“The Chairman of each Commission and other individual functionaries must present their budget to the Board in advance and they must be responsible for the amount they receive and will account for it annually.”
During the Open Commission meetings, all Commissions had voted on this proposal. All had been unanimously in favour. There were no speakers and the proposal was carried unanimously.
Mr. Reijers then went on to explain Proposal nr. 5.
Proposal 5 Change of Statutes - Chapters V and VI, art. 5.1 and 6.1: deletion
Delete in articles 5.1 and 6.1 the words “Articles 4.4 and 4.5 are applicable”.
There were no speakers. The proposal was carried with 30 yes to 1 no votes and 1 abstention.
Mr. Reijers then went on to explain Proposal nr. 6.
Proposal 6 - Change of Statutes - Chapter VI, art. 6.2 (6.2.1 and 6.2.5): addition
- “be responsible for the relevant Rules in the Breeding and Registration Rules”
The floor was given to Mr. Grytvik for the LO Commission. He said that during the Open Commission meeting, they were unanimously in favour, and Mrs. Knez stated the same for the H&W Commission. There were no speakers. The proposal was carried with 31 yes to 1 no vote.
Mr. Reijers then went on to explain the last Proposal of the Board on the Statutes, nr. 7:
Proposal 7 - Change of Statutes - Chapter VII, art. 7.1: change from 2 to 3 years
“Two auditors and two assistants ……. for a period of two three years, shall…..”
There were no speakers. The proposal was carried with 31 yes to 1 no vote.
from from Mundikat
The General Secretary gave the floor to the Dutch Mundikat delegate, Mrs. van de Wijngaart, President of Mundikat, to explain their first proposal.
Proposal 1 - Change of Statutes, article 4.5
“A majority of votes at the General Assembly can be reached in the following ways, in all cases it is based on a majority of those members who are present or represented:
a) Absolute majority - the candidate or proposal achieves more than half the votes cast representing a majority of the economy of the FIFe. The absolute majority should represent at least 65 % of the economy of the FIFe. If the required percentage representing FIFe’s economy is not reached the proposal cannot be adopted.
To ensure that the members representing a large part of FIFe’s economy cannot block decisions, there will have to be a blocking minority of at least four members. Otherwise, the qualified majority will be met even if the required percentage was not reached.
b) qualified or 3/4 majority - which is required in cases of admission, expulsion, and modification of the Statutes. Decisions of the General Assembly are only valid and binding when confirmed by an absolute double majority of those members who are present and represented. In the case of electing functionaries and providing there is more than one candidate, from the fourth round of voting onwards a simple majority is sufficient.
The members of the General Assembly shall vote by a show of hands; if requested by a member, voting shall be conducted by secret ballot.”
On behalf of the Board and referring to Chapter XI, article 11.1 of the Statutes, the General Secretary stated that so often one could hear “that the Rules must be respected” but everyone
chose which rules for their own convenience. Also article 11.1 was a rule and had not been practised by various Boards since many years. This Board had taken good notice of this article and this Board felt that when it discovered a mistake, it should make a correction and not continue with the mistake. After all, “to err is human”. He continued to say that the Board had discussed this proposal. Similar proposals suggesting changes to the voting procedures had been forwarded over the past years, even by the Board. Overall, the Board had some problems to comprehend how this current proposal should and could be implemented. Moreover, the Board could only not understand how the secret voting could be maintained. However, the Board understood the need of many members to change the voting procedure.
There were many speakers and a lengthy discussion. The proposal was not carried with 8 yes to 24 no votes.
from FFH
Mr. Reijers gave the floor to the Swiss delegate, Mr. Wittich, President of FFH.
Proposal 1 - Change of Statutes, Chapter 6, Commissions, article 6.1
Addition at the end of the article:
“In the event that one or more positions in a FIFe-Commission become vacant (resignation, retirement, inability to perform work, or in the case they pass away etc.) replacements must be elected for the duration of the period of office at the following FIFe General Assembly. The Board will inform the Members of any such vacancies in the invitation for the General Assembly (art. 4.7).
Candidates for such vacancies must be sent to the General Secretary sixty (60) days before the General Assembly. The names of these candidates will be listed in the agenda. Only candidates listed in the Agenda may stand for election.”
On behalf of the Board and with respect of Chapter XI, article 11.1, the General Secretary stated that the Board was very grateful to FFH for this proposal, which, as was shown last year at the General Assembly, really needed addressing. In the opinion of the Board, this proposal was a good and much needed one.
During the Open Commission meetings, all Commissions discussed and voted on this proposal: and were unanimously in favour. There were a few other speakers and the proposal was carried unanimously.
The GA adjourned at 18:00 and reconvened on Friday 25th May 2007 at 09:00
The General Secretary reconvened the Assembly at 09:05. He announced that proposal nr. 1 of ZFDS, here below had been withdrawn, and so was proposal nr. 2 of the Judges & Standard Commission. The proposal of ZFDS was:
from ZFDS
Proposal 1 – Change of Statutes, Chapter VI - Commissions, article 6.2
“The Judges & Standard Commission …
To split into two commissions: 2. Standard Commission and 3. JSC
2. Standard Commission shall be responsible for:
- studying the admission of new breeds and the establishment of their the standards;
- modifying the standards of recognised breeds;
- co-operation with other Commissions on similar matters;
The commission shall consist of six (6) three (3) members, all 4 categories to be represented:
- one (1) int. judge for category I, or II, or both, or all round, preferably an active breeder
- one (1) int. judge for category III, or IV, or both, or all round, preferably an active breeder
- one (1) international judge for category I, or II, or III, or IV or all round judge
Fluency in, or good knowledge of, at least 2 FIFe languages is preferred.
3. Judges Commission shall be responsible for:
- maintaining the Rules for Judges, Student Judges and Stewards;
- a training programme for student judges and the further education of existing judges;
- co-operating with the admission of new breeds;
- co-operation with other Commissions on similar matters;
The commission shall consist of three (3) members:
- one (1) international judge for category I, or II, or both, or all round judge
- one (1) international judge for category III, or IV, or both, or all round judge
- one (1) international judge for category I, or II, or III, or IV or all round judge
Fluency in, or good knowledge of, at least 2 FIFe languages is preferred.”
21b. Proposals regarding the General Rules
The General Secretary pointed out that from now on, only an absolute majority sufficed in order for proposals to be carried, at present a minimum of 17 votes.
There were proposals from
- the Board
- 1.DEKZV e.V, and they would be dealt with in this order.
The General Secretary presented proposal 8 of the Board, to change the General Rules.
from the Board
Proposal 8 – Change to the General Rules, article 4.11 - date of General Assembly
“The General Assembly shall take place each year on the last or last but oneThursday and Friday in May. The exact dates of the General Assemblies will be agreed for a period of 5 years in advance. The Judges Seminar shall take place on the Saturday following the General Assembly.”
After some discussion, the proposal was withdrawn.
from 1. DEKZV eV.from 1. DEKZV eV.
The General Secretary stated that the Board had been informed that this proposal and the second one were to be additions to the General Rules, although strictly speaking this should have been indicated beforehand.
He then gave the floor to the German delegate, Mrs. Seele, President of 1.DEKZV eV. to explain their proposals.
Proposal no. 2 – Addition to General Rules, new article
“FIFe shall establish in the internal Section of the FIFe homepage which can only be entered by its members via password a list showing the names of the persons which have been expelled by the FIFe member. Listing shall include Name – Nationality - Address - Cattery Name - Name of Breed, which the person is breeding. Date and reason for expelling that member (it must be clearly stated what the exact reason was, i.e. cruelty to animals, health reasons, fraud – false pedigrees, etc.). The FIFe member is obliged to report its expelled members in due time, at the latest 4 weeks after the member has been expelled, to the FIFe secretary.”
Mr. Reijers gave the floor to Mr. Sagurski, who explained that there were serious problems in publishing such personal information on the Internet.
Mr. Reijers said that the Board had asked the Disciplinary Commission for their opinion, and Mr. Lindberg, Chairman of that Commission explained to the Assembly that they had reservations about this proposal. Mr. Lindberg asked 1.DEKZV e.V. to give this proposal as a task to the DC and let them investigate if such a proposal would be feasible. Mr. Reijers said the Board also had problems with the practicalities. He stated that if the National FIFe Members would strictly follow the new procedure to change Membership, problems, such as painted by Mrs. Seele, could never occur. He explained the new procedure to change Membership to the delegates. Mr. Wirth suggested that it would still be possible for individuals to change for example to TICA and then after a while request to be allowed membership in another FIFe member, and that SVERAK had asked the Board this question.
Mr. Reijers answered and repeated that if the new procedure was followed to the letter no problems could exist. He also stated that those FIFe Members who simply accepted foreign nationals as their individual members were themselves responsible for the failing of a system
which otherwise was waterproof. Because also when an individual indicated that they had never been a member of a FIFe member, the Secretariat would check this with the Member concerned. Mr. Wirth thanked him, and stated that this was exactly the answer that SVERAK had wanted to get. Mrs. van de Wijngaart agreed and requested this matter to be minuted in this protocol.
The proposal was withdrawn and given to the DC for consideration for the next Assembly.
For the next proposal of 1.DEKZV eV, Mr. Reijers gave the floor to Mrs. Seele, who said that it had already been stated during the Open Commission meetings to withdraw this proposal.
Proposal 3 – Addition to General Rules, new article
“Cat clubs can only be member of a FIFe member in the country where they have been officially registered. FIFe shows of clubs must be registered and applied for through the national member.”
The General Secretary continued with the next section of the Agenda.
