General Rules
date of issue: 01.01.2008
CHAPTER I - NAME – DURATION – SEAT – PURPOSE
ARTICLE 1.1
The name of FIFe (logo) must appear on catalogues, pedigrees and certificates.
CHAPTER II - ADMISSION – RESIGNATION – EXPULSION
ARTICLE 2.1
When accepting new FIFe members (clubs) it is required that the valid Statutes of such clubs to be accepted shall contain the phrase "it is not allowed to sell or to hand over cats with FIFe pedigrees to pet shops or similar organisations nor for any experimental research or testing. It is also not allowed for members of FIFe clubs to offer or trade cats or services, such as stud service, by auction or similar actions, be it on electronic or real events."
ARTICLE 2.2
FIFe member clubs which do not have the phrase "it is not allowed to sell or to hand over cats with FIFe pedigrees to pet shops or similar organisations nor for any experimental research or testing. It is also not allowed for members of FIFe clubs to offer or trade cats or services, such as stud service, by auction or similar actions, be it on electronic or real events." in their valid By-laws, shall be called upon to include this phrase in their Statutes in accordance with their national laws.
ARTICLE 2.3
Probational Members - An application for full membership can be requested at a maximum of three years after the approved status of "probational member" was granted. In addition to the conditions already required, the following requirements must have been complied with during the period of patronage:
- have maintained a correct register of various breeds;
- have run at least one international show annually, which was supervised by the FIFe and run according to its rules;
- deleted;
- have a sound financial basis to allow full membership. The financial books shall be checked by the FIFe Board in advance of the application.
- be willing to co-operate with or to include clubs with the same objectives.
ARTICLE 2.4
The responsibilities and rights of the Mentor to a Probational Member shall be as follows:
- The Mentor shall ensure that at all shows put on by the Probational Member during its period of patronage, at least one judge who is either a member of the Board or of the Judges or Show Commission shall officiate and that that judge should have the right to check all paperwork relevant to the show, if necessary by going to the place earlier than usual. This judge is then obliged to submit a detailed report on the show and any recommendations in this respect: the report will be sent to the Show Commission, the Mentor and to the FIFe Board.
- The Mentor shall oversee the activities of the Patronage member and where necessary shall intervene and advise.
- If it becomes necessary for the Mentor to visit the country of the Patronage member in to give advice, the responsibility for the costs of this visit shall be clarified in advance.
- The Mentor shall provide a written report on the Probational member to the General Assembly each year. This report shall be submitted 60 days before the General Assembly to the General Secretary and shall be sent to all members together with the Agenda of the General Assembly.
- The Mentor shall be willing to assist a Probational member to put on a seminar for all members of the Probational member.
- The Mentor has the right to withdraw its Mentorship if it is not satisfied with the development of the Probational member. The Mentor must announce this at the General Assembly and give the reasons for its withdrawal.
ARTICLE 2.5
A member of FIFe may, upon recommendation of the FIFe board, accept as members individuals from other countries no matter if there is a FIFe member in the country or not.
ARTICLE 2.6
When Member’s statutes are submitted, such documents must be originals or certified copies.
CHAPTER III - ADMINISTRATION
ARTICLE 3.1
The FIFe President and the Chairman of the FIFe Commissions must convene their members for each meeting and allow the following periods of notice:
- FIFe Board 30 days
- Disciplinary Commission 30 days
- Judges Commission 21 days
- Show Commission 14 days
- Other Commissions 14 days
ARTICLE 3.2
All official documents and rules, i.e. the complete Standards, Rules for Stewards, Student Judges and Judges, Show Rules, EMS list of colour varieties and breeds, list of addresses of judges and FIFe Members and Commission members, the complete Repertory of all questions for the judge's examinations, etc. shall be provided on electronic media - diskettes by the FIFe, or its authorized Commissions, working groups or persons, in all three FIFe languages, to each FIFe Member on request and free of charge.
ARTICLE 3.3
- All written letters including faxes or e-mails and/or Minutes, from the Board of FIFe may be in English.
- Communications to the FIFe Board may be in any one of the three official languages.
- The rules pertaining to language for examinations and judges reports shall remain unchanged.
- The General Assembly shall be held in the three official languages and shall be served by instantaneous translators. Proposals for the General Assembly shall be submitted in the three official languages.
- Breed standards shall be issued in the three official languages.
CHAPTER IV - THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
ARTICLE 4.1
At the General Assembly the FIFe Board members may express their opinions on all proposals of the FIFe members.
ARTICLE 4.2
The minutes of the General Assembly must be sent to the members within 4 months of the General Assembly. The minutes must also give information where each decision has been placed in Statutes or Rules.
The minutes of the FIFe Annual General Meeting contain all motions that have been submitted with the agreed wording irrespective of whether the motion was adopted or rejected. There will be no discussion about the motions unless this is expressly requested by the party that submitted the motion.
The Minutes of the General Assembly will be made available in French, German and English.
This Rule is effective from 28.05.2004.
ARTICLE 4.3
The Controllers of the Minutes for the General Assembly must complete their check and advise the General Secretary within three weeks of receiving the Minutes.
ARTICLE 4.4
The amendments made by Commissions to rules, standards and other official documents, must be at the General Secretary's office 10 weeks after the General Assembly.
ARTICLE 4.5
The expenses for the hire of a Committee room or rooms for the General Assembly, as well as the expenses for the simultaneous translators shall be borne by the FIFe. The organisation of the General Assembly is the responsibility of the FIFe.
ARTICLE 4.6
Each member may submit a maximum of three (3) proposals per year to the General Assembly.
ARTICLE 4.7
Proposals that were rejected or voted against may only be presented after 2 years have passed.
ARTICLE 4.8
It is not allowed to change the contents of a proposal before, during or at the General Assembly. The proposal can only be reformulated if the sense remains the same, or if the translation in a language (English, German, or French) is not correct.
ARTICLE 4.9
All items to be placed on the Agenda of the General Assembly have to be addressed in writing to all members in the 3 FIFe languages (French, German and English).
The Annual Reports are to be made available at the beginning of the General Assembly.
The following items shall be sent to the members in advance:
- Proposals from the Board and the Commissions
- Proposals from the members
- Balance sheets
- Budget
- Candidates for the various positions on the Board and in the Commissions
- Applications for membership.
ARTICLE 4.10
The Board has the right to correct any mistakes in language or typing errors which may have occurred in proposals that are accepted at the General Assembly before such proposals are included in the Statutes or Rules for publication. All such corrections shall be submitted to the Chairman of the relevant commission for approval before publication.
ARTICLE 4.11
The General Assembly shall take place each year on the last Thursday and Friday in May. The Judges Seminar shall take place on the Saturday.
ARTICLE 4.12
It is strongly recommended that all delegates or their designated representatives should attend the open meetings of the Commissions.
CHAPTER V - THE EXECUTIVE BOARD
ARTICLE 5.1
After each meeting the FIFe Board must send the Minutes of the Board Meeting to the FIFe members within 60 days of that Meeting.
ARTICLE 5.2
It is a privilege of the FIFe Board to appoint honorary judges. Any member may propose a judge they consider to be worthy of this honour.
The years of service to the FIFe as a judge and in any other capacity shall be taken into account in making a decision the Board shall consult with the Judges Commission.
A judge who has been made an ‘honorary judge’ may if he wishes remain active and the relevant notations shall be made against their names on the official Judges List.
CHAPTER VI - COMMISSIONS
ARTICLE 6.1
The Commissions must send their Minutes and Reports by registered mail or by email with confirmation of receipt to the FIFe General Secretary within 90 days following the General Assembly.
ARTICLE 6.2
The Commissions shall send Minutes of their Meetings to the Board within one month of the Meeting in at least one FIFe language; these Minutes will then be circulated to the Members.
CHAPTER VII - AUDITORS
CHAPTER VIII - DISCIPLINARY POWERS
ARTICLE 8.1
In the case of a disciplinary proceeding against a FIFe member, or a member of a FIFe member, the member or the person charged is to be informed immediately upon the arrival of the complaint; this shall be done in writing by registered post or by email with confirmation of receipt and, above all, in good time and with all relevant documents to allow the member or person concerned to prepare all documentation necessary to present their own case in answer to the charge.
CHAPTER IX - FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF THE FIFe
CHAPTER X - ACCOUNTS AND BUDGET
ARTICLE 10.1 (Deleted)
CHAPTER XI - MODIFICATION OF THE STATUTES
ARTICLE 11.1
All Statutes and Rules, amendments and additions, accepted by the FIFe General Assembly, shall come into force on the 1st of January of the following year.
ARTICLE 11.2
All changes to rules and standards shall be written in italics and marked with a line on the side of the page
ARTICLE 11.3
When an article in the FIFe Statutes or Rules is deleted, the text shall be replaced by the word "deleted" and the following articles retain their original number. New articles shall be allotted new numbers.
CHAPTER XII - DISSOLUTION OF THE FEDERATION
CHAPTER XIII - MISCELLANEOUS
ARTICLE 13.1
FIFe will not recognize or accept any new breeds resulting from a mating between a domestic cat (felis catus) to a wild cat species or from a mating between a domestic cat (felis catus) to a hybrid cat (F1 – F4) out of a crossing with a wild cat species.
These breeds will not be allowed to be shown at any show or event organized by a FIFe member.
