REGULATIONS for SIGNIS-ASIA
(as of February 25, 2014)
Article 1. NAME
The name of the Association is SIGNIS-ASIA (Asian Catholic Association of Social Communicators).SIGNIS-ASIA is established in accordance with the SIGNIS Statutes, Article 6.1, as one of the six regional groups. It includes all National Associations of SIGNIS in Asia.
Article 2. SECRETARIAT
SIGNIS-ASIA as of now does not have a permanent residing office; rather its secretariat coincides with the address of the officer who takes up the post of the Secretary to SIGNIS-ASIA.
Article 3. OBJECTIVES
SIGNIS-ASIA is a regional Catholic Association of groups and individuals in Asia. Engaged in communication and media mission in Asia, and inspired by the teachings of Jesus Christ, they have their goal the promotion of the personal, social and cultural life of each human being and their the community. Apart from this, they work to promote and to fulfil the ideal and objectives of SIGNIS (cf. SIGNIS Statutes Art. 3.2)
Article 4. MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES
4.1 SIGNIS-ASIA includes two types of membership, members and associates(including Institution and Individual associates).
4.1.1. Only National Associations of SIGNIS in Asia are eligible to be members of SIGNIS-ASIA, with voting rights.
4.1.2.Institutions from Asian countries or regions can be associates of SIGNIS-ASIA, without voting rights. They may represent groups involved in new communication technologies, universities, media, Bishops’ commissions on media, etc.
4.1.3Individual membership is offered to media experts, academics, professionals, practitioners, and research students in Asia, who uphold the SIGNIS spirit. These are individual associate, and they do not have voting rights.
4.2 SIGNIS-ASIA reserves the right to admit members. New members are admitted by the SIGNIS-ASIA Assembly on the recommendation of the Board of SIGNIS-ASIA.
4.3. Other stipulations related to membership of SIGNIS-ASIA (admission, termination, annual fees, etc.) are in conformity with the SIGNIS Statutes (Art.4).
4.4 Members are entitled to request financial supports from SIGNIS for media projects. Associates should make their requests through respective national members.
Article 5. REGIONAL STRUCTURES: (i) The Asian Assembly
5.1 The Asian Assembly (i.e. SIGNIS’ Regional Assembly of Asia) is the highest authority of SIGNIS-ASIA. It has full power. All members have the right to vote. The right to vote may be exercised in person or through ‘proxy’. A member cannot have more than one proxy vote from another absent member. All matters related to constitutional changes are reserved to the exclusive competence of the Asian Assembly. In these cases, a two third majority of members present.
5.2 The Asian Assembly is composed of all the members of SIGNIS-ASIA mentioned in article 4.1 above.
5.3 The members of SIGNIS-ASIA are geographically grouped into three sub-regions, i.e. South Asia, South East Asia, and East Asia. (When possible), each sub-regional group should meet every other year in between the Asian Assemblies. The sub-regional groups are accountable to the Board of SIGNIS-ASIA. (cf. 6.3 below)
5.4 An extraordinary Assembly may be called by the President or by the Board or upon therequest in writing of one third of the members. The request should indicate to the President (with copies to the Secretary) the points that they wish to put on the agenda.
5.5 The resolutions of the Asian Assembly are noted in a register book signed by the President and the Secretary of SIGNIS-ASIA. This book is kept by the Secretary and is to be available to the members.
5.6 The Asian Assembly will elect, every four years, the six Regional Delegates to represent SIGNIS-ASIA at SIGNIS’ Assembly of the Delegates (cf.SIGNIS Statues Art.6.2). Three of these Delegates should hold the office of President, Vice President and the Secretary to SIGNIS-Asia. They should be elected by the voting members by an absolute majority of votes at a distinct Ballot. Other three delegates are elected through a relative majority of votes.(In order for the composition of members of the SIGNIS Asia Board to represent all three sub-regions, election of the six delegates to the SAB should include at least one representative from each sub-region. )
5.7 Agendas for the Asian Assembly are normally drafted and proposed by the Board. However, proposals from any member of SIGNIS-ASIA with the written support of three other members of the region, and notified to the Secretary in writing one month before the Asian Assembly, must be included on the agenda.
Article 6. REGIONAL STRUCTURES: (ii) The Board
6.1 SIGNIS-ASIA is managed by a Board composed of the six Regional Delegates elected by the Asian Assembly to represent SIGNIS-ASIA at the SIGNIS’ Assembly of the Delegates (cf. SIGNIS Statutes Art. 6.2, and above 5.7). The Delegates must be members of a National Association and their candidacy nominated by any member of SIGNIS-ASIA.
6.1.1. (Members of the SIGNIS Asia Board and Screening Committee shall be resident in their respective countries during their term of office.
6.1.2. If an SAB or SC member transfers and resides in another country for a duration that impedes his or her proper discharge of obligations and responsibilities, that member shall resign from his/her office, and the position filled in by the stand-in.
6.1.3. The sub-regional representation (Clause 5.6.) shall be taken into account in fulfilling the above clause.
6.1.4. A person proposing a name and a person accepting nomination for election MUST ensure that the annual fee/subscription of both their countries has been paid at least till the year previous to the election year.)
6.2 The term for each member of the Board is four years. They can be re-elected for one consecutive term. No matter he/she serves as a board member or a member of screening committee, he/she should be classified as an office’s bearer.
6.3 The President officially represents the Board as well as SIGNIS-ASIA, and is the Chairperson, ex officio, to the Asian Assembly and the Board. The Vice-President represents the President at the Assembly and the Board in her/his absence. The President may request one of the Board members, ex officio or ex tempore, as her/his deputy at meetings of various levels.
6.4 The Secretary maintains a functional secretariat for SIGNIS-ASIA, keeping minutes and records, taking care of documents and publications, both web-based and in print, related to SIGNIS-ASIA. S/he keeps contact with SIGNIS-WORLD and with each and every member of SIGNIS-ASIA. S/he also develops and maintains adequate public relations with other organisations.
6.5 The Treasurer is responsible for keeping accounts, preparing financial reports and budgets, and supervising financial proceedings from related commissions and committees on behalf of the Board. However, the treasurer’s role is strictly to follow the decision and directive of the board in the disbursement of funds.
6.6 With the endorsement from the Asian Assembly, the Board may form commissions (e.g. Commission for Common Projects) with respective coordinator. And all these commissions and committees are accountable to the Board; the Board in turn should supervise and monitor the progress of each and every commission.
6.7 The Board meets at least once every year. The necessary quorum is FOUR members. Each absent board member can give a proxy but each Board member can hold a maximum of one proxy vote on behalf of an absent Board member. The President has a casting vote.
6.8 The Board meets on convocation of the President. Emergency meetings of the Board may be called upon the request of at least three Board members.
6.9 The decisions of the Board are kept in a record book signed by the President and the Secretary. The Secretary keeps it at the disposal of the members of SIGNIS-ASIA.
6.10 The Board has all power to manage and administrate SIGNIS-ASIA in accordance with the Statutes of SIGNIS and the Regulations of SIGNIS-ASIA.
6.11 Except when special powers are delegated, all the acts of the Board that commit SIGNIS-ASIA, must be signed by two members of the Board who do not have to justify their powers to third parties.
6.12 Should any of the Board members withdraw or leaves her/his office, the Board should immediately fill up the vacancy by calling in the stand-in Delegate. The Stand-in can also be called by the president to attend the Assembly of Delegates in the place of a member who cannot attend for valid reasons.
6.13 A member of the Board can lose her/his mandate by a decision of the Asian Assembly taken with a two-third majority of the present delegates.
6.14 The mandate of the Board members is on a voluntary basis and without remuneration.
6.15 Taking in consideration the cost of the least expensive fare available, all Board members may request travel subsidies when they attend the Asian Assembly and the Board meeting. The Board in accordance with the funding available from SIGNIS will determine each member’s subsidy for each event.
6.16 The Board must be notified whenever the President makes ‘official’ visits to member countries; other members of the Board must seek approval from the Board.
Article 7. REGIONAL STRUCTURES: (iii) Committees & Commissions
7.1 With the endorsement of the Asian Assembly, the Board can form commissions or committees to serve various purposes. In practice, these commissions and committees are accountable to the Board.
7.2. The Screening Committee will serve to assist the Board and the Assembly to decide upon funding projects. The formation of the Screening Committee varies in accordance with practices of different funding agencies. In any case, the Board should be well represented in each Screening Committee.
7.3 The Screening Committee of three members is designated to work for SIGNIS in assessing funding requests by its members for projects which meet the criteria set by SIGNIS. The Asian assembly will elect by simple majority 2 experienced persons who are experts and have reasonable knowledge in the areas for which funding is requested. The incumbent Secretary of SIGNIS-Asia by virtue of his position will be the third member of this committee. He will also chair the Screening Committee deliberations. The world level Secretary General by virtue of his/her position has the right to be present and join in the deliberations without voting rights. The members of the Screening Committee will serve for a period of four years.
7.4 The current Screening Committee will follow instructions and criteria laid down by Propaganda Fidei and SIGNIS and SIGNIS-ASIA. These will continue to be updated and made known to all members of SIGNIS-ASIA.
7.5 In all voting procedures, the principle of impartiality should be maintained. A Committee member may stay during the discussion of her/his country’s proposal, but s/he must refrain from voting.
7.6 The resolutions of the Screening Committee in 7.3 should be approved and adopted by the Asian Assembly or, in the event that the Asian Assembly is not being convened, by the Board of SIGNIS-ASIA.
Article 8. AMENDMENT OF THE REGULATIONS
8.1 This Regulations of SIGNIS-ASIA can be amended only by the Asian Assembly.
8.2. Any proposal to amend the Regulations must come from the Board or from at least three members of SIGNIS-ASIA.
8.3. Where there is a proposal to amend the Regulations, the Board must bring this proposal to the attention of all members of SIGNIS-ASIA, at least three months before the date of the Asian Assembly that will vote on the proposal.
8.4.At least two third of all members must be present or represented at this Asian Assembly to validly deliberate any amendment to the Regulations.
8.5. However, if fewer than two third of the eligible voters are present or represented at this Asian Assembly, another Assembly will be called following the same conditions stipulated above, and this Assembly will definitely and validly decide on the proposal to amend the Regulations regardless of the number of eligible voters present or represented.
Article 9. DISSOLUTION & LEGAL REFERENCES
As SIGNIS-ASIA remains a regional group of SIGNIS, any proposal to dissolve SIGNIS-ASIA must come from the General Assembly of SIGNIS or from at least one third of all the members of SIGNIS. The Statutes and By-Laws that govern SIGNIS in this regard and in other legal references should be effective and operative for SIGNIS-ASIA.
TRANSITORY DISPOSALS
To avoid confusion and anarchy, it is proposed that the Board should present the Regulations to the Asian Assembly in Manila, September 2002. Hopefully, these should be passed and accepted, tentatively, for at least TWO years. Any substantial amendments are to be proposed and discussed before the next Asian Assembly in 2004. In the meantime, members should adopt the Regulations together with the SIGNIS Statutes.
This Draft was approved by the Asian Assembly of SIGNIS-ASIA on September 14th 2002 in Manila. It was also presented to SIGNIS-WORLD later in the same year. Subsequently, it was promulgated to all members and associates of SIGNIS-ASIA as the interim Regulations for SIGNIS-ASIA until the next Asian Assembly. Voting members include delegates from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
The above Regulation was amended by the Asian Assembly in KL, Malaysia on October 9th 2004. Voting members include delegates from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
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The above Regulation was amended by the Asian Assembly in Rome, Italy on February 25th 2014. Voting members include delegates from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Timor Leste and Thailand.