User:Brendan/PPI Overhaul

= Principles =


 * 1) This section is to be reviewed by 1 July, 2016.

= Objective =


 * 1) To promote and foster cooperation between Pirate Parties, and other interested organisations, internationally.

= Definitions =

TODO!


 * Majority
 * Absolute majority
 * Two-thirds majority
 * Absolute two-thirds majority
 * Regulation
 * Motion
 * Terms of reference
 * Rules of procedure
 * Designated voting period

= Articles =

General

 * 1) The organisation shall be known as Pirate Parties International, with the abbreviation PPI.
 * 2) The formal language of the organisation shall be English.
 * 3) The organisation's financial year shall begin on 1 July and end on 30 June the following year.

Structure

 * 1) PPI shall be comprised of a Steering Committee made up of appointed delegates of each Ordinary Member.
 * 2) A Financial Committee shall deal with all issues relating to finances, and each Ordinary Member may appoint a member to this committee.
 * 3) The appointed delegates of the Steering Committee may appoint by a chosen procedure a number of delegates to the Administrative Board to oversee the day-to-day administration activities of PPI.
 * 4) The Steering Committee may create further structures as it sees fit for the functioning of PPI and its goals.
 * 5) Any Ordinary Member may create a committee for specific issues or discussions by providing a Terms of Reference to the Administrative Board.
 * 6) All organs of PPI must meet the relevant requirements and responsibilities set forth by these statutes.

Membership

 * 1) Membership is considered to have begun on July 1 of the current financial year.
 * 2) The Steering Committee will make a determination by two-thirds majority vote regarding the acceptance of applications for the following types of membership:
 * 3) Ordinary Membership
 * 4) Observer Membership
 * 5) All members agree to respect these statutes, the organs of PPI, and their procedures and regulations.

Ordinary Membership

 * 1) To be eligible for ordinary membership, the applicant organisation must:
 * 2) contain the inflection of &quot;Pirate&quot; in the name of their organisation (unless legally impossible), and
 * 3) be democratic in structure and function.
 * 4) There may only be one ordinary member per UN member state. For those sovereign states not recognised by the UN or where the status of an applicant is otherwise disputed by no less than 10% of the Steering Committee, eligibility will be determined by two-thirds majority vote of the Steering Committee.
 * 5) All ordinary members are granted one vote in the Steering Committee.

Observer Membership

 * 1) The criteria for observer membership is not restricted.
 * 2) Observer membership grants the member the right to:
 * 3) Appoint delegates to committees where the Rules of Procedure do not preclude their membership,
 * 4) Submit motions to the Steering Committee for consideration, and
 * 5) Any other rights granted by decision of the Steering Committee.

Changes in membership status

 * 1) A member organisation may resign at any time by formal email to the Administrative Board.
 * 2) A member organisation may opt to apply for a change in status by motion to the Steering Committee.
 * 3) A member organisation that resigns is obliged to pay any outstanding financial obligations to PPI, except for outstanding affiliation fees.
 * 4) The membership of a member organisation automatically terminates upon dissolution, disqualification, liquidation or in cases of temporary administration, court-ordered settlement or insolvency.

Affiliation Fees

 * 1) The Steering Committee may opt to require fees for membership.
 * 2) Any changes to membership fees will only apply from the beginning of the next financial year.
 * 3) Membership fees are due thirty (30) days after the beginning of the financial year.
 * 4) Failure to pay fees on time will result in all enumerated rights of the member being automatically suspended until said fees are paid.
 * 5) Failure to pay fees after twelve (12) months will result in the member being automatically expelled from PPI.

Membership Register

 * 1) All members of PPI are required to provide, at a minimum, up to date information regarding:
 * 2) The name of the member in both English and its native language or languages,
 * 3) An always available contact email address that is not linked to an individual,
 * 4) The contact information of each delegate appointed to committees of the organisation,
 * 5) Membership numbers of their organisation, and
 * 6) A general description of the organisational structure of the organisation (such as administrative and executive organs),
 * 7) This information must always be public in the interests of transparency and accountability, but parts may be withheld in circumstances where it would put the delegate or organisation in danger of legal issues or at risk of violence.
 * 8) It is the responsibility of each member to ensure their membership profile is kept up to date.

Meetings

 * 1) Formal meetings are considered to be any arrangement on any medium where discussion and consideration of issues is considered to have taken place as per the terms of reference for the committee.
 * 2) All formal meetings of all organs of PPI shall be public unless the Rules of Procedure determine otherwise, or a two-thirds majority vote is undertaken for part of a meeting to be undertaken in camera.
 * 3) All formal meetings must be accessible to all members equitably, with a preference for online meetings where possible.
 * 4) Any formal meetings of a committee must be minuted and published.
 * 5) Any motions, votes, elections, or meetings, regardless of medium by which they occurred, must have the minutes published within seven (7) days of occurring.

Official Organs

 * 1) The subsections of this section are to be considered the terms of reference for those named organs.

Purpose

 * 1) This committee exists as the paramount deliberative body for Pirate Parties International.

Membership

 * 1) The membership of the Steering Committee is made up of one (1) appointed delegate per Ordinary Member.
 * 2) An Ordinary Member may choose to withdraw or otherwise replace their appointed delegate by formal communication with the Steering Committee from the relevant administrative organ of the Ordinary Member.

Powers and Responsibilities

 * 1) This committee has the power to decide on any issue not otherwise prescribed by these statutes, and should develop its own procedures and regulations for consistently handling issues.
 * 2) This committee must appoint delegates to the Administrative Board using an agreed upon procedure.
 * 3) This committee must convene an online meeting at least once every twelve (12) months.
 * 4) The committee may appoint a Chair for the purposes of running a meeting if necessary.
 * 5) All members may have input into determining the agenda of a meeting.

Purpose

 * 1) This committee exists for the purpose of managing the financial matters of Pirate Parties International.

Membership

 * 1) The membership of the Financial Committee is comprised of up to one (1) appointed delegate per Ordinary Member. It is not required to appoint a delegate to this committee.
 * 2) An Ordinary Member may choose to appoint, withdraw or otherwise replace their appointed delegate by formal communication with the Steering Committee from the relevant administrative organ of the Ordinary Member.
 * 3) The committee must appoint amongst itself five (5) delegates to be signatories to the bank accounts. Failure to find consensus on which delegates to appoint results in an election.

Powers and Responsibilities

 * 1) This committee is responsible for managing the bank accounts and financial affairs of PPI.
 * 2) This committee must provide reports on financial matters to the Steering Committee as prescribed by the statutes.
 * 3) This committee is responsible for accepting and following up on membership affiliation fees with members, and reporting deficiencies to the Steering Committee.
 * 4) This committee may not undertake a loan without a motion successfully carrying in the Steering Committee.

Purpose

 * 1) The Administrative Board exists to manage the administrative requirements of PPI.

Membership

 * 1) The board shall comprise of one (1) Secretary, and one (1) Deputy Secretary for every six (6) members (ignoring remainder) of PPI.
 * 2) Each Ordinary Member may nominate one (1) nominee for a position on the board through their delegate on the Steering Committee. A delegate on the Steering Committee may be nominated for one of these positions.
 * 3) If there are more nominees than available positions, then an election is held.
 * 4) The board must be elected only for a period of twelve (12) months, at which point the positions are declared vacant and the process is repeated.

Powers and Responsibilities

 * 1) The Administrative Board may only act within these defined powers and responsibilities.
 * 2) The Steering Committee may extend or restrict these responsibilities or powers through a regulation enforced by motion.
 * 3) The role of the Secretary shall be:
 * 4) to receive membership applications and provide them to the Steering Committee for consideration,
 * 5) to announce the creation of committees and ensure the well-formedness of any proposed Rules of Procedure, and
 * 6) to maintain the Register of Committees.
 * 7) The role of each Deputy Secretary is to assist the Secretary with their responsibilities.

Register of Committees

 * 1) A register of committees will be maintained by the Administrative Board.
 * 2) The register must contain an up-to-date document for each committee with its title, status, membership rules, current members, and any other relevant information to each committee.

Process for committees

 * 1) A committee may be created by provision of a formal Terms of Reference to the Administrative Board.
 * 2) A terms of reference is considered to be formal if it includes at least the following:
 * 3) TODO
 * 4) Any dispute that should arise regarding the formality of a Terms of Reference may be appealed to the Steering Committee.
 * 5) Committees may only be disbanded or wound up by two-thirds majority vote of the committee, or by motion of the Steering Committee.
 * 6) The Administrative Board should inform the Steering Committee as soon as they become aware that a committee has been stagnant or without activity for three (3) months or more.

Financial structure

 * 1) Any official bank accounts shall be in the name of Pirate Parties International.
 * 2) The bank accounts must require at least two (2) signatories for access.
 * 3) All accounts must be published as often as feasible, but no less than every three (3) months.
 * 4) Any non-banking financial accounts (such as PayPal) must have their accounts published during the first week of every month.

Statute amendments

 * 1) A designated voting period is a period of time where statute amendment proposals may be considered, and may be called by a simple majority of the Steering Committee.
 * 2) A designated voting period must be announced with fourty-two (42) days notice, and will last for seven (7) days.
 * 3) Voting during a designated voting period may only be considered valid with a quorum of at least one-third (1/3) of members voting on the proposal.
 * 4) A designated voting period may coincide with other events.
 * 5) Statute amendment proposals may be proposed for consideration during this period up to twenty-eight (28) days prior to the period, but no later.
 * 6) These statutes may only be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of the Steering Committee during a designated voting period.
 * 7) The statute amendments that carry are considered to come into effect immediately at the conclusion of the designated voting period.
 * 8) The statutes may not be amended outside of a designated voting period, even temporarily.

Governance

 * 1) The statutes, as a whole, must be reviewed by a committee for that purpose at least once every two (2) years. This committee must be formed by a motion of the Steering Committee.
 * 2) Unless otherwise specified, motions shall carry with a simple majority.
 * 3) Any motions or other actions of the Steering Committee other than statute amendment proposals may occur outside the designated voting period.
 * 4) Any motions, that are not procedural, that occur outside the designated voting period must last for seven (7) days, or until an absolute majority is achieved, whichever occurs first.
 * 5) A proposal is only considered to have met quorum if at least one-third (1/3) of Ordinary Members has voted on the proposal, be it during a designated voting period or an ordinary motion outside of this period.
 * 6) The specific procedure for handling voting, tallying and announcing the results is left to the Steering Committee to determine.
 * 7) If an election is deemed necessary by the procedure of an organ of PPI, then the election must use the Schulze method.
 * 8) The creator of a committee may determine the procedure for appointing the initial Chair of the committee, and the term.
 * 9) If no mechanism is determined for appointing a Chair, a Chair is elected at the first meeting of the committee by motion. If this procedure fails, an election shall occur as prescribed in the statutes.
 * 10) A resignation or successful vote of no confidence against a Chair triggers an election as prescribed by the statutes.
 * 11) Any person may resign from any position at any time by formal email to the Administrative Board.
 * 12) Disputes pertaining to the interpretation of these statutes will be resolved by simple majority vote of the Steering Committee, or another process determined by the Steering Committee.
 * 13) Any delegate may have their position revoked by a two-thirds majority vote of the Steering Committee. The member organisation responsible for the delegate may appoint another delegate in their place.
 * 14) TODO distinguish quorum rules between asynchronous and synchronous meetings

External representation

 * 1) The Steering Committee may appoint spokespersons on specific issues by election, with a provided terms of referenced agreed to by two-thirds majority of the Steering Committee.
 * 2) The Steering Committee may appoint a delegate to another organisation to represent PPI by election, with a provided terms of reference agreed to by two-thirds majority of the Steering Committee.

PPI Headquarters

 * 1) This section affirms an association between PPI and PPI Headquarters based in Belgium, and only agrees to this association insofar as it acts in the interest of the Steering Committee.
 * 2) This relationship between PPI and PPI HQ, and this section, must be reviewed prior to 1 July, 2017.

Not enforceable in law

 * 1) These statutes are only enforceable in honour.
 * 2) Disputes must be resolved within the auspices of PPI, and no civil cases can arise that rely on these statutes.

Dissolution

 * 1) PPI may only be dissolved by an absolute two-thirds majority vote of ordinary members at a meeting called specifically for the purpose of dissolving PPI
 * 2) In the event of dissolution, after the settlement of contractual obligations to staff and other obligations, the remaining financial means shall be transferred to a non-government organisation that acts within the spirit and principles of PPI as defined in the statutes.