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| 12-03-2008
What is the WAAF?
The Forum is an international non-government social organization, which goal is to unite all anticriminal and antiterrorist forces of the world. The WAAF holds, on an annual basis, congresses and conferences on crucial problems related to combating criminality, terrorism, and organized crime. The Forum has its national branches in many countries, and Task Forces that represent particular areas of WAAF activities have been set up and are operational.
The Headquarters of the Forum is located in Berlin, Germany, where the Secretariat of the Forum is also based. It operates on a permanent basis. A branch of the Secretariat is located in Moscow.
The WAAF has the following governing bodies: General Meeting of the WAAF members, the Board of the WAAF, and the Consultative Council of the WAAF.
The WAAF provides for individual, corporate, and associated membership. Representatives of bodies of power and government officials, of business and financial circles, law enforcement agencies, social organizations, foundations, associations, international non-government organizations, and of the mass media are eligible for membership.
Participation in the Forum will suggest adherence and commitment to the declared goals and objectives of the Forum, payment of membership fees, and entitlement to the rights stipulated in the Charter of the WAAF.
Unofficial translation
CHARTER
OF The World Anticriminal and Antiterrorist Forum, e.V.
Preamble
Being guided by the willingness to promote better understanding between nations in combating organized crime and international terrorism, the Founders hereby establish the World Anticriminal and Antiterrorist Forum on the premises of the European Citizenship Academy, Berlin, Germany.
§ 1 Name, Location, and the Fiscal Year
(1) The designation “The World Anticriminal and Antiterrorist Forum” shall have the ending “registered union” (eingetragener Verein), or e.V., and thus shall be entered in the Register of Unions.
(2) The location of the Forum shall be Berlin, Germany.
(3) The fiscal year of the Forum shall be the calendar year.
§ 2 The Goals and Objectives of the Forum
Based on the goals of the Forum as set forth in the Preamble, the Forum shall have the following objectives:
· To enhance the level of informing the public of the threats posed by and the magnitude of transnational organized crime and international terrorism;
· To promote harmonization of the approaches of various countries toward combating crime;
· To furnish informational, scientific, research, organizational, and material support to legal entities and physical persons participating in programs and projects aimed at combating organized crime;
· To work out recommendations on improving the international legal base as well as on coordination between and harmonization of national legislations;
· To encourage cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of various countries.
§ 3 Societal Usefulness
(1) The Forum does not and shall not have the generation of profit among its goals and objectives as it exclusively and directly pursues socially-useful purposes stipulated in the Section “The Goals of Tax Exemptions” of the Tax Act. The activity of the Forum shall be financed from membership fees, sponsored donations, and other proceeds.
(2) The Forum shall use the obtained funds for reaching the goals as stated in this Charter, or for activities that shall not result in any fiscal breaches as per § 58 of the Tax Act.
§4 Membership
(1) There shall be two types of membership in the Forum:
à) ordinary (physical persons, legal entities, and non-registered unions);
b) honorary (honorary members);
(2) Obtaining membership with the Forum shall be achieved through submitting an application in writing to the Board of the Forum. The incumbent members of the Forum shall be informed of any such new application. Should a minimum of twenty members of the Forum place their objection to the admission of a new member within four weeks after the notification of the submitted application was circulated, the decision on the admission of that applicant shall be brought to the next General Meeting of the Members of the Forum (hereinafter, referred to as the “General Meeting”).
(3) Ordinary membership shall begin after the Board of the Forum has accepted the application and provided that the annual membership fee has been paid, or, if Paragraph 2 of § 4 herein is enforced, after the General Meeting has approved the admission and provided that the annual membership fee has been paid by the applicant.
(4) Honorary members shall be appointed by a General Meeting upon referral from the Board of the Forum following the consideration and approval by the Consultative Council.
§ 5 Suspension and Termination of Membership
(1) Membership with the Forum shall be terminated provided that:
à) in the case of a physical person, he or she has deceased; in the case of a legal entity or non-registered union, such an entity or union has terminated its activity;
b) a member has resigned from the Forum;
c) a member has been expelled from the Forum.
(2) A member of the Forum may resign from the Forum at the end of a fiscal year, with the letter of resignation to be submitted in writing to the Board of the Forum no later than three months prior to the date of resignation.
(3) The rights of the member of the Forum may be suspended after a given member has failed to pay two consecutive membership fees overdue.
(4) Any member of the Forum may be expelled by the Board of the Forum on substantive grounds, i.e. due to actions that have caused detriment to or defamation of the Forum. The decision on expulsion may be challenged within one month of when that decision was taken.
§ 6 Membership Fees
(1) The Forum shall charge membership fees the size of which shall be determined at a General Meeting upon referral from the Board of the Forum. For different groups of members, such as physical persons, legal entities, and non-registered unions, different sizes of membership fees may be established. Each member may commit him/her/itself to paying a higher membership fee, which shall be agreed to by the Board of the Forum.
(2) Membership fees shall be payable by the beginning of each fiscal year.
(3) Honorary members of the Forum shall not be charged any fees.
§ 7 Governing Bodies of the Forum
The governing bodies of the Forum shall be the following:
1. The General Meeting of the Members of the Forum.
2. The Board of the Forum.
3. The Consultative Council of the Forum.
§ 8 Regular General Meetings of the Members of the Forum
(1) Regular General Meetings shall be held once every year. The members of the Forum shall be notified of each forthcoming General Meeting in writing.
(2) Regular General Meetings shall be convened by the Board of the Forum in accordance with a particular agenda which shall be distributed among the members of the Forum no later than one month prior to the announced date of the General Meeting.
§ 9 Decision-Making by the General Meeting
(1) The General Meeting shall take decisions on the following issues:
à) making amendments to the Charter of the Forum;
b) election of the Members of the Board of the Forum;
c) approval of annual reports of the Board of the Forum;
d) consideration of objections against expulsion of Forum members, as per Paragraph 4 of § 5;
e) appointment of auditors;
f) determination of the size of membership fees, as per Paragraph 1, § 6;
g) liquidation or merger of the Forum, as stipulated in §16 herein.
(2) Decisions made by General Meetings shall be taken by a simple majority of votes of the members present. Decisions on amending the Charter or on the liquidation or merger of the Forum shall be taken by no less than three fourths of the members of the Forum present at the Meeting.
(3) When making decisions on amending the Charter of the Forum or on the liquidation or merger of the Forum no less than 40% of the total number of the members of the Forum shall be present at the Meeting. If a General Meeting already convened is not legally competent to take decisions, the next General Meeting shall be deemed legally competent to take a new vote and make decisions on the same issue(s) of the previous agenda, even if there is no quorum at that Meeting. The announcement of such a new General Meeting to be convened shall contain an explanation of the situation observed at the previous General Meeting.
(4) The decisions taken by the General Meeting shall be indicated in the Minutes of the General Meeting and signed by two Board members.
§10 Statements
Statements/applications addressed to the General Meeting from members of the Forum shall be submitted to the Board of the Forum in writing and no later than one week prior to the date of the General Meeting. Such statements/applications shall contain a brief background explanation.
§ 11 Extraordinary General Meetings
(1) An extraordinary General Meeting may be convened pursuant the corresponding decision of the Board of the Forum. The Board of the Forum shall convene an extraordinary General Meeting upon a written request of no less than one tenth of all members of the Forum, whereby such a request shall contain an agenda requested for discussion.
(2) The procedures for regular General Meetings shall equally apply to extraordinary General Meetings as well.
§ 12 The Board of the Forum
(1) The Board of the Forum shall consist of a Chairperson, three Deputy Chairpersons, a Treasurer, and two more Members of the Board.
(2) The Chairperson, two Deputy Chairpersons, the Treasurer, and two more Members of the Board shall be elected at a General Meeting for a term of four years. Members of the Board shall retain their positions until a new election of the Board Members is held.
(3) The Chairman of the Board shall be entitled to personally represent the Forum. The Forum also may be represented jointly by any two Members of the Board (including Deputy Chairpersons).
§13 The Functions of the Board of the Forum
(1) The Board shall perform all functions of the Forum except those that unequivocally fall under the authority of another Body of the Forum. The Board of the Forum may appoint special representatives authorized by the Board to perform certain functions.
(2) The Board shall adopt the procedures for the activity of the Forum that, as well as any amendments thereto, shall be approved by a General Meeting.
(3) The Board shall submit Annual Reports, including audit reports as well, to the members of the Forum. The Annual Reports shall be made available to each and every member of the Board and shall be presented to the members of the Board along with the notification of the forthcoming regular General Meeting.
§ 14 The Consultative Council
(1) The Consultative Council shall consist of prominent political and public figures, famous scientists and scholars, lawyers and attorneys, representatives law enforcement agencies and other official agencies who shall be elected to the said Council. The Consultative Council shall support the activities of the Forum, particularly as regards the conducting of events and projects that have nation-wide and international significance. The Consultative Council shall advise the Board of the Forum on important and critical issues.
(2) Members of the Consultative Council shall be elected upon referral from the Board of the Forum. Members of the Consultative Council may not at the same time be Members of the Board of the Forum.
§ 15 Audits
(1) Two auditors shall be appointed for a term of two years by a regular General Meeting.
(2) A person that is not a member of the Forum may be appointed an auditor. Members of the Board may not be appointed the auditors.
(3) By the end of each fiscal year, the auditors shall conduct audits of the financial report as well as of the books and accounts, cash on-hand and material values. The audits shall also cover the intended use of funds, as per this Charter.
(4) Besides, additional audits shall be conducted during the fiscal year should no less than one tenth of the total number of the members of the Forum so decide, with such a decision to be submitted in writing to the Board of the Forum.
(5) The auditors shall submit the auditing reports conducted by them to the General Meeting.
§ 16 Liquidation or Merger of the Forum
(1) In the case of the liquidation of the Forum, the property of the Forum shall be transferred in favor of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
(2) A merger of the Forum with any other legal entity shall be permitted given the approval of the corresponding financial authority and provided that the merging legal entity carries out socially-useful activities and pursues similar goals.
§ 17 Authorization Procedures for the Transitional Pre-Registration Period
Should the registration authority demand that adjustments be made to certain provisions of this Charter the Board of the Forum shall be authorized to make the adjustments as demanded.
14 February 2002, Berlin, Germany |
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