Article 1
AMOUNT OF DUES
a) Each Ordinary Assembly shall, on the proposal of the Council, Treasurer and Budget Committee, set the amount of dues for active and associate members as well as the registration fees for candidates and pre-candidates, to apply from the beginning of the financial period of three years following the Assembly.
b) These dues are payable for all members except honorary members and honorary presidents. The administrative fees expenses shall be deemed to be in lieu of the dues.
c) Dues paid beyond the deadline shall be subject to administrative penalties, the amount of which is fixed by the Budget Committee. Articles 10, 13 and 14 of the Statutes governing dues shall also apply to these administrative penalties.
d) The amount of additional fee for members or groups of members whose name appears in the on line directory of consultant interpreters is set every year by the Council, following the proposal made by the Treasurer and the Budget Committee, when adopting the annual budget. It comes into force at the beginning of the financial year.
Article 2
MEMBERS' RESPONSIBILITY
Members are personally responsible for their financial liabilities towards the Association.
a) On 1 February of each year, dues become payable in conformity with Article 10 of the Statutes, at the rate set in Swiss francs by the last ordinary Assembly, unless otherwise decided by said Assembly.
The dues payable by individual members are those applicable in the region where they have their professional address on the first day of the financial year, irrespective of any changes they may make in this address in the course of the year.
The additional fee for inclusion in the directory of consultant interpreters is due on the date of the anniversary of the inclusion of the member or group of members in the directory. It is valid for one year. Application and payment terms are published on line.
b) In accordance with article 1 above, any member who has not paid his/her dues after seven months from the beginning of the financial year, shall be charged an administrative penalty the amount of which is set by the Budget Committee and which will be announced in the annual notice announcing the dues to be paid for each year.
In accordance with article 13 of the Statutes, any member who has not paid her/his dues after eight months from the beginning of the financial year, shall be suspended and have his/her name deleted from the list of members of the Association. Moreover, in accordance with article 1 above, he/she shall be charged an additional administrative penalty the amount of which is set by the Budget Committee and which will be announced in the notice to pay his/her dues. The period of suspension will cease and the member's name will once again be included on the list of members as soon as all arrears of dues and penalties have been paid.
In cases of delayed payment of the additional fee for inclusion in the directory of consultant interpreters, members or the groups of members who are behind with payments are immediately deleted from the directory of consultant interpreters. They are reinstated into the directory as soon as the additional fee has been paid. The annual validity of inclusion shall begin as of reinstatement of the member or the group of members into the directory.
c) A member who formally resigns from the Association (see Article 12 of the Statutes) is liable for all sums due up to the end of the current financial year.
d) Any member who has not worked more than twenty days in one year may seek relief from the Bureau. The Bureau may, in exceptional circumstances, allow the member concerned to pay dues reduced to the level set for Associate Members for that year after consulting the Council member(s) for the region.
Article 3
REFUND TO THE REGIONS OF A SHARE OF THE DUES
Each duly constituted region is entitled to 6% of the dues paid by members of the Association belonging to that region on 1 February of the financial year concerned. The sums thus accruing, together with any further sums obtained for the region by means of special levies, voluntary donations, etc., remain the property of the region concerned and are administered autonomously by it for those activities that meet the aims of the Association and do not jeopardise its interests.
DISTANT REGION SUBSIDY
A distant Region is one that is far from Headquarters, covers several countries or a very large country and has few members who are often widely dispersed. Council may decide to grant a subsidy to distant Regions to allow them to participate more actively in the life of the Association and to handle problems of communication both within the Region and between each Region and Headquarters.
FUNDING REGIONAL ACTIVITIES
Any region can submit a request to subsidize specific regional activities that cannot be funded within the framework of the Association programmes.
Interested regions shall send a request, duly costed and justified, to the Secretariat before 30 September or before 1st February. The Treasurer shall consult the Budget Committee and transmit the file with a recommendation to the Bureau which shall decide. When assessing requests, account shall be taken of the financial resources of the regions concerned and of funds available.
The Council will be informed regularly by the Bureau of projects approved and rejected.
The region shall submit to Council and to the budget Committee regular interim reports, as well as a final report at the end of the project.
Article 4
BUDGET
a) In the light of the recommendations of the Council, the Assembly shall adopt the Association's three-year programme of activities and the corresponding financial framework. The overall cost of the programme must remain within foreseeable income, based on the estimated number of members, whilst providing for a reasonable safety margin and level of savings, as recommended by the Budget Committee.
b) For this purpose the Treasurer, after consulting the statutory bodies, committees and working parties, shall draw up a draft financial framework for submission to the Budget Committee. The Budget Committee shall consider and, if necessary, amend it before submitting it to the Council, which shall forward it to the Assembly for approval.
c) Within this financial framework the Treasurer shall draw up a draft annual budget for consideration by the Budget Committee, which shall then forward it to the Council for approval.
d) No activity may be authorised unless adequate provision is made for it in the budget.
Article 5
REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES
a) Unless tickets are provided by the Association, travel shall be reimbursed when duly authorised in advance in accordance with the provisions of these regulations or by special agreement with the Treasurer, at a rate not exceeding:
- either the SUPERPEX/APEX/PEX air fare where available or
- the cheapest economy-class air fare if the above fares are not available.
If it can be shown that none of the above fares is available, the treasurer may, by way of an exception, authorise the reimbursement of an air fare charged at a higher tariff.
- Taxi, bus or other fares to and from the airport shall not be reimbursed.
- Travel cancellation insurance shall be reimbursed where appropriate.
- Travel by rail shall be refunded at the rate of the first-class fare including any supplement, provided this does not exceed the most economical available air fare. Travel by road shall be reimbursed on the same basis as travel by rail.
b) The President, the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, the chairpersons of committees, the conveners of working parties and projects leaders or any other member empowered by the Council to act on behalf of the Association shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in connection with the exercise of their office, within the limits of the provisions made in the Budget.
In this context, the term "expenses" shall be taken to mean sundry items of expenditure, such as travelling costs and telephone and postal charges, but excluding subsistence expenses.
c) Members of the Council, Bureau, Assembly-elected bodies, Council committees and working groups, project teams, the SMP Standing Committee and negotiating delegations shall receive a subsistence allowance, the amount of which is set in accordance with scales established by the Budget Committee, for each night spent away from their domicile attending their respective meetings.
Normally the number of allowances shall not exceed the number of meeting days. However, subject to the Treasurer’s prior authorization, an additional allowance may be granted if the member is obliged to travel on the eve of the first day or on the day following the last day of the meeting.
An allowance amounting to 25% of the allowance mentioned above is granted to members who attend meetings held in places other than their domicile, when travel to and from said meeting takes place on the same day. The same allowance is paid to members who attend meetings lasting more than a day, even if they take place where they have their domicile.
The amount of the subsistence allowance given to the President and the Treasurer of the Association shall be calculated in accordance with scales in point d) below.
The same shall apply to the Association Vice-presidents when they attend meetings as members of the Bureau with the exception of Council meetings.
d) Subject to the Treasurer's authorisation, non-members of the Association and Association staff members travelling at the Association's request shall be reimbursed their travel expenses and paid a subsistence allowance in accordance with scales established for this purpose by the Budget Committee.
e) Justification of expenses incurred shall be provided by any persons seeking reimbursement.
f) No expense shall be reimbursed if it is not covered by a budgetary provision and authorised by the Treasurer. The Treasurer may, however, make certain sums available in advance to cover foreseeable expenditure for specific activities, within the budgetary provisions. Any unused balance at the end of the financial year shall remain the property of the Association.
Article 6
ACCOUNTS
a) Accounts showing in detail the income, expenditure and financial position of the Association shall be submitted, together with the reports of the Treasurer, the external auditors and the Budget Committee, to each ordinary Assembly for approval.
b) The accounts shall be prepared under the responsibility of the Treasurer and the Budget Committee, who may seek professional assistance as required.
c) Accounts shall cover the period from the time of the closure of the accounts last approved by an Assembly to the end of the financial year preceding the first day of the next Assembly.
d) Once the accounts have been approved and the Assembly has given the discharge to the Treasurer, it shall not be possible to reopen the debate on said accounts.
e) Any financial liabilities discovered subsequent to the approval of the accounts by the Assembly shall be the liability of the Association.
Article 7
RESPONSIBILITIES OF ELECTED OFFICERS
a) The Council shall ensure that the Association' programme of activities is implemented within the budgetary appropriations approved for this purpose.
Individual appointments to the staff, the annual cost to the Association of which is equal to or in excess of ten per cent of the expected gross income of the Association for the financial year concerned as estimated by the Budget Committee shall be approved by a panel consisting of the Bureau and the Chair of the Budget Committee.
In any decision it takes, the Council shall ensure that due consideration is given to the financial implications. Where there are financial implications, the Council shall issue instructions governing the allocation and utilisation of the funds concerned.
b) The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial administration of the Budget and may authorise expenditure up to the levels provided for each item.
Should circumstances require additional expenditure in excess of ten per cent of an appropriation or of five thousand Swiss francs, whichever is the greater, the Treasurer must obtain prior authorisation in writing from the Budget Committee.
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 6 (a) above, the Treasurer shall be responsible for keeping the accounts and shall submit a preliminary statement of accounts to the Budget Committee at the end of each financial year. For this purpose, the services of an external accountant may be used.
The Treasurer shall collect dues in accordance with decisions of the Assembly and the provisions of the Statutes of the Association, subject to such exceptional relief as might be granted under the provisions of Article 2 (d) above.
Acting on a proposal from the Treasurer, the Council may appoint an assistant treasurer to help the Treasurer to do her or his job.
c) By decision of Council, notified in writing, regional treasurers may be authorised to collect the annual dues of the Association from members.
Any such funds, collected on behalf of the Treasurer, shall be kept in a separate bank account, the details of which (number, name and members authorised to sign) shall be communicated to the Treasurer.
These funds shall be transferred to the Association's account within thirty days after collection.
The Treasurer may request regional treasurers to assist with the collection of outstanding dues owed by members of the region.
d) Chairpersons of committees and conveners of working parties may receive from the Treasurer such sums as are approved in the budget allocations.
They shall be responsible for rendering proper account of expenditure to the Treasurer not later than thirty days after the end of the financial year or whenever requested to do so by the Treasurer.
Details of the account (number, name and members authorised to sign) shall be communicated to the Treasurer.
Article 8
BUDGET COMMITTEE
a) The Budget Committee shall at any time have the power to require the Treasurer, the Treasurer's deputy or any regional treasurer to provide any information that it may need to ascertain that the Association's finances are being properly administered in accordance with these Financial Regulations.
b) It shall review the Treasurer's accounts at the end of each financial year together with the accountant and external auditors, and, with them, shall report to the Assembly on the financial administration of the Association during the period covered by the accounts rendered.
c) In accordance with Article 4 (b) above, the Budget Committee shall consider the three-year financial framework prepared by the Treasurer, and shall submit its proposals to the Council for adoption by the Assembly.
d) In accordance with Article 4 (c) above, the Budget Committee shall consider the Treasurer's proposals for annual budgets and submit its recommendation to Council for approval.
Article 9
ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES
The practical measures for the implementation of the Financial Regulations are contained in the Accounting Procedures.
They may be amended by the Council after it has consulted the Budget Committee.
Article 10
AMENDMENT PROCEDURE
These Financial Regulations may be modified by a decision of the Council taken with a two-thirds majority of the votes cast and, if appropriate, after having sought a legal opinion on the proposals.
