The Constitution of the European Go Federation

1 Name

The Federation shall be called the European Go Federation (EGF).

2 Purpose

The purpose of the EGF is to encourage, regulate, co-ordinate, and disseminate the playing of Go in Europe. The EGF is a non-profit organization, has no political purpose, and is interested only in the promotion of Go.

In accordance with this purpose, the specific objects shall be as follows:

• To establish guidelines for tournaments and championships.
• To establish guidelines on gradings and rankings of players in Europe
• To ensure that a European Championship is organised each year
• To represent the interests of European Go both inside and outside of Europe
• To take such other action as may be expedient to further the main purpose of the EGF.

3 Membership

Membership of the EGF shall be open to the National Go Organization of every internationally recognised European country. Exceptions to the geographical aspect of this rule may be made by the Annual General Meeting (AGM). If a country is a federal state, and this federal state has an overall Go organization, then only this overall Go organization can become a member of the EGF. There can only by one member organization from any one country. Any disputes concerning membership must be referred to the Annual General Meeting.

4 Admission to membership and observer status

1. Any Go organization in a country that does not already have a member organization of the EGF may be admitted to Observer status of the EGF by the executive committee, provided this organization meets the conditions as mentioned in article 3.

2. An Observer may later apply for membership. The executive committee will propose admission of this organization to the AGM, but only if this organization has regulations, which provide:
   • Clear rules about that country's representation in the international tournaments where player selection is needed;
   • Admission on reasonable terms of every player wanting to join the (proposed) member, even if they may already be a member of another go organization;
   • A procedure for handling internal conflicts;
   • The possibility of appeal to the EGF Appeals Commission at a commission of the EGF, if the problem cannot be solved in a proper way.

3. For admission, a decision by a simple majority within the AGM is sufficient.

5 Termination of membership

A resignation from the EGF must be sent in writing to the Secretary. Any outstanding debts must be paid in full before this can take effect. Until they are, the relevant organization shall be termed "in default" and can not be readmitted until past debts are cleared. Any organization which has not paid its membership fee for three years must be referred to the AGM which by a two-thirds majority shall decide whether it should be considered "in default". If a member nation has harmed the reputation or the interests of the EGF, or has broken the discipline or fairness necessary for the correct working of the EGF, or has permitted this to happen, it can be referred to the AGM, which by a two-thirds majority vote can expel it or take other appropriate action.

If a member does not meet the conditions as mentioned in article 4.2 anymore, it could be considered as breaking the discipline or fairness necessary for the correct working of the EGF. Appropriate action may be suspension of membership, with appropriate loss of membership rights, until an AGM or special general meeting reinstates that member.

6 Annual General Meeting

1. An Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall take place during the European Go Congress. If such a Congress does not take place, then the Committee will determine a date and location for that year's AGM.

2. The AGM is the highest authority of the EGF. The business of the meeting will be carried out in English. It elects the committee and decides which member nations should organise future Go Congresses, and makes any other appointments. Only the General Meeting can make additions, deletions, and amendments to the Constitution.

3. At the General Meeting, every member nation may have up to two delegates but shall have only one vote. Every delegate shall be a member of the Go organization that he is representing, and nobody shall represent more than one Go organization. Every delegate must have written authority from the Go organization that he/she represents or be able to otherwise satisfy the officers that he/she is the appointed delegate.

4. The dissolution of the EGF may decided upon at the general meeting or at a meeting called expressly for this purpose provided that two-thirds of the Federations in good standing are present. A majority of three quarters of those present is required to approve the dissolution.

5. At the General Meeting only those proposals included on the agenda may be voted upon.
   Within the item "Any other business" no voting shall take place on matters which would substantially affect the EGF. Decisions on whether such a vote would be permissible require the assent of all those members present and eligible to vote.

6. The Agenda should include the following items:-
   • Acceptance of previous year's minutes
   • Admission of new member nations
   • Reports of the President, Secretary, Treasurer
   • Report of the Auditors
   • Reports of chairmen of existing Commissions
   • Election of officers and auditors.
   • Creation of any new Commissions
   • Siting of future Congresses
   • Items requested by member Federations (cf. below)
   • Any other business
   Any item proposed by a member Federation and received by the secretary at least two months before the AGM must be put on the Agenda. If such an item is related to another item, they may be combined.

7. The election of officers shall be by secret ballot if there is more than one nomination for any officer. One ballot per election will be given to each national delegation, stamped with the EGF seal. If there are more than two nominations for an officer's post and no single delegate receives an absolute majority on the first round, the nominee who received the fewest votes will drop out and the vote will be taken with the remaining nominees. The same procedure is then repeated.
   Nominations for office must be circulated by the Secretary together with the Agenda. Nominees must be proposed by at least one member Federation in good standing, seconded by two more member Federations and must confirm to the Executive their willingness to occupy the post for which they are proposed; nominations must reach the Secretary at least two months before the AGM.

8. Only member nations with delegates present at the meeting may vote, although written `position papers' may be accepted. Only member organizations which are fully paid up may vote, although observers, organizations not fully paid up and individuals (the latter at the discretion of the President) may offer their comments.

9. Normal business of the meeting will be carried by majority of votes (Abstentions not being counted as votes). In the case of a tie, if the business concerned is old, then the motion has been defeated. If the motion concerns new business, then the President casts the deciding vote.

10. Any proposed change to the Constitution must be circulated to member Federations at least 6 months in advance of the meeting at which it will come to a vote.
    

    Voting on such changes may only take place at a meeting where at least two-thirds of the Federations in good standing are represented. In order to be accepted, the changes must be approved by a three-quarters majority at this meeting. Abstentions are counted as votes against.

11. Matters discussed at General Meetings are only secret if specifically so decided.

7 Special General meeting

At the request of either the executive or five member Federations in good standing, a special general meeting may be called. Such a call must be directed to the Secretary who is then responsible for establishing a place and a time for the meeting in consultation with any Federations desiring the meeting. The announcement of the meeting together with its agenda must be circulated to the Federations not later than one month after receiving the call and at least two months before the meeting is to take place.
In the case of a Special General Meeting, voting by mail will be permitted. Also, at the request of those calling for the Special General Meeting, voting by mail can replace this meeting. Ballots received by mail must be duly certified that they come from the named Federation. As postal votes are allowed, a majority of two-thirds of all eligible Federations is required for assent to a motion.
If the meeting involves a change of the Constitution, then the rules of Section 6.10 apply.

8 Committee

The Officers of the EGF shall be at a minimum: President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Further officers may be added to the executive at the discretion of the General Meeting. There shall also be two auditors.

1. The President represents the EGF in all official capacities and chairs the AGM.

2. The Treasurer collects subscriptions from member nations and keeps and collates records of expenditures and receipts. He will maintain a financial year which will end so as to leave sufficient time to prepare a report which must be submitted to the auditors in time for them to check the financial reports before the AGM. These reports will also be circulated to the Federations with the agenda for the AGM

3. The Secretary deals with all written business for the EGF. Where appropriate, he will receive and retain copies of the President's and Treasurer's correspondence which he will file together with copies of his own letters in the archives. Access to internal correspondence of the Committee may, at the discretion of the Committee, be restricted.
   It is his responsibility, in consultation with the organisers of the Congress, to fix a date for the Annual General Meeting.
   He shall circulate the agenda for the General Meeting including times and dates and details of all proposals not less than six weeks before the beginning of the meeting.
   He must write up the minutes of the General Meeting and circulate them to all member nations within a reasonable period of time.
   All substantive correspondence shall be in English

4. The auditors are responsible for checking the correctness of any financial reports produced by the Treasurer and for advising the AGM on the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization of the EGF.

The officers and the auditors will be elected for a period of one year. Should any officer or auditor not be able to complete the term of his office for any reason, or should he resign by submitting a written note of resignation to the Executive, the remaining officers will attempt to find a replacement, who will hold the office until the next AGM where he must be confirmed in office. If no successor can be found then one of the remaining officers will undertake the duties till the next AGM.

9 Commissions

The General Meeting or the Committee can install Commissions. Commissions installed by the Committee have to be announced to the Member Associations by the Secretary within 30 days, and they have to be confirmed at the next AGM.

1. A commission may have any number of members. One of the members must be appointed Chairman by the Commission. This Chairman will report to the AGM on the activities of the Commission during the preceding year.

2. Activities, finance, and limitations for a Commission must be defined by the Committee or the AGM. Any decisions by the Committee concerning a Commission must be presented at the next AGM for approval.

3. Financial transactions by the members of a Commission are subject to yearly examination by the Auditors. This can be done by attaching the financial report to the report of the Treasurer. However, if separate funding exists, separate bookkeeping is permitted.

10 Appeals

1. An Appeals' Commission will be installed by the AGM. The commission shall have the following functions:
   
   a. to hear and decide on appeals filed by an affected party against decisions of the EGF, including its organs and disciplinary instances, unless such appeal is expressly excluded in these bylaws or in the regulations of the EGF. Appeal to a decision of General Meeting is not possible, since General Meeting is the highest authority of the EGF;
   
   b. to hear and decide on appeals concerning go matters:
   * filed by players or legal persons, who have completed the internal juridical procedure within the go organization in Europe, to which they are affiliated (provided there was a internal procedure which could be followed) or
   * filed by players or legal persons against decisions of the go organization in Europe to which they are affiliated, when this go organization has no internal juridical procedure;
   
   c. to act as an arbitration panel for disputes within the world of Go in Europe, if the EGF or the EGF's disciplinary instances are not directly involved in such a dispute;
   
   d. to prepare the Regulations and possible sanctions governing Appeals for approval by the AGM.

2. As long as no Regulations governing Appeals are decided upon by the AGM, the commission will work in the way the commission decides, considering reasonableness and due process.

11 Finance

The EGF shall be financed by such subscriptions from national organizations and individual members as are decided by the AGM, as well as any donations and other income legally obtained.

12 Liquidation

In the case of the liquidation of the EGF, the property has to be divided equally between the International Go Federation (IGF) and the European Go Cultural Centre (EGCC).