NEaT Rules of Association (English)

The name of the Association shall be Nordic Editors and Translators  (NEaT) ry and its domicile shall be Helsinki.

The purpose of the Association shall be to promote and advance the  collaboration, training and professional development of editors, translators  and other language professionals who have English as one of their working languages, to enhance the prestige of language  professionals in the labour market, and to establish professional standards.

The Association may engage in the following activities to realise its  purpose:

- maintaining a website

- arranging workshops, conferences, seminars, meetings and specialist  events

- arranging training, courses and other similar activities

- promoting the profession through networking and collaboration - developing professional standards

- collaborating with other organizations.

The Association may raise funds in the following ways to support its  operations:

- collecting membership subscriptions

- arranging conferences, seminars and training,

- accepting donations, legacies, grants, subsidies and public finance - charging for certification

- organizing raffles, lotteries, sales, and other fund raising events after  procuring the appropriate licenses to do so

- collecting admission fees

Anyone who approves the purpose and Constitution of the Association  may join the Association. The Board of the Association shall approve members on application.

A member shall be entitled to resign from the Association by notifying the  Board or its Chair thereof in writing, or by announcing the said  resignation at a General Meeting of the Association for inclusion in the minutes. The Board may expel from the Association any member who has failed to pay an overdue membership subscription or otherwise failed to  discharge the obligations assumed by the member on joining the Association, or who has substantially damaged the Association by conduct  within or outside the Association, or who no longer satisfies the conditions of membership prescribed by law or by the Constitution of the Association.

The joining fee and the annual subscription payable by members shall be  determined by the Annual General Meeting of the Association.

The affairs of the Association shall be administered by a Board comprising  the Chair, 3 ordinary members and 4 deputy members elected at the  General Meeting. The term of office of the Board shall be the period  between Annual General Meetings. The Board shall elect one of its  members to serve as Vice-Chair, and shall appoint members of the  Board or others to serve as Secretary, Treasurer, and in other required  official capacities. Meetings of the Board shall be convened by the  Chair, or by the Vice-Chair if the Chair is prevented from  doing so, when they consider that there is cause for such a meeting, or  whenever no fewer than half of the members of the Board so require. The  Board shall form a quorum when the meeting is attended by no fewer than  half of its members, including the Chair or the Vice-Chair. Voting  shall be decided by an absolute majority. The vote of the Chair shall settle the matter if the votes are divided equally, except in the case of  elections, when lots shall be drawn. The Board shall adopt its own  standing orders, which shall be published on the website of the Association  and presented at its meetings.

The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board, the Secretary and the Treasurer shall be entitled to sign on behalf of the Association when any  two of these individuals sign jointly.

The accounting period of the Association shall be the calendar year. The financial statements together with associated documents and the annual report of the Board shall be submitted to the auditor no later than one month before the Annual General Meeting. The auditor shall submit a written opinion to the Board no later than two weeks before the Annual  General Meeting.

By decision of the Board or of a General Meeting of the Association,  participation in a General Meeting of the Association shall also be permitted by post or using a data communications link or other technical  instrument, either during or before the General Meeting. The Annual  General Meeting of the Association shall be held annually in April-May on a date determined by the Board. An Extraordinary General Meeting shall  be held whenever a General Meeting so decides, or when the Board  considers that there is cause for such a meeting, or whenever no fewer than  one-tenth (1/10) of the members of the Association who are eligible to vote submit a written request to the Board to convene such a meeting for the purpose of transacting a specially notified item of business. The  General Meeting shall take place within thirty days of submitting a request to hold the meeting to the Board. Each member shall have one vote at General Meetings of the Association. Unless otherwise stipulated in this  Constitution, a decision of a General Meeting of the Association shall be the view supported by more than half of the votes cast. The vote of the Chair of the General Meeting shall settle the matter if the votes are divided equally, except in the case of elections, when lots shall be drawn.

The language of the Association shall be Finnish. Meetings and events of  the Association shall generally be held in Finnish or in English, and other  languages may be used in operations as required.

The Board shall convene General Meetings of the Association by means of an invitation published on the Association’s website or e-mailed to the  members no later than seven days before the General Meeting.

The Annual General Meeting of the Association shall consider the following business:

1. opening of the meeting

2. election of a chair, a secretary, two individuals to scrutinise the minutes and two individuals to count the votes at the meeting where necessary

3. verification that the meeting is lawful and that those present form a  quorum

4. approval of the agenda for the meeting

5. presentation of the financial statements, the annual report and the auditor’s opinion

6. decision to confirm the financial statements and discharge the Board and other accountable persons from liability

7. confirmation of the operating plan, the budget and the affiliation and  membership subscription

8. election of the Chair and other members and deputy members of the Board for the following year

9. election of one auditor and one deputy auditor. No deputy auditor shall  be elected if an accounting firm or other auditing corporation serves as auditor

10. consideration of any other business specified in the invitation to the  meeting.

Any member of the Association seeking to submit an item of business for consideration at an Annual General Meeting of the Association must notify the Board thereof in writing in sufficiently good time for the item to be included in the invitation to the meeting.

Any decision to amend this Constitution or to dissolve the Association  shall be made by a majority of no fewer than three-quarters (3/4) of the  votes cast at a General Meeting of the Association. Any proposal to amend this Constitution or to dissolve the Association must be specified in the invitation to the General Meeting. On dissolution of the Association the assets thereof shall be used for promoting the purpose of the Association in  the manner stipulated by the General Meeting that decides on the dissolution. The assets shall also be used for the said purpose when the Association is closed down.