Bylaws of the Chinese Association for the Human Evolution

Chapter I: General Principles
Article 1: The name of this organization shall be called the Chinese Association for the Human Evolution, hereinafter called the Association.
Article 2: The Association is a nonprofit organization established in accordance with the laws. The purposes of the Association shall be to disseminate the activities concerned with human evolution and to advance human life and civilization to the ultimate level.
Article 3: The Association is organized according to the administrative districts of the Republic of China.
Article 4: The registered office of the Association will be situated in the administrative area of the authority concerned. The establishment of branch organizations should be reported to the authority for approval.
Simplified regulations for the branch organizations should be drafted by the Board of Directors, and will go into effect after approval of the authority. When the addresses of the premises and the branch are set and changed, a written report  to the authority is required for approval and future reference.
Article 5: The tasks of the Association shall be:
  1. to promote academic research on human evolution and to upgrade the quality of the research.
  2. to disseminate teaching activities concerned with human evolution and to strengthen people’s knowledge of human evolution
  3. to incorporate research with teaching; to encourage people to actively engage in human evolution activities ; to improve the quality of people’s life, and thus to advance human life and civilization to the ultimate level
Article 6: The authority concerned of the Association shall be the Ministry of the Interior. The purpose enterprises of the Association should be under guidance and supervision of the authorities in charge of concerned affairs.
 
Chapter II Membership
Article 7: Association Membership is divided into the following five categories:
  1. Individual Membership:
    In order to become an individual member, the individual must meet the following requirements:
     - Be twenty years of age or older.
     - Accept the aims and purpose of the Association.
     - Have completed the membership application.
     - Have been approved by the Association
     - Be in good financial standing with the organization.
  2. Life Membership:
    In order to become a life member, the individual must meet the following requirements:
    - Accept the aims and purpose of the Association.
    -Choose to pay 10 years’ Regular Membership dues in advance.
    Provided that:
    -in case the life member remains out of touch for two consecutive years, his/her membership rights shall be suspended.
    -in case the life member can not be contacted for three consecutive years, he/she shall be regarded as renouncing his/her claim on membership and thus conceded as dismissed.
  3. Sustaining Membership:
    Individuals or organizations, interested in supporting the aims and purpose of the Association, who wish to provide active support for the Association, are eligible to become official sustaining members of the Association upon the ratification by the Association.
  4. Honorary Membership:
    Any person, interested in supporting the aims and purpose of the Association, who has made significant contributions or rendered distinguished service to the Association may be nominated to become an Honorary Member of the Association.
  5. Student Membership:
    Any person interested in supporting the aims and purpose of the Association may be eligible to become a Student Member upon application with the Student Identification Card.
Article 8: Each member (or representative) has the right to vote. Each member (or representative) has one vote. However, sustaining members, honorary members and student members are not entitled to vote. Sustaining members who simply accept the values and beliefs of the Association may be extended sustaining certificates, instead of official membership certificates and do not receive the same rights and benefits as Individual Members.
Article 9: It is the obligation of members to abide by the articles of the Association, decisions of the organization, as well as to maintain good financial standing.
Article 10: If members or their representatives violate the laws and regulations, or do not obey the General Membership Meeting's decisions, the Board of Directors has the right to warn them and suspend their membership rights if necessary. If the situation is serious in degree, the General Membership Meeting's (or representatives) has the right to expel said member. Members who do not pay Member fees shall not enjoy the rights and privileges of a Member. Membership in the Association will be revoked for nonpayment of dues in arrears for two consecutive years. In case of dismissal, resignation or suspension, reinstatement requires re-application and payment of dues in arrears, except for those reasons deemed appropriate and ratified by the Board of Directors.
Article 11: Members can be dismissed for the following reasons:
  1. The members have lost their membership qualifications.
  2. The General Membership Meeting's decides to expel them.
Article 12: If a member decides to resign from the organization, he or she should do so in writing.
   
Chapter 3 Organization and Staffing
Article 13: The highest authoritative body of the Association shall be the General Membership Meeting (hereon in referred to as the Assembly). When the number of members exceeds 300, each district will select representatives according to a formula. The term of the representation shall last four years. When the need arises, the Board of Directors will come forward and draft the representative protocol. The protocol will go into effect upon the approval of higher authorities.
Article 14: The functions and responsibilities of the Assembly are as follows:
  1. To establish or amend the articles of the Association.
  2. To elect and/or recall Directors or Supervisors.
  3. To decide initiation fees, yearly dues, business fees, and the amounts and methods of donations from members.
  4. To review the annual proceedings of the Association and approve annual budgets and financial statements proposed by the Board of Directors.
  5. To decide the expulsion of a member (representative).
  6. To approve any disposition of the property of the Association.
  7. To decide on the dissolution of the Association.
  8. To determine important issues relevant to the rights and obligations of members of the Association. The ambits of the important issues shall be determined by the Board of the Directors.
Article 15: The Association shall have a Board of Directors consisting of nine members and three Supervisors elected by the general assembly. The Board of Directors and supervisory Board are established separately. At the same time as the election of the Directors and Supervisors, alternates will be elected; three for the Board of Directors and one for the supervisory Board. In the event of absences at director or supervisory meeting, alternates will fill positions in order of rank. Rank in the organization will be determined by the number of votes received. The current Board of Directors can propose a slate of candidates for the next Directors and Supervisors. The election of the Directors and Supervisors can be carried out by postal voting, but shall not be implemented in this manner consecutively.  Rules and procedures for postal voting shall be passed by the Board of Directors and will go into effect after approval by the authority concerned.
Article 16: The official powers and responsibilities of the Board of Directors are follows:
  1. To examine and approve member qualifications.
  2. To elect and/or recall the Chairman.
  3. To accept the resignation of Directors and Chairmen.
  4. To hire and dismiss employees.
  5. To draw up yearly activity plans, reports, financial statements and budget.
  6. To approve or disapprove of all the Association events.
Article 17. The Board of Directors shall elect from among its members one Chairpman. The Chairman shall preside over internal and Assembly meetings, and publicly represent the organization. The Chairman should assign a Vice-Chairman to preside over meetings in the event that he/she cannot attend. If the Chairman has not assigned or cannot assign such a Vice-Chairman, then the Board will mutually select a temporary replacement. If the Chairman resigns, he/she shall be replaced within one month.
Article 18. The official powers of the supervisory Board are as follows:
  1. To supervise the work and effectiveness of the Board of Directors.
  2. To audit yearly financial statements.
  3. To elect and/or recall standing supervisors.
  4. To accept resignation of the supervisory members.
  5. To decide everything else on a case by case basis.
Article 19: The supervisory Board will mutually select a head of the supervisory committee. His/Her responsibilities will be to supervise the daily activities and will preside over supervisory meetings. The Head of the committee should assign an alternate to preside over meetings in the event he/she cannot attend. If the Head of the committee has not assigned such an alternate, then the committee will mutually select a temporary replacement. If the Head of the committee resigns, he/she shall be replaced within one month.
Article 20: Supervisory and Board members will not be paid, will have a term of four years, and can be re-elected. The re-election of Chairman and the Head of the supervisory committee are limited to one term. The term of office for Directors and Supervisors shall commence from the date of the first meeting of Directors.
Article 21: Directors and supervisors can be dismissed for the following reasons:
  1. Loss of qualifications as a regular member （or representative）.
  2. Resignation approved by the Board of Directors or the supervisory committee.
  3. Recall by the General Meeting.
  4. Suspension from office for over half the allotted time.
Article 22: The Association will have a Secretary-General responsible for the Association’s administration under the leadership of the Chairman. The Secretary-General shall be nominated by the Chairman, appointed by the Board of the Directors, and should be reported to the authority concerned fo approval. He/She shall not serve as an elected staff member. His/her powers, duties and duty assignment shall be determined by the Board of Directors.
Article 23: The Association will set up various kinds of committees and work groups. The general regulations will go into effect upon approval of the Board of Directors.
Article 24: The Association can hire advisors or consultants by the Board of Directors. Their tenure of office will be the same as that of the Board of Directors and Supervisors.
   
Chapter 4 Meetings
Article 25: General Membership Meetings are of two categories: scheduled and unscheduled. Unscheduled meetings will be convened by the Chairman on an urgent basis.
Members will have fifteen-days-advanced written notices of scheduled meetings. Scheduled meetings will take place once a year, and unscheduled meetings will occur when the Board or supervisory Board thinks necessary, or more than 1/5 of members request a meeting. An unscheduled meeting has been convened upon the request of over 1/10 members (or representatives) after the Association registered for a legal corporation.
Article 26 If a member (or representative) cannot attend the General Membership Meeting, he/she shall send forth an agent to represent him/her at the meeting. The representative must carry a formal written proxy notice and he/she can only represent one member.
Article 27 At the General Membership Meeting's, more than half of all members (or member representatives) must be present. The majority opinion of those present is actionable. However, for the following matters, a two-thirds majority is required: changes and amendments to the Articles of the Association, expulsion of a member, recall of a Director or Supervisor, disposition of a substantial portion of the Association’s property, dissolution of the Association, and decisions concerning member’s rights and responsibilities to the organization. Amendments to the Articles of the Association are actionable upon approval of more than three fourths of the members present at the assembly, or written approval of more than two thirds of all members after the Association registered for a legal corporation. 
The dissolution of the Association shall be determined by more than two thirds of all members.
Article 28 Both the Board of Directors and Board of Supervisors will meet once every six months. The two Boards can schedule a joint meeting or convene an unscheduled meeting if necessary. Unless the meeting is an emergency unscheduled meeting, members must have a seven-days-advanced written notice before the meeting convenes. The meetings must have more than half the members present, and the majority opinion of those present is actionable.
Article 29 Directors and Supervisors shall personally attend the meetings. Officers who miss two consecutive meetings without having first notified the Board will be conceded as resigned.
   
Chapter 5 Expenses and Accounting
Article 30: The Association’s sources of funds are as follows:
  1. Registration fees: Individual members 1000 NT dollars, paid upon application for membership.
  2. Yearly dues: Individual members 500 NT dollars, paid every year.
  3. Life membership dues: Life members 5000 NT dollars, paid upon application.
  4. Student membership dues: Student members 200 NT dollars, paid every year.
  5. Business income.
  6. Member donations.
  7. Funds and interest.
  8. Other incomes.
Article 31: The fiscal year for the Association shall be from January 1 through December 31 of the calendar year.
Article 32: The Association’s annual Work Plan, Budget, and Salaries for Executive Staffs shall be prepared by the Board of Directors not later than the first business day of November in each year, submitted to the Annual General Membership Meeting for adoption and then reported to the authority concerned for approval before the beginning of the fiscal year. (In case the General Membership Meeting cannot be held as scheduled, the documents concerned should be submitted to the Joint Meeting of Board of Directors and Supervisors for adoption before formal report to the authority for approval.)The annual Work Report, Budget, Balance Sheet, Property Inventory, and Statement of Income and Expenditure of the Fund of the Association shall be prepared within two months following the end of each year. The statements shall be approved by the supervisory committee and the Board of Directors before submission to a General Membership Meeting and formal report to the authority concerned at the end of March, (If it is impossible to hold a General Membership Meeting, then the Association must inform the authority concerned.)
Article 33: Upon dissolution, the surplus property of the should be distributed to a local self-governed organization or an organization deemed proper by the authority concerned.
   
Chapter 6 Supplementary Articles
Article 34: Omissions of Articles of the Association will be governed by the applicable laws and regulations.
Article 35: After the original Articles of the Association have been approved by the General Membership Meeting, then the Association must officially notify the authority concerned. The Association must go through the same process if the articles are amended.
Article 36: These Articles were approved by the first Annual General Membership Meeting and the Establishment Meeting of the Association on December 31th, 2006.
   
These articles were approved by the Ministry of the Interior on February 8th, 2007.

The Chinese Association for the Human Evolution has been organized by laws and authorized since March 1st, 2007, document number TAI-NEI-SHE 0960027175.

 
 
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