Working Statutes of the
International Seismological Centre
No longer in use; available for historical preservation purpose.
Incorporating amendments adopted at the Governing
Council meetings in
Moscow 30/31 July 1971,
Lima 23/24 August 1973,
Vancouver 21 August 1987,
Istanbul August 1989,
Wellington 9 January 1994,
Hanoi 20 August 2001 and
Gothenburg 21 July 2013.
I. Name
The Centre shall be known as the International Seismological Centre (herein-after referred to as 'the Centre'). The Centre is an international non-governmental scientific organisation with a membership as defined in paragraph IV hereof.
II. Objects
The objects of the Centre shall be the collection, collation and analysis of terrestrial seismic events for the advancement of scientific knowledge of earthquakes, and the structure of the Earth.
III. Tasks
The principal tasks of the Centre, by which the aforementioned objects are to be achieved, are:
(a) To collect seismogram readings from station networks throughout the world in co-operation with other seismological data centres and seismological organisations;
(b) To edit and preserve the readings for analysis in computer-readable form;
(c) To compute focal co-ordinates, magnitudes and other parameters for each considered event and to make available a bulletin containing the fullest possible account of the original data and parameters derived therefrom;
(d) To undertake such research and developments as may be relevant to improving the ISC's services that are within the intent of these statutes;
(e) To provide such other services to institutions or to individual scientists and engineers throughout the world as are compatible with the execution of the above-mentioned tasks, and with the data and facilities available within the Centre;
(f) To undertake such other relevant activities as may be approved by the Governing Council on its own motion or on the recommendation of the Executive Committee.
IV. Members of the Centre
(a) Any national academy, agency, scientific institution or other non-profit organisation may become a Member of the Centre on payment to the Centre of a sum equal to at least one unit of subscription and the nomination of a voting representative to serve on the Centre's governing body.
(b) Membership shall be effective for one year from the date of receipt at the Centre of the annual contribution of the Member and is thereafter renewable for periods of one year.
(c) Any commercial organisation with an interest in the objectives and/or output of the Centre may become a Sponsoring Organization on payment of a mutually agreed annual fee, but without entitlement to representation with a vote on the Centre's governing body. Sponsorship is thereafter renewable annually.
V. Governing Council
(a) The governing body of the Centre shall be the Governing Council, comprising one representative of each ISC Member.
(b) The following shall be entitled to attend meetings of the Governing Council without vote:
1. The Director of the Centre;
2. A named representative of the International Association of Seismology and Physics of the Earth's Interior (IASPEI);
3. A named representative of UNESCO;
4. Observers on behalf of Sponsoring Organizations;
5. Representatives of geophysical research institutions or specialist advisers, at the invitation of the Chairman of the Governing Council.
(c) The Governing Council shall, giving due consideration to recommendations on scientific policy which may be made by IASPEI:
1. Determine the general programme of the Centre;
2. Having due regard to the international character of the Centre, appoint the Director and, where considered necessary, the Deputy Director;
3. Authorise the budget;
4. Supervise the operations of the Centre.
(d) The Governing Council shall elect its chairman from among its members.
(e) The Governing Council shall be convened as often as a quorum of the representatives of the Members sees the need, but not normally more than once every two years. Where a Member's representative is unable to attend a meeting of the Governing Council, an alternate with full voting powers on behalf of that Member may be nominated in writing to the Director or to the Chairman of the Governing Council in advance of the meeting.
(f) When voting on amendment of the statutes, administrative, organisational or scientific matters without financial implications, each of the voting representatives shall have one vote irrespective of the category of the individual Members' subscription. On matters of finance, each voting representative shall have the number of votes equivalent to the category of that Member's subscription. (See also Statute VIII(b) )
(g) The quorum for meetings of the Governing Council shall be that number equal to one-quarter the number of paid-up Members of the Centre, where Members are represented by their formally-designated representatives or alternates.
(h) Subject to the provisions of these presents, the Governing Council shall make its own rules of procedure.
(i) Decisions of the Governing Council shall, except as provided for in paragraph IX(a) hereof, be by a simple majority of the votes cast. In the event of equality, the Chairman shall have an additional or casting vote.
VI. Executive Committee
(a) The Executive Committee shall consist of up to eight members, namely up to six members elected by the Governing Council from its members (with due regard, among other criteria to fair geographical representation and area of expertise), who shall serve for periods determined by the Governing Council, one member appointed by the host institution (being the institution with which the Centre is formally associated), and one member appointed by IASPEI.
(b) The Executive Committee shall:
1. Ensure that the decisions of the Governing Council are put into effect;
2. Examine and advise on the annual accounts, reports of work done and on programmes of work to be undertaken for approval by the Governing Council;
3. Examine and advise on the budget of the Centre for approval by the Governing Council;
4. Examine and approve proposals for additional projects within the terms of reference laid down by the Governing Council and report such decisions to the Governing Council.
(c) The Executive Committee shall elect its Chairman from among those of its members elected by the Governing Council.
(d) The Executive Committee shall meet as often as a quorum of its members or of the Governing Council sees the need, but never less than once every calendar year.
(e) The decisions of the Executive Committee shall be by a simple majority, each member having one vote, and in the event of equality the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote.
(f) The Director of the Centre shall attend meetings of the Executive Committee, but without vote.
(g) A quorum shall not be less than half of the members of the Executive Committee.
(h) The Chairman of the Executive Committee may invite one or more specialist advisers to attend meetings of the Executive Committee, but without vote.
(i) The Chairman of the Governing Council shall be entitled to attend meetings of the Executive Committee, but without vote.
(j) The Chairman of the Executive Committee may, at his discretion, appoint a Secretary who shall attend meetings of the Executive Committee without vote.
(k) Subject to the provisions of these presents, the Executive Committee shall make its own rules of procedure.
VII. Scientific and Administrative Staff
(a) The Director and, as appropriate, Deputy Director, of the Centre shall be appointed by the Governing Council on such terms and conditions as shall be specified by the Governing Council.
(b) The Director shall conduct the work of the Centre in accordance with the programme and budget determined by the Governing Council and the decisions of the Governing Council and of the Executive Committee where a decision of the Governing Council cannot be awaited.
(c) The Director shall:
1. Prepare the programme, budget and annual reports on the activities of the Centre for submission to the Governing Council through the Executive Committee;
2. Be responsible for the preparation of the annual accounts for submission to the Governing Council through the Executive Committee;
3. Attend meetings of the Governing Council and Executive Committee without vote;
4. Subject to the approval of the Executive Committee, be responsible for the terms of contract and appointment of all staff having due regard to the international character of the Centre, except for the post of Deputy Director for which the Governing Council shall be responsible as in paragraph V(c) above;
5. Make available appropriate facilities for work in the Centre by visiting seismologists, providing only that the provision of such facilities in no way hinders the prosecution of the tasks of the Centre given in paragraph III and that the expenses of such visitors are met from sources other than the Centre's funds.
(d) Subject to the approval of the Executive Committee, the Director shall be entitled to conclude such contracts as are within the terms of reference specified by the Governing Council. The Executive Committee shall report such contracts to the Governing Council.
(e) The Director shall draw up, for approval by the Executive Committee, the administrative regulations governing the operations of the Centre.
VIII. Financial Provisions
(a) The income of the Centre shall consist of subscriptions and sponsorships payable to the Centre, grants, proceeds from the sale of output, proceeds from contracts and dues for services rendered.
(b) The subscriptions to the Centre shall be determined by the category which each Member adopts; there will be nine categories of subscriptions as set out below; any subscription which falls between two categories shall confer voting rights in accordance with the lower category.
| Category | Units of Subscriptions |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 |
| 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 20 |
| 6 | 30 |
| 7 | 40 |
| 8 | 60 |
| 9 | 90 |
(c) The category value of the unit of subscription shall be determined from time to time by the Governing Council.
(d) Subject to the approval of the Executive Committee, the Director may accept on behalf of the Centre any gifts, bequests, covenants or any services or assistance in kind, provided these do not entail any clause or condition contrary to the purposes of the Centre.
(e) In return for subscriptions or for contributions in kind by way of data, staff or services, each contributor and each station and station network contributing data shall be entitled to specific services of the Centre on terms determined by the Governing Council on the recommendation of the Executive Committee.
(f) Funds shall be reserved by the Director to reimburse the members of the Executive Committee, as appropriate, and such others entitled to attend its meetings for such travel and subsistence expenses as they incur in attending meetings of the Executive Committee.
(g) The accounting year shall end on 31 December.
(h) The Director shall be responsible for the preparation and submission of estimates of income and expenditure and of proposed capital projects to the Executive Committee on behalf of the Governing Council, on an annual basis for each of the following two years. The Director shall also submit revised estimates for the current year to each meeting of the Executive Committee.
(i) The Director shall be responsible for the preparation and presentation for audit of the final accounts, as at 31 December in each year, in the form of an income and expenditure account and a statement of funds.
(j) The professional auditor, who shall be a member of one of the associations in the standard list agreed with the UK Department of Trade and Industry, shall be appointed annually by the Executive Committee.
(k) The accounts shall be subject to scrutiny by a member of the Executive Committee prior to being signed by the professional auditor and the Director. The accounts shall then be submitted to the Executive Committee.
(l) The signed accounts and forward estimates shall be examined and recommended by the Executive Committee for adoption by the Governing Council.
IX. Amendments
(a) These statutes shall be subject to amendment at the instigation of Members of the Centre or their representatives on the Governing Council. Proposed amendments shall be communicated to all Members through their representatives. An amendment may only be adopted at a meeting of the Governing Council by a 2/3 majority of the votes cast, provided that one half of the voting Members present concur and provided that three months have elapsed since the date upon which the proposal for amendment was first communicated in writing to members of the Governing Council.
(b) No amendments to these statutes shall be effective which would deprive the organisation of the benefits of being treated as a charity for tax purposes in the United Kingdom.
X. Winding up
In the event of the trust purpose coming to an end in the United Kingdom, the trust hereinbefore provided for shall be wound up, any assets of the Centre shall be made over to such organisation or organisations as the Governing Council decides would most effectively promote the objects of the Centre.
