EURALEX Constitution – Revised 2022
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PREAMBLE
An international association known as the EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR LEXICOGRAPHY (EURALEX), hereinafter referred to as “the Association”, was established at the 1983 Exeter Conference on Lexicography (LEXeter ’83). This Constitution, originally drafted at the inaugural meeting of 12 September 1983, was agreed at the General Meeting of 13 September 1986 and amended at the General Meetings of 8 August 1992, 3 September 1994, 18 July 2008 and 20 July 2018. The current version of this constitution was amended at the General Meeting of 15 July 2022.
DOMICILE
Article 1. The domicile of the Association shall be in a European country. The address of the Association is as stated on the Association’s website: https://euralex.org/.
AIMS
Article 2. The purpose of the Association shall be to promote scholarly and professional activities in the field of lexicography and related disciplines insofar as they contribute to lexicography.
Article 3. The Association shall carry out its purpose by encouraging the exchange of information and ideas through meetings, publications and any other means its Members may consider appropriate.
Article 4. The Association shall seek contact and affiliation with other bodies which are active in related fields.
Article 5. The Association shall refrain from engaging in any political activity.
MEMBERSHIP
Article 6.
6.1 In order to become a Member of the Association a candidate must pay the required annual membership fee, and fulfil such other qualifications as may be required for the different categories of membership.
6.2 Paid-up Members shall be entitled to attend all General and Extraordinary meetings of the Association. Members have the right to preferential rates for events and publications initiated or supported by EURALEX and other sundry benefits.
6.3 The right to vote and hold Office shall be open to all Members.
Article 7. Personal Membership is available to individuals who are interested in lexicography and subscribe to the Aims laid out in Articles 2 to 5 of this Constitution.
Article 8. Honorary Membership shall be offered by the Board, on the proposal of a Member, to those who are considered by that Board to have made an outstanding contribution to lexicography, provided that this decision is ratified by the General Meeting of the Association. Honorary Members shall be exempted from paying an annual membership fee.
Article 9. Institutional Membership shall be granted to institutions, e.g. universities, academies, training centres, publishing houses and other organizations, with an interest in lexicography as a profession. Such institutions shall be allowed to nominate two representatives. These representatives have the right to vote and hold Office as laid down in Article 6.3.
Article 10. The Association has at its disposal a discretionary fund that will be used to promote the activities and reputation of the Association. This fund will be managed by the Board (see Article 23).
Article 11. Supporting membership shall be granted to those who, although not engaged in a field directly related to lexicography, nonetheless wish to further their interest in the subject by supporting the activities of the Association. These Members subscribe to the Aims laid out in Articles 2 to 5 of this Constitution.
ADMINISTRATION
Article 12.
12.1 A General Meeting, which is open to all Members of the Association, shall be convened in conjunction with the Association’s biennial congresses, normally every two years. It shall elect the Principal Officers and other Members of the Board (see Article 14) and receive for consideration Reports by the President and the Secretary-Treasurer concerning the administration and activities of the Association.
12.2 General Meetings of the Association shall be carried out according to the following rules, known in Britain as the Citrine Rules: Meetings should be quorate; proposals and nominations should be made and seconded by different individuals; points of order may be made at any stage of a discussion; in points of argument the ruling of the chair is final.
12.3 The General Meeting shall appoint up to two Auditors who are Members of the Association but not currently on the Board to check the accounts for the current term of Office. These auditors may give advice to the Secretary-Treasurer on principles for the bookkeeping, and at notice of at least one week they shall have access to the books and to all relevant vouchers. Their Report shall be presented to the first subsequent ordinary General Meeting.
12.4 Decisions shall be taken by a majority of votes cast by Members, who may delegate their vote by proxy to another Member. Members accepting a proxy mandate shall obtain a certificate to this effect. A voting Member cannot hold more than two proxy mandates. Members shall have the right to confirm, amend or annul certain functions carried out by Members of the Board. They shall also have the right to propose or to ratify, normally on the recommendation of the Board, the formation, re-designation or dissolution of Standing or Ad Hoc Committees (see Article 14), as well as appointments to them.
12.5 Participants at General Meetings of EURALEX may express themselves in any European language. The Board shall be empowered to produce documents in languages decided by the Board.
12.6 Nominations and voting for Members of the Board can also be conducted before the General Meeting, using e-mail and/or other online tools. The President nominates two Board members to administer the process. Members of the Board are then officially elected at the General Meeting.
Article 13. An Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association may be convoked by the Board on its own authority, or by a petition signed by at least one third of the Membership, and it must be held within three months of the receipt by the Secretary-Treasurer of any such petition. An Extraordinary General Meeting shall not be quorate unless the number of votes which could be cast at it, either directly or by proxy, exceeds a figure which amounts to one tenth of the Membership.
Article 14. The Association shall be governed by a Board composed of up to nine elected Members, including the four Principal Officers of the Executive Board (composed of the President, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer), elected at each General Meeting from among its Members. At the end of his or her term of presidency, the President shall continue ex officio as a Member of the Board for a further two years. The Editor of the International Journal of Lexicography shall be an ex-officio Member of the Board. The organiser of the forthcoming congress will resign any normal membership of the Board and serve as an ex-officio Member. The Board shall have the power to convoke, at its discretion, Standing and Ad Hoc Committees and to invite Members of the Association to serve in various capacities, such as that of Membership Secretary, Minutes Secretary, Editor of the Association’s Newsletter and similar functions.
Article 15. The President shall be elected by the Members at the General Meeting, shall normally serve for a term of two years, and shall not normally be eligible for immediate re-election. The President shall convene and preside over the General Meeting and any Extraordinary General Meeting of the Association, and the meetings of the Board. He or she shall sign all official acts, shall be the premier representative of the Association in public, and shall provide leadership within the Association.
Article 16. The Vice-President shall be elected by the Members at the General Meeting, shall normally serve for a term of two years and shall not normally be eligible for immediate re-election. The person elected as Vice-President shall normally be nominated for the post of President at the following General Meeting. The Vice-President shall deputise for the President in the President’s absence or indisposition.
Article 17. The Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected by the Members at the General Meeting. He or she shall be responsible for the general administration of the Association, and for such records, documents and publications as the Board considers appropriate. He or she shall manage the funds of the Association and shall keep regular accounts and present a Report, both retrospective and prospective, on the budget to the General Meeting.
Article 18. The Assistant Secretary-Treasurer shall be elected by the Members at the General Meeting. He or she shall assist in performing the Secretary-Treasurer’s duties and shall deputise for the Secretary-Treasurer in the Secretary-Treasurer’s absence or indisposition.
Article 19. The Board shall have the power to conduct ballots, be it physical, online, or hybrid, among the Membership of the Association on specific urgent issues which cannot, in the view of the Board, be deferred until the following General Meeting or until any Extraordinary General Meeting which may subsequently be convoked. The result of any such ballot shall be determined by a majority of votes received by the Secretary-Treasurer on the day appointed, and any such issue put to a ballot shall appear as a substantive agenda item for the next General Meeting or for any immediately-subsequent Extraordinary General Meeting.
Article 20. The Principal Officers of the Association shall be empowered to arbitrate on eventualities falling outside the scope of these Articles of Association. In so doing, the Principal Officers may use their discretion to consult, without prejudice, any person or body they consider appropriate in the given circumstance. A Report on all such cases shall be presented to the Board as soon as possible thereafter.
FINANCE
Article 21. The Association shall derive its revenue from membership fees by Members, from donations, from subsidies and from such other funds as may accrue from its activities, such as conferences and publications.
Article 22. The annual membership fees shall vary by category of membership (see Articles 7, 8, 9 & 11) and shall normally be determined by the General Meeting on the recommendation of the Board. The appropriate membership fee must be remitted on request.
Article 23. The Association has established a discretionary fund that will be used to promote the Association. The discretionary fund is financed by a percentage of the Association’s income. The Board may add a contribution from the Association not exceeding the sum of the percentage contribution over a two-year accounting period. Use of the funds is at the discretion of the full Board. A Report on the use of the fund will be presented at each General Meeting of the Association.
ACTIVITIES
Article 24. The Board, in carrying out the wishes of the General Meeting of Members, shall at all times strive to achieve the Aims of the Association with maximum effect and minimum bureaucracy. Contacts with other bodies shall be sought without duplicating effort, the free and critical exchange of information shall be encouraged and the formation of regional, sectional and local branch groupings shall be promoted.
Article 25. The two chief means of communicating information in accordance with the Aims of the Association shall be the convening of meetings and the dissemination of information through media such as the Association’s website, any other forms of online presence, and the Members’ Mailing List. General conferences on a wide range of topics shall be held at regular intervals, normally every two years, at different locations, online, or in a hybrid format, supplemented by small-scale expert seminars and workshops on specific topics.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Article 26. These Articles of Association may be amended by a General Meeting or an Extraordinary General Meeting, on condition that such an amendment is supported by a vote of at least two thirds of the Membership present, whether physical, online, or hybrid. Only the General Meeting shall have the power to dissolve the Association, which mandate must be ratified by nine-tenths of the Members in a subsequent ballot.
