Articles of Association

Art. 8.

The administrative management of the Sociedad Iberoamericana de Neuro-Urología y Uroginecología (Ibero-American Society of Neuro-Urology and Urogynecology) is entrusted to a Governing Board that will be formed by a chairperson, two Vice-Presidents, a number of members greater than three (one of the Members will act as secretary), a treasurer and a delegate by each country of those within the territorial scope of the Society.

Art. 9.

The members of the Governing Board will hold their roles for a term of five years, at the end of which their term will end and new elections will be held and they may be re-elected. The chairperson and other members of the Governing Board will be elected by the general assembly of members of the board. Candidates must present their application at the beginning of the congress, specifying the position they want to hold.

Art. 10.

The Chairperson will have the following duties:

1. Represent the Society.
2. Chair public events held by the Society.
3. Chair the sessions of the General Assembly and the Governing Board.
4. Execute the agreements of the General Assembly and the Governing Board.
5. Mandatory convening of the Governing Board and the ordinary and extraordinary general assembly when it is statutorily established.
6. Delegate functions.

Art. 11.

Corresponds to the Vice-President: Replace the chairperson, in its corresponding order, in case of absence or vacancy, and perform the roles delegated by the chairperson.

Art. 12.

The Secretary has the following duties:

1. Record minutes of the sessions held.
2. Issue the appropriate certifications with the authorization and approval of the chairperson.
3. Write the annual report.
4. Sign, together with the chairperson, convening notices, notifications, etc.
5. Look after the Society’s documentation.
6. Formalize the books of the Society.
7. Control the members’ file.

Art. 13.

The agreements of the Governing Board will be adopted by a majority of its members. In the case of a tie the Chairperson’s vote will determine the agreement.

Art. 14.

The treasurer will have the following duties:

1. Submit the annual report of the Society’s financial statements to the Governing Board for approval and record the transactions carried out in the corresponding books, filing the receipts of income and payments.
2. Control the Society’s accounts, being able to open current accounts in banks, savings banks and credit institutions.

Art. 15.

The Members will have the following duties:

1. A member will act in the capacity as Partner of Publications and Information, having to manage the Society’s official publications and bodies.
2. A member will act in the capacity as Secretary with the roles indicated in article 12.
3. A member will act in the capacity as Partner of International Relations who will act as liaison between the Governing Board and the delegations, as well as with the social context.

Art. 16.

All the partners with the roles above mentioned, must live in the same country as the elected Chairperson, except for the Partner of International Relations.

Art. 17.

The delegates will have the following duties:

1. Promote the partners’ scientific activities and other objectives of the Society in their own country, and structure the Society’s representative bodies in their country.
2. Hold regular scientific meetings, at least one annual meeting, agreeing in each of them the topics for the next meeting, which will be sent to the general secretariat of the Society, to be disseminated among its members.
3. Encourage a minimum of two scientific papers corresponding to the Society’s topic, to be published in the APPLIED URODYNAMICS journal, the official dissemination body of the Society.
4. The agreements and decisions of the delegates cannot be in opposition with these Articles of Association. They will be reported through the corresponding minutes of the meetings to the Board of Directors of the Society.

Art. 18.

The Society will have honorary partners, elected members, full members and correspondents.

1. Those persons with a distinction in one of the areas of interest of this Society, or who have provided eminent services to this Society, may become honorary partners.
2. All the professionals (Urologists, Neurologists, Rehabilitators and Gynaecologists) who request it may enter as elected members, according to the rules of Article 20 of these Articles of Association, and in order to become full members, they must perform a work of admission. They will remain as elected members as long as they do not present the aforementioned work.
3. The professionals mentioned in section 2 of the second article who are not Spanish or Portuguese speakers and / or are outside the territorial scope of the Society may be correspondents.
4. The number of honorary partners will not exceed twenty. The number of elected members, full members and correspondents will be unlimited.

Art. 19.

The appointment of all kinds of members will be made in a general assembly by vote, requiring the affirmative vote of two thirds of the number of members present.

Art. 20.

Proposals for the appointment of honorary partners or correspondents will be put forward by the Governing Board or in writing signed by at least 10 members.

The proposals of elected partners, who want to upgrade their membership and meet the conditions required in Article 18, will submit an application for admission through their delegation, which must bear the signatures of two full members recommending the candidate.

The elected members who wish to become full members, will need to submit an application to the Governing Board, and must be accompanied by the corresponding work of admission. It will be published in APPLIED URODYNAMICS and must be ratified in a general assembly.

All proposals will be taken from the delegations through the General Secretary of the Society.

Art. 21.

The Governing Board will make the necessary preparations together with the delegate of the country where the congress will be held, setting the conditions for the basic scientific and social issues to be addressed.

Art. 22.

The Congress must be held every two and a half years, determining at least 2 years in advance the place and date of the congress, as well as the scientific and social issues to be discussed.

Art. 23.

The scientific and social issue to be discussed should concern the Society, being chosen from among several proposals of the delegates of each country, by a board of directors appointed by the Governing Board itself. Each proposal must be accompanied by the reasons that justify the acceptance. All partners will be informed of the reasons why the basic topic of the next congress was chosen.

Art. 24.

The basic topics should be directed by the delegation of the organizing country of the congress, according to the conditions set in advance by the Board of Directors (they should contain a scientific medical and a social aspect).

Art. 25.

The delegation that is in charge of organizing the congress must appoint a Board of Directors with a Chairperson who may be the same delegate, a secretary, a treasurer and at least 3 partners, unless the congress is held in the same country as the elected Chairperson; in this case it will be the same Governing Board who chairs the congress.

The deadline for submitting notifications and proposals is set at three months before the congress.

Art. 26.

The delegate of the organizing country must send a report of the number and quality of the proposals to the Secretariat of the Governing Board, or to the Partner of International Relations, who will send it to the same Board.

Art. 27.

Scientists who are not members of the Society, but who due to their professional status may benefit the congress with their paper, may attend and be invited by the organizers of the congress.

Art. 28.

Each year, at least once, the delegation of each country must meet with its associates. They may also meet with other delegations if they wish.

Art. 29.

Each delegation may organize itself as it wishes (representative of provinces, areas, regions, etc.), having to submit a report to the Governing Board, of the acquired form, and this must not be in opposition of the Society’s Articles of Association.

Art. 30.

Delegates must send an annual report of the activities to the Governing Board.

Art. 31.

1. Prizes will be awarded for the best article of the APPLIED URODYNAMICS Journal on an annual basis.
2. Prize to the best work by an elected member applying for becoming a full member.
3. Two prizes to the best papers of the congress.
4. A prize for the best doctoral thesis regarding the medical topics dealt with by the Society.

Art. 32.

These prizes will be granted during the Congress, although the winner will be informed in advance of its award. The rules regulating the award will be published timely in the Society’s diffusion Journal, APPLIED URODYNAMICS.

Art. 33.

A DISTINCTIVE PRIZE may be awarded to those who, as a member, have distinguished themselves by their contribution to the Society during a period of government.

Art. 34.

The partner status will be lost in the following cases:

1. Due to death or dissolution of the legal entity.
2. By own will.
3. Due to expulsion, previous file with hearing of the interested party.
4. As a result of not paying the fees in accordance with article 38.

Art. 35.

The dissolution of the Society can only be carried out by means of a general assembly expressly convened for this purpose, for which it will be necessary to prove, according to the law in force in each country, the vote of at least two thirds of the members and the vote for the dissolution of two thirds of the attendees. In the event of dissolution, the general assembly approving the dissolution will determine what to do with the assets of the Society.

Art. 36.

The emblem of the Society will consist of the map of the territory of the Society of half sphere with an arch between both Atlantic territories whose upper part will display the Society´s name, Sociedad Iberoamericana de Neuro-Urología y Uroginecología SINUG.

Art. 37.

The elected members, full members and correspondents of the Society must pay an annual fee, established in the General Assembly in accordance with the circumstances of each time as proposed by the Governing Board.

Art. 38.

The members with an outstanding payment of the fees will be requested by the Society to do so two times consequently and in writing, with a term of one month between both requests. If after these two requests they have not paid the fees, their membership will be terminated.

Art. 39.

The budget of the entity will be approved annually in the general assembly. The income of the Society will consist of:

1. Members’ fees.
2. Donations and legacies.
3. Fees paid for reports and consultancy.
4. Subsidies.
5. Income from publications.

Art. 40.

Any modification of these regulations must be agreed upon in an ordinary or extraordinary general meeting and at the request of the Governing Board.