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About the Forum

Constitution and regulations

ANNEX TO THE CODE OF INTERNAL REGULATIONS: SELECTION, NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF CANDIDATES TO THE BOARD (GM 10/05/07)

A. Composition and appointment of the selection committee

A.1. Article 29 of the Constitution states that: “The General Meeting will appoint a selection committee to make nominations for the next election of the Board”. This means a selection committee shall be composed at the General Meeting a year prior to the General Meeting in which elections to the Board shall be held.

A.2. The selection committee shall consist of three full members of the European Forum, coming from different countries, and preferably from different regions of Europe. As far as possible, the members of the selection committee should represent different target groups of the European Forum. The selection committee will be appointed by the General Meeting.

A.3. When sending out the draft agenda for the General Meeting, the Chair of the European Forum will invite the members to declare their willingness to act as a member of the selection committee. If one month before the date of the General Meeting the Chair has not received enough candidatures to fill in the positions on the selection committee, he or she will actively approach potential candidates.

A.4. At the General Meeting, all the candidates for a position on the selection committee will be presented. Should there be more than three candidates for a position on the selection committee, the three members of the committee will be elected by simple majority vote of the full members present or represented.

B. Tasks of the selection committee

B.1. The selection committee’s task is to seek and approve nominations for the next elections to the Board.

B.2. The members of the selection committee shall decide amongst themselves who will act as chair of the committee.

B.3. Within three months of its appointment, the selection committee shall invite the members of the European Forum to nominate candidates to the Board. This invitation shall consist of the following elements:

B.3.1. an overview of the members of the Board that are leaving the Board
B.3.2. an overview of the members of the Board that are staying in office
B.3.3. the establishment of a profile for the candidates sought and explanation thereof
B.3.4. detailed explanation of the procedure to be followed when nominating a candidate for election to the Board
B.3.5. the deadline for making nominations, which shall be 4 months before the General Meeting at which the elections will be held

B.4. After inviting the members of the European Forum to nominate candidates to the Board, the selection committee shall actively approach potential candidates. This will be done by comparing the profile which they drew up with the list of members with full voting rights which they will obtain from the Secretariat of the European Forum.

B.5. In drawing up the profile for the candidates, the selection committee will take into account that:

B.5.1. the members from the Board have to come from at least 6 different countries
B.5.2. there can be no more than two Board members from the same country
B.5.3. the members of the Board should represent, as much as possible, the different regions of Europe
B.5.4. the members of the Board should represent, as much as possible, the different target groups of the European Forum
B.5.5. a balance should be sought in gender.

B.6. A nomination shall consist of following documents:

B.6.1. the name and email or postal address of the proposer
B.6.2. the name and email or postal address of the seconder
B.6.3. the name and email or postal address of the candidate
B.6.4. the written consent of the candidate
B.6.5. the date on which the nomination is made
B.6.6. a 50-word summary of the candidates’ restorative justice background / contribution to the Forum.

B.7. Within one month of receipt of a nomination, the members of the selection committee shall acknowledge receipt of the nomination and inform the candidate and the persons proposing the candidate whether the nomination fulfils the formal criteria. These criteria are the following:

B.7.1. the candidate being proposed is a full member of the European Forum (art. 28 Constitution)
B.7.2. the persons acting as proposer and seconder are full members of the European Forum (art. 29 Constitution)
B.7.3. if an organisation is nominated for election to the Board, it must name its prospective representative before the election (Internal Regulations)
B.7.4. the proposer must send the nomination to the chair of the selection committee before expiry of the deadline to make nominations
B.7.5. the proposal contains all documents mentioned in B.6.

B.8.

B.8.1. If the nomination does not fulfill one or more of the formal criteria, the nomination is rejected
B.8.2. If the nomination does fulfill the formal criteria, the nomination is approved
B.8.3. The candidate and the persons proposing the candidate shall be informed of the decision taken by the selection committee within one month

B.9. Three months before the General Meeting at which elections will be held, and together with the draft agenda of the General Meeting, the members of the Forum shall be informed of:

B.9.1. the names of the candidates to the Board who have been nominated
B.9.2. the names of the two full members of the Forum who support the nomination
B.9.3. a 50-word summary of the candidates’ restorative justice background / contribution to the Forum
B.9.4. a detailed explanation of the voting procedure, including how to vote by proxy.

C. Election

C.1. During the General Meeting, the chair of the selection committee, or another member of the selection committee if the chair is not present, will present a short report on the work done by the committee since its appointment. He or she will also describe the procedure to be followed in the election.

C.2. The candidates for election to the Board are invited to present themselves briefly. If the candidates are unable to attend the meeting, they may ask one of the people who support their nomination to do so in their stead.

C.3. Any full member can express his or her support for a candidate or candidates, or express any other opinion on the election.

C.4. An election committee will be composed by the General Meeting, consisting of one staff member of the European Forum and two full members attending the General Meeting. None of these people can be a candidate for election, or act as a proposer or seconder for a candidate.

C.5. The task of the election committee is to supervise the election procedure, to count the votes and to announce the results of the election.

C.6. Voting will be done by secret voting ballot.

C.7. Full members of the European Forum who have received (a) proxy vote(s) from (an)other full member(s) will receive a number of voting ballots equal to the number of proxies they hold on top of their own voting ballot.

C.8. The voting ballots will contain the names of the candidates for election. The chair of the selection committee, or his/her replacement, will clearly explain how many candidates to vote for and how.

C.9. The voting ballots will be collected by the members of the election committee. They will count the votes and present the General Meeting with the results of the vote.