Name, head office and scope Purposes Membership 1. Ordinary members 2. Rights of ordinary members 3. Duties of members 4. Sponsoring members 5. Honorary members 6. Resignation of members Organs of control 1. Organisation 2. Chairmanship of the Congress 3. The General Assembly 4. The Extraordinary General Assembly 5. The Committee Finances Final resolutions
ARTICLE I Name, head office and scope
1. The union bears the name «Union Internationale du Cinéma non Professionnel», here under abridged as «UNICA».
UNICA is an independent, non-governmental and international organisation.
It is a member of the International Film and Television Council (I.F.T.C.) which has the status of an «A» consultative organisation at the United Nations Education Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO).
2. The head office of UNICA is in Switzerland and its address is that of the Swiss Federation of Cine Amateurs (Fédération Suisse des clubs d'auteurs de films et vidéo).
3. The scope of UNICA covers all organisations registered as members and I.F.T.C. The continuance of UNICA is not limited.
4. The official emblem of UNICA is a representation of the globe encircled by a film on which the word UNICA is inscribed. The drawing is blue on a white background.
1. In the sense of peaceful co-operation and friendship between peoples, UNICA promotes international understanding and collaboration, in particular in the field of art, culture, education and science, in accordance with the principles of the UNESCO.
2. UNICA, as a rule, achieves its purpose with the following activities:
a) congresses and General Assemblies;
b) international competitions;
c) international exchange of non-commercial films;
d) international seminars;
e) debates on new concepts and theories about art and culture;
f ) film shows and exchange of experience between countries;
g) publishings.
UNICA is composed as follows:
1.1. Ordinary members are national organisations or bodies representative of the non professional filmmakers in their countries, hereunder mentioned as «federations».
1.2. As a national representative, no organisation may become a member unless it actually stands for the interests of non professional filmmakers in the country, accepts the purpose and the statutes of UNICA and its own purpose and statutes are in accordance with those of UNICA.
1.3. Only one organisation per country, as recognised by the United Nations, can be a member of UNICA. If more than one organisation exist in the same country, a national body should be established for a co-ordination of actions and only one represent ative should be nominated .
1.4. The application for membership should reach the Secretary General three months prior to the General Assembly where this candidacy is to be decided upon. The statutes of the applying federation should be sent together with the application.
1.5. The admission of members is made on the proposal of the Committee by the General Assembly which decides with a two third's majority.
2. Rights of ordinary members
2.1. An ordinary member has a right to participate in and contribute to the activities of UNICA:
a) by submitting proposals related to the work of UNICA and contributing to its development;
b) by taking part in the General Assembly;
c) by suggesting the names of candidates for the Committee and the commissions;
d) by assisting and participating in the competitions organised by UNICA and the other events staged in connection with it;
e) by supporting and attending the special competitions, meetings or events organised by UNICA;
f ) by contributing to the editing and publishing of various documents.
2.2. Any member has a right to take advantage of the assistance and support that UNICA may provide. This may have the form of:
a) application for the granting of the patronage of UNICA for major national and international non professional film festivals that are representative;
b) the borrowing - free of charge - of films from the film-library;
c) documents, analyses and other studies about the work of UNICA made available.
3. Duties of members
3.1. Any member of UNICA will consider it a duty to contribute to the respecting and fulfillment of the purposes of UNICA on the basis of the statutes and then show a high sense of discipline.
3.2. Any member of UNICA must consider it a duty to participate in votes and contribute to the work of UNICA with film programmes.
3.3. Any member has to pay annually before June 30 the membership fee, the amount of which is determined by the General Assembly .
4.1. These members are such members as the «Friends of UNICA» or firms and institutions without any specific rights or duties.
4.2. The rights and duties of the sponsoring members are set out in a separate set of internal regulations. They contribute a voluntary fee and promote the work of UNICA through additional activities and forms of assistance and support.
5.1. Individual members who have performed special service to the UNICA may be taken as honorary members upon decision of the General Assembly.
The honorary membership is confirmed by the award of a diploma.
6. Resignation of members
6.1. Any member intending to resign from UNICA must notify the Secretary General by registered letter before December 31. The resignation may be validated only if the member concerned has fulfilled its duties towards UNICA up to the time of its declaration of intent.
6.2. Any member may be excluded from UNICA if it contravenes the regulations of UNICA. The decision to exclude a member is made with two third's majority of votes present at the General Assembly.
6.3. The rights of a member are suspended when it has not paid the subscription fees and the membership becomes passive. If no request for a postponement of the decision or no valid reason has been offered after receiving two reminders from the Treasurer within two years, this membership is canceled automatically after receiving the second reminder.
6.4. Departure from or exclusion out of UNICA entails the loss of all rights towards UNICA.
1. Organisation
1.1. The supreme body of UNICA is the General Assembly.
1.2. The executive organ of UNICA is the Committee which is elected by the General Assembly.
On the first ballot, election is pronounced by absolute majority of the votes cast (majority commanding more than half of the votes cast). If this majority is not obtained, the relative majority (simple majority) suffices for the subsequent ballots.
Successively will be elected:
1) the President
2) the Vice-President
3) the Secretary General
4) the Treasurer
5) the counselors.
1.3. UNICA organises an annual Congress. It consists of:
a) the General Assembly;
b) the international film competition and other events connected with it.
1.4. Exceptionally and when specific conditions make it necessary, the General Assembly may decide to hold its meeting in a place other than where the competition is staged or at another time.
1.5. Any member has the right to be a candidate for the organising of the Congress.
The letter of application must reach the Secretary General at least 24 months prior to the date of the Congress.
2. Chairmanship of the Congress.
2.1. The Congress is prepared and conducted by a Congress chairman in co-operation with the Committee.
2.2. The chairman is appointed on the proposal of the federation organising the Congress. His action begins when he is handed the UNICA flag and terminated when he hands this flag to his successor.
2.3. The Congress chairman has to attend the meetings of the Committee when he is in office. He has no right of vote (details of the procedure in the Internal Regulations) .
3. The General Assembly.
3.1. The General Assembly is composed of the delegates, their deputies, the members of the Committee and the members of the existing special commissions.
3.2. The General Assembly is open to the public, except by a contrary decision of the General Assembly.
3.3. The agenda is laid out in the Internal Regulations.
3.4. The letter of summons to attend the General Assembly should reach all UNICA members three months before the General Assembly, and the agenda together with all proposals made and the accounts and the provisional budget at the latest one month prior to this assembly.
3.5. The federations submit the names of delegates and their deputies to the Secretary General six weeks prior to the General Assembly.
3.6. The delegates appointed by federations have a right to vote and voice the opinions of these federations.
3.7. Any federation which does not send a delegate, has a right to transfer its right to vote to the delegate from another federation. The letter of proxy must be in the hands of the Secretary General before ballots. A delegate may not have more than two votes, including his own.
3.8. The General Assembly is conducted by a chairman whose name is proposed by the Committee or the delegates and who is confirmed in his office by the General Assembly. The chairman of the assembly has no right of vote, unless he is himself a delegate. He is assisted by a sessional secretary and two scrutineers nominated upon proposal of the Committee.
3.9. All proposals which are to be submitted to the General Assembly should reach the Secretary General in the written form at the latest two months before the assembly.
The General Assembly may have to deal with emergency proposals in exceptional and justified cases. The assembly decides upon the admissibility of such proposals by a simple majority vote (votes present at the assembly).
3.10. The proposals submitted to the assembly should be put in French, English or German.
3.11. Votes are passed by a simple majority (votes valid and present) unless otherwise provided. Decisions made by the General Assembly are considered valid if at least half of the members or two thirds of the officially confirmed votes are present.
3.12. The General Assembly determines the date of enforcement of all decisions.
3.13. The ballots will be secret upon request of one single member.
3.14. The Secretary General drafts the proceedings of the General Assembly and the proceedings of the Committee and commissions in French and one of the languages selected by the Committee. These documents should reach all members at the latest four months after the General Assembly concerned.
3.15. French is the official language of the General Assembly. English, German. Spanish and Russian may be used if there is an installation for simultaneous translation or if an interpreter is available for the language used.
3.16. Documents and decisions are drafted in French and another language as selected by the Committee.
3.17. The General Assembly may award a gold medal to such persons that have performed meritorious service to UNICA.
3.18. The General Assembly may suspend the membership of any member if it temporarily disregards the statutes or ideals of UNICA or if its attitude is detrimental to the reputation of UNICA. This decision is made with a two third's majority. If no request for a restoration of full rights and duties is submitted in the mean time, the Assembly re-examines the decision every two years; the decision is then confirmed or canceled.
4. The Extraordinary General Assembly.
4.1. The Committee has a right to convene an Extraordinary General Assembly.
4.2. An Extraordinary General Assembly must be summoned by the Committee upon request of two thirds of the members. The request must be sent to the President of UNICA. It should mention the reasons motivating the request and mention a list of items to be discussed and decided upon by a vote.
4.3. The Committee sets the time and place of the assembly and its final agenda in accordance with the federation which submitted the request.
4.4. Federations should be informed of the convention of this assembly by the Secretary General within six weeks after the proposal has been submitted and at the latest three months before the assembly.
4.5. The name of the chairman of this assembly is suggested and this chairman is elected as in article IV, item 3.8.
5. The Committee.
5.1. The Committee is composed of:
a) the President
b) the Vice-President
c) the Secretary General
d) the Treasurer
e) six counselors.
The Committee can form an executive committee amongst its members. The decisions of this executive committee have to be ratified by the Committee during its next meeting. This ratification can also be obtained by written approval of the minutes.
5.2. At its first meeting after the election, the Committee defines the missions of the counselors. The Committee can also designate non members for particular missions. These persons may be invited to the Committee meetings. The federations are informed of the repartition of the missions.
5.3. The members of the Committee are elected for a period of three years. The national federations have the right to repeal their elected members for motivated reasons.
5.4. If one of more member(s) is/are repealed during his/their time in office or if the mandate is canceled, the Committee has a right to co-opt new members with a view to ensuring proper permanence in its action. Such co-opted members must be submitted for approval at the next General Assembly.
5.5. The cancellation of a mandate for a member of the Committee may be made only by the General Assembly.
The mandate of the commissioned members may be canceled by a decision made by the Committee.
5.6. All mandates are honorary.
5.7. The Committee has a right to appoint working commissions which assist the Committee for the solving of specific questions or problems. Such commissions are chaired by a member of the Committee. Their mandate is limited to the duration of their mission.
5.8. The Committee meets by a decision of the President or upon request of at least five of its members. The agenda is prepared by the President in co-operation with the Secretary General. The Secretary General is responsible for the convening of the Committee.
5.9. The Committee has a quorum and may make decisions when two thirds of the members are present. Decisions are made by simple majority votes.
5.10. The Vice-President deputises for the President in case of his absence. If the President and the Vice-President are absent, the Committee chooses one of its members to fulfill the function of President temporarily.
1.The financial means by which UNICA may fulfill and perform the activities set out in statutes are:
a) ordinary assets:
- subscription fees provided by the ordinary and sponsoring members.
b) extraordinary assets:
-subsidies, grants and donations;
- other assets.
2. Two auditors elected every year by the General Assembly are also active to assist the Treasurer. One of the two auditors should be replaced by somebody else every year.
3. The amount of membership fees is fixed by the General Assembly. Exceptional provisions may be made in case of emergency.
4. The moneys are deposited at a banking office proposed by the Committee.
1. The statutes may be amended only by a decision made by the General Assembly at which two thirds of the delegates with a right of vote are present. Decisions are then made by a two third's majority. The text of the proposed alteration should be publicised to all members at least two months prior to the General Assembly.
2. The dissolution of UNICA can be pronounced only by an Extraordinary Assembly convening for that specific purpose and at which two thirds of the members are present or represented. The decision is made only by a two third's majority. If the number of attending delegates is smaller than the required two thirds, an extraordinary assembly must convene in the following three months at the latest. Decisions may then be made by this assembly notwithstanding the number of delegates attending, by an absolute majority.
3. The General Assembly deciding upon the dissolution of UNICA must also make provisions for the disposal of the finances and financial assets in possession of UNICA at the time of dissolution.
4. Questions which could not be settled either by the statutes or the internal regulations are decided upon by the Committee with a two third's majority.
5. The statutes come into force on January 1, 1995. In cases of doubtful interpretation, the French text should be considered as authoritative.