Constitution of the International Society on
General Relativity and Gravitation
(May 2018)

The name of this association shall be the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation (GRG). Its objects shall be to promote the study of GRG and to exchange information in the interest of its members and the profession.

The Society is governed by this Constitution and the legislation of Switzerland governing private Associations.

The Society shall arrange for the organization of conferences as a rule at three year intervals and a General Assembly of the Society shall be held at each of these meetings. The Society shall publish a Journal and may in addition thereto hold, or sponsor smaller symposia as well as publish other information of general interest to its members. Publication in the Society journal shall not be restricted to members, and attendance at any Society sponsored scientific conference shall be open to everyone.

All notices addressed to the Secretary at the Society's regular office are considered to be duly served on the Society.

All technically competent scientists who have an interest in GRG shall be eligible for individual membership.

Application forms can be obtained from the Secretary or the Society's webpage. Membership is obtained in either of the following ways:

• [(a)] submission of an application, endorsed by two members, together with the payment of the first annual dues, or
• [(b)] submission of an application together with supporting evidence of competence, and payment of initial dues following approval of the application by the Secretary. Unfavourable decisions by the Secretary may be appealed to the Committee of the Society and/or to the General Assembly.

Scientific organizations such as Academies or University Departments whether corporate or not shall be eligible for corporate membership. They shall appoint at least three but not more than fifteen delegates who would otherwise be eligible for individual membership.

Individual members shall pay annual Society dues in such amount as shall be from time to time determined by resolution in General Assembly. Corporate members shall pay one due per delegate.

Any individual or corporate member may at any time resign from the Society by sending a letter of resignation to the Secretary.

Members in default of more than two years dues may be removed from the membership list at the discretion of the executive.

All right, title and interest of a member in and to the property of the Society shall terminate in the event of a member's death, resignation or lapsing from membership because of non-payment of dues.

In case of dissolution of the Society, all the remaining assets are to become the property of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).

The supreme authority of the Society is vested in the General Assembly.

The President shall act as the presiding officer of the Assembly and the Secretary of the Society shall be the Secretary of the Assembly.

An extraordinary General Assembly shall be convened by the Committee (Article 13) at its discretion or on the request to this effect endorsed by not less that one-fifth of the individual members and delegates in good standing, where good standing shall mean not in arrears of more than two year's dues.

Both regular and extraordinary General Assemblies are convened by means of a notice in writing mailed to every member at least six months before the meeting. A preliminary agenda and any other material pertinent to the meeting shall be circulated at least three months before the meeting.

Motions to be acted on by the Society:

Motions of members for resolutions in General Assemblies may be submitted to the Secretary at least four months before the next meeting. In this event they shall be distributed as part of the tentative agenda, and the vote will be scheduled for the General Assembly. Members who are unable to attend the General Assembly may cast a ballot by mail.

Adoption of any motion requires a simple majority of those present and voting, except for those motions for which a two-thirds majority is required as stated in Article 7.

At the request of at least one third of those present, the adoption of any motion shall be referred to a mail ballot. A simple majority of votes cast by such a mail ballot will be conclusive unless the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority for the motion, in which case the said two-thirds majority will be required.

The following exclusive powers are vested in the General Assembly

• (a) to adopt, amend or modify the present Constitution
• (b) to have ultimate authority to decide on questions of membership
• (c) to determine the annual Society dues and the conditions of payment
• (d) to elect the President-Elect, the Secretary, the Members of the Committee, and the auditors
• (e) to resolve on the Treasurer's report
• (f) to resolve on any subject submitted by the Committee to the vote of the General Assembly

Resolutions to the effect to amend or modify the present Constitution, or to liquidate the Society, shall be adopted only by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members present and voting in the General Assembly, to be confirmed by a subsequent mail ballot, which shall again require a two-thirds majority of those votes received at the Society's office.

Each individual member in good standing shall have one vote in the General Assembly. Each corporate member in good standing shall have one vote per delegate in the General Assembly.

The officers of the Society are

The President-Elect shall be elected for a term of service beginning with his or her election and terminating with the election of a new President-Elect at the next regular meeting of the General Assembly and is not eligible for re-election for either of the following three terms.

The retiring President-Elect shall serve as President until the next regular General Assembly following his or her term of office as President,

The President shall exercise all such powers as are not required by this Constitution to be exercised by the Committee or by the members in General Assemblies.

Any actions on the President's part which affect either of these bodies must be approved at their subsequent meeting.

The retiring President shall serve as Past-President until the next regular General Assembly following his or her term of office as Past-President.

The President-Elect shall act for the President whenever the President requests so or is prevented from discharging his or her powers.

The Secretary is elected for a term of office coinciding with that of the President and is eligible for re-election. The Secretary's powers and duties shall be specified by resolution of the Committee subject to review by the General Assembly.

The President, the President-Elect, the Past-President and the Secretary constitute the Executive of the Committee and shall be the administrative board of the Society subject to the authority and discretion of the Committee and the members in General Assembly. The officers of the Society, or the executive, to the extent that it has acted as a unit, shall submit regular written reports to the Committee and to the General Assembly, and special written reports whenever warranted.

The Committee of the Society is composed of the President, the President-Elect, the Past-President, the Secretary, and 24 additional members of the Society. It is the successor in title of the pre-existing International Committee on GRG, whose name shall be assigned to this Committee.

The normal term of office of the members of the committee shall be 9 years. One third of the 24 members of the Committee shall retire from office at each General Assembly, and a member so retiring shall not be eligible for re-election before the second General Assembly following the one at which he or she retired. Vacancies for other reasons shall be filled for the balance of the term of that office. Between Assemblies the Committee may fill such vacancies on an interim basis.

There shall be a Nominating Committee of between six and ten members, whose composition shall reasonably reflect the geographical distribution of the Society. The President, the President-Elect, the Past-President and the Secretary are ex officio members of the Nominating Committee, however without the right to vote. This Nominating Committee shall nominate at least two candidates for the office of President-Elect, at least one candidate for the office of Secretary, and for each of the designated geographical regions one more nominee than there are vacant positions assigned.

Every member shall have the right to cast as many votes in each such region as there are committee members to be elected from that region.

It shall also nominate candidates for membership on the Nominating Committee one half of whose members are to be replaced each three years . Nominations made by the Nominating Committee shall be communicated to the members of the Society not later than the call for the General Assembly.

Nominations for any office in the Society, including membership of the Committee, may also be made by members of the Society. Such nominations shall be endorsed by at least ten members of the Society who are citizens or residents of three or more different countries. Such nominations shall be sent to the Secretary not later than four months before the General Assembly; they shall be circulated by the Secretary to the membership at least three months before the General Assembly.

Candidates eligible for membership in the Committee shall be nominated with a view to securing a reasonable representation of geographical regions where the members of the Society reside. This distribution is to be determined by the Committee.

All the powers in respect of which no specific authority is reserved in the Constitution to any officer of the General Assembly is vested in the Committee.

The Committee shall have the power to appoint Sub-committees and to determine their respective functions.

Between General Assemblies, the Committee is the official governing body of the Society. It is authorized to enter into relationships with international scientific organizations.

The Committee may invite to its meetings delegates of any international organization as well as non-voting experts.

By-laws of the Society may be adopted, amended or rescinded by a majority of its members. They must be submited to the Membership together with the Agenda of the General Assembly. The members of the Committee may adopt, amend or rescind by-laws governing the Committee's operations. Motions affecting the Committee's by-laws shall be voted at a meeting of the Committee following the one at which the motion was made.

The Committee may appoint the Editor or Director of publications with the powers to enter into contractual relationship and sign an agreement with a suitable publisher of the Journal. The term of office of the Editor is unlimited but he or she shall resign within six months or within the time allotted for the abrogation of his or her contract with the publisher, whichever is the greater, following receipt of the Committee's demand to this effect.

Upon vacation of the office of the Editor the successor or the Committee are free to enter into negotiations with other possible publishers of the Journal of the Society.

The power to bind the Society is vested in the President, President-Elect, the Past-President and the Secretary, two of whom shall sign jointly.

The Committee may delegate this power to sign on behalf of the Society to an officer, who shall have the power to bind the Society by a sole signature within the field of his or her authority.