Statutes and internal regulations

I. Statutes, approved by the General Assembly on 25 July 2013

N.B.: Until 1995, the Academy was an association de facto. When it registered at the Paris police headquarters on 19 December 1995, it provided a simplified version of the Statutes, in accordance with the law. From now on, this version will be called the Statutes. The earlier longer version remains in effect within the Academy as its Internal Regulations.

Art. 1 – A society between the adherents to the present statutes is created under the law of 1 July 1901 and the decree of 16 August 1901. It is called “International Academy of the History of Science”.

Art. 2 – This society aims to represent and organise history of science at an international level.

Art. 3 – Its headquarters are located at the Observatoire de Paris, 61, avenue de l’Observatoire, F-75014 Paris. This office may be moved by decision of the Council of the Academy, which must then be ratified by the General Assembly.

Art. 4 – The Academy includes honorary and active members. In order to become member of the Academy, one must be elected by the General Assembly in accordance with the electoral rules.

Art. 5 – Active members are scholars who make a commitment to participate in the activities of the Academy and to pay an annual subscription, the amount of which is fixed by the General Assembly. Individuals who have markedly assisted to the progress in the history of science may be elected as honorary members.

Art. 6 – Membership is lost by death, resignation, or removal from the register for serious offences, as determined by the Council of the Academy.

Art. 7 – The Academy is a non profit organisation. The financial resources of the Academy consist of members’ fees, contributions from persons, public and private institutions (gifts, legacies, etc.), as well as subventions from international organisations, governments, departments and regions, communes, or any institution or person, and revenues from its publications.

Art. 8 – The Academy is directed by a Council made up as follows: a President, three Vice- Presidents, a Treasurer, an Archivist, and a Webmaster elected by the General Assembly for a mandate of four years, a Permanent Secretary elected for a mandate lasting seven years, as well as the Past Presidents and Past Permanent Secretaries, who are members ex officio. The President, Vice-Presidents and Permanent Secretary may be re-elected once, Treasurer, Archivist and Webmaster without time limitation. The President, Vice-Presidents, Permanent Secretary, Treasurer, Archivist and Webmaster constitute the Board of Directors in charge of the Academy’s daily management between two meetings of the Council of the Academy. If a member of the Board dies or resigns during his mandate, the Council of the Academy will replace him.

Art. 9 – The Council of the Academy meets at least once a year, on convocation by the President or Permanent Secretary.

Art. 10 – The ordinary General Assembly, consisting of all the active members, meets every four years at the time and place of the International Congresses of History of Science, held by the Division of History of Science and Technology of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. Except as otherwise provided in the present statutes, the decisions of the General Assembly are taken by a majority vote of active members present.

Art. 11 – If necessary, or upon request from half plus one of the active members, the President must call an extraordinary session of the General Assembly. Decisions are made by a two-thirds majority of active members present.

Art. 12. At the Academy, one votes at a General Assembly, by correspondence, or via the internet, in accordance with the decision of the Council of the Academy.

Art. 13 (olim 12) – The Internal Regulations as well as electoral rules for membership are established by the Council of the Academy and submitted to the General Assembly for approval.

Art. 14 (olim 13) – The Academy can be dissolved by a General Assembly especially called for the purpose, by a two-thirds’ majority of members present. In case of dissolution assets, if any, will be distributed according to article 9 o f the law of 1 July 1901 and the decree of 16 August 1901.

II. Internal Regulations, approved by the General Assembly on 25 July 2013

Art. 1 - In 1932, the International Academy of the History of Science succeeded the International Committee of the History of Science founded in Oslo on 17 August 1928. It is associated with the Division of History of Science and Technology of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Sciences for purposes of representing and organizing the history of science at an international level. Its headquarters are in Paris.

Art. 2 - The Academy is an association of individual persons. The number of effective members is limited at 200. The number of corresponding members is limited at 300. Effective and corresponding members are qualified by virtue of their scholarly work. The Academy also includes honorary members elected from among individuals who have contributed to the progress of the history of science.

Art. 3 - There is no statutory allocation of places within the Academy to countries or specialities. Yet even though the criterion of scholarly value takes precedence over that of nationality, the Council is charged to watch over the need for a judicious and reasonable equilibrium and for the effective representation within the Academy of the various countries and specialities.

Art. 4 - The International Academy of the History of Science is directed by a Council made up as follows: former Presidents and former Permanent Secretaries, as of right; a President and three Vice-Presidents; a Permanent Secretary, a Treasurer, an Archivist, and a Webmaster. The President, the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, the Archivist, the Webmaster are elected for a period of four years, the Permanent Secretary for a period of seven years. In order to maintain continuity, and under normal circumstances, at least one of the Vice- Presidents would be a candidate for re-election. Neither the President nor any Vice-President nor the Permanent Secretary shall serve for more than two consecutive terms of office. The Archivist, the Treasurer and the Webmaster can be re-elected without limitation in number of terms. Except for extraordinary circumstances one is not allowed to hold more than two offices in the Council. The offices of President, Vice-President, Permanent Secretary and Treasurer can never be combined.

Art. 5 - Members of the International Academy of the History of Science are elected for life. They hold their ordinary General Assembly, in principle, at the time and place of successive International Congresses of the History of Science.
Elections permitting the nomination of members are subject to procedural rules that are approved by the General Assembly.
Honorary members are elected during an ordinary General Assembly, following proposals by Council.
Only effective members have the right to take part in the election of corresponding and effective members. Corresponding members have the right to propose candidates for corresponding membership. Members who have not participated in the Academy’s work for 3 consecutive election rounds will receive a letter by which they will be kindly proposed to become honorary members. In the letter it will be clearly stated that the members who do not reply, accept the proposition.
Effective and corresponding members alike have the right to vote on the Council’s proposals for honorary membership, in the course of an ordinary session of the General Assembly.

Art. 6 - During the years in which the Academy holds an ordinary session of the General Assembly, the Permanent Secretary requests all members to make proposals to fill the various positions on the board: one President, three Vice-Presidents, one Archivist, one Treasurer, one Webmaster. The Permanent Secretary then submits to all the members the proposals received with a view to an election by correspondence of the new board. The Council acknowledges the vote’s results, verifies that the composition of the new board is in conformity with the rules established in article 4 of the internal regulations, and conveys the vote’s results to the General Assembly, so that it can be announced during its ordinary session. The newly elected officers take office at the end of the session.
The ordinary session of the General Assembly also concerns itself with all questions relating to the administration of the Academy, to its budget, and to its scholarly and practical policies.
If it should happen that the ordinary General Assembly cannot be held, Council is obliged to meet during the corresponding year.
In exceptional cases, and after a favourable vote of the Council, the President may call an extraordinary session. This session should be announced at least four months in advance, and the official discussion may only be concerned with subjects placed on the agenda.

Art. 7 - When the post of Permanent Secretary becomes vacant, the President will invite all the members of the Academy to make propositions. Nominees who receive at least four propositions are accepted as candidate for the election. The President asks them whether they accept the nomination. If a candidate does not obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast in the first round, a second round will be organized between the two candidates that obtained the greatest number of votes. In this second round, a majority of the votes cast will suffice to be elected. In case the Permanent Secretary dies or resigns before the end of his term, the Council will appoint, by preference among its members, a substitute who will remain in office until a new Permanent Secretary is elected. The length of the term is seven years. The Permanent Secretary can be re-elected only once. In the case when the election of the Permanent Secretary coincides with the election of the Council, the length of the Permanent Secretary’s term will be extended by one year.