The General Assembly of IUPAP enacts the present internal regulations (the “Internal Regulations“) in accordance with Article 6 (A) (ii) of the Articles of Association.

The Internal Regulations determine the internal organization of the General Assembly of IUPAP, as well as the duties and powers of the Commissions and the Working Groups of IUPAP.

The Internal Regulations are intended to complement the rules contained in the Articles of Association. They shall at all times be consistent with and subject to the Articles of Association. In case of conflict, the rules of the Articles of Association prevail.

Any changes to this document must be formally approved by the General Assembly in accordance with Article 6 (A) (ii) of the Articles of Association.

Article 1 Location and date

The Executive Council determines the location and date of a General Assembly and notifies the Members at least six months in advance for the annual General Assembly and 2 weeks in advance for an Extraordinary General Assembly. An Extraordinary General Assembly must be held within 2 months from the date of the request.

Article 2 Agenda

1. The preliminary Agenda of the annual General Assembly is to be sent to all Members at least three months in advance. One month shall be given to Members to suggest changes. The final Agenda shall then be sent. For the Extraordinary General Assembly, the final Agenda shall be sent with the notice to the Members.
2. The Agenda may be reorganized at the General Assembly by a majority of the votes of the Members present.
3. All Commissions, Affiliated Commissions, Working Groups and Liaisons Committees with other organizations shall make a written report to the General Assembly. The Executive Council shall provide opportunities for participants at the General Assembly to ask question on these reports and shall designate any that are to make an oral presentation.
4. Resolutions
   1. The Executive Council, the Members, the Commissions and the Working Groups may propose items for consideration as resolution by the General Assembly up until the date specified by the Executive Council.
   2. The Executive Council will make recommendations to the General Assembly that they approve, amend or reject the resolution before them.

Article 3 Participants with and without votes and observers

1. In addition to the Members’ official Delegates (as provided for in Article 8 (B) of the Articles of Association) who are participants with votes, other members of the Territorial Members’ Liaison Committees, representatives of each Corporate Associate Member and representatives of each Associate Territorial Member may attend as participants without votes.
2. The President may invite observers without vote as deemed appropriate.

Article 4 Voting Procedure

1. On all matters where the Articles of Association or the Internal Regulations specify a vote, with the exception of Article 4.2, the result of voting may be assessed by the President. The General Assembly may, by a simple majority, request that the votes be formally counted, before or after the President determines the result.
2. Where a specified majority is required or the vote is for the election of Commissions or the Executive Council, each vote should be counted formally.
3. When a formal count of votes is required, or requested by a simple majority of the General Assembly, two tellers appointed by the General Assembly count the votes. Assistance may be provided, if desired, by the personnel of the Administrative Office.

Article 5. Membership

1. Commissions shall be composed of a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and twelve other members. Collectively the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary are referred to as the officers of the Commission, and normally at least one of them shall be a woman, and at least one shall be a man.
2. If the Chair of a Commission is unable to continue to serve in that position, the Executive Council shall appoint a new Chair from the officers of the Commission, and shall appoint a replacement for that officer, except when the Commission has determined whom it wishes to nominate as its next Chair. In that case the nominee shall in principle be appointed as the next Chair.
3. Normally, the members of a Commission will be from different Territorial and Corporate Members of IUPAP. In the case a Commission may believe its work would be hindered by this rule, the Commission may ask the Executive Council for an exception. If the Executive Council believes the exception is warranted, it will propose an exception to the General Assembly for ratification before the election.
4. Commissions may have important links to other IUPAP Commissions or Working Groups, scientific unions or international organizations. To maintain these links, each Commission may propose to the Executive Council the nomination of members of these groups as associated members to the Commission. IUPAP Associate Territorial Members can also submit nominations of associated members to Commissions at the time of or immediately after the General Assembly during which the new composition of Commissions is decided. It may also happen that proposals of associated members to Commission arise during the discussion about the election of regular Commission members. The Executive Council will consider these proposals and appoint associated members to the Commissions before the GA immediately following the one at which regular Commission members are elected. Associated members do not vote at Commission meetings, are not eligible for travel funds and their term ends simultaneously with that of regular Commission members.

Article 6. Terms of Office

1. All elections are for a term of three years.
2. Chairs may not be re-elected to any position on any Commission beyond their term as Chair, and Vice Chairs/Secretaries may not be re-elected to the same positions nor be re-elected as an ordinary member – except in extraordinary circumstances, and, in such circumstances, special approval by the General Assembly is required. Ordinary members may be elected two consecutive times, subject to the limitations stated in Article 6.6 below.
3. For the purpose of calculating the rotation periods defined in Article 6.2 above, when a member is appointed following the resignation of another member, if they serve more than half of the term they are regarded as having served a term, and if they serve less than half the term they are regarded as not having served a term.
4. Ordinary members of a Commission, who have served two terms and have been absent from the Commission for two terms, may be re-elected for no more than one further term.
5. Normally the Secretary, the Vice-Chair and the Chair are to be chosen from among those who have served at least one term on the Commission.
6. The sum of the terms served, whether as regular Commission member or officer, shall not exceed three, whether or not those terms are consecutive and whether or not the service was given in the same or in a different Commission. The terms of service in all capacities of Associated Commission members who are eventually elected as regular Commission members or officers shall not exceed four terms.
7. The General Assembly may grant exceptions to the provisions of Article 6 for those Commissions that undertake long-term projects or where continuity is particularly important.

Article 7  Nominations

1. A call for nominations to Commissions and the Executive Council shall be sent to all Members (and in particular to Liaison Committees and Commissions) at least eight months before an in-person General Assembly preceding the end of the term of the present Commissions and Executive Council.
2. Since the number of members that Territorial Members and Corporate Associate Members should have at the Commission is proportionate to the number of units they hold (limited to 18 if they pay dues of more than 18 units) (see Article 5.3 above and Article 10 (C) of the Articles of Association), and taking into account the special considerations in preparing the slate of Commission members, each Territorial Member or Corporate Associate Member should submit a number of nominations at least as large as the smallest integer which exceeds 1.33 times their number of units.
3. The nominations must be received by the Secretary-General for Administrative Affairs no later than on the date determined by the Executive Council and specified in the call for nominations. A statement of the candidate’s qualifications sufficient to allow an evaluation of the candidate must accompany nominations. Nominations should be submitted electronically on the appropriate website, but in special circumstances will be accepted if submitted by other means. The Executive Council may approve the acceptance of late nominations.
4. The Executive Council will prepare a slate of nominees for the Commissions and Executive Council from the nominations and may itself suggest names (in which case a statement of qualifications will be prepared and provided to the General Assembly). Special consideration will be given to continuity, geographic distribution, gender distribution and coverage of major sub-fields within the Commissions. The Executive Council may appoint a nomination sub-committee to assist it in the process of determining a slate. The Executive Council may call a meeting of Chairs of Commissions with the nomination subcommittee or with the Executive Council to assist in the determination of a slate.
5. Nominations and the slates for the Commissions and the Executive Council as determined by the Executive Council shall be provided to official Delegates at the General Assembly and to Liaison Committees electronically at the start of the General Assembly.
6. In the case of unforeseen circumstances, such as the unavailability of a candidate due to changed conditions, nominations can be made by the Delegation Heads, Commission Chairs, or members of the Executive Council.
7. Liaison Committees may resubmit their nominations at the General Assembly of persons not on the Executive Council’s slate, but these renominations must be supported by at least one other Delegation. The Executive Council then will prepare a final ballot with its recommendations and any renominations for a position.
8. A reasonable minimum expected number of territory-elected positions to Commissions and the Executive Council, as a function of the membership category, is equal to the number of units, limited to maximum 18 units, averaged over a period of 9 years.

Article 8 Ballot procedure

1. If more names are included on the final ballot than there are positions, the election will be by secret ballot. Each Delegation Head will vote its block of votes.
2. The votes shall be counted as specified in Article 4.

Article 10 Conference Sponsorship

IUPAP may sponsor and contribute to the support of conferences related to its mission. The Executive Council in consultation with the Commission Chairs grants sponsorship in the year before the conference occurs.

Article 11 Conference Endorsement

1. IUPAP may, in consultation with relevant Commissions, endorse conferences at any stage in advance of the date of the conference.
2. In the year before they occur, endorsed conferences may apply for sponsorship.

Article 11 Procedures

1. The Executive Council may set rules for sponsorship and endorsement. Such rules should be clearly posted on IUPAP’s website.
2. Liaison Committees should be promptly informed of conferences proposed to take place in their territory.

1. The General Assembly may establish Working Groups where the activity of such Working Groups will contribute to the achievement of the Purpose of IUPAP. The Executive Council will determine the budgetary allocation for each Working Group.
2. Working Groups shall provide written reports to each meeting of the Executive Council and to the General Assembly.
3. Unless otherwise specified by a resolution of the General Assembly, a Working Group shall be established for a period of 6 years. The General Assembly shall review the operations of the Working Group and decide whether or not the Working Group should be extended for a further period.
4. The Executive Council will determine the membership of each Working Group.

1. Statements in the name of IUPAP may only be made by majority vote of the General Assembly.
2. Should it be necessary between General Assemblies to issue a special statement on a pressing issue:
   1. the Executive Council may convene an Extraordinary General Assembly, in accordance with Article 6 (D) of the Articles of Association, which may be electronic, to issue the statement agreed by a majority vote in the name of IUPAP, or
   2. the Executive Council may issue by majority vote the statements in the name of the IUPAP Executive Council.
3. Commissions or Working Groups may issue statements in their own name in their area of expertise subject to approval by the President.