Background
The ISC Working Group on Constitutional Revision was tasked at the end of 2022 with advising the ISC Governing Board on the revision of the ISC Statutes and Rules of Procedure. The Working Group produced a discussion paper for the Midterm Meeting of ISC Members in Paris on 10–12 May, and – based on feedback from Members at this meeting – developed a ‘zero draft’ of new statutes for the next round of discussion, with the support of the ISC Secretariat. Between August and October this year, ISC Members were consulted on the ‘zero draft’ and on a discussion document on membership categories and related issues. Many Members participated in the consultation meetings in September and/or submitted written feedback in early October.
Consultation
Based on the feedback received during the consultation in August–October, the Working Group has produced a new draft of the Statutes and Rules of Procedure as well as a set of options for the transition to staggered Governing Board terms of office.
👉 View the draft revised ISC Statutes and Rules of Procedure
👉 View the options for the transition to staggered Governing Board terms of office
The Working Group now invites the Members’ feedback specifically on the following three key elements:
1. Membership categories and voting rights
ISC Members were invited to a dedicated meeting for each membership category (1, 2 and 3) to discuss the proposed paragraphs related to membership. (Please note that there are other membership meetings being held on 14 November).
🖋 Consultation meeting for Category 3 Members ▶ View the recording
📅 13 November, 10:30 – 11:30 am UTC
🖋 Consultation meeting for Category 1 Members ▶ View the recording
📅 14 November, 09:30 – 10:30 am UTC
🖋 Consultation meeting for Category 2 Members ▶ View the recording
📅 14 November, 12:00 – 13:00 UTC
2. Selection/election of Governing Board members
The draft statutes and rules of procedure propose two options for the means of selecting/electing the officers AND the ordinary members of the Governing Board (see Rule of Procedure 5.4 and 6.3, respectively). All ISC Members of all categories (1, 2 and 3) were invited to participate in an informal poll to give the Working Group a broad indication of the preferences of the membership regarding these two proposed options.
3. Options for transition to a staggered ISC Governing Board
The Working Group was asked to consider how the current Governing Board could transition to staggered terms of office and has identified two main routes that are outlined in a paper given above.
All ISC Members of all categories (1, 2 and 3) were invited to submit written feedback on the two options, and to express a preference on behalf of your organization for one or the other option, if possible.
Further Process
The Working Group is aiming to send its final recommendations on the revised Statutes and Rules of Procedure and transition options to the ISC Governing Board before the end of November 2023, for the Governing Board to finalize documentation for the extraordinary electronic General Assembly (28–29 February 2024) by mid-December. Finalization of the statutes will also involve a legal review.
Contact
Should you have any questions of clarification or suggestions for the focus and structure of the discussions on these documents, please contact Sarah Moore, Operations Director (sarah.moore@council.science) in the first instance.