Statutes of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

As revised by the XXIV session of the General Assembly, on 11 November 2005.

Article 1

Purpose and functions

The 'International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property', hereinafter called 'ICCROM', shall contribute to the worldwide conservation and restoration of cultural property by initiating, developing, promoting and facilitating conditions for such conservation and restoration. ICCROM shall exercise, in particular, the following functions:

a. collect, study and circulate information concerned with scientific, technical and ethical issues relating to the conservation and restoration of cultural property;

b. coordinate, stimulate or institute research in this domain by means, in particular, of assignments entrusted to bodies or experts, international meetings, publications and the exchange of specialists;

c. give advice and make recommendations on general or specific questions relating to the conservation and restoration of cultural property;

d. promote, develop and provide training relating to the conservation and restoration of cultural property and raise the standards and practice of conservation and restoration work;

e. encourage initiatives that create a better understanding of the conservation and restoration of cultural property.

Article 2

Membership

1. ICCROM is an international organization composed of Member States.

2. A state that is a Member State of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (hereinafter referred to as 'UNESCO') may become a Member State of ICCROM by depositing a formal declaration of accession with the Director-General of UNESCO. Any such state that has become a Member State of ICCROM and subsequently ceases to be a Member State of UNESCO shall retain its membership of ICCROM.

3. A state that is not a Member State of UNESCO, or any former Member State of ICCROM that has withdrawn from membership pursuant to Article 10, may forward an application for membership to the Director-General of ICCROM. Following consideration of the application by the Council, such a state may be admitted to membership of ICCROM by the General Assembly. Admission to membership shall require a decision taken by a two-thirds majority of the Member States of ICCROM present and voting. The Director-General of UNESCO shall be notified of the admission of a Member State of ICCROM pursuant to this paragraph.

4. Membership acquired pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article shall take effect thirty days following receipt by the Director-General of UNESCO of the formal declaration of accession. Membership acquired pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article shall take effect on the date on which the General Assembly decides to admit the Member State concerned.

5. Each Member State shall contribute to the budget of ICCROM at a rate fixed by the General Assembly.

Article 3

Organs

ICCROM shall comprise: a General Assembly, a Council and a Secretariat.

Article 4

The General Assembly

1. Composition and participation

a. The General Assembly shall be composed of the delegates of Member States. One delegate shall represent each Member State.

b. Delegates should be chosen from amongst the best qualified experts concerned with the conservation and restoration of cultural property and, preferably, from amongst those associated with institutions specialized in this field.

c. UNESCO, the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro and non-voting members of the Council referred to in Article 5.1 (j) shall have the right to participate in sessions of the General Assembly in an observer capacity. They may submit proposals, but shall not have the right to vote.

2. Functions

The functions of the General Assembly shall be to:

a. determine the general policies of ICCROM;

b. consider and approve the programme of activities and budget of ICCROM for the following biennium, on the basis of proposals submitted to it by the Council;

c. admit new Member States in accordance with Article 2.3;

d. select the members of the Council;

e. on the proposal of the Council, appoint the Director-General in accordance with Article 6 (d);

f. consider and approve reports on the activities of the Council and the ICCROM Secretariat;

g. fix the contributions of Member States;

h. adopt the Financial Regulations of ICCROM;

i. decide on the application of the sanctions provided for in Article 9.

3. Procedure

The General Assembly shall:

a. meet in ordinary session every two years;

b. meet in extraordinary session if it decides to do so itself, if at least one-third of the Member States so request, or if so decided by the Council;

c. meet in Rome, Italy, unless the General Assembly or the Council decides otherwise;

d. adopt its own Rules of Procedure;

e. at the beginning of each session, elect a President and other officers;

f. establish such committees as may be necessary for it to carry out its functions.

4. Voting

Subject to Article 9, each Member State shall have one vote in the General Assembly. Decisions shall be taken by simple majority of the Member States present and voting unless otherwise provided in these Statutes or in the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly.

Article 5

The Council

1. Composition

a. The Council shall consist of members elected by the General Assembly, a representative of the Director-General of UNESCO, a representative of the Italian Government, a representative of the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro and non-voting members referred to in sub-paragraph (i) below.

b. There shall be twelve elected members plus one elected member for every five Member States after the first 30. The total number of elected members shall not, however, exceed twenty-five.

c. The members elected by the General Assembly shall be chosen from amongst the best qualified experts concerned with the conservation and restoration of cultural property, taking into consideration the desirability of achieving equitable representation of the major cultural regions of the world and an appropriate coverage of the different fields of specialization relevant to the work of ICCROM. The General Assembly shall also take into account the capacity of such persons to fulfil the administrative and executive functions of the Council.

d. Members of the Council who are elected by the General Assembly shall serve for a term of office of four years. However, at the first ordinary session of the General Assembly at which the present provision is in force, half the members elected by the General Assembly shall serve for a term of office of four years and half shall serve for a term of office of two years. If at that session the number of members to be elected is uneven, one half of the members plus one shall be elected for a term of office of four years.

e. Elected members of the Council shall serve from the closure of the session of the General Assembly at which they were elected until the closure of the session held in the year in which their term of office expires.

f. Members of the Council shall be eligible for re-election, except that they may not serve for more than two consecutive terms.

g. In the event of the death, permanent incapacity or resignation of an elected member of the Council, the seat thus falling vacant shall be filled for the remainder of the term of office, by the candidate who, at the last election held by the General Assembly, without being elected, received the highest number of votes. If this candidate is not available to serve, the seat shall be filled by the candidate with the next highest number of votes and so on until exhaustion of the candidates at the said election. If the seat cannot be filled by a candidate who sought membership at the previous election, the seat shall remain vacant until an election is held at the next session of the General Assembly.

h. Members of the Council elected by the General Assembly are elected in their personal capacity. They shall perform their function in the interests of ICCROM and not as representatives of States.

i. Non-voting members of the Council shall be a representative of the International Council of Museums and a representative of the International Council on Monuments and Sites.

j. Non-voting members of the Council may participate in the discussions of the Council.

2. Functions

The functions of the Council shall be to:

a. under the authority of the General Assembly oversee the execution of the programme of activities and budget adopted by the latter;

b. in accordance with the decisions and directives of the General Assembly and having regard to circumstances arising between two ordinary sessions, take all necessary measures on behalf of the General Assembly, and in close cooperation with the Director-General, to ensure the effective and rational execution of the approved programme of activities by the Director-General;

c. formulate policies, in close cooperation with the Director-General, and submit them, as appropriate, to the General Assembly for approval;

d. review and adjust, where necessary, a draft programme of activities and budget drawn up by the Director-General and approve it for submission to the General Assembly;

e. consider applications for admission to membership of ICCROM in accordance with Article 2.3;

f. make recommendations to the General Assembly on the appointment of the Director-General and on the latter's terms and conditions of appointment, and, as appropriate, extend the Director-General's appointment in accordance with Article 6 (d);

g. appoint the Director-General in the circumstances envisaged in Article 6 (e);

h. approve the structure of the Secretariat proposed by the Director-General;

i. approve the Staff Regulations;

j. make recommendations to the General Assembly on the adoption of Financial Regulations;

k. appoint the External Auditor;

l. supervise the financial operations of ICCROM;

m. prepare a report on its activities for consideration by the General Assembly at its ordinary sessions;

n. exercise such other functions as may be assigned to it by the General Assembly

3. Procedure

The Council shall:

a. meet:

i. immediately after an ordinary session of the General Assembly;

ii. immediately before the following ordinary session of theGeneral Assembly; and

iii. once in the interval between its sessions referred to in (i) and (ii) above;

b. meet in Rome, Italy, unless the General Assembly or the Council itself decides otherwise;

c. adopt its own Rules of Procedure;

d. at the beginning of the first session following an ordinary session of the General Assembly, elect a Chairperson and other officers who shall hold office until the closure of the following ordinary session of the General Assembly;

e. establish such committees as may be necessary for it to carry out its functions.

4. Voting

Each elected member of the Council, the representative of the Director-General of UNESCO, the representative of the Italian Government and the representative of the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro shall have one vote. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority of such members present and voting, unless otherwise provided in these Statutes or in the Rules of Procedure of the Council.

Article 6

The Secretariat

a. The Secretariat of ICCROM shall consist of the Director-General and such staff as may be required.

b. The responsibilities of the Director-General and the staff shall be international in character. In the discharge of their duties they shall neither seek nor receive instructions from any government or authority external to ICCROM. They shall refrain from any action which might prejudice their positions as international officials. Each Member State undertakes to respect the international character of the responsibilities of the Director-General and the staff, and not seek to influence them in the discharge of their duties.

c. The staff shall be appointed in accordance with Staff Regulations approved by the Council. All members of the staff shall be responsible to the Director-General.

d. The Director-General shall be nominated by the Council and, except as provided in sub-paragraph (e) below, shall be appointed by the General Assembly. The General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Council, shall fix the duration of the appointment and approve the terms and conditions under which the Director-General shall serve. The Director-General's appointment by the General Assembly may be extended by the Council not more than twice and for a term of up to two years on each occasion, provided, however, that the duration of the Director-General's appointment and any extension thereof by the Council shall, in no case, exceed a total of six years. The Director-General shall be eligible for re-appointment by the General Assembly.

e. If the office of Director-General falls vacant in the interval between two sessions of the General Assembly, a new Director-General may be appointed by the Council for a period ending on the day of the closure of the next ordinary session of the General Assembly. The Council shall also determine the terms and conditions of appointment of the Director-General to be contained in a contract signed by the Chairperson of the Council and the new Director-General.

f. The Director-General shall formulate proposals for appropriate action by the General Assembly and the Council, and shall prepare, for submission to the Council, a draft programme of activities and budget. In accordance with the decisions of the General Assembly and the Council, the Director-General shall be responsible for the effective and rational execution of the approved programme of activities. He/she shall prepare and communicate to Member States, periodic reports on ICCROM's activities.

Article 7

Financial procedures

a. The budget of ICCROM shall be drawn up on a biennial basis. The draft budget for the forthcoming biennium shall be communicated to Member States, along with the programme of activities, at least 60 days prior to the General Assembly at which they are to be considered.

b. The financial period of ICCROM shall be the two calendar years following the ordinary session of the General Assembly unless the General Assembly decides otherwise.

c. The contributions of Member States for a financial period shall be paid in two equal annual instalments, one of which shall be due at the beginning of the first calendar year and the other at the beginning of the second calendar year.

d. The Director-General may accept voluntary contributions, gifts, bequests and subventions directly from Governments, public and private institutions, associations and private persons, subject to the conditions specified in the Financial Regulations.

e. The budget shall be administered by the Secretariat in accordance with the Financial Regulations, under the supervision of the Council.

Article 8

Legal status

ICCROM shall enjoy, on the territory of each Member State, the legal capacity necessary for the attainment of its aims and the exercise of its functions.

Article 9

Sanctions

A Member State shall lose its right to vote in the General Assembly and its right to propose candidates for membership of the Council when the total amount of its contributions to ICCROM that have fallen due and that have not been paid, irrespective of the calendar year or years to which the contributions relate, exceeds the amount of the contributions payable by that Member State for the current calendar year and the immediately preceding calendar year. A Member State that has omitted to pay its contributions that have fallen due during four consecutive calendar years shall also cease to be entitled to receive any services from ICCROM. The membership of a Member State that has omitted to pay its contributions that have fallen due during six consecutive calendar years shall be suspended by the General Assembly. The General Assembly may nevertheless permit a Member State to exercise the aforementioned rights including the right to receive services from ICCROM, or decide not to suspend its membership, if it is satisfied that failure to pay is due to special circumstances beyond the Member State's control.

Article 10

Withdrawal from Membership

Any Member State may withdraw from ICCROM by notice addressed to the Director-General of ICCROM at any time after the expiry of a period of two years from the date of its accession or admission by the General Assembly. Such withdrawal shall take effect on 31 December of the year following that during which the notice was given. No such withdrawal shall affect the financial obligations owed to ICCROM on the date the withdrawal takes effect. The Director-General of ICCROM shall inform the Director-General of UNESCO of the date on which the withdrawal of a Member State takes effect.

Article 11

Amendment of Statutes

a. Amendments to the present Statutes may be proposed by a Member State or by the Council. They shall be adopted by the General Assembly by a decision taken by a two-thirds majority of the Member States present and voting, provided that the said two-thirds majority is more than one half of the Member States of ICCROM.

b. The Director-General of ICCROM shall communicate proposed amendments to all Member States and to the Director-General of UNESCO at least 180 days prior to the session of the General Assembly on whose agenda they are to be placed.

c. If, following the communication of a proposed amendment, a Member State or the Council wishes to introduce an amendment to the said proposed amendment, it may do so provided that it is communicated to all Member States and to the Director-General of UNESCO at least 90 days prior to the session of the General Assembly on whose agenda the original proposed amendment is to be placed.

Article 12

Entry into force

These Statutes shall enter into force immediately after the closure of the XXIII session of the General Assembly of ICCROM.

Article 13

Dissolution

ICCROM may be dissolved by a decision of the General Assembly. The General Assembly may so resolve only if a six months written notice setting out the grounds for the proposed dissolution has been sent to all Member States. Any resolution to dissolve ICCROM shall require a two-thirds majority of the Member States present and voting, provided that the said two-thirds majority is more than one half of the member States of ICCROM.

Article 14

Authoritative texts

The English and French texts of these Statutes shall be equally authoritative.