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International Judge Program Statutes


CHAPTER I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. NAME AND NATURE

1. With the name of “INTERNATIONAL JUDGE PROGRAM” (IJP), is constituted, on the day 4 of December of 2023, an organization of an associative and non-profit nature, under the provisions of article 22 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, Organic Law 1/2002, of March 22, regulating the right of association and other current provisions issued in its development and application, as well as the corresponding regulatory provisions.

2. The regime of the Association will be determined by the provisions of these Statutes.

Article 2. ADDRESS

1. The registered office of the association will be located at calle Alcalá 607, 6º B of the town of Madrid ZIP code 28022.

Article 3. SCOPE OF ACTION

1. The territorial area in which the Association will mainly carry out its activities is international.

Article 4: DURATION

1. The Association is established for an indefinite period.

Article 5. LANGUAGE OF THE ASSOCIATION

1. The official language to interpret those Statutes and the members and organs rights and obligations is English. All communications, norms and reports will be created and interpreted in English. Any documentation that needs to be provided to the Spanish government will be swear translated to Spanish. It may also be translated to other languages by volunteer members, but the official reference will remain the English version. 

CHAPTER II. GOALS OF THE INTERNATIONAL JUDGE PROGRAM

Article 6: GOALS AND ACTIVITIES

1. The International Judge Program is a non-profit and its goals are:

2. In order to achieve the above goals the International Judge Program will carry out the following activities:

CHAPTER III. MEMBERSHIP

Article 7: BECOMING A MEMBER

1. To become a member of the International Judge Program you’re required:

Article 8: LOSING THE MEMBERSHIP

1. Membership to the International Judge Program will be revoked by any of the following:

2. To indicate the willingness as described in the first case, a simple written communication to the Program Leads with the clear intention to leave the association is sufficient. Its effects will take place immediately after the communication is sent.

3. In the second and fifth case the membership will automatically expire, when the due is unpaid or the certification expires. It can later be recovered by paying the due fee or reobtaining any certification.

4. In the third, fourth and sixth cases, the membership will be removed by the Program Leads or those they delegate this task to. This decision will be adopted by Simple Majority, as described in Article  12. 

5. In the seventh case the voting can be called by any Regional Representative or Program Lead. The affected member must be contacted and provided with details of the situation. The affected member has the right to present, in written form, within 48 hours from receiving the notification, a statement on the situation that must be considered by both bodies before voting.

CHAPTER IV. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL JUDGE PROGRAM MEMBERS.

Article 9. MEMBER’S RIGHTS

1. Members of the International Judge Program have rights to:

Article 10-  MEMBER’S OBLIGATIONS

1. Members of the International Judge Program have the obligations to:

CHAPTER V. GOVERNMENT AND REPRESENTATION BODIES.

Article 11.   GOVERNANCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL JUDGE PROGRAM

1. All the members of the International Judge Program form the General Assembly. 

2. The members are divided in Regions based on geographical, cultural and traditional criteria, as well as based on the number of members in each Region. Those Regions may be one country, a group of countries or parts of a country, as decided by the Regional Representatives Council. Each Region will elect one member to be their Regional Representative.

3. The governing organ is the Program Leads, elected by the  Regional Representatives Council in the form stated below.

Article 12. DEFINITION OF VOTING SYSTEMS

1. Simple Majority, this is more yes than no votes. 

2. Absolute Majority, this is more than half of the total potential votes in an election.

3. Ranked Voting: each voter will assign 3 points to their preferred candidates, 2 points to their second preferred candidate and 1 point to their third preferred candidate. Then  the candidate earning the most points is the first ranked followed by the other candidates by number of points. In case of a tie in points the tied candidate with more different members voting for them will be elected; if the tie persists, it will be resolved by choosing one of the tied candidates at random.

Article 13. APPLYING AS A CANDIDATE IN AN ELECTION

1. Any member that meets the following conditions can apply to be elected as Regional Representative or Program Lead:

2. The same person can not be a Regional Representative and a Program Lead at the same time. If a person holding one of the positions is selected for the other one, they must quit one of the positions. 

3. One month before an election for Program Leads is called, the Regional Representatives Secretary will inform all members of the association through the association’s website and organize the system for the members to apply.

Similarly the Head of the Program Leads will do the same for all other elections in the association. 

Article 14. GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

1. It is formed by all members of the International Judge Program who are not suspended to any of their rights according to the internal disciplinary policies, as referred in Chapter VIII of this Statutes.

2. It makes its decision by the principle of Simple Majority, unless otherwise stated in the Statutes.

3. It must meet once a year and will run its meeting regardless of the members attending it. The agenda will contain, at least:

4. The General Assembly can be called to a meeting: by decision of the Program Leads; by decision of the Regional Representatives Council; or by request of at least 10% of the members (in this case the request must be accompanied by the meeting agenda). In each case, it’s the Head of the Program Leads responsibility to call the meeting within 15 days and run it no later than one month after the calling.

5. Only the General Assembly is empowered to do the following:

6. The General Assembly will be validly constituted, upon prior call on the association website, held fifteen days before the meeting, no matter how many members attend.

The President of the General Assembly will be the Head of the Program Leads and the Secretary of the General Assembly will be the Secretary of the Regional Representatives.

7. Anything related to the General Assembly (its calling, agenda, the presentations and voting) will be run exclusively in English. Despite this, it could be later translated into different languages. 

8. Due to the large number of members, debates in the General Assembly are not possible. Members who want to voice their opinions prior to the voting can do it in the forums, social media or other platforms members use; and during the General Assembly only the voting will be held. Members must be informed of any vote via the agenda provided at the calling of the General Assembly.

9. The adopted agreements will be executed by the Program Leads or by the person designated in the agreement itself, in the form and at the time they have been adopted.

10. Voting in the General Assembly will take place through an online voting platform and the voting window will be open for at least 24 hours after the start of the General Assembly meeting.

11. Representation and vote delegation is not possible. 

12. Votes cast will be public and any member is allowed to review them during the following month.

Article 15 – REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES

1. Each Region, as determined in Article 16, will choose one Regional Representative every two years. This means approximately half of theRegional Representatives will be elected each year. 

2. Only associates may be elected as Regional Representatives. They will be elected for two years and they can be reelected indefinitely.

3. When a Region is electing its Regional Representative each member residing in that Region by the time the General Assembly is called, can participate in the election that will use the Ranked Voted system.

4. The winning candidate will be selected as the Regional Representative for that Region for the next two years. The second ranked will become the Regional Representative Substitute for that Region until the next election for that Region.

5. All Regional Representatives form the  Regional Representatives Council. The Regional Representatives Council operates and communicates exclusively in English. It’s successfully constituted regardless of the number of members present. Decisions made by the Regional Representatives Council are adopted by Simple Majority, unless otherwise stated in the Statutes. Votes of the Regional Representatives are public amongst the Regional Representative Council and secret for the rest of the world. In case of ties the Secretary of the Regional Representatives is the tiebreaker.

6. Every year, after the General Assembly that will elect approximately half of the Regional Representatives, the Regional Representatives Council will choose, by Ranked Voting:

7. The Regional Representatives Council must meet within two weeks of the General Assembly meeting to vote on the topics stated in point 6 of this article; and again around 6 months later. All their meetings will take place online and in the form established in their self-regulating norms. 

8. The responsibilities of the Regional Representatives Council are as follows:

9. The responsibilities of the Regional Representatives are as follows:

10. Regional Representatives cease to hold their role for the following reasons:

After a Regional Representative ceases to hold their role, except in case “e”, they are automatically replaced by their Regional Representatives Substitute for what was left in the ceasing Regional Representative’s term. If there is no Regional Representative Substitute the seat will be vacant until the next General Assembly, when a new Regional Representative will be elected for that Region for a two year term.

11. The Regional Representatives will exercise their position free of charge. However, they have the right to be refunded for expenses made in the exercise of their positions, previously approved by the Program Leads and providing verified and legally acceptable receipts.

Article 16. REGIONS

1. The Regional Representatives Council will decide and form the Regions of the International Judge Program, as stated in Article 15.8.c.

2. Each Region is a country, a group of countries or part of a country with similar culture, language or geographical proximity. It’s recommended each Region has a similar development level in the game of Magic the Gathering and approximately between 100 and 300 members. It’s recommended the Program Leads proposes a division for Regions when they exceed 300 members or merge regions to make them, at least, 100 members.

Article 17 – PROGRAM LEADS

1. The Program Leads Group is the collegiate body of government, representation and administration of the International Judge Program, which manages and represents the interests of the association in accordance with the goals stated in those Statutes and the advice provided by the Regional Representatives Council.

2. Only associates may be Program Leads. They will be elected for two year terms and they can be reelected indefinitely.

3. The Program Leads Group is formed by four members, except during the first year, as stated on Article 33. Two of them are selected every year for two year terms. The election will be made after the General Assembly by the newly selected Regional Representatives Council using the Ranked Voting system. The two most voted candidates will become part of the Program Leads and the third one will be named Program Lead Substitute.

4. After the Regional Representatives Council elects new Program Leads, the Program Leads will choose amongst themselves a Head of the Program Leads, by Ranked Voting.

5. The Program Leads operates and communicates exclusively in English, online via email, mailing list, teleconference or other other methods of their choice. There is no tie breaker in case of ties.

6. The responsibilities of the Program Leads are as follows:

7. A Program Lead ceases to hold their role for the following reasons:

After a Program Lead ceases to hold their role, except in case f), they are automatically replaced by the earliest selected Program Lead Substitute available, for the duration left on the term of the ceasing Program Lead. If there is no Program Lead Substitute the seat will be vacant until the next annual ordinary selection of Program Leaders made by the Regional Representatives Council meeting, where the necessary number of Program Leads and one Program Lead Substitute will be selected, as stated in point 3 of this article.

8. Dismissals and appointments must be communicated to the Registry of Associations of Spain, for proper record and publicity.

9. The Program Leads will exercise their position free of charge. However, they have the right to be refunded for expenses made in the exercise of their positions, previously approved by the Program Leads and providing verified and legally acceptable receipts.

Article 18. THE HEAD OF THE PROGRAM LEADS

1. The Head of the Program Leads is responsible to ensure all the activities of the Program Leads Group are timely started, followed and completed. Amongst others, the Head of the Program Leads is responsible for:

2. The Head of the Program Leads may be replaced by Absolute Majority of the Program Leads at any time, at the proposal of any Program Leads. As well, as necessarily once a year after new members are chosen by the Regional Representatives Council to replace the expiring members.

3. The Head of the Program Leads does not have the ability to break ties.

4. Additional powers and responsibilities can be granted to the Head of the Program Leads by the Program Leads by Absolute Majority.

5. Head of the Program Leads is a non-paid role.

Article 19. ADVISORS TO THE PROGRAM LEADS

1. Temporary Advisors: The Program Leads, by Simple Majority, can invite and remove any person/s to join their deliberations on a given meeting or topic.

2. Permanent Advisors, The Program Leads, by Absolute Majority, can invite and remove representatives of the major donors to the association to have a permanent Advisor role in the association. In this case the Program Leads can legally bond the association to secure this Permanent Advisor position and to define the conditions of that agreement.

3. Advisors, Temporary or Permanents, have voice in the discussed matters, but they can’t vote.

Article 20. CALL, CONSTITUTION AND SESSIONS OF THE PROGRAM LEADS MEETINGS

1. The Program Leads works online and is constituted permanently. They can communicate online by the technological methods of their choice. Program Leads will communicate in English.

2. Any Program Leads can call a vote at any time. Decisions are made by Simple Majority, unless otherwise stated on these Statutes. When a vote is called, it will be open to vote for 7 days. Any such votes and their outcomes will be included in the annual activities report made for the General Assembly.

3. Program Leads will have a formal online meeting, at least, once per quarter. This formal meeting will be called and have its agenda prepared by the Head of the Program Leads.

4. Its meetings are successfully constituted regardless of the number of members present. 

5. Votes of the Program Leads are public amongst the Program Leads and secret for the rest of the world. There is no tie breaker in case of ties.

Article 21. THE PRESIDENT

1. The President of the International Judge Program is an administrative role. The President does not have any decision making power, nor are they part of the Program Leads. The President must be legally able to obtain a Spanish Identification Number, but they are not required to be a Spanish National or to reside in Spain.

2. The President is responsible for:

3. The President is chosen by the Program Leads by Simple Majority, for an undefined period of time, until a new President is chosen by the Program Leads.

4. The President does not need to be a member of the International Judge Program. The role of President is compatible with any other role in the International Judge Program.

5. The President may be a paid role, and may be contracted with a professional company provider of advisor and accounting services.

Article 22. THE TREASURER

1. The Treasurer is the person or company responsible for:

2. The Treasurer is chosen by the Program Leads by Simple Majority, for an undefined period of time, until a new Treasurer is chosen by the Program Leads. The Treasurer must be legally able to obtain a Spanish Identification Number, but they are not required to be a Spanish National or to reside in Spain.

3. The Treasurer does not need to be a member of the International Judge Program. The role of Treasurer is compatible with any other role in the International Judge Program.

4. The Treasurer may be a paid role, and may be contracted with a professional company provider of advisor and accounting services.

Article 23. THE SECRETARY OF THE REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES COUNCIL

1. The Secretary of the Regional Representatives is responsible to ensure all the activities of the Regional Representatives Council are timely started, followed and completed. Amongst others, the Secretary of the Regional Representatives is responsible for:

2. The Secretary of the Regional Representatives must be chosen after every General Assembly, amongst the Regional Representatives that were not just selected in that assembly. For this purpose an Regional Representatives whose term expired and was reelected, is not selectable as Secretary of the Regional Representatives. 

3. The Secretary of the Regional Representatives is chosen by Ranked Vote. The Secretary of the Regional Representatives can be replaced by another Regional Representative, with at least 6 months of experience in the role, by Absolute Majority in the Regional Representatives Council.

4. Additional powers and responsibilities can be granted to the Secretary of the Regional Representatives by the Regional Representatives Council by Absolute Majority.

5. Secretary of the Regional Representatives is a non-paid role.

Article 24. REPORTS

1. For each session held by the General Assembly, a report will be made by the Secretary, who will necessarily specify the quorum necessary for the valid constitution, if any; the agenda, the place and date in which it was held, as well as the result of every vote held. The report will be approved in the same or in the following session. The report will be signed by the Secretary and endorsed by the President.

2. The Program Leads will craft and present in the ordinary General Assembly a report including all the activity in the previous year. With explicit mention to all the votings held and their result. 

Article 25. CHALLENGE OF AGREEMENTS.

1. Members may challenge the agreements and actions of the association that they consider contrary to the Statutes or the law within a period of forty (40) days, from the date they are announced on the organization communication channels, urging their rectification and/or request a preventive suspension if applicable.

2. This challenge must be in written form, by email, to any member of the Program Leads, explaining the reasoning of the challenge and explicitly stating the request.

3. Members of the International Judge Program obligate themselves to use this procedure before starting any judicial process.

4. Members of the International Judge Program, in order to join it, agree to resolve any dispute exclusively by a national court located in Spain. Both the members and he International Judge Program agree to submit to the jurisdiction and venue of such courts and agree that such forum is convenient.

CHAPTER VI. DOCUMENTARY AND ACCOUNTING REGIME, INITIAL ASSETS AND ECONOMIC RESOURCES

Article 26. DOCUMENTARY AND ACCOUNTING REGIME.

1. The association will have the following documents:

Article 27. INITIAL ASSETS

1. The International Judge Program has no initial assets

Article 28. FINANCING.

1. The International Judge Program, to carry out its activities, will be financed with:

Article 29.FINANCIAL YEAR AND BUDGET.

1. The financial year matches the calendar year, so it will begin on January 1 and end on December 31 each year.

2. Annually the Program Leads will prepare the Budget and it will be approved by the General Assembly.

3. The accounts of the Association will be approved annually by the General Assembly.

4. The annual General Assembly will happen during the first three months of the year.

CHAPTER VII. DISSOLUTION AND APPLICATION OF SHARE CAPITAL

Article 30. CAUSES OF DISSOLUTION.

1. The International Judge Program association will be dissolved for the following reasons:

Article 31. DESTINATION OF THE HERITAGE.

1. The dissolution of the association will open the liquidation period, until the end of which the entity will retain its legal personality.

2. The Program Leads, the President and the Treasurer at the time of dissolution become liquidators. In the event of dissolution by a final court ruling, the judge will be the one to appoint them.

3. It corresponds to the liquidators:

4. In case of insolvency of the association, the President or, if applicable, the liquidators must immediately promote the appropriate bankruptcy procedure.

5. The assets resulting after carrying out the operations provided for in the Law of Associations will be allocated to non-profit entities that pursue purposes of general interest analogous to those carried out by the International Judge Program.

CHAPTER VIII. DISCIPLINARY REGIME

Article 32. DISCIPLINARY REGIME

1. The Code of Conduct and the Disciplinary Regime of the International judge Program will be designed and approved by the Program Leads by Absolute Majority.

2. The Disciplinary Regime may carry the suspension of some or all of their associated rights, including the right to vote, or losing their membership to the infractors. 

3. The Disciplinary Regime developed by the Program Leads must be limited to:

4. Actions outside the previously mentioned aspects are excluded from the Disciplinary Regime of the association. The International Judge Program members must report those actions to the appropriate authorities. 

CHAPTER IX. FIRST YEAR TRANSITORY PERIOD

Article 33. THE INITIAL PROGRAM LEADS

1. The initial Program Leads group will be formed by six (6) members, instead of four (4). Four out of those six Program Leads will serve from the creation of the association until the first General Assembly, while the other two will serve one more year.
The following people are the initial Program Leads, with the following terms:

For two years terms:

For one year term:

2. This group must vote for their Head Program Lead in their first meeting.

Article 34. THE TEMPORARY REGIONAL ADVISORS

1. The above designated Program Leads will choose a group of Temporary Regional Advisors that will perform the tasks assigned to the Regional Representatives and Regional Representatives Council until the first General Assembly, which will be run approximately one year after the creation of this association. The tasks of these Temporary Regional Advisors  are as follows:

Article 35. STARTING PRESIDENT AND TREASURER

1. The President of the association, until a new one is chosen according to these Statutes, is Alfonso Bueno Ruiz-Rivas.

2. The Treasurer of the association, until a new one is chosen according to these Statutes, is Sergio Pérez Marcos.

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International Judge Program is a community-driven, nonprofit association for judges with the goal of providing certification and education to its members. And creating an inclusive welcoming enviroment.

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