By - Laws of the International Association of Sports Law (IASL)

Article 1 - Title-Seat

An Association under the title "International Association of Sports Law", with its seat in Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, is hereby established. The Association's administrative offices shall be concurrently in Athens and at the residence of its President.

Article 2 - Purpose

The purpose of the Association is the cultivation and development of scholarship, research, and teaching about sports law and the institution of the Olympic Games. Consistent with democratic principles, the Association's agenda includes the promotion of sports; communications, research, and collection of jurisprudence concerning international sports; and planning and counseling related to legislative, administrative, organizational, and practical measures addressed to international sports law and the institution of the Olympic Games.

Tins agenda shall be pursued through:

the establishment of study rooms, libraries, laboratories, and workshops on sports law and the institution of the Olympic Games;
the organization of lectures, seminars and conferences on subjects relating to international sports law and the institution of the Olympic Games, as well as lectures of a broader content and scope aimed at elevating the cultural and educational levels of peoples on matters of education, physical education, and sports in the light of the law and the Olympic ideal;
the production of scholarly publications relating to these purposes such as reviews, scholarly journals, newsletters, and information bulletins;
international collaboration with other natural or legal persons who espouse the same or similar purposes; and
any other legal and proper means.

Article 3 - Members of the Association

The Association's membership shall consist of regular and honorary members.

Regular Members. Regular members include natural or juridical persons who are actively involved in research, teaching, and applications of sports law or with the institution of the Olympic Games; graduate students and scholars of sports law or of subjects pertaining to the institution of the Olympic Games; and holders of diplomas in physical education, provided that they are working on issues pertaining to sports law or the institution of the Olympic Games. Membership is granted upon approval of an application by the Administrative Board of the Association.
Honorary members. Natural or juridical persons who are donors or benefactors of the Association may become honorary members upon the recommendation of three regular members and a decision of the Administrative Board, as well as otherwise within the discretion of the General Assembly.

Article 4 - Financial obligations

Every member is obligated to pay an initial registration fee of $15 and annual dues of $45.
* The Administrative Board may increase these amounts and may impose exceptional assessments.
* Following a Board decision, the sum of the initial registration fee is currently ? 20 and the annual dues are ? 50.

Article 5 - Participation in and Resignation from Activities

Every member has a right to participate in the activities and functions of the Association.
A member may resign from the Association but must notify the Administrative Board at least three months before the end of the accounting year, the resignation to take effect at the end of that year. All regular members who have paid their dues and other obligations have the right to vote and to be elected to the offices of the Association.

Article 6 - Obligations and Expulsion of Members

Every member is obligated to contribute to the attainment of the purposes of the Association, to discharge financial obligations to it, and to obey the law, the by-laws and the decisions of the General Assembly and the Administrative Board.

The General Assembly may expel any member who:
(a) engages in conduct that is manifestly detrimental to or incompatible with the spirit and the goals of the Association; or
(b) has been finally convicted of an offense that entails deprivation of his or her civil rights provided that such a sanction has been imposed by a court of law.

Article 7 - Revenues of the Association

The revenues of the Association consist of:
(a) application fees, annual dues, and special assessments on members;
(b) voluntary contributions by members;
(c) donations, bequests* and other contributions, grants, or subsidies made by private or public persons as contributions to the Association's purpose without limitations to its freedom.

Article 8 - Accounting Year of the Association

The accounting period (fiscal year) of the Association shall consist of the period between two ordinary General Assemblies. Each year the Administrative Board shall draft and submit for approval to the General Assembly a report indicating in detail the revenues and expenditures of the previous year and a budget indicating the projected revenues and expenditures for the following year.

Article 9 - Organs of the Association

The Organs of the Association are: a) the Administrative Board; b) the Audit Committee; and c) the General Assembly.

Article 10 - Administrative Board and Director

The Administrative Board administers and manages the Association through a Director appointed by the Board for a term fixed by the Board. The Director exercises all powers not expressly assigned by the by-laws to another organ.

Article 11 - Composition, Election, Initial Meeting, Required Quorum, and Voting Procedure of the Administrative Board

The Administrative Board shall consist of fifteen (15) members, including the President, the First, Second and Third Vice Presidents, the First, Second and Third Honorary Vice Presidents, the Secretary-General, the Treasurer, the Special Secretary, and five (5) additional members. The term of office of the Administrative Board is three (3) years. All paid-up members may be elected members of the Administrative Board provided that two (2) years have elapsed since the date of their initial registration with the Association. An exception is made for members of the Association during the first year of its existence. The Administrative Board is elected by the General Assembly in conformity with the provisions of the present by-laws.

The duly elected Administrative Board shall convene within eight (8) days from the date set to elect officers by secret ballot, A quorum of the Administrative Board shall consist of eight (8) members present. Election of officers of the Administrative Board shall require an absolute majority (eight votes) of the Board. In case a candidate for such office does not obtain the required number of votes, voting must be immediately repeated.

Article 12 - Meetings of the Administrative Board

The Administrative Board shall meet regularly every two (2) months at the place determined during its first meeting. It may convene an extraordinary meeting on the initiative of its President or a written request by three (3) of its members, in which case the President 7nust convene the Administrative Board within fifteen (15) days from the date of the request. If the President does not do so, the First Vice President has a right to convene the meeting. If the meeting does not take place within one (1) month from the date of a request, the requesting parties have a right to convene the meeting.

At any meeting of the Administrative Board, a quorum shall consist of eight (8) members present. In the absence of this quorum, the Administrative Board shall meet again within eight (8) days. A new quorum at that meeting shall consist of five (5) members present.

Decisions of the Administrative Board are reached by an absolute majority of those present. In case of a tie, the deciding vote shall be cast by the President. In case of death, resignation or disqualification of either the President, the Vice Presidents, the Secretary-General, the Special Secretary or the Treasurer, the Administrative Board shall elect a replacement from among its members.

Any member of the Administrative Board who intends to resign must do so in writing and shall be replaced by the member who received the highest number of votes in the previous election.All members of the Administrative Board, with the exception of its President and Vice Presidents, shall be subject to annual replacement, in order to achieve a more efficient operation if the majority of members so request. The Administrative Board may be discharged by a decision of an extraordinary General Assembly reached by an absolute majority of the members present or by a vote of no-confidence.

Article 13 - The President

The President represents the Association before any authority or courts. He or she convenes and conducts regular and extraordinary meetings of the Administrative Board and submits matters on the Association's agenda to a vote. Together with the Secretary-General, the President signs the minutes of the meetings, correspondence, and documents relating to the Association, Together with the Treasurer, the President signs all checks and other orders of payment on behalf of the Association.

The President has the responsibility of observing the law and by-laws of the Association. He or she is also responsible for the execution of the decisions of the General Assembly and the Administrative Board. In case of incapacity or absence, the First or Second Vice President shall replace the President.

Article 14 - The Vice Presidents

The Vice Presidents shall replace the President in case of incapacitation or absence. The First Vice President is responsible for the organization of the Association's functions, the Second Vice President is responsible for international relations, and the Third Vice President supervises scholarly programs, research and the Association's scholastic archives.

Article 15 - The Secretary-General

The Secretary-General informs members of the Administrative Board of the agenda for each meeting, records the minutes of the meetings of the Administrative Board and the General Assembly, keeps the seal of the Association, and, together with the President, signs any document that the Secretary-General prepares when necessary.

Article 16 - The Special Secretary

The Special Secretary is responsible for the library and the scholastic archives of the Association and is responsible under the law for publications issued by the Association.

Article 17 - The Treasurer

The Treasurer collects the revenues of the Association, issues and signs receipts bearing the seal of the Association, and makes payments pursuant to a payment order signed jointly by the President and the Treasurer and bearing the seal of the Association. The Treasurer keeps the account books for the Association, including balance statements and other necessary financial information.

Article 18 - Audit Committee

The Audit Committee shall consist of three members elected, together with two (2) substitutes, by the General Assembly for a term of three (3) years. The Audit Committee audits the account books and the financial state of the Association and keeps minutes of its acts. The Audit Committee shall submit to the annual General Assembly a report about the Association's finances.

Article 19 - The General Assembly

The General Assembly consists of all paid-up members. It is the Association's supreme body. It decides all matters submitted to it and has the general authority to act on any matter regarding the achievement of the Association* s purposes. In addition to this general authority, it has the exclusive authority for:

approving the budget and financial and other reports of the Administrative Board;
relieving members of the Administrative Board of their responsibilities;
electing the members of the Administrative Board and the Audit Committee; and
amending the by-laws.

Article 20 - Work of the General Assembly

The General Assembly is convened regularly once a year during the last months of each calendar year. It is convened extraordinarily whenever the Administrative Board so decides or upon a written request, including a proposed agenda, made by two-fifths of the paid-up, regular members.

The President of the Administrative Board convenes the General Assembly by a written invitation issued two months before the scheduled session. This invitation should clearly fix a) the place, the date and time of the first and, if it becomes necessary, second meetings of the General Assembly; b) the matters to be discussed; and c) the quorum required for voting. A quorum shall consist of at least one-half of the paid-up membership plus one (1).

In case there is no quorum at the first meeting, the General Assembly shall be convened in a second meeting with the same agenda, to take place within one month from the time of the first meeting. At the second meeting, no quorum shall be required.

The General Assembly shall make its decisions by an absolute majority of the members present, except when the law or the by-laws stipulate differently. Upon a determination by the President of the Administrative Board that a quorum exists, the General Assembly shall elect the President and Secretary-General. The General Assembly shall then review and adopt an agenda.

The Administrative Board shall refer to the General Assembly the following matters for its approval: a) a report on the state of management as of the current accounting year; b) a budget for the new accounting year; c) a report on the activities of the Administrative Board; and d) an annual plan.

Article 21 - Election of Administrative Board and Audit Committee

When the third regular General Assembly has completed its agenda, it shall elect members of the new Administrative Board and Audit Committee by secret ballot. Before the balloting, the General Assembly shall elect an Election Committee composed of three paid-up members.

Candidacies for the Administrative Board shall be announced thirty (30) days before the third regular General Assembly. The Secretary-General shall convey the list of candidates for the new Administrative Board and Audit Committee to the General Assembly. The General Assembly shall resolve any disputes concerning the candidates on this list.

Article 22 - Election Procedures

Voting shall be by a common ballot. Each ballot, as approved by the out-going Administrative Board, shall include the names of all candidates for the Administrative Board and Audit Committee. Every paid-up regular member of the Association is entitled to vote by a ballot provided by the Election Committee.

No single member may vote for more than 65% of the total number of candidates whose names appear on the ballot.
Any member may vote by proxy. No single member may represent more than two (2) other members by proxy.

Voting shall be conducted at the end of the regular meeting of the General Assembly and upon the election of the members of the Election Committee. After the voting, the Election Committee shall count the ballots and document the election. It shall also certify the election to the Administrative Board and the Audit Committee of those candidates who have obtained a majority of the votes.

Article 23 - The Seal and Official Languages of the Association

The Seal of the Association is round. The title of the Association, "INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SPORTS LAW/' is written along its outer margin in English and Greek. The goddess Themis is portrayed in the middle of the seal. The official languages of the Association are Greek, as the language of the Association's seat, as well as French and English as working languages.

Article 24 - Amendment of the By-laws

The General Assembly shall approve all proposed amendments of the by-laws. A quorum for this purpose shall consist of one-half of the Association's paid-up regular members. Approval by three-quarters of the members present shall be required for adoption of all amendments.

Article 25 - Dissolution of the Association

Subject to all legal requirements, the Association may be dissolved by the General Assembly. A quorum for this purpose shall consist of three-quarters of the Association's paid-up members. A decision to dissolve the Association requires four-fifths of members present. The General Assembly shall then decide on the manner by which the Association's property will be liquidated. This decision requires a majority of the members present.

Article 26 - Regulation of Ambiguities in By-laws

Any ambiguity in the present by-laws is to be resolved by a majority decision of the members present at a General Assembly,

Article 27 - Approval of By-laws

These by-laws, consisting of twenty-seven (27) articles, were discussed and voted, article by article. They were approved by the founding members of the Association, who are listed as follows.

[names]

Athens, December 12th 1993
The President
M. Stathopoulos

The Secretary General
D. Panagiotopoulos