Constitution Change Proposal

2022 appears to be a busy year with plenty of proposals to change the current rules, either on the Constitution side or the technical side. As former Chief Measurer and Rules Committee Chairman, who had supervised for years those matters, I would share with the class members some thoughts on those proposals, to open a discussion as wide as possible.

Constitution Change Proposal Image

A comment by Antonio Bari

[Editor’s Note: in the “Exchange of views and reading” category we host opinions, comments and points of view, even if they do not coincide with the official position of the Board or the Board members. The only condition is that these opinions are well motivated and not offensive to anyone.]

2022 appears to be a busy year with plenty of proposals to change the current rules, either on the Constitution side or the technical side.
As former Chief Measurer and Rules Committee Chairman, who had supervised for years those matters, I would share with the class members some thoughts on those proposals, to open a discussion as wide as possible.

Let’s begin with THE Rule.

The current Constitution states that the Commodore’s office lasts 2 years and can be renewed once. No mention when the election shall take place.

Under extraordinary circumstances, why do we need to add a rule like the proposed new 23.6 (Rule Change Proposal 22-02)?

The Board meetings can be called at any time, regardless of the World Championship date. Rule 23.6 opens the way to extend the duration of the Board indefinitely, but the basis of a democratically elected governing board (at all levels, I mean, including the Parliament of a democratic State) is the duration of the term. The SCIRA has established that the majority of the offices lasts 2 years.

The key point, to avoid future embarrassing (to not use the wording “out of the Constitution”) decisions like those the Class was forced to take in 2020, is to separate the elections from the events.

This is already established for the position of the Commodore, but not for the Continental General Secretaries, whose election is strictly linked to their respective main events.

It would only be necessary to change Section 24 to stay safe for the future, as per Rules Change proposal 2022-01.

Adding a specific note about RR2 violation is a good idea, but the current Section 27.2 already gives the power to the Board to establish the suspension period. I believe that this is enough, while 27.3 is necessary after that the possibility to call a Board meeting has been added to our rules.

As for Section 28, the change proposed is highly recommendable. That rule is the result of many editing interventions which has added members, functions and internal rules. There is no need to differentiate the Rules from the Technical Committee. The only question is: “Why is the Chief Information Officer part of the T.C.?” In my opinion he/she should be a Board counselor, same as the Legal Counselor…

The following changes to Sections 29 and 32 are the direct consequence of the modifications of Section 28 and are highly advisable.

That’s all for THE Rule.

More comments will follow on the technical side.

Stay tuned.

Antonio Bari

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