Statute
ABOUT US – STATUTE
The Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty,
Proclaims the rule of law and justice as its political aims;
Proclaims in their respect the unsurpassed source of legitimacy of the Institutions;
Proclaims the duty of disobedience, non-collaboration and conscientious objection; the duty of nonviolent struggle in defense of life, rule of law and justice;
Calls upon itself and upon every person believing in life, peace, justice and freedom, to strictly comply with and actively protect the following two fundamental laws: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the Constitutions of those countries that abide by the principles enshrined in the two Charters;
Calls upon itself and upon every person believing in life, peace, justice and freedom, to refuse obedience and legitimacy to those violating these principles, to those who fail to implement them or reduce them to mere verbose statements, i.e. to non-laws;
Declares the “do not kill” commandment as a historically absolute law, to be honoured without exceptions, not even the one of legitimate defence.
STATUTE
Title I – The Party
Article 1. (The Party)
1. The Radical Party is a political organization.
2. The Radical Party is Nonviolent Radical Party, as it not only repudiates violence as an instrument of power, but affirms nonviolence as the tool for political struggle.
3. The Nonviolent Radical Party is Transnational and Transparty, as it perceives the limits of Nation States and national parties to govern the problems of our time.
4. To reiterate its transparty and transnational character, the Radical Party does not present itself as such and with its own symbol in electoral competitions. The Secretary General and Treasurer undertake not to stand for any electoral competition, under penalty of forfeiture to their executive position in the Party.
5. The Radical Party is based in Rome, at Via di Torre Argentina 76.
Article 2. (Funding)
1. The Radical Party does not pursue for-profit purposes and prohibits the distribution, even indirectly, of profits or operating surpluses as well as funds, reserves or capital during the life of the Party itself, unless the destination of distribution is imposed by law.
2. Any profits or operating surpluses are used exlusively for the realization of institutional activities and those directly connected to them.
3. The Radical Party is funded through the individual fees by members, through contributions – even from individuals or organizations without associative links with the Party – also in relation to specific activities and initiatives, through the proceeds of particular activities and initiatives proposed prior to implementation and publicly by the Secretary General and Treasurer, and through contributions of public provenance (of local, state or international bodies), subject to approval of the Congress or General Council.
4. The accounts of the Radical Party are public and are prepared on the basis of accounting records drawn up in accordance with the rules of an orderly accounting. The criteria for the preparation of the financial statements and accounting records are prepared by the Treasurer and approved by the General Council.
5. The minimum membership fee to the Radical Party is established by the Congress in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of the country of residence of each member. In countries where membership can be subject to prosecution by public authorities, the amount of the fee is voluntary. With regard to political refugees, the fee is half of the host country’s quota.
Article 3. (Members)
1. Anyone can become a member of the Radical Party. Membership is individual and annual.
2. Conditions for membership to the Radical Party are the acceptance of the present Statute and the payment of the individual membership fee for the amount established by the Congress.
3. Membership registrations are collected by the Party’s executive bodies.
4. Members are not held to any party discipline and cannot be deprived of their membership status.
TITLE II – Party Bodies
Article 4. (Party Bodies)
1. The Radical Party’s bodies are the Congress, the General Council, the Secretary General, the Treasurer, and the Honorary Presidency.
2.
The Secretary General, Treasurer, Honorary President(s), and Members of the General Council must be enrolled in the Radical Party for all the years of their mandate. If, by January 31st of each year of their mandate, they have not paid the membership fee, the President of the General Council declares their forfeiture by giving notice to all members of the General Council.
3. In case of forfeiture, disappearance or resignation of the Secretary General, the Party Treasurer takes over the office until the next General Council which will elect the Secretary who obtains 2/3 of the votes expressed by General Councilors participating in the vote and will remain in office until the following Congress. In the event no candidate obtains 2/3 of the votes during the first three rounds, the fourth round will elect a candidate by simple majority; if no majority is obtained, the fifth round will elect the candidate obtaining the most votes.
4. In case of forfeiture, disappearance or resignation of the Treasurer, the Secretary General takes over the office until the next General Council which will elect the Treasurer who obtains 2/3 of the votes expressed by General Councilors participating in the vote and will remain in office until the following Congress. In the event no candidate obtains 2/3 of the votes during the first three rounds, the fourth round will elect a candidate by simple majority; if no majority is obtained, the fifth round will elect the candidate obtaining the most votes.
5. The Secretary and Treasurer can be revoked by 8/10 of the General Councilors, and replaced with those who have obtained 2/3 of the votes of the General Councilors participating in the vote. The newly elected executives will remain in office until the next Congress.
Article 5. (The Congress)
1. The Congress is the deliberative body of the Radical Party, and establishes the guidelines and political direction, specific objectives and areas of activity.
2. The Ordinary Congress takes place every five years, before the second week of November.
3. The Ordinary Congress is compulsorily convened by the Party Secretary within the six months following the starting date of the term of the European Parliament.
4. The Extraordinary Congress may be convened by the Secretary of by 2/3 of the members of the General Council. Fifty members, who have been members for at least six months, can submit a reasoned request to the Secretary to convene an Extraordinary Congress. Within fifteen days of comunication of such a request, the Secretary must submit the proposal – also through electronic means – to the members of the General Council. Should this request be supported by 2/3 of the members of the General Council, the Extraordinary Congress is convened. If the request obtains the favorable vote of a simple majority of the General Council, the Secretary sends the reasoned request for an Extraordinary Congress to all Party members who have been a member for at least six months. If, within one month of such comunication, at least one third of these members manifest their support for the request, the Secretary is required to convene the Extraordinary Congress of the Radical Party.
5. All members in good standing with the membership fee for the year in which the Congress is held participate with full active and passive electoral rights.
6. The Rules of Procedure of the Congress establishes the modalities of presentation, discussion and vote of the motions.
6. The Congress:
a) elects the Secretary General of the Radical Party;
b) elects the Treasurer of the Radical Party;
c) elects, in accordance with Article 9, the Honoray Presidency of the Radical Party;
c) elects 50 members of the General Council;
d) establishes the amount of the membership fee.
Article 6. (General Council)
1. The General Council is composed of 75 members:
– 50 members elected by the Party’s Congress;
– 25 members indicated by the Secretary in agreement with the Treasurer, among the members of the Radical Party whom, by geographical origin, existing or previous institutional positions, specific skills and/or interests, can provide an important and valid theoretical/operational contribution to the implementation of the congressional motion.
2. The term of office for members of the General Council elected by the Congress is five years. By January 31st of each year of their mandate, the General Councilors must pay, on penalty of forfeiture, the entire membership fee to the Party for the current year.
3. In the event of forfeiture, resignation or disappearance of a member elected by the Congress, the provisions relating to the subrogation provided for by the election system of the General Council are applied. In case it is not possible to assign the mandate, in the first meeting of the General Council, the Secretary indicates a list of up to three names, identified in agreement with the Treasurer, of members to the Party and in good standing with their annual membership fee, among which the General Councilors elected by the Congress elects, by secret vote and with a single preference, the incoming General Councilor. In case more than one General Councilor is to be replaces, the list of names presented by the Secretary is increased by two names for each additional Councilor to be replaced. The Council then votes by single preference and elect those candidates that have obtained the highest number of votes up to the number of Councilors to be replaced. In the event of a tie between two or more candidates, the order of the list presented by the Secretary prevails.
4. The term of office of members of the General Council indicated by the Secretary is one year. In the first General Council following the Congress and in the ordinary General Councils in the following years, the Secretary presents, in agreement with the Treasurer, the list of 25 members. On this list, the General Councilors elected by the Congress of the Party expresses, by majority, its non-binding opinion.
5. The Secretary and members of the secretariat, the Treasurer and members of the treasury, the Honorary President(s) of the Party participate in the work of the General Council without a right to vote.
6. The General Council meets ordinarily at least once a year by June 30th. The General Council is convened by its President with at least 15 days notice; the first General Council after the Congress is convened by the Secretary. It can be convened in extraordinary session by the Secretary or at the request of at least one third of its members.
7. The General Council:
a) approves the General Council’s Rules of Procedure;
b) elects a President of the Council from its midst;
c) approves the annual accounts presented by the Treasurer and endorsed by the auditor;
d) decides, with congressional powers, on all matters delegated by the Congress;
e) expresses its opinion on the initiatives for the implementation of the resoluitions of the Congress;
f) proposes and deliberates on initiatives not dealt with by the Congress;
g) expresses its opinion on the financial policy initiatives submitted by the Treasurer;
h) makes proposals and asks the executive for information on the matters referred to in the preceding points;
i) approves, on initiative of the Secretary, the agenda and proposal for the Presidency, the Rules of Procedure and working programme of the Congress;
j) approves, with a majority of 2/3 of its members, any statutory changes necessary to adapt the Party Stature to national regulatory changes and/or international provisions whose non-implementation could be detrimental to the activity of the Party;
k) deliberates, by simple majority, on the establishment of Committees pursuant to Article 10;
l) 2/3 of the General Council members may decide to integrate the Honorary Presidency.
Article 7. (Secretary General)
1. The Secretary General is elected by the Congress and is responsible for the implementation of the Radical Party’s policy, in accordance with the general motion adopted by the Congress. His mandate lasts until the next Congress. The Secretary is assisted by a secretariat composed of a minimum of five and a maximum of ten members appointed by him. The Secretary can delegate specific competences to the members of the secretariat.
2. The Secretary is the legal representative of the Radical Party, with the exception of the provisions in Article 8. In particular, in the exercise of such legal representation, he proposes all judicial actions he considers necessary for the protection of the rights and interests of the Party and assumes its procedural representation.
3. The Secretary General:
a)undertakes all the initiatives deemed appropriate for the achievement of the objectives set by the Congress;
b) convenes, in agreement with the Treasurer and the President of the General Council, the Party Congress;
c) indicates the names referred to in Article 6, paragraph 3, second sentence, to the General Council;
d) presents the list referred to in Article 6, paragraph 4;
Article 8. (Treasurer)
1 The Treasurer is elected by the Congress. His mandate lasts until the next Congress. He is assisted by a treasury consisting of a minimum of three and a maximum of six members, appointed by him and to whom he may delegate specific competences.
2. The Treasurer manages the funds available to the Party and is responsible for their management. He promotes any useful initiative for auto-funding and the acquisition of any other financial resource; he reports to the General Council for its opinion.
3. The Treasurer is the legal representative of the Party in all its economic and financial activities. In agreement with the Secretary, and after prior viewing by the auditor, he presents the annual accounts to the General Council.
4. The Treasurer entrusts, in the ways and forms provided for by current legislation, the audit of accounts to an external legal auditor.
Article 9. (Honorary Presidency)
1. The Congress of the Radical Party may decide, in the forms and ways established by the Congressional Rules of Procedure, on the election among its members of one or more Honorary Presidents of the Party.
2. The Honorary Presidents represent the Party in official demonstrations and participate in the meetings of the General Council, without the right to vote.
3. The mandate of the Honorary President(s) lasts until the next Party Congress.
TITLE III – ON COMMITTEES AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, PARTIES AND INSTITUTIONS
Article 10. (Radical Committees)
1. The Secretary, in agreement with the Treasurer, may propose the establishment of thematic Committees – also of a temporary nature – to the General Council, in view of the pursuit of specific objectives contained in the congressional motion or approved by the General Council.
Article 11. (Relationships with national and international associations, parties and institutions)
1. The Secretary, in agreement with the Treasurer, may conclude agreements – even of a temporary nature – with national or international associations, parties and organizations that pursue political, cultural or other purposes related to the objectives of the Radical Party.
2. The Secretary may invite, without the right to vote, a representative for each of the subjects referred to in paragraph 1, to meetings of the the General Council.
Transitory Norms
1. Upon the first application of this Statute and up to the next Radical Party Congress:
a) the Radical Party Congress elects 25 members of the General Council;
b) considering the importance of the contribution provided for by Italian members, for the first four successive years, an annual Congress of Italian members is held. Such Congresses, to be held before the second week of November of each year, may propose initiatives to achieve the objectives of the Party to be submitted to the General Council. The Italian congresses elects half of the 50 members to be elected by the Party Congress. ;
c) the mandate of the members of the General Council elected by the Congress of Italian members lasts until the next such congress. To the members of the General Council elected in such way, the same provisions of Article 6, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Statute apply;
d) the annual Congress of Italian members is organized by the Party Secretary, in agreement with the Treasurer and the President of the General Council, who communicate it to the members by September. The Rules of Procedure of the Radical Party Congress are applied to these annual congresses;
e) in order to implement the congressional motion or specific parts of it, the Secretary may nominate, up to revocation, members who perform the function of coordinating the Party’s activity in specific territorial areas. The Secretary communicates such nominations to the General Council;
f) within four months of the conclusion of the 41st Congress of the Radical Party, the Secretary convenes the first meeting of the General Council, in which he presents the names referred to in Article 6, paragraph 4. The General Council, in its provisional 50-members form, is fully entitled to adopt all the decisions attributed to it by the Statute, until the completion of the plenum with the General Councilors elected by the Congress of Italian members.
