02. Standing Orders

Standing Orders
	Approved by the General Assembly 6 November 1976Amended by the General Assembly 8 November 1978, 6 December 1980, 10 November 1982, 28 November - 1 December 1986, 7-9 August 1989, 30 November to 2 December 1990.
Preamble
	These Standing Orders serve for the execution of the Statutes of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
To 1.2:
	FIDE events (competitions, congresses, meetings) may be hosted only by federations in whose countries free access is generally assured to representatives of all federations. The General Assembly may take exceptions for reasons of state of war or severe violence between countries, only on a 3/4 majority vote.
To 1.4:
	The General Assembly issues the rules of chess, decides on the regulations for all FIDE-competitions and fixes the conditions for the award of the international titles. FIDE competitions are in general open to players of both sexes. A competition described as a women's event is reserved for women players but women players are entitled to compete in events described as "Men's" events.
To 1.5:
	The number of zones is not limited, but a zone should be created only if chess or administrative reasons require it.(1980 Congress Resolution: The General Assembly resolved that the following criteria be used in the future when changes in the Zonal division are necessary: a)geographic reasons; b) number of affiliated federations; c)strength of organization; d) combined number of chess players; e) number of rated players; f) number of titled players; g) encouragement of play among affiliated federations; h) special considerations.)
To 2.1:
	A Federation can only be regarded as a National Federation if it has been legally constituted and recognized in a State which is an entity of International Law or which is at least fully autonomous in the administration of Culture and Sports.
To 2.2:
	The application for admission shall be accompanied by the official questionnaire of FIDE approved by the General Assembly, completely filled out, together with a copy of the statutes of the federation, approved or recognized by the authorities of the country, if the country's law so requires.
To 2.4:
	The member must send to the Secretariat at the latest by April 1st of each year a report containing the following information: the name and address of the Federation; the name and address of the President; the name and address of the Secretary; the name and address of the officer who is the intermediary between the member and FIDE (the Permanent Delegate); the names of the national champions; the title and address of the official bulletin, if any; the numbers of players belonging directly or indirectly to the federation on January 1st of the year in question, or, if this is not possible, at the end of the previous fiscal year; the date and place and other details about international chess events which have been organized in the federation's country since the previous report or which are planned for the future. If in the course of the year changes occur in the data mentioned in sub (a-d) and above, the federation must inform the Secretariat immediately. When a federation does not supply the data mentioned in sub (g), the President shall determine the number of members, after consultation with the President of the Zone. The same procedure shall be followed when the data given by the federation contain obvious mistakes.
To 2.5:
	In the cases mentioned in the 4th paragraph the Executive Council can set up a committee of three persons to investigate and examine an offence (or an act against the principles of FIDE); the committee shall report to the General Assembly.
To 2.10:
	The affiliation of international chess organizations under (b) is to be confirmed by the General Assembly.
To 2.11:
	Special merits can be acquired by the repeated organization of important international chess events, by the organizational work in the service of FIDE of many years' duration or by other extraordinary successful activities for the international chess movement. Only former Presidents of FIDE can be nominated as Honorary Presidents.
To 4.1:
	The World Champion and the Women's World Champion shall be invited to attend the General Assembly with consultative voice, but no vote.
To 4.3:
	A Proxy can be assigned to a member-federation only by a written authorization. The letter of assignment of a Proxy must have the signature of the Permanent Delegate or of an official authorized by the federation, as last registered with FIDE. In emergency the General Assembly can approve a Proxy on notification by other means.
To 4.4:
	The discussions may be carried through on the basis of a speaker's list to be kept by the General Secretary. The chairman can take the floor as often as required also outside the order of the speaker's list. Motions of order (closing of the speaker's list, closing of the discussion, adjournment of the agenda point, removing the point from the agenda) may be made at anytime on a point under discussion. These motions should be considered and decided upon at once in so far as they do not entail an interruption of the session. The same goes for objections because of violation of the statutes. Proposals regarding amendments or supplementary proposals will be treated only if they are seconded by another voting member.
To 4.7:
	Each recommendation by the Central Committee is voted upon first, after discussion, in the General Assembly. In other cases amendments are voted upon first. Supplementary proposals are voted upon only after a decision on the main proposal; they will be discussed and voted upon in the reverse order in which they were made.
To 4.12:
	The President shall send the minutes of the General Assembly to the members and the FIDE officials and organizations at the latest three months after the closing of the General Assembly.
To 5.2:
	With the exception of the Zonal Presidents the members of the Central Committee officiate in person. No replacement is possible. FIDE shall be informed of the name of the substitute of the Zonal President in writing. The Chairman of the Commission or his representative shall be entitled to attend the Central Committee and to speak upon matters affecting his Commission but shall not be entitled to vote unless he is a member of the Central Committee. The representative of the ICCF shall be invited to attend meetings of the Central Committee and have a consultative voice, but no vote.
To 6.2:
	The members of the Executive Council officiate in person. No replacement is possible. However, the President can admit counselors (without vote) to the meetings of the Executive Council.
To 8.1:
	The number of the commissions is not limited. However, they can be created only if there is a good reason and organizational need.
To 8.2:
	In general the meetings of the Technical Commission and the Qualification Commission should be held immediately before the annual meeting of the General Assembly.
To 9.7:
	The appeal against a decision of a Continental President must be made in writing to the President with a copy to the Continental President. The Continental President must immediately send his comments to the President. When an appeal is made by a member federation it has to be signed by the federation's President and Permanent FIDE Delegate.
To 10.3:
	The appeal against the decision of a Zonal President must be made in writing. It must be sent to the Continental President for his Continent with a copy to the Zonal President, who must immediately forward to the Continental President his points of view. When the appeal is made by the national federation, it has to be written personally by the President and Permanent Delegate of that federation, otherwise it will not be considered.
To 10.5:
	The accreditation is to be given in writing. In emergencies the accreditation can be notified by other means.
Final Regulations
	The stipulation of Art. 2.1 does not apply to those federations that were already members of FIDE on or before the day the General Assembly made this decision. These Standing Orders, approved by the General Assembly on 6 November 1976, in Haifa, with a majority vote of two thirds of the votes delivered, become effective on the same day. They can be changed only by the vote of a two-thirds' majority.