EJB TOR

European Junior Branch Terms of Reference

European Junior Branch is a cooperation of Junior Branches.

Any country that wants to place itself within European Junior Branch is welcome and will have the same rights as any other regardless of geographical location. All member countries have equal rights in participation and decision-making. Countries can be members of more than one region.

The European Junior Branch Team offers its support to any country that wants to place itself within European Junior Branch.

The European Junior Branch Team (EJB Team)

The European Junior Branch Team coordinates and supports the member Junior Branches towards achieving the International Junior Branch goals.

The European Junior Branch Team decide how their work will be structured to best support member Junior Branches.

The EJB Team coordinates the work of the region throughout the year including the following ongoing tasks:

• To be in close contact with the National Junior Representatives;
• To be in contact with the International Junior Branch Team.
• To be in close contact with Organizational Development Committee;
• To plan and run the European Junior Branch Meeting and help plan and support any other regional workshops if needed;
• As a part of the International Junior Branch Team, the European Junior Branch Team should participate in the planning and running of the International Junior Branch Conference.

The European Junior Branch Team consists of 4 people. 2 new members are elected each year to replace the 2 outgoing members. Each member serves two years. This creates an overlap in the team in order to create continuity. The communication, administration and travel costs of the European Junior Branch Team should be covered by a maximum charge of 10 euros per European Junior Branch Meeting participant. This payment will be included in the participation fee for the European Junior Branch Meeting. The payment will be reimbursed to the European Junior Branch Team. The amount charged should be dependent on how much the European Junior Branch Team has spent and the maximum amount should not be charged if not necessary.

Decision Making

The EJB Team proposes two people who have experience of the rules and procedures to be chairmen of the elections. These two chairmen should not be voting members of the board. The board approves the chairmen by raising hands.

Any decision made should have 50% plus 1 of the voting countries present. If there are an odd number of voting countries the magic number should be rounded up to the nearest whole number. (E.g. 15 countries, 50% would be 7.5, 9 votes would be needed to make a decision).

Each country has one vote. NJRs vote on behalf of their country. If an NJR is not present from a country then their vote can be given to another junior (as a proxy). Written proxies should be given to the EJB Team prior to the decision making at European Junior Branch Meeting. No country can have more than 2 Proxies (equaling 3 votes in total).

European Junior Branch Meeting is an inclusive meeting and everyone attending the meeting has the right to share his or her opinion with the board (National Junior Representatives should speak on behalf of their Junior Branch and others on behalf of themselves.)

Nominations

Each member Junior Branch has two nominations. The nomination period starts 8 weeks before the start of European Junior Branch Meeting and closes the day before the Candidate Question and Answer session at EJBM.

The EJB Team should announce nominations as they receive them.

In order to run for European Junior Branch Team, a person should receive 2 nominations from different countries. The nomination should be in writing to the European Junior Branch Team (ejbteam@ijb.cisv.org) before the European Junior Branch Meeting or on the handed out ‘form’ at European Junior Branch Meeting. Any junior can be nominated.

The members of the EJB Team may be re-elected once, but the sitting European Junior Branch Team should encourage and promote other candidates. In the event that an EJB Team member chooses to run to be re-elected, they require the same amount of nominations and must follow the same deadlines and procedures as the other candidates. They will not be a part of making priority list that the EJB Team creates for the event of a tie.

Procedure for elections of the European Junior Branch Team

Voting will take place by secret ballot.

Every country writes the names of the two different candidates they would like to see in the European Junior Branch Team on the same piece of paper. The votes are collected and counted. To be elected a candidates name must be present on 50% plus one of the papers.

If 3 people receive 50% plus one of the votes then the two candidates who are highest on the list, which is used in case of a tie, will be elected. This follows the procedure of what happens when there is a tie. (It is possible for three people to reach 50% plus one because each country has two names. Therefore to be elected a person must receive 50% plus one of voting countries and not 50% plus one of overall names written down. E.G If 20 countries are present they will write 40 names in total. To be elected a candidate must receive 11 votes not 21).

If two people receive 50% plus one then they are elected as the new European Junior Branch Team members.

If one person reaches 50% plus one they will be elected. The process will then continue with each country writing one name on a piece of paper.

If no candidate reaches 50% plus one of the votes, the candidate with the least votes is removed and the countries vote again between the remaining candidates writing 2 names until a candidate receives 50% plus one.

When two candidates are left, and none of them reaches 50% plus one, the board will be asked again to vote on the 2 candidates. If no candidate is selected then the position will remain vacant until the board has decided how to fill it. (E.g. if there are 20 voting countries, you need 11 votes to be elected. Since countries may abstain from voting there is a chance that none of the candidates get 11 votes even with the "priority list" from the EJB team). The election chairs will make suggestions on how to proceed that will be proposed for the board to discuss and accept.

In each round the European Junior Branch Team should provide the election chair with a list of candidates in their order of preference contained in a sealed envelope. This should not be opened unless there is a tie. In the event of a tie the election chairs should use the preference vote to eliminate or elect a candidate but not inform anyone that it has been used. In other words the election chairs will be the only ones that know there was a tie.

Before one candidate is elected, if candidates were removed because they had the least votes and the board couldn’t reach 50% plus one votes, the removed candidates are back in the elections for the election of the second European Junior Branch Member, for the board to vote on them.

The term starts with the closing of the European Junior Branch Meeting.

European Junior Branch Meeting – EJBM – Hosting

Each country may volunteer to host the European Junior Branch Meeting. A presentation of the host country for the coming year should be taken ahead of the Election. It is suggested that the presentation include: Cost Funding opportunities If there is Computer/ internet access Support from hosting country Accessibility to the campsite with public transport. The voting procedure is the same as that used for the election of the European Junior Branch Team.

The European Junior Branch Team, taking into consideration the capacity of the site, the funding possibilities, the fair price distribution and the potential group feeling, should decide the number of participants each year (with the home staff, with regards to the site).

In case of any situation that is not covered within the TOR, the NJR Board at the time should decide on what procedures should be taken.