Statute

Chapter I

Name, headquarters and scope of activities

Article 1

1.It is established, for an indefinite period, a non-profit association named Centro de Direito Biomédico [Centre for Biomedical Law], referred in its abbreviated form as Centro [Centre].

2.The Centre has its headquarters at University of Coimbra’s Faculty of Law, hereinafter designated as FDUC.

Article 2

1.The Centre may celebrate covenants, protocols or agreements with national or foreign entities, with the main aim of carrying out joint actions under the association’s statutory purposes.

2.If these covenants, protocols or agreements entail the scientific or pedagogic responsibility of the FDUC, the FDUC’s President of the Executive Board intervenes in the respective constitutive acts.

3.The Centre may join and associate with similar organisms, national or foreign.

Chapter II

Association’s Scope

Article 3

The main scope of the Centre includes:

Organizing the post-graduate Course in Medical Law, as well as developing further education projects, professional and post-graduate;

Organizing conventions, colloquiums, seminars or other similar activities as well as promoting the participation of its associates and students in such initiatives, both in Portugal and abroad;

Promoting and developing research, namely in the subjects of Health Law, Medicine, Biology and Pharmaceutics;

Publishing lessons, seminar scripts and other research and divulgation projects;

Providing consultancy to public and private entities;

Awarding scholarships and research grants;

Collaborating with other entities, public or private, national, foreign or European, in projects, research and other activities, upon request of said entities or by the Centre’s own initiative;

Founding and developing a Documentation Centre [Centro de Documentação].

Article 4

All the academic activities promoted by the Centre must be approved by the FDUC’s competent bodies. The FDUC may prevent, through its relevant bodies, any initiatives or activities susceptible of jeopardizing the Faculty’s purposes or values.

Chapter III

Associates

Article 5

The people who subscribe the following Statute, on the act of its constitution, are the Centre’s associates;

Other Centre’s associates may include:

The University of Coimbra, through its Law Faculty;

FDUC’s professors and researchers dedicated to studying or teaching Health Law, Medical Law, Law related to Biology and Pharmaceutics or any other fields of Law relevant to these;

People with renowned merit, by invitation of the Board of Directors and after approval of the General Assembly.

Article 6

1. An associate relinquishes its status:

By its own will, upon written notice to the Board of Directors;

For failing to pay membership fees;

Through a General Assembly’s decision of exclusion, after a reasoned proposal of the Board of Directors or by request of at least one third of the associates.

2. The decision of exclusion must be based on one of the following:

The associate’s reiterated disrespect for its obligations towards the association or unjustified disobedience to legally binding decisions made by the Centre’s social bodies;

The associate adopts a conduct which discredits or constitutes injury to the Centre;

3. The decision of exclusion of an associate may only be made if at least two thirds of the associates are present for the meeting and if the proposal for exclusion is approved by two thirds of the votes cast.

Chapter IV

Social bodies

Article 7

The Centre’s social bodies include:

The General Assembly

The Board of Directors

The Supervisory Board

Article 8

Members of the social bodies aren’t entitled to any remuneration.

Members of the social bodies are elected by the General Assembly to serve 3 year terms.

Article 9

The General Assembly is made up of all the associates mentioned in article 5, and is directed by a board. This board is led by a Chairman assisted by at least one secretary.

The members of the General Assembly’s board are elected from amongst the associates. The secretary replaces the Chairman in the event of the Chairman being unable to attend or in case of his absence.

Associates may be represented by other associates, upon delivering of a letter addressed to the Chairman, signed by the absent associate, in which power of legal representation is granted.

The duties of the General Assembly are those mentioned in article 172 of the Portuguese Civil Code as well as those stated in this Statute, namely:

Electing and dismissing the members of the social bodies.

Voting the management report and annual statement of accounts as well as the programme of activities and the following year’s budget, which should happen at a meeting held before the 31st of March.

Article 10

The Centre is administrated by a Board of Directors, consisting of a minimum of three members elected by the General Assembly.

One of the members of the Board of Directors is a professor whom the FDUC’s Academic Board designates as the Centre’s Scientific Officer.

At their first meeting the members of the Board of Directors decide amongst them on who is the President of the Board of Directors. The President must be a professor at the FDUC with a doctoral degree.

The President of the Board of Directors is member of the Coordinating Board of the FDUC’s Institutes and Centers for Research. This Coordinating Board is directed by the FDUC’s Academic Board Chairman.

The Board of Directors designates a secretary to support the implementation of decisions and the completion of the Centre’s tasks.

Article 11

1. The Board of Directors’ responsibilities include:

a.Representing the association;

b.Coordinating the association’s activities, following the purposes laid down in this Statute;

c.Implementing the General Assembly’s decisions;

d.Proposing the amount of membership fees to be paid by associates;

e.Producing and presenting to the General Assembly the management report and annual statement of accounts as well as the programme of activities and the following year’s budget;

f.Presenting said documents to both the Chairman of FDUC’s Academic Board and Chairman of the FDUC’s Board of Directors;

g.Administering and managing the association’s funds;

2. Documents only bind the Centre if they are signed by at least two members of the Board of Directors.

Article 12

The Supervisory Board is consists of three members, elected by the General Assembly from amongst the associates;

From amongst the three members of the Supervisory Board, one is elected by the others to be Chairman. The Chairman may participate in the Board of Directors’ meetings, despite not having the right to vote.

Chapter V

Revenue

Article 13

The association’s revenue includes:

1.Entrance and membership fees paid by the associates;

2.Income from all services provided by the Centre, namely application and tuition fees from the post-graduate Course in Medical Law;

3.Grants awarded by public or private entities or European Community bodies;

4.Proceeds from the sale of publications;

5.Interest income and dividends from the Centre’s properties;

6.Any other revenue, such as donations, inheritances or legacies.

Article 14

In the event the Centre becomes extinct, all its assets are bequeathed to the FDUC.