Internal Operating Regulations

Internal Operating Regulations of the Association Club Federal Chinologic – Royal, constituting the rules of internal order within the meaning of Art. 34 let. g of the Statute.

Approved by the Board of Directors by Decision no. 180/13-08-2026.

Preamble

The Statute lays the foundation of the Association: who governs it, who its members are, what it may and may not do. These Internal Operating Regulations descend from that foundation to the manner in which work is carried out day by day — how an assembly is convened, who keeps a register, within what time an applicant receives a reply, how a sanction is applied. They neither add to nor take away anything from the Statute; they make it workable.

The Regulations have three annexes of the same force as the Regulations themselves: the Code of Ethics, the Disciplinary Procedure and the Regulations of the Panel of Judges. These were already in force, having been adopted by the Board of Directors on 1 August 2026; by these Regulations they are confirmed and placed within the order to which they belong.

Chapter I. General provisions

Art. 1. Object of the regulations

(1) These Internal Operating Regulations of the Association Club Federal Chinologic – Royal (hereinafter referred to as the Association) constitute the rules of internal order provided for in Art. 34 let. g of the Statute and have been adopted by the Board of Directors.

(2) They set out, in detail, the manner in which the Statute is applied: how membership is acquired and lost, how assemblies are convened and conducted, how the Board of Directors and the structures of the Association work, how the records are kept and how the official documents are published.

(3) The Regulations neither add to nor restrict rights established by the Statute. Wherever the texts should prove inconsistent, the provision of the Statute shall apply, and the provision of the regulations shall be rectified by the Board of Directors at its first meeting.

Art. 2. Scope of application

(1) The Regulations apply to the members of the Association, irrespective of category, to the members of its governing bodies, to the persons working within the structures of the Association and to the occasional collaborators provided for in Art. 22 of the Statute, for the duration of their relations with the Association.

(2) Persons who are not members but who take part in the events of the Association — exhibitors, handlers, unaffiliated breeders, the public — are subject to the specific regulations of those events.

Art. 3. Annexes to the regulations

(1) The following form an integral part of these regulations:

a) Annex 1 — the Code of Ethics;

b) Annex 2 — the Disciplinary Procedure;

c) Annex 3 — the Regulations of the Panel of Judges.

(2) The annexes have the same force as the regulations and are amended under the same conditions.

(3) The technical judging regulations, the Regulations of the Genealogical Registry, the Regulations on kennel registration and the conditions of participation in shows are separate documents, adopted by the Board of Directors; they are not annexes to these regulations and are not amended through them.

Art. 4. Names of the structures

(1) For the removal of any uncertainty, the structures provided for in the Statute bear the following names, used uniformly in all the documents of the Association:

Name in the Statute	Name used
The Corps of Judges (C.A.) — Art. 12	The Panel of Judges
The Canine Genealogical Registry (RGC) — Art. 12	The Genealogical Registry
The Ethics Committee — Art. 23	The Ethics and Discipline Committee

(2) The names in the Statute remain valid as a reference; the use of one or the other does not affect the validity of documents already issued.

Art. 5. Hierarchy of the normative documents

(1) The normative documents of the Association apply in the following order: the Statute; these regulations, together with their annexes; the regulations adopted by the Board of Directors; the decisions and working procedures.

(2) A document of lower rank that conflicts with one of higher rank shall not apply to the extent of the conflict and shall be rectified at the first meeting of the body that adopted it.

Chapter II. Governance and structures of the Association

Art. 6. Structures of the Association

(1) The following operate under the authority of the Board of Directors:

a) the Panel of Judges;

b) the Genealogical Registry;

c) the Secretariat and the Registry Office;

d) the Judging School — the Centre for the Development of Cynological Competences;

e) the Ethics and Discipline Committee;

f) the examination committee, constituted for each session.

(2) The Board of Directors may establish, by decision, temporary working groups with a determined object and duration.

Art. 7. The Board of Directors — composition and term of office

(1) The Board of Directors is composed of three members — a president, a vice-president and a secretary — in accordance with Art. 30 of the Statute.

(2) The duration of the term of office is that provided for by the Statute. Vacancies are filled in accordance with Art. 31 and Art. 39 of the Statute.

Note. The Statute contains, in this respect, two provisions that cannot be reconciled: Art. 32 indicates a term of 4 years for the president, while Art. 38 indicates a term of 5 years for the members of the Board of Directors. Regulations cannot choose between them; the rectification is to be made by an addendum to the Statute, in accordance with Art. 33 below.

Art. 8. The president and the meetings of the Board of Directors

(1) The president represents the Association, chairs the meetings of the Board of Directors and ensures that its decisions are carried into effect. In the president’s absence, these duties are exercised by the vice-president.

(2) The Board of Directors meets whenever necessary, upon being convened by the president, and at least once per quarter. For extraordinary meetings, the agenda is communicated at least 48 hours in advance, in accordance with Art. 32 of the Statute.

(3) Meetings may also be held by electronic means which allow the identification of the participants and debate in real time; in such cases, the manner of proceeding is expressly recorded.

(4) Decisions are taken by the vote of at least half plus one of those present; in the event of a tie, the president’s vote is decisive, in accordance with Art. 36 of the Statute. A member in a conflict of interest shall declare this and shall not take part in the vote; the declaration is recorded.

(5) Decisions are numbered in ascending order, per calendar year, in a single register of decisions.

Art. 9. Allocation of responsibilities within the Board of Directors

(1) Within the three offices provided for by the Statute, the Board of Directors allocates the coordination responsibilities so that each major field of the Association has a designated person responsible.

(2) The vice-president bears the technical and judging responsibility, under the name of Technical and Judging Vice-President, in accordance with Art. 10.

(3) Educational coordination and general secretariat coordination are exercised through offices of leadership of the structures — the Educational Vice-President and the Secretary General — appointed by the Board of Directors from among the members of the Association, in accordance with Art. 11. These offices are not seats on the Board of Directors and do not confer a right to vote on the Board.

Art. 10. The Technical and Judging Vice-President

(1) The vice-president of the Board of Directors exercises the technical and judging duties of the Association, under the name of Technical and Judging Vice-President.

(2) In this capacity, he or she:

a) coordinates the Panel of Judges and is, ex officio, its President, in accordance with Annex 3;

b) proposes to the Board of Directors the authorisation, maintenance and withdrawal of judge status, on the basis of the Panel’s evaluations;

c) ensures the application of the technical judging regulations and of the breed standards recognised by the Association;

d) endorses the assignment of judges to the events of the Association and monitors compliance with the rules on conflicts of interest and judging workload;

e) presents to the Board of Directors and to the Panel Assembly an annual report on the activity of the Panel of Judges.

(3) In the exercise of these duties, the Technical Vice-President works with the Panel Council, whose opinions are advisory in nature, in accordance with Annex 3.

Art. 11. The Educational Vice-President and the Secretary General

(1) The Educational Vice-President coordinates the Judging School and the body of lecturers: the training curriculum, the evaluations, the assisted ring attendances and continuing training, in accordance with Annex 3 and the regulations of the School.

(2) The Secretary General leads the Secretariat and the Registry Office: he or she keeps the Register of Members and the register of decisions, conducts the official correspondence, keeps the archive and coordinates the Panel Register under the guidance of the Technical Vice-President.

(3) Both offices are filled by decision of the Board of Directors, for a term which the Board determines, and are answerable to it. Filling them does not alter the composition of the Board of Directors as established by the Statute.

Art. 12. The working structures

(1) The Secretariat and the Registry Office receive and verify the documents submitted by members — kennel registration applications, mating and whelping declarations, applications for certificates, health documents — in accordance with the regulations on the matter. The persons working in the Registry Office have access only to the data necessary for their duties and remain bound by the obligation of confidentiality after the end of their relations with the Association. Registry office acts that produce effects upon issued documents are recorded in an audit log, together with their author and time.

(2) The Genealogical Registry is kept in accordance with Art. 12 of the Statute and the Regulations of the Genealogical Registry. Certificates of origin are issued only on the basis of verified documents and may be annulled, with reasons given, if it is proved that they were obtained on the basis of untrue data; the annulment is recorded and made visible upon public verification of the document. The Registry is kept permanently, and back-up copies are made periodically and kept encrypted.

(3) The Panel of Judges is the professional structure provided for in Art. 12 of the Statute under the name of Corps of Judges. The training, examination, authorisation, maintenance in activity and record-keeping of judges are carried out in accordance with Annex 3. Judge status is neither acquired nor maintained through membership of the governing bodies of the Association.

(4) The Judging School — the Centre for the Development of Cynological Competences organises the training of candidates for judge status and the continuing training of judges in activity. The study materials are intended exclusively for enrolled persons and are not distributed outside the platform.

Art. 13. Delegation

(1) The Board of Directors may delegate executive duties to the working structures or to specifically designated persons, by a decision which clearly states the extent and duration of the delegation.

(2) The following may not be delegated: the adoption of regulations, the application of disciplinary sanctions, the approval of the financial statements and the duties assigned by the Statute to the exclusive competence of the General Assembly.

(3) Delegation does not remove the responsibility of the Board of Directors.

Chapter III. Members of the Association

Art. 14. Categories of members

(1) The Association has founding members, associate members, aspiring members and honorary members, in accordance with Art. 16 of the Statute.

(2) An aspiring member is one whose membership is of less than 3 years’ standing. Upon completing 3 years from the acquisition of membership, the person concerned may request the General Assembly to transfer him or her to the category of associate members, under the conditions of Art. 16 let. b of the Statute.

(3) Sympathisers, as defined in Art. 16 of the Statute, are not members: they have no right to vote, pay no membership fee and do not appear in the Register of Members.

Art. 15. The membership application

(1) The membership application is submitted on the form published by the Association, accompanied by the consent to the processing of personal data.

(2) The Secretariat verifies, within no more than 15 days, whether the application is complete and whether the applicant is in any of the situations that prevent the acquisition of membership; the verification does not include assessments of expediency.

(3) The complete application is forwarded to the Board of Directors, which issues the opinion provided for in Art. 19 of the Statute. The opinion is reasoned where it is unfavourable.

(4) The application, together with the opinion, is submitted to the first General Assembly. Until the Assembly’s resolution, the applicant may take part in the open activities of the Association, without the right to vote.

(5) The resolution of the General Assembly is communicated to the applicant in writing, within no more than 15 days.

Note. The Statute (Art. 19) says who decides, but not within what time. The time limits above do not restrict the General Assembly; they protect the applicant from silence.

Art. 16. The Register of Members

(1) The Association keeps a Register of Members, in electronic form, under the responsibility of the Secretary General.

(2) The Register includes, for each member: the name, the category, the date of acquisition of membership, the contact details, the status of the membership fee, the sanctions in force and, where applicable, the date and grounds of the loss of membership.

(3) Entry in the Register is made within no more than 5 days of the resolution of admission. Removal is made on the date on which membership ceases, with the historical record being retained.

(4) The right to vote provided for in Art. 26 and Art. 28 of the Statute is proved exclusively by the Register of Members, in the form existing on the date of the convening of the assembly.

(5) Each member has the right to request and to receive, within no more than 10 days, an extract of his or her own data entered in the Register.

Art. 17. The membership fee

(1) The amount of the membership fee, the manner of payment and its periodicity are established by the General Assembly, in accordance with Art. 14 of the Statute.

(2) The annual membership fee is paid by 31 March of the year for which it is owed, unless the General Assembly resolves otherwise. Members admitted during the year pay it proportionally, within 30 days of admission.

(3) Failure to pay by the deadline entails the suspension, by operation of law, of the right to vote, until payment is made. Exceeding the deadline by more than 30 days opens the exclusion procedure, in accordance with Art. 20 let. B pt. a of the Statute.

(4) The Secretariat notifies the member in arrears in writing at least 15 days before the expiry of the 30-day period. The absence of the notification does not prevent the procedure, but is recorded.

(5) Honorary members owe no membership fee.

Art. 18. Loss of membership

(1) Membership is lost in the situations and under the conditions provided for in Art. 20 and Art. 21 of the Statute.

(2) The application for withdrawal is submitted in writing, at least 6 months before the end of the association’s financial year, and is recorded in the Register of Members on the date of receipt.

(3) Exclusion is decided in accordance with Art. 20 of the Statute. The member proposed for exclusion is notified in writing, at least 15 days before the meeting, of the acts alleged against him or her and of the right to be heard and to submit documents.

(4) Against the exclusion decision of the Board of Directors, the excluded person may appeal to the General Assembly, within 30 days of communication. The appeal is decided at the first assembly that follows.

(5) The exclusion of a founding member is decided only by the General Assembly, under the quorum and majority conditions provided for in Art. 20 of the Statute.

(6) A person who withdraws or is excluded has no right over the assets of the Association and remains liable for the outstanding contributions, in accordance with Art. 21 of the Statute.

Art. 19. Representatives of aspiring and honorary members

(1) Aspiring members and honorary members vote in the General Assembly through representatives, in accordance with Art. 17 let. B pt. a of the Statute.

(2) The number of representatives is set at 30% of the number of founding members and associate members entered in the Register on the date of the convening, rounded in accordance with the Statute.

(3) The representatives are designated, from among the members of the Association, at least 5 days before the assembly, by the written agreement of those represented. A member may not hold more than five mandates.

(4) The list of representatives and the mandates are lodged with the secretariat before the opening of the proceedings and are annexed to the minutes.

Chapter IV. The General Assembly

Art. 20. Convening

(1) The ordinary General Assembly is convened at least once a year, two months after the close of the financial year, in accordance with Art. 26 of the Statute.

(2) The convening is made by electronic mail, to the address in the Register of Members, at least 15 days in advance, and is also published on the Association’s website.

(3) The notice of convening includes the place, date, time and agenda, as well as the place, date and time of the second convening, for the situation in which the quorum is not met.

(4) The materials submitted for debate are made available to the members together with the notice of convening or, at the latest, 5 days before the assembly.

(5) It is the obligation of each member to keep up to date the electronic mail address in the Register. A notice of convening sent to the registered address is deemed received.

Art. 21. Conduct of the proceedings

(1) The proceedings are chaired by the president of the Board of Directors or, in his or her absence, by the vice-president.

(2) At the opening, the fulfilment of the convening formalities is established, the attendance list is drawn up and the vote-counting committee is elected, in accordance with Art. 26 of the Statute.

(3) The agenda may not be supplemented during the meeting except with the agreement of all the members present with the right to vote.

(4) A member in a conflict of interest, within the meaning of Art. 26 and Art. 28 of the Statute, shall declare this before the debate and shall take part neither in the deliberation nor in the vote. The declaration is recorded.

(5) Persons who are not members may attend only as guests, with the prior approval of the Board of Directors.

Art. 22. Voting

(1) Voting is open, with the exception of the election and removal of the members of the Board of Directors, which is carried out by secret ballot, in accordance with Art. 33 of the Statute.

(2) The right to vote may not be assigned. Members may be represented in the extraordinary General Assembly only by associate members, on the basis of a special proxy, in accordance with Art. 28 of the Statute.

(3) The result of each vote is recorded with the number of votes for, against and abstentions.

Art. 23. The minutes and the resolutions

(1) The proceedings are recorded in minutes signed by the president and the secretary, which include the elements provided for in Art. 26 of the Statute.

(2) The documents of convening, the attendance lists, the mandates of the representatives and the documents submitted are annexed to the minutes.

(3) Resolutions are numbered in ascending order, per calendar year, in a single register of decisions, kept by the Secretary General.

(4) Resolutions of a general character are brought to the knowledge of the members by publication on the website, within no more than 15 days. Those concerning a particular person are communicated to that person in writing.

Chapter V. Documents of the Association

Art. 24. Adoption and publication

(1) No document with the force of an official act of the Association is published without the decision by which it was adopted. Each published document states the body that adopted it, the number of the decision and the date.

(2) Documents of general interest are published on the Association’s website, within no more than 15 days of adoption.

(3) Documents containing personal data are published only in a version from which such data have been removed, with a mention of that fact.

Art. 25. The archive

(1) The Association keeps, in original or in electronic copy: the constitutive documents, the resolutions of the General Assembly and the decisions of the Board of Directors, the minutes, the financial statements, the Register of Members, the Genealogical Registry and the official correspondence.

(2) The retention periods are those provided for by law and, for personal data, those set out in the privacy policy published by the Association.

Art. 26. Electronic means and access security

(1) The official correspondence of the Association is conducted through the Association’s electronic mail addresses. Correspondence conducted through other addresses does not bind the Association.

(2) The convening notices, communications and notifications provided for by the Statute and by these regulations are validly made by electronic mail, to the address in the Register of Members.

(3) Access to the electronic spaces of the Association is by means of personal codes. The code is personal and non-transferable; its use by another person constitutes a disciplinary violation.

(4) The Board of Directors takes the appropriate security measures and ensures that attempts at unauthorised access are observed and recorded.

Chapter VI. Protection of personal data

Art. 27. Protection of personal data

(1) The Association processes personal data in accordance with the law and with the published privacy policy.

(2) The persons who work with such data use them only for the purpose of their duties and do not disclose them.

(3) Breach of these obligations constitutes a serious disciplinary violation.

Chapter VII. Disciplinary liability

Art. 28. Disciplinary violations

(1) Disciplinary violations are the acts set out in Art. 23 of the Statute, those provided for in the Code of Ethics (Annex 1) and breaches of these regulations.

(2) The application of a disciplinary sanction does not remove civil or criminal liability.

Art. 29. The Ethics and Discipline Committee. The investigation

(1) The Ethics and Discipline Committee is the structure referred to in Art. 23 of the Statute. It is constituted by decision of the Board of Directors, from three members with at least three years’ standing in the Association, for a term of three years. Members of the Board of Directors may not sit on the committee.

(2) The committee investigates disciplinary violations and proposes sanctions. A member of the committee in a conflict of interest in a case shall recuse himself or herself; the recusal is recorded and the member is replaced by an alternate designated by the Board of Directors.

Note. Art. 23 of the Statute refers to “Art. 35 and the Regulations of the Ethics Committee”. Art. 35, however, concerns other duties of the Board of Directors, and the committee is not established by any article. This article covers the gap; the rectification of the reference is to be made by an addendum to the Statute, in accordance with Art. 33.

Art. 30. Procedure, sanctions and remedies

(1) The sanctions, the investigation procedure, the right of defence and the remedies are those established by the Disciplinary Procedure (Annex 2).

(2) Sanctions are applied by the Board of Directors, under the conditions of Art. 20 and Art. 23 of the Statute, upon the proposal of the Ethics and Discipline Committee.

(3) Sanctions may be appealed to the General Assembly, under the conditions of Annex 2 and of the Statute.

Chapter VIII. Final provisions

Art. 31. Entry into force

(1) These regulations were adopted by the Board of Directors by Decision no. 180/13-08-2026 of 13 August 2026 and enter into force on the date of adoption.

(2) Upon the adoption of these regulations, the Board of Directors confirms Annexes 1, 2 and 3, in force since 1 August 2026.

Art. 32. Amendment

(1) The regulations are amended by the Board of Directors, upon the proposal of any of its members, of the Panel of Judges or of a working structure.

(2) Amendments enter into force on the date of their adoption and are brought to the knowledge of the General Assembly at the first meeting that follows.

Art. 33. Alignment with the Statute

(1) The Board of Directors shall present to the first ordinary General Assembly proposals for an addendum to the Statute to rectify the following inconsistencies found:

a) the duration of the term of office of the members of the Board of Directors (Art. 32 as against Art. 38);

b) the reference in Art. 23 concerning the Ethics Committee;

c) the status of the auditor (Art. 25 and Art. 27 let. e);

d) the name of the federation to which the Association is actually affiliated (Art. 5 and Art. 12);

e) the recognition, within the governance structure, of the offices of technical, educational and general secretariat coordination through which the Association works in practice, as against the three-member composition of the Board of Directors provided for in Art. 30.

(2) Until rectification, the provisions of the Statute apply as they stand, and these regulations do not take their place.