Article 2

The functions of the General Assembly include but are not limited to the following:

1. To assume the responsibilities laid down in the Protocol, which include deciding on applications for membership and on amendments to the Protocol and to the APTA’s General Regulations and the Rules of Procedures; 

2. To determine principles and decide on general measures suitable for achieving the APTA’s objectives as set out in Article 5 of the Protocol; 

3. To examine and approve the general programme of activities prepared by the Secretariat for the coming year; 

4. To adopt any other regulations deemed necessary;
5. To elect persons to the various offices mentioned in the Protocol, notably those of the President and the Vice-Presidents;
6. To adopt resolutions and make recommendations to Members on matters with which the APTA is competent to deal; and
7. To examine and approve any agreements to be made with States or other organizations.

Article 3

The General Assembly may make its decisions in plenary session by means of resolutions or statements.

Article 4

The General Assembly shall meet every year at the annual meeting session.

Article 5

1. All Members may invite the General Assembly to meet in the country of the inviting institution. Such invitation should be sent to the President via the Secretariat before the beginning of the General Assembly.
2. If such invitation is unavailable, the annual meeting shall be held at the seat of the Secretariat.

Article 6

1. The General Assembly shall choose where its Annual Meeting shall be held. 
It may decide to choose another meeting place if it considers that circumstances make it impossible or inadvisable to hold the General Assembly in the meeting place chosen at a previous meeting.
2. If the General Assembly is not in session, the Executive Committee may decide to choose another meeting place if it considers that circumstances make it impossible or inadvisable to hold the General Assembly in the meeting place chosen at a previous meeting.
3. If the President and the Vice Presidents take such a decision, the Members and Dialogue Partners must be informed immediately.

Article 7

The opening and closing dates of the General Assembly Annual Meeting shall be fixed by the President in agreement with the host Member Institution and after consulting the Director of the Secretariat.

Article 8

1. Once the place and date of the General Assembly meeting have been decided upon, invitations shall be sent to all Member Institutions and Dialogue Partners of the APTA at least 90 days before the opening of the meeting, both by the host institutions to the others and by the Secretariat through the Liaison Working Group.
2. Invitations shall also be sent to any police training institutions that have indicated their intention of applying to join the APTA at the General Assembly Annual Meeting. Such institutions shall be invited to send representatives who will have Dialogue Partner status until this status changes. 


Article 9

1. Non-Member Institutions eligible as a Member or a Dialogue Partner may be invited to attend General Assembly Annual Meeting Session as Dialogue Partners.
2. The list of Dialogue Partners shall be drawn up by the President and Vice Presidents and submitted to the host institution for agreement.
3. However, international organizations with which the APTA has concluded an agreement in application of Article 13(6) of the Protocol may send Dialogue Partners to General Assembly meetings without the prior consent of the host institution.
4. Once the list of Dialogue Partners has been agreed, non-member organizations shall be invited both by the host institution and by the Secretariat; international organizations shall be invited by the Secretariat.
5. Non-member institutions invited as Dialogue Partners shall send the Secretariat the names and titles of the people who will be representing them at the General Assembly Annual Meeting Session as soon as possible.

Article 10

Summary report of the General Assembly discussions shall be distributed as soon as possible.

Article 11

1. The proceedings of the General Assembly and the committees shall not be public, unless otherwise decided by the Assembly.
2. The President of the APTA shall decide whether to allow the press access to General Assembly sittings.

Article 12

1. The Director of the Secretariat shall be responsible for the secretarial work of the General Assembly.
2. For this purpose, he or she shall engage, direct and control the necessary personnel.

Article 13

1. The Executive Committee shall prepare the provisional agenda of the General Assembly annual meeting with support of the Secretariat.
2. The provisional agenda shall be communicated to Members no later than 60 days in advance of the opening of the Annual Meeting session.

Article 14

The provisional agenda shall include:

1. The report of the Director of the Secretariat on the work of the APTA;
2. The general programme of activities proposed by the Director of the Secretariat for the coming year; 

3. Items included by the General Assembly at the previous session; 

4. Items proposed by Members and approved by the Executive Committee; and
5. Items inserted by the Executive Committee or the Director of the Secretariat.

Article 15

1. All Members may request the Executive Committee to consider the inclusion of an item to the agenda no later than 10 days in advance of the opening of the Annual Meeting.
2. Where agreements concluded in application of Article 13(6) of the Protocol so provide, the international organizations concerned may propose items for inclusion on the provisional agenda.
3. Any such request shall be accompanied by an explanation, a draft resolution referring to the item if appropriate, and possibly a report. These documents shall be drafted in English and shall be distributed to delegates at the General Assembly Annual Meeting if inclusion of the item on the final agenda is approved.

Article 16

1. The Executive Committee, at its meeting immediately preceding the General Assembly, shall issue a final agenda based on the provisional agenda and on the supplementary items requested, with the items listed in order of urgency and priority. Items left over from the previous meeting shall take priority over items suggested for the coming meeting.\
2. In general, the Executive Committee meeting is held in the place of the General Assembly before the start of the Annual Meeting. At this meeting, the Executive Committee shall draw up the final agenda. 
3. The General Assembly may decide to add to its agenda any item which is both urgent and important. 
4. The preliminary draft of the provisional agenda shall be sent to the Liaison Working Group for information before the Executive Committee session during which the provisional agenda is submitted for approval.

Article 17

1. The Secretariat shall send the Liaison Working Group, at least 30 days before the opening of the Annual Meeting, the documents required for examination of the reports and items on the agenda. 
2. However, documents containing proposals to amend the Protocol or the General Regulations shall be communicated no later than 60 days before the start of the meeting. 
3. Working documents shall not be sent to Dialogue Partners. The latter shall have access at the meeting place to non-confidential working documents which the Director of the Secretariat may consider it appropriate to put at their disposal. 
4. Dialogue Partners may submit memoranda to the Director of the Secretariat who shall decide whether and how they shall be circulated. 
5. Insofar as agreements concluded in application of Article 13(6) of the Protocol allow, the international organizations concerned shall be entitled to submit written statements to the General Assembly.

Article 18

1. An ad hoc session shall be held, in principle, at the seat of the Secretariat, or via teleconferencing.
2. The Director of the Secretariat shall convene an ad hoc session, following the President’s assent, as soon as possible and no earlier than 30 days and no later than 90 days from the assent

Article 19

In principle, the only item on the agenda for an ad hoc meeting should be the matter for which it was convened.

Article 20

1. Each Member of the APTA may be represented at the General Assembly meeting by one or more delegates. Each delegation is led by a head of delegation appointed by the appropriate authority in his or her institution. 
2. Because of the technical nature of the APTA, Members shall attempt to include the following in their delegations:
   1. Senior officials in charge of training, research, education or international cooperation in the areas of policing and other law enforcement; 
   2. Officials whose normal duties are connected with the APTA’s activities; and 
   3. Specialists in the subjects on the agenda.
3. Members shall notify the Secretariat of the composition of their delegations as early as possible but no later than 30 days in advance of the Annual Meeting. All changes to the composition of a delegation shall be notified to the Secretariat prior to the General Assembly meeting by the head of the delegation concerned or by any member of the delegation appointed by him or her to act on their behalf.
4. The head of a delegation may appoint a member of that delegation to act and vote on behalf of the institution he or she represents at meetings of committees and other groups.

Article 21

1. In the conference hall where the General Assembly meets in plenary session, maximum five members of each delegation may be seated behind their institution’s name plate; however, at the request of the head of the delegation concerned, two additional seats may be allocated to delegates representing the Liaison Working Group of the Member concerned. Participation at the General Assembly proceedings by other members of the delegation will be arranged to fit in with the conference hall layout.
2. Each year, at the penultimate session of the President and Vice Presidents prior to the General Assembly Annual Meeting, the President shall draw lots (a letter of the alphabet) to decide which country’s delegation shall be seated in the first place. Seating for the other delegations shall then follow in alphabetical order.

Article 22

The Executive Committee consists of the President and the Vice Presidents.

Article 23

1. Presidency and Vice-Presidency lie with institutions. Heads of such institutions assume the responsibilities and authorities of the President and the Vice-Presidents. 
2. When the heads of the President or Vice-President institution are replaced, the succeeding head in the institution shall take up the posts of the President or the Vice Presidents.

Article 24

The General Assembly shall fill vacancies in the President and the Vice Presidents through election of Member institutions during annual meeting sessions.

Article 25

1. In case that the President can no longer perform his or her duties either during or between sessions, the place shall temporarily be taken by one of the Vice-Presidents.
2. Should all the Vice Presidents be absent, the duties of the President shall provisionally devolve upon the Director of the Secretariat.

Article 27

The Secretariat consists of the Director of the Secretariat and its Staff.

Article 28

The President shall appoint the Director of the Secretariat among the candidates nominated by Members at the General Assembly.

Article 29

The candidates for the Director of the Secretariat should have academic or educational experiences in police training or other police-related areas.

Article 30

1. The Director of the Secretariat shall serve a two-year term of office.
2. The term of the Director of the Secretariat shall commence at the end of the incumbent’s term and terminate at the end of the General Assembly session held in the year in which his or her term expires.
3. The Director of the Secretariat’s term shall terminate on the completion of his or her two-year term or in the event of his or her resignation or removal from office, in which case the President shall appoint a new Director within 30 days and notify Members.
4. The Director of the Secretariat shall be eligible for other terms of office.

Article 31

Should the Director of the Secretariat be unable to carry out his or her duties, the most senior member of the Secretariat Staff shall act ad interim, provided the Executive Committee has no objection.

Article 32

Each Member shall nominate up to two Liaison Officers to form the Liaison Working Group.

Article 33

1. The Liaison Working Group may discuss and make recommendations to the Executive Committee on the following:
   1. Refinement and improvement of the Protocol;
   2. Changes in the General Regulations and Rules of Procedures;
   3. General or specific administrative issues;  and
   4. Any other matters requested by the Executive Committee.
2. The Liaison Working Group shall share information on activities and programmes of the APTA. Liaison Officers shall deliver this information to their respective institutions and provide feedback when necessary.

Article 34

Members, within the boundary of their national legislation and available budget, shall make utmost efforts to promote cooperation through the APTA.

Article 35

Members may present their activities or programmes under the chapeau of the APTA to competent domestic and international authorities to seek for financial support, in particular to the ones responsible for international cooperation in development, cultural and academic exchanges. 

Article 36

The working languages of the APTA shall be English.

Article 37

During General Assembly sessions, any delegate may speak in other languages,

provided the delegate arranges interpretation into English.

Article 38

The General Regulations shall be modified by a simple majority of the General Assembly.

Article 39

1. Any Member may request the modification so long as the request has been sent to the Secretariat at least 90 days in advance of the following General Assembly Session.
2. The Director of the Secretariat shall circulate this request for modification to Members at least 60 days in advance of the following General Assembly session.