Article 1: Fundamental Provisions

1. The meetings of the Academic Senate (“the Senate”) are open to public.

2. The meetings of the Senate are held no fewer than eight times in an academic year.

3. The meetings of the Senate are convened by the President. The President of the Senate is obliged to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Senate upon the request of at least one fourth of all members of the Senate or from the Dean or the Rector without undue delay, however no later than within ten days of delivery of the request unless a longer time period is indicated in the request.

4. The date and venue of a regular meeting must be published in the publicly accessible part of the Faculty website and communicated to the Senate members, the Dean, Vice-Deans, the Secretary to the Faculty, the members of the Dean’s Board, and any persons who should attend the meeting, at least ten days in advance; the time and venue of an extraordinary meeting must be published and communicated at least two days in advance.

5. A meeting may be opened only if a majority of all members of the Senate are present.

   
   

Article 2: Meetings of the Senate

1. Meetings are chaired by the President or a member of the Board designated by the President (“the chairing member”).

2. The agenda of the meetings is proposed by the Board of the Senate.

3. After opening the meeting, the chairing member allows the members of the Senate to submit motions to amend and change the meeting agenda. The Dean has the right to submit such motions too. A person submitting a motion to amend must substantiate it.

4. The Senate decides by resolution on the proposed meeting agenda as well as on the motions to amend and change the agenda.

5. If all the items on the approved agenda have not been discussed within three hours the Board may adjourn the meeting.

6. The meeting may also be adjourned if it was not possible to open the meeting due to the lack of the required number of members (under Art. 1 (5)). If during the meeting the number of members present drops below the level stated in Article 1 (5), the meeting is terminated after ten minutes of duration of such status.

7. The Board may also adjourn the meeting if its course was seriously interfered with.

8. If any of the guests interferes with the course of the meeting, the chairing member may suggest to the Senate that the guest be banished from the meeting.

   
   

Article 2a: Meetings of the Senate Held in Hybrid Mode or Remotely

1. 1. The meetings of the Senate may be held in hybrid mode or remotely if:

   a.	It arises from another legal regulation or a directive issued on its basis that the Senate may hold meetings remotely;
   b.	It arises from an internal regulation of the University or a situation declared on its basis that the Senate may hold meetings remotely;
   c.	The Board of the Senate decides to do so for reasons worthy of special consideration.

2. The members of the Senate and the academic community are informed of the fact that the Senate meeting will be held in hybrid mode or remotely in the invitation to the meeting.

3. All provisions of this Code of Procedure apply to the meetings held in hybrid mode and remotely, in particular the secrecy of a ballot via remote access must be ensured whenever the regulations require a secret ballot.

   
   

Article 3: Consideration of Items on the Agenda

1. Individual items on the agenda are usually considered on the basis of the relevant background documents.

2. The background documents are submitted by the person who proposed the item for consideration to the Board in a form enabling remote access no later than seven days before the date of the Senate meeting.

3. During consideration of an item on the agenda, the item is introduced by the member who submitted the item or a member of the Board.

4. If the Senate decides by resolution at any time during the meeting that the background documents are not sufficient, it raises the requirements for amending the background documents and decides on introducing the relevant item on the agenda of the next meeting of the Senate or decides on a different procedure.

   
   

Article 4: Debate

1. A debate is held on every item on the agenda. All members of the Senate, the Dean, a Vice-Dean, or the Secretary to the Faculty may participate in the debate.

2. Other persons may request to participate in the debate and the chairing member may give them the floor.

3. Requests to participate in the debate are raised in the course of the meeting by raising one’s hand.

4. The chairing member gives the floor to the speakers in the sequence in which they requested to participate in the debate. The Board may decide by resolution to limit the time given to the speakers.

5. A member of the Senate is entitled to make a meritorious comment which reacts to the course of the debate. He is given the floor as soon as the current speaker finishes his speech. A meritorious comment must not exceed one minute.

6. The members of the Senate may submit motions to amend or change the motions contained in the background documents. The Dean’s proposals to establish, merge, consolidate, divide, or close Faculty workplaces, drafts of the Faculty budget, and motions to repeal or to suspend the effect of an internal regulation of the Faculty are an exception to this rule.

7. Motions to amend the submitted draft internal regulations may be submitted by any member of the Senate no later than three days before the meeting of the Senate. The Dean may express his opinion on the motions to amend submitted by the Senate members.

8. The mover may change, amend, or withdraw his motion in accordance with the course of the debate.

9. The mover is given the floor at the end of the debate if he requests it.

10. The chairing member may suggest that the debate be terminated if it becomes clear that continuing the debate cannot contribute to clarification of the item considered.

11. The procedure is decided by the chairing member in cases not provided for in paragraphs 1 to 10.

    
    

Article 5: Resolution

1. The Senate expresses its will through resolutions.

2. The Senate has a quorum if a majority of its members are present. Unless otherwise provided in the Higher Education Act, a resolution is adopted if a majority of the persons present voted in its favour.

3. Resolutions concerning internal regulations of the Faculty are adopted if no less than two thirds of all members of the Senate voted in favour.

4. The full text of the resolution must be recorded in the minutes. If it is necessary to make the resolution in writing as a separate document it is signed by the President of the Senate or a member of the Board designated by him.

   
   

Article 6: Voting

1. Every motion submitted to the Senate will be put to the vote separately, unless the mover withdraws the motion before the voting starts.

2. Motions with a similar subject matter and motions concerning the same item on the agenda may be put to the vote jointly. This does not apply if the mover objected to a joint vote in the course of the meeting or a member of the Senate asked for a separate vote.

3. Voting on motions is carried out in the order in which the motions were submitted, subject to the following exceptions:

   a.	If a motion was submitted to withdraw an item from the agenda, a vote on such motion is taken first;
   b.	Voting on motions to amend and change takes place before voting on the original motion, in the reverse order to that in which they were presented;
   c.	In the case of motions to amend and change with alternative formulations, the first vote is taken on the alternatives and then the resultant motion is put to the vote; the best alternative is determined by a simple majority of votes cast; if an equal number of votes is received, a brief additional debate on the alternatives is held, and the vote is subsequently taken again; if any alternative receives the number of votes necessary for passing a motion, no more voting takes place.

4. Motions to amend and change internal regulations are adopted if no less than two thirds of all members of the Senate voted in favour.

5. The vote is public unless otherwise provided in the Higher Education Act. If at least two members of the Senate submit a motion that the vote be conducted by secret ballot, the vote is conducted by secret ballot. The voting concerning persons identified by their names is always conducted by secret ballot; this does not apply to the appointment of electoral commissions.

6. If a member of the Senate failed to vote even though he was present he is presumed to have abstained from voting.

7. Voting on procedural matters may take the form of tacit consent. This form of voting may not be used if a member of the Senate objects to it.

   
   

Article 7: Remote Consideration and Voting

1. For urgent matters arising during the period between meetings of the Senate, the Board is empowered to decide by resolution on remote voting. This form may not be used for voting on draft internal regulations, approval of annual reports, approval of a strategic plan, a proposal for the distribution of funds, or on Dean’s proposals to establish, merge, consolidate, divide, or close Faculty workplaces.

2. The Board sends out by email to all members of the Senate the resolution on remote voting, the text of the motion, and a voting form. The resolution indicates the time limit for consideration and voting, which may not be shorter than five working days from the date of dispatch.

3. Remote voting may not be conducted if any of the Senators rejects remote voting by email within 48 hours of the time when the Senate members were notified of the Board resolution.

4. Voting is public. The completed voting form contains the name and surname of the voter and his vote (yes/no/abstain), otherwise it is invalid.

5. A motion put to remote vote is deemed to be approved if the absolute majority of all members of the Senate voted in its favour.

6. The report of remote voting is approved by the Senate at the next regular meeting. The report must include a list of the names of the members of the Senate with an indication of how they voted.

   
   

Article 8: Depriving a Senate Member of Mandate

1. A member of the Senate may be deprived of his mandate due to his unexcused (in advance) absence at least three consecutive meetings of the Senate.

2. The member of the Senate who is to be deprived of his mandate must be properly invited to the meeting of the Senate where deprivation of the mandate is to be put to the vote. He may explain the reasons for the unexcused absences at previous meetings; he may also provide the reasons in writing.

   
   

Article 9: Minutes

1. Minutes are taken of all meetings of the Senate.

2. The minutes provide the date of the meeting, which members of the Senate were present, who was excused and who was absent, who was invited to participate in the meeting of the Senate, which Board member was the chairing member, what was the agenda of the meeting, who introduced individual items on the agenda, who participated in the debate, what was the content of submitted motions, which resolutions were adopted, and what were the results of voting in numerical terms.

3. The preparation of minutes is ensured by the Board.

4. The minutes are checked by the Senate at its next meeting as a separate item on the agenda. Upon a motion of a member of the Senate, a required correction is made. If the matter is contested the Senate decides by resolution on the correction of the minutes.

5. After the minutes were checked they are published in the website of the Faculty.

   
   

Article 10: Nomination of a Candidate for Dean

1. The Senate decides by resolution on the nomination of a candidate for Dean by secret ballot at an election meeting and submits the nomination to the Rector.

2. The Senate sets the date of the election meeting no fewer than 60 days in advance and at the same time invites the academic community to nominate persons who could be appointed to the office of the Dean.

3. A nomination may be presented by at least ten members of the academic community and it must contain:

   a.	The consent of the nominee;
   b.	A brief CV of the nominee;
   c.	A brief outline of the election platform of the nominee.

   The nominations must be submitted to the Senate no later than 30 days before the date of the election. The Board of the Senate ensures that the members of the Senate are informed of the nominations.

4. The nominees who complied with the requirements under paragraph 3 may within 28 days of the date of election address a pre-election meeting of the Senate which is held no fewer than seven days before the date of election unless it is announced as a regular meeting. Informing the academic community of the election platforms is the responsibility of the nominees within the above 28-day time limit before the date of election. Nominees are not allowed to make speeches during the election meeting of the Senate.

5. The election of the candidate for Dean is conducted in no more than three rounds and requires a majority of votes of all members of the Senate.

6. If in the first round under paragraph 5 (ii) none of the two or more nominees were elected, a second round vote is carried out with the two or more nominees who equally received the highest number of votes or with a single nominee who received the highest number of votes and all other nominees who received the second highest number of votes. If a candidate is not elected in the second round, after a debate a third round of election is held using the same rule applicable to the results of the second round. If a candidate for Dean is not elected in the third round, the Senate announces new elections without undue delay.

7. Immediately after the election of the candidate, the President of the Senate submits the nomination for the Dean to the Rector with the required documents, in particular the report of the vote and the minutes of the Senate meeting.

   
   

Article 11: Motion to Remove the Dean from Office

1. The Senate may due to serious reasons pass a resolution on a motion to remove the Dean from office. The initiative to consider a motion to remove the Dean from office must be submitted in writing and must provide the reasons. The reasons for the motion may concern only circumstances related to the discharge of the Dean’s office.

2. The Senate first considers the admissibility of the initiative. The motion may be considered only if a majority of all the members of the Senate voted in favour of the admissibility of the initiative. A rejected initiative is not considered.

3. If the initiative is not rejected, the motion to remove the Dean from office is considered at the next meeting of the Senate. The Dean is guaranteed preparation time for this meeting of no fewer than 15 days. During the debate the Dean expresses his opinion on the reasons for the motion and has a right to ask questions concerning the reasons from the persons who submitted the initiative.

4. No less than three fifths of all members of the Senate must vote in favour to pass a resolution on a motion to remove the Dean of the Faculty from office.

5. If the Senate passes the resolution to remove the Dean from office, the President of the Senate submits the motion without undue delay to the Rector together with the necessary background documents, in particular the report of the vote and the minutes of the Senate meeting.

6. If the Rector decides to remove the Dean from office, the Senate without undue delay announces an election of a new candidate for Dean. In exceptional circumstances the Senate is entitled to reduce the time limit provided in Article 10 (2) if two thirds of all members of the Senate vote in favour.

   
   

Article 12: The Board of the Senate

1. The Board consists of the President of the Senate and two Vice-Presidents.

2. The members of the Board are elected by the Senate at the first regular meeting of the Senate held after 1 February.

3. The members of the Board are elected by secret ballot for a period of one year and may be removed from office by secret ballot. Members of the Board remain in office even after their term of office as members of the Senate expires until a new President of the Senate is elected.

4. The members of the Board must include at least one member of the academic staff and at least one member from among the student representatives. The Board members are elected by simple majority of all members of the Senate.

5. If a candidate is not elected in the first round, a second round of election is held. The two candidates with the highest number of votes proceed to the second round. The candidate who receives a higher number of votes in the second round is elected. If in the second round the candidates receive an equal number of votes, the election is decided by drawing lots.

6. The President of the Senate convenes meetings of the Senate and represents the Senate externally. The Vice-President of the Senate acts as a substitute for the President.

7. The Board prepares the meetings of the Senate and fulfils the tasks set out in the Code of Electoral Procedure for the Senate and this Code of Procedure.

8. In urgent cases, between the meetings of the Senate, the Board is empowered to adopt the opinions of the Senate, unless a secret ballot is required under an internal regulation.

9. A debate on the opinion adopted by the Board is held during the next meeting of the Senate; if the Senate votes to reject the opinion, the opinion of the Board becomes invalid.

   
   

Article 13: Repealing Provisions

The following provisions are hereby repealed:

Article 14: Final Provisions

1. This Code was approved by the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Humanities of Charles University on 9 February 2017 and it comes into force on the date of approval by the Academic Senate of Charles University.¹

2. This Code becomes effective on the date of approval by the Academic Senate of Charles University.

Mgr. Milan Hanyš, Ph.D.

President of the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Humanities of Charles University

Ing. arch. Mgr. Marie Pětová, Ph.D.

Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of Charles University

PhDr. Tomáš Nigrin, Ph.D.

President of the Academic Senate of Charles University