On 9 June 2023, the Extraordinary General Assembly of ICOM has approved the proposed amendments to its Statutes with 80.14%.
Since its creation in 1946, ICOM has undergone thirteen revisions of its Statutes. The last amendments were made in 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, to allow for online meetings and voting (Article 25) and in 2022, to include the new museum definition (Article 3 – Section 1).
Before June 2023, the last substantial revision of the Statutes took place in June 2017. Since then, ICOM experienced many changes and underwent some very significant developments, which have highlighted the need to update the texts that govern how the Organisation functions. At its 152nd Session, in December 2020, the former Executive Board decided, in accordance with Article 5.1 of the ICOM Internal Rules, to establish a Working Group on Statutes and Rules (WGSR) to “review the current Statutes and Internal Rules and recommend any necessary updates or changes”. The mandate of the WGSR was adopted by the Executive Board at its 153rd Session in February 2021 and the members were appointed in July 2021, in accordance with the nomination process for Standing Committees and Working Groups and following a call for candidates launched in April 2021.
The WGSR held 19 meetings between November 2021 and June 2023 and reported regularly to the Executive Board, which decided, at its 165th Session in March 2023, that the amendments to the Statutes developed and proposed by the Working Group be submitted to the next Extraordinary General Assembly. The amendments adopted in June 2023 aim to simplify, harmonize and make the Statutes more transparent and reflective of current ICOM practices.
The adoption of these harmonized and clarified Statutes will facilitate the institutional functioning of ICOM and should be seen as a first step in a broader reflection on structural changes to ICOM. This further process, which will be led by the newly elected Working Group, will include consultation and discussion with the membership.
The Statutes are the core document of ICOM. The revised version of the Statutes came into force on the day of their adoption, i.e. on 9 June 2023 and is now available in the three statutory languages of ICOM on the website.
