Membership
Benefits

AIIC
Worldwide

Members
Only :-)

GOVERNANCE

The Assembly is the supreme body of the Association and is made up of all AIIC members. It meets once every three years to define the general policy of the Association, adopt its triennial programme and budget, establish the annual membership dues and elect the President, Treasurer and Council Members. The Budget Committee and the Committee on Admissions and Language Classification are the only two committees elected by the Assembly and directly accountable to it.

The Budget Committee has a watchdog role and ensures that the finances of the Association are properly administered.

The Committee on Admissions and Language Classification (CACL) decides on applications for admission and changes in language classification.

AIIC COUNCIL AND COMMITTEES

The President, the Treasurer and members representing the Regions form the Council and are elected by the Assembly. Council meets at least once a year. It implements decisions and represents the Association between sessions of the Assembly. A number of committees and working groups have been created to assist Council in this task. They are illustrated in the enclosed AIIC Structure diagram and are briefly described below.

Technical and Health Committee (THC)
Gathers information on simultaneous interpretation equipment and booths used at conference venues and has produced a worldwide Directory of Conference Facilities. It also cooperates with the Inter-national Organization for Standardization (ISO) in establishing international standards for fixed and mobile booths and equipment. The Committee advises architects and planners of new and existing conference venues on interpretation facilities, carries out research on health matters related to the profession and has published the Guidelines for Technicians and other useful literature. You can assist the THC by completing and returning the Checklist for rating built-in/mobile booths and simultaneous equipment when you work in new or refurbished conference premises.

Communications Committee
Defines and promotes the image of the Association and helps to increase awareness of the profession. The Communications Committee publishes information on AIIC for the benefit of users of conference interpretation services and the general public. The Committee produces material for external use such as the PR Brochure and the Press Kit, as well as several informative documents for AIIC members, such as this Welcome Kit and the Vade-mecum for AIIC Speakers. The Committee also establishes contacts with the media to promote press coverage of events highlighting the role of interpreters.

Training Committee ("Formation")
Maintains contact with interpreter schools, organizes lectures and seminars for AIIC members and non-members to update their knowledge and improve their skills.

Research Committee (RC)
Carries out research in the field of linguistics; produces and updates a bibliography of research on language, interpretation and related fields.

Relations with Eastern and Central Europe (CECO)
Follows developments in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe and exchanges information with colleagues practising as conference interpreters in these countries.

Staff Interpreters Committee (CdP)
Studies terms governing the working conditions of AIIC members who are staff interpreters with international organizations and represents their interests within the Association. The Committee has adopted the "Permanents' Charter" which defines the ethical principles to be followed by staff interpreters.

Court and Legal Interpreting ("Tribunaux")
Aims at improving standards of interpretation at court hearings and organizes seminars for AIIC members on legal subjects and terminology.

Statistics Committee (SC)
Gathers and collates statistics on the number of days worked by interpreters, languages and modes of interpretation used, in order to ascertain market trends and language requirements.

Disputes Committee
Examines complaints brought by AIIC members against other members and makes recommendations to Council on the action to be taken to resolve disputes.

Disciplinary Committee
An ad hoc committee which is convened to examine alleged infringements of AIIC rules by its members and makes recommendations to Council on sanctions to be applied.

Working Groups
Are set up to carry out ad hoc activities in various fields, such as insurance, copyright and sign language interpretation.

AIIC SECRETARIAT

The Secretariat, based in Geneva, is the vital link between the various bodies of the Association. The Secretariat is in charge of all administrative work and is responsible for all official AIIC publications. The work of the Secretariat is supervised by an Executive Secretary.

AIIC REGIONS

An AIIC Region is a country or a group of countries in which AIIC members reside and work. There are at present 22 Regions. The list can be found at the beginning of the Directory.

Members elect a Regional Bureau consisting of a Council Member, a Secretary and a Treasurer. The Council Member is formally elected by the Assembly; the candidate is proposed by the Region after regional elections.

Each Region adopts its own rules of procedure which are ratified by Council. Such rules may provide that other members are appointed to the Regional Bureau, such as the outgoing Council Member, a public relations officer, etc. Regions convene a meeting at least once a year to discuss current matters and agree on regional activities.

AIIC SECTORS

Sectors are formed by members who have specific common interests, e.g. members recruited mainly by the international organizations with whom AIIC has concluded an agreement or those working mostly on the private market. Members may belong to all sectors without distinction. The sectors hold their own meetings to discuss matters of interest to members and report directly to Council

Agreement Sector (AS)
The AS safeguards the interests of AIIC members when working for international organizations with which AIIC has concluded an agreement. These are the United Nations Organizations (CCAQ), the European Community Institutions, the "Organisations Coordonnées", International Trade Secretariats, Interpol, and the Customs Co-operation Council (see appendix for detailed list). They are major employers of interpreters. Agreements with AIIC cover terms and conditions of employment. Council mandates a negotiating delegation to prepare an agreement with the relevant organizations. Once formally approved by Council, the implementation of the agreement in each institution is monitored by a professional delegation.

Non Agreement Sector (NAS)
Clients in the NAS include professional associations, business corporations, trade unions, political parties, Government departments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic institutions and many more. Conferences and meetings in the Non Agreement Sector cover the medical, technical, legal, commercial, industrial and other fields.

NAS meetings are open to all AIIC members and candidates. They are held twice a year and hosted by different AIIC Regions. The sector elects a Standing Committee and regularly reviews working conditions and market trends. In recent years NAS has sponsored ground-breaking work on interpretation for TV and on the copyright aspects of interpretation.

© AIIC, 1998-2000 - All Rights Reserved

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CONFERENCE INTERPRETERS 10 avenue de Sécheron - CH - 1202 Geneva - Switzerland E-mail: info@aiic.net