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The WRC Presents: A Draft of the Constitution of the World Cube Assocation

Vincents

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Hi guys,
for the past couple of months, the WRC has worked on a Constitution for the WCA. We've decided to make the current draft public for discussion. You can view it here. Please keep in mind that while this is a draft, most of the institutions we've put in place are here to stay, unless someone offers a significant and well-reasoned argument why something should be changed. Once the Board approves this, it will go into effect (and the amendments process would be the only way to change something).

As for an update of what we're doing, Lucas and Shelley are working on a new unified official scrambler, and Regulations and Guidelines are coming.
 

Godmil

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Thanks for posting this, intersting read. I'm actually loving the fact that the WCA needs a constitution. Seems very professional :)
It's interesting that the board members are limited to a 10 year run. Seems weird to think of Tyson and Ron stepping down.
 

Pedro

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2e1a) (...) Members should be familiar with MySQL and Microsoft Excel, and should be willing and able to devote time on a weekly basis to posting competition results.

2e2b) Members should be familiar with MySQL and Microsoft Excel, and should be willing and able to devote time on a weekly basis to posting competition results.

Either place is fine for me, but both seems unnecessary.
 

Vincents

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Direct copy-paste:

(Preamble? goes here). Also, I haven’t mentioned yearly performance reviews for delegates, not having gotten a response from Tyson. - Vincent.

Article 1: Purpose

1a) The World Cube Association (WCA) is the official governing body of competitions for puzzles labelled as Rubik’s puzzles and other twisty puzzles.

1b) The mission of the World Cube Association is to organize competitions, expand the international speedsolving community and ensure fair standards and conditions for competition.

1c) The spirit of the World Cube Association is to encourage people from all over the world to have fun and help each other in a friendly atmosphere and to encourage sportsmanlike behaviour.
Article 2: Organization

Section A: WCA Board

2a1) Description
2a1a) The WCA Board (the Board) is the governing body of the WCA. It is the highest representative of the WCA, and is responsible for the organization, well-being, and mission of the WCA. All official action and business of the WCA is conducted under the approval of the Board. The Board provides the final decision making in all matters, except where otherwise prescribed in this Constitution. Members of the Board are considered representatives of the WCA.

2a2) Membership
2a2a) The Board shall consist of 3-7 members. The Board members should each represent a significant portion of the world (e.g. Americas, Europe, Asia, etc.).
2a2b) Members of The Board shall be appointed by a unanimous vote of existing members of the Board. WCA Board membership shall be limited to an aggregated ten year time period. Members serve until they either voluntarily step down, are removed by a supermajority ((170/3)+%) vote by the existing Board members, or serve their term to its limit.
2a2c) If and only if the Board is vacated by all existing members, a new member shall be elected to the Board by a supermajority vote from the WCA Delegates.

2a3) Duties
2a3a) The Board oversees the organization of the WCA. This includes such duties as:
2a3a1) Approving competitions and submitted results of competitions;
2a3a2) Appointing members of various WCA committees and WCA Delegates as needed;
2a3a3) Approving updates and changes to the WCA Competition Regulations;
2a3a4) Reviewing competition incidents reported by WCA Delegates and other
parties;
2a3a5) Making rulings on incidents and results as needed. The board has the power to override existing competition regulations if necessary;
2a3a6) Planning and executing the official world championships at least once every three years.

2a3b) The Board may request investigations by the Independent Advisory Committee in special cases, and may use its advice in its decision making. The Board may use any and all forms of evidence, including video and other recordings, to make its decisions.

2a3c) The Board shall have sole authority to disqualify results, competitions, or ban competitors from taking part in WCA events.

2a3d) The Board shall have the power to revoke any previously appointed titles, committee memberships, and/or duties.
Section B: Independent Advisory Committee

2b1) Description
2b1a) The Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) is a committee charged with the investigation, reporting, and, when appropriate, publishing of major incidents in the WCA. As an entity, the IAC reports directly to the Board on WCA matters. Members of the IAC are considered a representative of the WCA.

2b2) Membership
2b2a) The IAC shall consist of the Chairman, who serves at the discretion of the Board. The IAC Chairman should have a strong commitment to and understanding of the WCA mission, regulations, and spirit. The Chairman should also have the integrity to be able to investigate cases where WCA community members, WCA Delegates, and even Board members may be involved.
2b2b) The Board has sole authority to appoint and remove the Chairman. At the Chairman’s discretion, the IAC may also contain 2-6 additional members.
2b2b) Members of the IAC serve at the discretion of the Board and Chairman. The Board and Chairman have the sole authority to appoint and remove members from the IAC.

2b3) Duties
2b2a) The duties of the IAC are to:
2b2a1) Perform independent investigations in cases involving alleged violations of the WCA Constitution, Regulations, mission, or spirit;
2b2a2) Conduct open and transparent investigations, except where limited by law and/or discretion (e.g. information pertaining to minors);
2b2a3) Advise and provide recommendations to WCA Board and WCA Regulations Committee on final rulings and decisions based on the results of its investigations;
2b2a4) Publish (with discretion) accounts of investigations and incidents in the WCA Incidents Log.

2b2b) IAC investigations are initiated by request of the Board. Individual members of the WCA community may also approach the IAC with concerns about violations of WCA Competition Regulations or the spirit of the WCA, or if they disagree with a decision made by a WCA Delegate or the WCA Board.
Section C: WCA Regulations Committee

2c1) Description
2c1a) The WCA Regulations Committee (WRC) is an appointed Committee responsible for the publishing, upkeep, and update of official WCA documents. In addition, the WRC is responsible for ensuring year-to-year updates to the Competition Regulations and Guidelines in a reasonable amount of time. Members of the WRC are considered representatives of the WCA.

2c2) Membership
2c2a) The WRC shall consist of the Chairman, who serves at the discretion of the Board. The WRC Chairman should have a strong commitment to and understanding of the WCA mission, regulations, and spirit.
2b2b) The Board has sole authority to appoint and remove the Chairman. At the Chairman’s discretion, the WRC may also contain 2-6 additional members.
2b2b) Members of the WRC serve at the discretion of the Board and Chairman. The Board and Chairman have the sole authority to appoint and remove members from the WRC.

2c3) Duties
2c3a) The duties of the WRC are to::
2c3a1) Publish and maintain the following documents, described further in Article III:
WCA Constitution
WCA Competition Regulations and Regulation Guidelines
WCA Incidents Log
WCA Scramblers
2c3b) Inform the WCA community of policies and procedures for submitting proposed changes to the WCA Competition Regulations and other documents;
2c3c) Receive and review proposed changes to the WCA Constitution, Competition Regulations, and Regulation Guidelines;
2c3d) Review and discuss the WCA Constitution, Competition Regulations, and Regulation Guidelines both annually and as needed;
2c3e) Screen and vote on amendments and clarifications to the WCA Constitution, Competition Regulations, and Regulation Guidelines and submit updates to the WCA Board;
2c3f) Announce changes to WCA Competition Regulations once they are finalized.
Section D: WCA Delegates

2d1) Description
2d1a) WCA Delegates (Delegates) are representatives of the WCA. Delegates ensure that WCA Competition Regulations are followed at competitions. In order for a competition and its results to be recognized by the WCA, a Delegate must be present and certify that a competition has been run fulfilling all relevant WCA Competition Regulations..

2d2) Membership
2d2a) WCA Delegates shall be nominated by either a current Delegate or Board member. The Board shall have sole authority to appoint nominated parties as Delegates. The Board shall also have sole authority to remove Delegates. Delegates should be removed if they grossly violate the WCA mission, spirit, or provisions on any of the WCA’s official documents.
2d2b) All members of the Board are also considered Delegates, and receive all privileges and responsibilities that come with Delegate status.
2d2c) Delegates shall have a complete working knowledge of the WCA Competition Regulations. Delegates should also be trustworthy, responsible, and active members of the WCA community in good standing.

2d3) Duties
The duties of the WCA Delegates are to:
2d3a) Provide scrambles, ensure adherence to WCA Regulations, and make decisions on ambiguous situations during competitions;
2d3b) Note any incidents during competitions. Incidents include possible regulation violations or situations where regulations are unclear and a final ruling is debatable;
2d3c) Submit complete and properly formatted results to the Results Team;
2d3d) Submit a competition delegate report to the WCA Board. The delegate report must include any incidents that occurred during the competition, and may also include notes on general organization of the competition;
2d3e) Screen potential new Delegates as needed, and submit nominations for new Delegates to the WCA Board.
Section E: WCA Results Team

2e1) Description
2e1a) The WCA Results Team (Results Team) is appointed by the WCA Board. Members should be familiar with MySQL and Microsoft Excel, and should be willing and able to devote time on a weekly basis to posting competition results.

2e2) Membership
2e2a) The Results Team shall be appointed by the Board. Each member remains a part of the Results Team until removed by the Board, or resignation.
2e2b) Members should be familiar with MySQL and Microsoft Excel, and should be willing and able to devote time on a weekly basis to posting competition results.

2e3) Duties
2e3a) The duties of the Results Team are to:
2e3a1) Announce new competitions on WCA website, subject to WCA Board's approval;
2e3a2) Receive and post results from WCA competitions to the WCA website and results database in a timely fashion, no later than one week after the competition (subject to acceptable submissions from Delegates);
2e3a3) Make corrections to results of posted competitions, as requested by WCA Delegates and/or Board;
2e3a4) Check results for violations of WCA Regulations;
2e3a5) Report any irregularities in the results to the WCA Board.

Article 3: WCA Documents

Section A: WCA Constitution

3a1) Description
3a1a) The WCA Constitution (Constitution) contains all regulations pertaining to the organization of the WCA, including descriptions and duties of its associated committees.
3a1b) This Constitution shall be the supreme law of the WCA, and any rulings, regulations, and other official business conducted by the WCA or any of its entities and representatives shall fall under the jurisdiction of this Constitution.

3a2) Policies and procedures
3a2a) Stewardship
3a2a1) The WRC shall maintain and publish updated versions of the Constitution.
3a2a2) The WRC shall also maintain a log of all proposed amendments to the Constitution.
3a2b) Constitutional Amendments
3a2b1) Passed amendments take immediate effect, and replace or supercede previous language in the Constitution or amendments previously passed.
3a2b2) Proposed amendments to the WCA Constitution shall have the sponsorship of at least one Delegate.
3a2b3) Proposed amendments to the WCA Constitution shall be submitted (in a format prescribed by the WRC) to the WRC. The WRC shall review and announce proposed announcements no more than two (2) weeks after submission, provided that two weeks is enough time for the WRC to thoroughly research the background and future effects of said proposal. The WRC may edit any proposed amendments for clarity or based on research; however, any edits may not affect the spirit of proposed amendments.
3a2b4) The WRC shall vote on proposed amendments no later than two (2) weeks after the official announcement. Only members of the WRC at the time of announcement shall be eligible to vote on proposed amendments. A majority among casted votes shall result in the proposed amendment being forwarded to the Board for consideration within two days of the WRC vote.
3a2b5) The Board shall vote on proposed amendments “as is” when forwarded, no more than two weeks after forwarding. Only members of the Board at the time of forwarding shall be eligible to vote on proposed amendments. A supermajority among casted votes passes the proposed amendment. Otherwise, the proposed amendment is returned to the WRC.
3a2b8) The WRC shall conduct both a WRC and a Delegate vote on the amendment “as is” at the time of return. Only members with Delegate status at the time of amendment announcement are eligible to vote. A unanimous vote among WRC votes cast passes the amendment. A ¾+ vote among Delegate votes cast also passes the amendment. Any other result kills the amendment.
Section B: WCA Regulations and WCA Regulation Guidelines

3b1) Description
3b1a) The WCA Competition Regulations (Competition Regulations) and WCA Regulation Guidelines (Guidelines) contain all regulations and guidelines that must be followed by WCA sponsored competitions.
3b1b) The Competition Regulations should contain all clear, concise, normative rules about competitions.
3b1c) The Regulation Guidelines should contain non-normative information about the regulations that the WCA Board, Delegates, competition organizers, judges, competitors and community members may need in order to make informed, consistent decisions about the regulations. This may include supplementary material including (but not limited to) interpretations, clarifications, recommendations, citations or explanations.
3b1d) The Regulation Guidelines shall not contain any information that contradicts the Constitution or Competition Regulations.

3b2) Policies and procedures
3b2a) Stewardship
3b2a1) The WRC shall keep the Competition Regulations and Guidelines up to date and accessible to the public.
3b2b) Amendments
3b2b1) The WRC shall have sole power to submit amendments of the Competition Regulations to the Board for approval. The WRC and the Board shall jointly have power to directly amend the Guidelines.
3b2b2) Submitted amendments shall be supported by an explanation with any links and citations of community discussion that demonstrate community consensus for the change. Any controversial changes shall be clearly justified.
3b2b3) A yearly amendment to the Competition Regulations shall be drafted by the WRC and submitted to the WCA Board for approval by December 31st of each year, to take effect for the next calendar year.
3b2b4) The Board shall vote on proposed amendments “as is” no more than one (1) month after submission. Only members of the Board at the time of submission are eligible to vote. A majority among votes cast passes the amendment. If the Board finds issue with a portion of an amendment, it may recommend that the WRC make changes before re-submitting the amendment for consideration.
3b2b5) Decisions on amendments to Competition Regulations and Guidelines shall be announced to the public in a timely manner, along with sufficient justification for decisions. Amendments and changes to the Competition Regulations and Guidelines do not take effect until they are announced by the WRC.
Section C: WCA Incidents Log

3c1) Description
3c1a) The WCA Incidents Log (Incidents Log) is a log of all incidents. An incident is a notable occurrence related to the WCA Regulations, including (but not limited to):
3c1a1) Exceptions granted to any competition or competitor;
3c1a2) Regulation violations at a competition;
3c1a3) Notable rulings or other unusual situations.
3c2) Policies and procedures
3c2a) Stewardship
3c2a1) Incident Reports shall be submitted to the log in a (form prescribed by the WRC) by the WCA representative(s) most knowledgeable about the incident.
3c2a2) The WRC shall keep the Incidents Log up to date and ensure it contains all significant WCA incidents. The WRC has full responsibility and power to add or edit entries in the Incidents Log, as well as limit the extent of information published and available to the public in the log (e.g. names of minors or other sensitive details or confidential information).
3c2b) Incidents
3c2b1) The Board and the WRC shall be informed of all incidents. Incidents may be investigated by the IAC at the Board’s request..
3c2b2) Incidents noted by Delegates must be included in submitted delegate reports to the Board. Incidents may also be submitted to the Board for investigation by any member of the WCA community.
3c2b3) Any incidents in the Incidents Log may be accompanied by an official announcement about the incident by the Board which includes descriptions of the incident, its circumstances, and its resolution.

Section D: WCA Scramblers

3d1) Description
3d1a) An official WCA Scrambler is a scramble program that
3d1a1) Generates random-state scrambles for all puzzles for which this is practical;
3d1a2) Generates scrambles of a sufficient degree of randomness to ensure competition equity;
3d1a3) Uses a sufficiently robust source of randomness;
3d1a4) Makes a reasonable effort to prevent unwarranted or unauthorized access to generated scrambles;
3d1a5) Is relatively user-friendly and time efficient;
3d1a6) Produces scrambles that are easy to archive and publish in a digital format (e.g. plain text scrambles or PDF files of scramble printouts).
3d1b) Scramblers should be able to run offline and are recommended to be a single unified program with the capability to generate scrambles for all official events (as opposed to individual scramblers for individual events or puzzles).
3d2) Policies and procedures
3d2a) Stewardship
3d2a1) The WRC is responsible for maintaining a set of official scramblers and making the scramblers available for use and/or download.
3d2a2) The WRC has sole power to submit new scramblers for approval by the Board. The Board has the power to approve or veto proposed scramblers. Such decisions should be accompanied by a justification submitted to the WRC.

Article 4: Other Powers

4a) The powers and responsibilities not expressly mentioned and delegated in this Constitution, or any of its listed subsidiary documents, are reserved for the Board.

- The World Cube Association Regulations Committee
- Vincent Sheu, Shelley Chang, Lucas Garron, Sébastien Auroux, Clément Gallet
 

JonnyWhoopes

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Can we change the title of "chairman" to something else.... I don't like the idea of referring to Tyson as "chairman Mao".
I also think having term limits is stupid; the potential for corruption seems negligible.

Do you have any reasons other than "not liking the idea" for removing the term Chairman? Do you have any alternative terms to use?

The potential for corruption may seen negligible at the moment, but it still exists. We also need to keep in mind that this is a long term constitution, not something meant for the here and now. This is meant to be used for as long as the WCA exists (modified as necessary of course).
 

Vincents

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We'll fix the numbering; we originally had it formatted another way, and may have made some mistakes converting it to the current WCA Regulations style numbering.

A lot of the design in this document was made to guard against corruption at any level, while still maintaining the freedom for the Board to get things done in a quick and efficient manner (hence the final bit giving all unnamed powers back to the Board). However, there should still be some sort of control to guard against corruption (or just plain stupidity).

Without resorting to general elections, which would be horribly inefficient and could very well lead to a sort of nepotistic system or a campaign season, there weren't many reasonable ways to do this. I am, however, open to better suggestions than the one big check we have (constitutional amendment, and term limits to a lesser extent). A big issue we have been struggling with is yearly performance reviews for the delegates (unfortunately, there are so many that the Board might not have time to adequately do them all every year without losing their own effectiveness).
 

Erik

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I really like the idea of the constitution. It gives more insight in how the WCA functions and what it wants to do. The WRC looks like very nice new committee that:
1. reliefs the Board with work
2. ensures the Board gets more organized input to changes

At the moment the situation is more or less that the Board can do whatever they want for a period of time they want. More structure is necessary imho seeing the growth of our community. This constitution will change this a bit in the positive sense imho.
I wonder who will be the new Board member(s) considering the fact that mr. Akimoto is not active anymore (as far as I know).

Questions recommendations I have:
--------------------------------------------------
Lots is formulated about how the WCA functions, sends its reports, makes its decisions etc. Few however (or at least not enough imho) is said about the obligation to inform the public about made decisions, changes in the formation of different committees etc. So far as how I understand it the public will only receive information about:

- The WCA Competition Regulations and Guidelines
- Decisions on amendments about the Regulations and Guidelines
- Information from the Incident Logs (the sharing or not sharing of information that is made public is up to the WRC)

Taking into account that the WCA only exists and has power because the whole community gives it this power by recognizing it as being the official body for competitions, I would like to encourage more information available to the public in general. I understand that in incident reports you have to leave out some details and that not every discussion between board members should be public, just like the fact that delegate reports about competitions are not public. It has for example been quite a while since we heared something about the new regulations. Luckily I know people in the WRC so I could ask them personally and actually hear they are really busy. I'm very happy they are busy!, but to the outside world it might not seem so.

However I'd like to see at least the following happenings be made public when they occur. Some of them are really obvious and already take place but they are not in the draft of the constitution, it would tie some loose ends together if this was formulated in the constitution as well:

- The election, retreat of board members, delegates, WRC members, IAC committee build up.
- Online lists of the latest formation changes on the persons on the first point (here I assume that mr. Akimoto is no longer active, otherwise these lists are already there).
- All investigations the IAC is investigating, at the moment the investigation is started and is concluded. Of course filtering out sensitive information should take place, but at least a summary would be nice.
-------------------------------------------------
A few times (at selecting new board members, or voting about amendments) it is stated the Board will vote on a decision. When the Board only consists of 3 (or 2?) people as it is at the moment, a voting is a bit odd isn't it? Maybe lots of conversation will take place before the voting to make sure the result that is agreed up on will be achieved ?, it at least is not stated as such.
------------------------------------------------


Please don't see this as kicking against the draft! I really like it as it is and merely want to improve it.
 
Last edited:

Vincents

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I really like the idea of the constitution. It gives more insight in how the WCA functions and what it wants to do. The WRC looks like very nice new committee that:
1. reliefs the Board with work
2. ensures the Board gets more organized input to changes

At the moment the situation is more or less that the Board can do whatever they want for a period of time they want. More structure is necessary imho seeing the growth of our community. This constitution will change this a bit in the positive sense imho.
I wonder who will be the new Board member(s) considering the fact that mr. Akimoto is not active anymore (as far as I know).

Questions recommendations I have:
--------------------------------------------------
Lots is formulated about how the WCA functions, sends its reports, makes its decisions etc. Few however (or at least not enough imho) is said about the obligation to inform the public about made decisions, changes in the formation of different committees etc. So far as how I understand it the public will only receive information about:

- The WCA Competition Regulations and Guidelines
- Decisions on amendments about the Regulations and Guidelines
- Information from the Incident Logs (the sharing or not sharing of information that is made public is up to the WRC)

Taking into account that the WCA only exists and has power because the whole community gives it this power by recognizing it as being the official body for competitions, I would like to encourage more information available to the public in general. I understand that in incident reports you have to leave out some details and that not every discussion between board members should be public, just like the fact that delegate reports about competitions are not public. It has for example been quite a while since we heared something about the new regulations. Luckily I know people in the WRC so I could ask them personally and actually hear they are really busy. I'm very happy they are busy!, but to the outside world it might not seem so.

However I'd like to see at least the following happenings be made public when they occur. Some of them are really obvious and already take place but they are not in the draft of the constitution, it would tie some loose ends together if this was formulated in the constitution as well:

- The election, retreat of board members, delegates, WRC members, IAC committee build up.
- Online lists of the latest formation changes on the persons on the first point (here I assume that mr. Akimoto is no longer active, otherwise these lists are already there).
- All investigations the IAC is investigating, at the moment the investigation is started and is concluded. Of course filtering out sensitive information should take place, but at least a summary would be nice.
-------------------------------------------------
A few times (at selecting new board members, or voting about amendments) it is stated the Board will vote on a decision. When the Board only consists of 3 (or 2?) people as it is at the moment, a voting is a bit odd isn't it? Maybe lots of conversation will take place before the voting to make sure the result that is agreed up on will be achieved ?, it at least is not stated as such.
------------------------------------------------


Please don't see this as kicking against the draft! I really like it as it is and merely want to improve it.


Erik,

Thanks for your extensive comments. I know transparency has sometimes been an issue in the past, especially with regards to rulings and Regulations; that's the issue the publishing and updating of the Competition and Guidelines are meant to address.

I can mention right now that we have over 150 issues to work with in regards to Regulations; the highest priority right now for the WRC is the adoption of the Constitution, followed by a unified body of scramblers, followed by new Regulations. I personally will make it a policy to post more frequent updates as soon as our first task is accomplished.

I believe the power to update the website is currently in the hands of the Board, who may or may not delegate that to the Results Team. I will make some inquiries and get back to you regarding this matter, though I believe currently Tyson is out-of-town (well, out of his home area) exploring possibilities for future competitions, and Ron is in the process of reviewing the Constitution. I did, however, make another note under the powers of the Board to keep the website updated.

With regards to your comments on investigations: I understand and sympathize with the sentiment that the average cuber may be frustrated by the lack of information regarding WCA Incidents; others may simply be curious in proceedings. However, much as things operate in the United States (and perhaps other countries, but I cannot speak for them), I believe it would be prudent for involved parties such as the IAC to avoid commenting on ongoing proceedings, if only to guard the integrity of investigations. I do agree that more information should be disseminated, which is why Lucas originally proposed the Incidents Log; we hope that it will be deployed with data to satisfy both the curious and the involved, while still guarding the sensitivity of relevant information where appropriate.
 
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