Internal Regulation

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C.O.S. INTERNAL REGULATION

(Coordination Shiatsu Operators)

Updated on the 21ST of May 2023

GENERAL RULES

ART. 1 Contingent modifications to this regulation, and everything else concerning it, fall solely within the remit of C.O.S. Board of Directors.

ART. 2 Any possible foundation of common bodies or any kind of association with institutions, corporations or other associations, has to be decided by C.O.S. Members’ Meeting.

ART. 3 The Governing Board of the C.O.S. establishes the seat of the Presidency in Rimini at Via Teodorico, 15 and the seat of the Secretariat/Treasury in Castions di Zoppola (PN) at Via Gorizia, 26, reconfirming or varying them at each term of office

ART. 4 The minutes of the C.O.S. Executive Board meetings, C.O.S. Assemblies of Members and any other C.O.S. Bodies appointed, the Register of Members, the Professional List, the C.O.S. Register of Teachers and the List of Member Schools shall be kept in the Presidency. The remaining books for accounting purposes will be kept in the Secretariat/Treasury. It will be possible to keep the aforesaid documents in a location other than the one assigned exclusively and for as long as is necessary for the drafting, updating and anything else concerning them.

ART. 5 Each year, the C.O.S. Board of Directors shall establish the membership fees, which it shall attach to these Internal Regulations. In order not to penalise those who join during the year, the membership fee for the first year of membership shall be proportionate to the months of actual membership. The new member's membership fee, from the second year onwards, shall be aligned with the fee laid down in the Rules.

ART. 6 The Executive Board of the C.O.S. shall deliberate validly with the presence of the majority of its members.

ART. 7 The President of the C.O.S., in case of urgency, has the power to take measures in matters within the competence of the Governing Board of the C.O.S.

The President of the C.O.S shall convene the Governing Board of the C.O.S. within and no later than one month from the adoption of the aforementioned measures, which shall examine the measures in order to ratify them or not. If the aforementioned deadline expires, the measures shall lapse.

ART. 8 The President of the C.O.. may call other persons to preside over the C.O.S. Members' Assembly in his stead. In such cases, the minutes of the meeting are signed by the President of the C.O.S. and the President of the C.O.S. Members' Meeting.

ART. 9 The members of the Executive Committee, the Examining Committee, the Board of Arbitrators and the Auditor of the C.O.S. forfeit their office if they are absent for the second consecutive time from the meetings of the bodies they are part of, without adequate justification. The forfeiture shall be declared by the body at the meeting following the one in which the second absence occurs, and the first of the non-elected ones or a reserve, if they have been designated, shall be appointed as a replacement. Once the forfeiture has been decided, the body shall inform the C.O.S. Executive Board and the former member by registered letter with return receipt or PEC.

ART. 10 For all the requests of access to the records, the C.O.S. Board of Directors reserves the right to grant them taking into account the provisions of the EU Privacy Regulation GDPR 2016/679. However, all costs shall be borne by the applicant.

REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION AT C.O.S.

ART. 11 To be registered at C.O.S., the following training certificates are requested:

baccalaureat or equivalent degree
attendance certificates of training process at a C.O.S. related school/institution, or at any school which conforms to C.O.S. standards.
training curriculum three years or 650 hours long of:

at least 500 hours of frontal theoretical-practical lessons exclusively about Shiatsu;
at least 150 hours of certified and guided practices and/or certified and guided apprenticeships in addition to educational path at school.

The candidate who cannot provide a baccalaureat or equivalent degree has to attach to his/her request of registration all certificates which attest his/her training and professional experience. C.O.S. Board of Directors shall judge each case in order to decide if the documents provided by the candidate are equivalent to baccalaureat.

In case the candidate is unable, due to force majeure or particular events, to supply the training certificates requested (because they have been taken abroad, or back in the years etc.) C.O.S. Board of Directors can consider, in order to accept the request for registration at C.O.S., the documents which attest an experience gained in shiatsu through a professional and continuous practice of at least 5 years.

RULES FOR REGISTRATION AT C.O.S.

ART. 12 It is possible to register in the C.O.S. Professional List as follow:

by passing the admission test
along with the submission of documentation which certify the subscription to another professional association equivalent to C.O.S. recognition standards.

ART. 13 Natural or legal persons who want to support C.O.S. by liberal subscription do not have to fulfil requirements of article 12.

RULES GOVERNING ADMISSION TO EXAMINATIONS FOR REGISTRATION ON THE C.O.S. PROFESSIONAL LIST

ART. 14 To make a request for the admission to the exams for registration at C.O.S. Professional List the following documents must be supplied:

request on specific form
certification of training process
presentation letter drafted by the school of origin
curriculum vitae (European model) to be signed and dated
double-sided printed copy of a valid identity document
fiscal code
copy of the payment of the examination registration fee

Admission is officialized when the payment of the registration fee and all the requested papers are sent to C.O.S. Secretariat within 30 days from the date when the exam session is established. In case of redundant requests the date of receipt shall be taken as a proof.

Accepting the late requests is at discretion of the President of C.O.S. Examinating Board depending on how many are the candidates. If impossible, the redundant requests shall be postponed to the subsequent exam session.

People who decide to display a thesis have to send it to C.O.S. Secretariat within the 30th day before the date of the exams.

C.O.S. Secretariat shall sends a convocation which includes date, hour and place of the exam itself to the candidates within 15 days from the exam by letter (or other medium).

ART. 15 There shall be an exam session each year. The date of the session is fixed by C.O.S. Board of Directors, which has to disclose it. It is otherwise possible to take information at C.O.S. Local Sections.

ART. 16 The exam is divided into two parts, one practical and one theoretical. One can find the description of the exam in the Exam Regulation for registration at C.O.S. Professional List attached to this C.O.S. Internal Regulation.

ART. 17 Future examination candidates may participate to exam tests as observers, only if they do not disturb and at the discretion of C.O.S. Examinating Board. They have to make formal request to C.O.S. Secretariat (also by phone) within 5 days from the session.

ART. 18 The C.O.S. Secretary shall always be present at exam sessions in order to assure a fair development of all the procedures concerning them:

registration of candidates to association and exams;
check of the documents supplied by the candidates and possible integration of missing documents;
preparation of test reports and their delivery to C.O.S. Examination Board;
collection of test reports to file them at C.O.S. Secretariat.

ART. 19 Members who have passed the exam (see articles above) have to submit an application for registration at C.O.S. Professional List. Enrollment is deliberated by C.O.S. Board of Directors during the first meeting after C.O.S. Secretariat has sent test reports.

Professional Members registered at C.O.S. Professional List may give their consent, by signing a specific form, to the use of their personal data for professional purposes as required by C.O.S. (phone, Internet, publications, etc.).

RULES FOR DIRECT REGISTRATION AT C.O.S. PROFESSIONAL LIST

ART. 20 When asking for registration at C.O.S. a professional who have already passed the admission test for another national or foreign Professional List or Register (equivalent to the C.O.S. recognition standards) can make a request for direct registration at C.O.S. Professional List by filling the specific form, attaching documents of the attestation achieved at the association of origin.

Acceptance of the request is subject to C.O.S. Board of Directors assessment of supplied documents conformity to C.O.S. standards and deliberated by C.O.S. Board of Directors during the first meeting after receiving them.

ART. 21 In case Members have already passed the admission test for the Professional List or Register of foreign associations which do not have entered with C.O.S. bilateral recognition agreements when they ask for registration at C.O.S. may anyway make a request for direct registration at C.O.S. Professional List by filling the specific form, attaching:

documents of the attestation achieved at the association of origin;
explanatory documents, certified by the association of origin, about the rules for the examinations development taken by the applicant.

RULES FOR COMPULSORY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF C.O.S. PROFESSIONAL MEMBERS

ART. 22 C.O.S. Professional Members have to constantly improve their knowledge and competence by studying and attending courses and internships of at least 8 (eight) hours in a single event.

In order to maintain their visibility on the site and receive 'the certificate of quality and professional qualification of the services provided' (Art. 7 L. 4/2013), they are required to attend at least one course or internship organised or proposed by the C.O.S. every two years or recognised by it as valid for the purposes of updating.

New members are invited to attend the first useful National Conference organised by the C.O.S.

ART. 23 C.O.S. Board of Directors can decide, in order to encourage professional development of its Professional Members, to accredit courses or traineeships made by other related Schools/Institutions, Teachers enrolled in the C.O.S. Professional Teachers' List, and by the the European Associations enrolled in the E.S.F. recognising their requirements and characteristics as suitable for quality guarantees of continuing education.

AER. 24 Participating School/Institution or Teacher enrolled in the RIC which would like to propose (at the most two per year) a course or internship valid for C.O.S. Professional Members compulsory professional development has to send to C.O.S. Board of Directors a complete documentation with all the information about the event. The proposed seminars are not to be held in the two months preceding and following C.O.S. national conference.

Once the proposal has been taken into account, C.O.S. Board of Directors reserves itself the possibility to ask for further information or possible changes, if they are essential to validate the proposal itself.

The criteria followed by C.O.S. Board of Directors to validate or not courses and internships for the compulsory professional development of C.O.S. Professional Members are:

clear patency that the course or internship is exclusively organised by the elated School/Institution or Teacher enrolled in the RIC which has made the request;
relevance of the proposed topic to shiatsu
duration of the event;
cost of the event.

Once deliberated, C.O.S. Board of Directors shall inform in a timely manner the related School/Institution in question about its decision.

If decision is positive, C.O.S. Board of Directors shall give a mandate in order to validate the approved course or internship and will inform all the C.O.S. Professional Members by email, publication on the specific page of the association website and through social media.

ART. 25

Related School/Institution or Teacher enrolled in the RIC whose courses or internships for compulsory professional development of C.O.S. Professional Members have been accepted has to:

give to C.O.S. Professional Member who has followed the course or internship a participation certificate that bears the sentence “Valide for C.O.S. (Coordination Shiatsu Operators) compulsory professional development”;
give communication in a timely manner to C.O.S. Secretariat of number and names of C.O.S. Professional Members who have participated in the approved course or internship.

RULES ABOUT C.O.S. EXAMINATING BOARD

ART. 26 During the first meeting of each year the C.O.S. Board of Directors shall elect C.O.S. Examinating Board, which shall consist of three to six full Members and two possible alternate.

C.O.S. Examiners are selected according to the following criteria:

they have to be Professional Members;
they have to be Training Teachers since at least three years.

Simultaneously to the first exam session C.O.S. Examinating Board elects from among its members a President.

Examinating Board leads and guarantees the fair development of the examinations for admission to C.O.S. Professional List.

It has to verify quality standards, professional qualifications and skills which are required for the certificates referred to in Article 7 of law no. 4/2013 to be issued.

ART. 27 C.O.S. Examinating Board shall validly deliberate when at least three members are present and voting. Deliberations are determined by a simple majority and, in case of equality, the vote of C.O.S. Examinating Board President has double and decisive value.

ART. 28 A record of each exam session shall be kept and report the result of the exam of each examinated, the transcription of discussed topics (together with the thesis proposed by the candidate) and questions possibly made by the examiners, a summary assessment made by the members of the Board with specification of any possible different views. The President of C.O.S. Examinating Board has to draw up the records.

RULES ABOUT CONSUMER'S COUNTER

ART. 29 In accordance with Law 14th of January 2013 no. 4 called “Regulations in the field of unregulated professions” and Legislative Decree 6th of September 2005 no. 206, called “Consumer code”, Coordination Shiatsu Operators sets up a C.O.S. Consumer’s Counter.

ART. 30 C.O.S. Consumer’s Counter is a free service of public interest for C.O.S. consumers, users and associated people.

Particularly, C.O.S. Consumer’s Desk gives answers about specific problems, adopting a propositional and friendly attitude, acting, in case it is necessary and possible, conciliation procedures.

ART. 31 Goals of C.O.S. Consumer’s Counter are:

supply information to consumers concerning:
- Shiatsu discipline and quality standards that C.O.S. requires to its registered members;
- rules for access to the lists of Professional Members registered at C.O.S. Professional List, in order to request their professional services;
gather Consumers suggestions and notifications about theirpossible needs or problems caused to them by C.O.S. Professional Members while carrying out their professional activity.
provide assistance to parties in the event of litigation, paying special attention to conciliation procedures and non-judicial resolution tools, under the existing rules and this C.O.S. Internal Regulation.

ART. 32 Rules for the access to the C.O.S. Consumer’s Counter services, fixed or renewed in each mandate by C.O.S. Board of Directors, are attached to this Internal Regulation and available on C.O.S. website at the following link https://www.shiatsucos.com/associazione/sportello-consumatore

C.O.S. DISCIPLINARY RULES AND ETHICAL CODE

ART. 33 C.O.S. Members are committed to follow the ethical rules referred to in the following articles. C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators is the authority which monitors their application. Disregarding these rules entails disciplinary sanctions commisurate to seriousness and recidivism.

ART. 34 Member who is guilty of behaviours referred to in Article 9 of the Regulation, or of events which are inappropriate to professional dignity and decorum, is subject to disciplinary proceeding before C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators upon C.O.S. Board of Directors. motivated complaint. The outcome of the disciplinary proceeding shall be communicated by C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators to C.O.S. Board of Directors within 2 days from the conclusion of the enquiry.

ART. 35 Disciplinary sanctions are:

written warning;
suspension from Membership for a period not exceeding two years;
removal.

ART. 36 Written warning is a written reprimand for the infringement. It is imposed in case of non-negligible misuses or lacks which however do not affect professional dignity and decorum.

Member on whom the written warning has been imposed is punished through a not less than one month suspension whether he/she incurrs in new infringements.

ART. 37 Suspension is applicable in case of serious misuses or lacks which affect professional dignity and decorum.

The professional can however ask to C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators to bring about the cessation of the suspension if its conditions have dropped.

Temporary suspension implies the impossibility, for the sanctioned Member, to use his/her title as C.O.S. Member, to take part to any initiative organised or promoted by C.O.S., to have the right to take part in C.O.S. association activities or to vote and stand.

ART. 38 Removal is stated against the Member whose behaviour has seriously jeopardised his/her reputation and the dignity of the professional association.

Removal entails the cancellation of the Member from C.O.S. Professional List.

ART. 39 No disciplinary sanction can be imposed if the official accused, after statement of objections, has been invited before C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators with assignment of a term shorter than 7 days for the defence of his/her own reasons.

The official accused can ask the assistance of a defence lawyer.

The convened Member has to attend on the day indicated. If he/she can not, he/she has to warn C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators in a timely manner through C.O.S. Presidency. Default of appearance in second call shall imply the removal. This disciplinary sanction shall be imposed and deliberated by C.O.S. Board of Directors on demand of C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators.

ART. 40 At the end of the enquiry C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators expresses its opinion about the infringement of which the Member is accused.

C.O.S. reserves itselfthe duty to impose the prescribed sanction.

SUSPENSION OF MEMBERSHIP STATUS

ART. 41 A member who, on the 60th plus a a further 30 days (in accordance with the statutes) from the opening of the association year (intended from January the 1^st till December the 31^st) has not paid his/her association quota fee, will lose the related active and passive electorate rights and all those others reserved to active and paying members including insurance cover.

In case the Professional Member who has previously resigned as C.O.S. Member intends to enroll again in C.O.S. will be required to pay the current year quota fee and to follow one training seminar after which it can obtain the certificate of quality and professional qualification of the services provided (Art. 13 L.4/2013).

ART 42 Unjustified failure to apply the obligation of biennial professional development as described in article 24 of this C.O.S. Internal Regulation entails the loss of visibility from C.O.S. website Professional List and the right to receive the certificate of quality and professional qualification of the services provided (Art. 13 L.4/2013).

RULES C.O.S. LOCAL SECTIONS

ART. 43 In order to better achieve goals and objectives of this Regulation, C.O.S. shall be supported by Local Sections settled in locations different from that of the Board itself.

ART. 44 C.O.S. Local Sections do not have administrative nor financial autonomy, they operate through a Local Responsible, elected by C.O.S. Board of Directors on recommendation of the Members of the district in question, in office for two years and re-electable.

ART. 45 The Local Responsibles shall implement, in the district context, the directives of the C.O.S. and the of the C.O.S. Members’ Meeting and shall have the following tasks :

to participate, on behalf of the C.O.S. Board, in the Copal’s regional meetings and then to make a written report on the contents to the Board
write articles on institutional news in their region
be a reference figure for the members of their own territory and act as a trait-d’union between them and the Board of Directors
may be in charge of finding and proposing to the Board of Directors a venue for a conference.

ART. 46 All the activities of C.O.S. Local Sections do not have any formal duty, except as expressly stated by C.O.S. Regulation. C.O.S. Local Sections have to register all specific activities similar to the ones fixed by C.O.S.

RULES ABOUT C.O.S. BOARD OF ARBITRATORS

ART. 47 After its election, C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators shall meet to nominate the President, take the outgoing Board deliveries and establish a timetable for the work.

ART. 48 The President of C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators convenes the Board as necessary, draws up the provisional agenda and chairs the meeting. He/she has also to draw up the meeting minutes.

ART. 49 Members’ intervantion requests for C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators, C.O.S. Board of Directors or C.O.S. President have to be send to C.O.S. Presidency, which shall send them to the President of C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators, which shall insert them into the agenda of the subsequent meeting.

ART. 50 C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators validly deliberates if the majority of its members is present. Deliberations are determined by a simple majority and, in case of equality, the vote of the President of C.O.S. Board of Arbitrators has double and decisive value. If he/she can not be present, he/she can temporarily delegate his/her duties to another Member of the Board.

RULES ABOUT C.O.S. AUDITOR

ART. 51 C.O.S. Auditor shall express his/her opinion on the economic and financial management of the association.

ART. 52 If C.O.S. Members’ Meeting considers it to be necessary, it could elect as C.O.S. Auditor a Professional who is not a C.O.S. Member, on recommendation of C.O.S. Board of Directors. In this case C.O.S. President has to fix his/her fees.

RULES ABOUT C.O.S. SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

ART. 53 After its election by C.O.S. Board of Directors, C.O.S. Scientific Committee nominates among its members the President, who has to convene the Commitee, chairs its meetings and draws up the meeting minutes.

Selection criteria to nominate the representatives of C.O.S. Scientific Committee are:

they must be Professional Members with recognised experience
or they must be representatives of regulated professions.

ART. 54 C.O.S. Scientific Committee has to promote through its members’ ideas and activities researches and studies, conferences, seminars in order to enhance the Association initiatives.

Particularly, C.O.S. Scientific Committee duties are:

Propose to C.O.S. Board of Directors screening any cultural, scientific or volunteering initiatives, studies or researches;
Propose to C.O.S. Board of Directors screening topics and rapporteurs in order to organise seminars or conferences, included the ones for Professional Members’ professional development;
If it deems it necessary, it may express its own opinion, duly motivated, on the topics of the seminars valid for the professional updating of Professional Members. However, it will be exclusive task of the C.O.S. Board of Directors to deliberate on the maintenance or modification of the subject in question;
Express an assessment about the exam Thesis of Professional Members, in order to publish it on C.O.S. website.
Express an evaluation opinion on the Examination Theses of Professional Members, with a view to their publication on the C.O.S. website.

ART. 55 C.O.S. Scientific Committee Members are in office for five years and can be re-elected for a maximum of two mandates.

ART. 56 C.O.S. Scientific Committee validly deliberates when the majority of its members is present. Deliberations are determined by a simple majority and, in case of equality, the vote of the President of C.O.S. Scientific Committee has double and decisive value. If he/she can not be present, he/she can temporarily delegate his/her duties to another Member of the Committee.

ART. 57 If C.O.S. Scientific Committee considers it to be necessary, with the consent of C.O.S. Board of Directors, it may use the services of one or more Professionals with specific competences who are not C.O.S. Members. In this case C.O.S. President has to fix their fees.

RULES FOR THE REGISTRATION AT C.O.S. PROFESSIONAL TEACHERS' LIST

ART. 58 In order to enhance further professional competences of C.O.S. Professional Members, a C.O.S. Teachers Register is established.

People who can make a demand for registration on C.O.S. Teachers Register by filling a specific form are:

Professional Members who have got a certification as Training Teacher or a level-Teacher at one of the related Schools/Bodies (see articles 63, 64 and 65);
Teachers of non-related Schools/Bodies that have got the same standards of related Schools.
Teachers who do not belong to any school but have got certification for previous teaching identified by C.O.S. and a at least twenty-years’ experience as teacher.

In this context it must be specified that are qualified as:

“training teachers” the ones who have completed their entire training path for at least one year, Principals of Related Schools included.
“level-Teacher” the ones who lead one or more training levels and have an at least two-years’ experience for each level they’re qualified to teach.

Teachers who want to enroll in R.I.C. have to have the following requirements:

– they must be professional operators registered at C.O.S.;

– they must be aware of C.O.S. ethical code and commit to respect it;

– teachers qualified as teacher for a single level (or year) of training course can access to the register too;

– minimum duration of the training is fixed by Schools/Bodies.

ART. 59 While making his/her demand, the Professional Member shall attach to the above mentioned form the documents which certify his/her qualification as Teacher or Level-Teacher, and particularly:

training and professional teaching curriculum;
certification issued by the School/Body which has followed the training and guarantees for the teaching level.

ART. 60 Accepting the application for registration is subject to assessment and indisputable judgement of C.O.S. Board of Directors. If accepted, it shall be deliberated by the Board during the first meeting subsequent the receipt of the application.

ART. 61 Each Professional Member registered in the C.O.S. Teachers Register, for the purposes of maintaining the registration, is required to:

participate, every two years, in the national conference of the C.O.S.

Outdated teachers and didactic directors will not be able to offer refresher courses.

The Professional Member, who has fallen from enrollment in the C.O.S. Teachers Register, can request readmission to the Register only after having attended the national conference of the C.O.S.

RULES GOVERNING THE LIST OF MEMBER SCHOOLS/BODIES

ART. 62 In order to:

ensure professional quality gained concerning Shiatsu teaching by the Professional Members enrolled in C.O.S. Teachers Register;
ensure a valid quality and quantity of proposals concerning compulsory professional development for C.O.S. Professional Members;
delegate formalities relevant to bureaucratic operations of registration to exams for admission to the registration at C.O.S. Professional list

a C.O.S. related Schools/Bodies List is established.

ART. 63 A Shiatsu School or a related Body can ask to access to C.O.S. only if the have got the following requirements:

having finished a three-years’ training process or at least 650 hours made by 500 frontal shiatsu lessons plus 150 hours of guided and certified practices;
having contents adequate to a complete training on Shiatsu, whose modes of action use congruent techniques to apply it in an effective way;
having implemented an adequate progression of the introduction to practice and theoretical aspects of Shiatsu to effectively attain the completion of the set training process;
use instruments and modes which make effective the teaching activity: verification criteria of learning, adequate internship, support to student to introduce him/her to the role of professional;
that the School/Body has an educational interface, expert professional;
that the educational interface has been a training teacher at least for ten years and has the ability and the preparation to complete a training process;
that the educational interface takes charge of the adequate training of his/her teachers and proposes adequate development;
that is autonomous and visible from an administrative and fiscal point of view

ART 64 Can apply to join C.O.S. also a Shiatsu School / Related Institution specializing in postgraduate training programs, if they satisfy the following requirements:

that the school / institution has its own dean educational referent, experienced operator;
the educational referent is teacher trainer for at least 10 years and has the capability and preparedness to conduct a comprehensive training course;
that the modules, seminars, postgraduate education courses offered by the School / Related Institution have specific and specialized training connotation and meet the parameters expressed in art. 25-26-27 of this Regulation;
that is autonomous and visible from an administrative and fiscal point of view.

ART. 65 In a synergy and cooperation perspective, the C.O.S. schools / related institutions invited to:

enroll their trainers teachers and / or level teachers to COS Teachers Register under the rules set out in this Internal Regulation;
better targeting professionals trained at their school / related institution to take the registration exam to C.O.S. professional list.

C.O.S. Board of Directors takes the final and not subject to appeal decision about accepting or not the requests for enrollment made by related Schools/Entities.

C.O.S. President

ANNEX 1 TO THE INTERNAL REGULATIONS OF COS COORDINAMENTO OPERATORI SHIATSU

By resolution of the Board of Directors of 17 December 2015, it is established that from 1 January 2016 the membership fee is adjusted to 150,00 (one hundred and fifty) euros.