Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Law 1961 (5721)
Establishment of the Academy
1. There is hereby established the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (herein referred as "the Academy").
Objectives
2. The objectives and functions of the Academy are:
(1) to enlist as its members distinguished scholars and scientists resident in Israel;
(2) (Amendment 2; 5770/2010) to advise the government on activities relating to research and scientific planning of national significance, including—at its own initiative—providing assessments of the state of science in Israel and submitting said reports and overviews as detailed in section 4c as well as providing advice and information as detailed in section 4b;
(3) (Amendment 2; 5770/2010) to cultivate and promote scholarly and scientific endeavor, including interdisciplinary scientific activity and activity in new fields of science;
(4) to maintain contact with parallel bodies abroad;
(5) in coordination with State institutions, to ensure the representation of Israeli scholarship and science at international institutions and conferences;
(6) to publish writings calculated to promote scholarship and science;
(7) to engage in any other activity that serves the aforesaid objects.
Seat of the Academy
3. The seat of the Academy shall be in Jerusalem.
Competency
4. The Academy shall be a body corporate, competent to assume any obligation or right and to perform any legal act.
4.a. For the purpose of the Income Tax Ordinance, the Academy is considered an institution of a public character for matters of culture, education and science: every business transaction of the Academy and all its properties will be exempt from all dues, property taxes, or other obligatory payments which are payable to the State or to a local authority.
4.b. (Amendment 2; 5770/2010) Receiving advice and information from the Academy. A government ministry is entitled to seek advice and information related to topics in the purview of the Academy’s objectives and functions that it requires or topics related to the development of science in Israel. The provision of said advice and information shall be funded by the budget of the relevant ministry to the extent required for its execution, subject to the terms of the Budget Foundations Law; for the purposes of this section. “Budget Foundations Law” refers to the 5745/1985 Law; the term “budget item”, as used in the law establishing the annual budget is as understood in the Budget Foundations Law.
4.c. (Amendment 2; 5770/2010) Reporting to the government and to the Knesset.
4.c.1 The Academy shall prepare an Annual Report of its activities as well as a triennial Overview of the State of Science and Research in Israel (henceforth, “the Overview”) in comparison to the world. The aforesaid overview may relate to specific fields of science, as determined by the Academy or as requested by the government.
4.c.2 The Annual Report and the Overview (section 4.c.1, above) shall be presented to the Minister of Science and Technology; the Ministerial Committee for Science and Technology , as determined by the government, shall convene a discussion of the Report and Overview soon after the submission of each of those documents. The government shall convene said discussion within one year of the submission of the particular document.
4.c.3 The Annual Report and the Overview (section 4.c.1, above) shall be presented to the Science and Technology Committee of the Knesset; the Committee shall hold a discussion of the Report and of the Overview within one year of the submission of the particular document.
Members of the Academy
5. The members of the Academy shall be the members of the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the National Academy of Sciences and Humanities, appointed by Government resolution dated 26 Cheshvan, 5719/9 November, 1958, and further members to be elected by the Academy at a General Meeting.
Membership and Termination
6. A member of the Academy shall be a member thereof for life; provided that his membership shall terminate –
(1) if he requests the President of the Academy, in writing, to regard his place as vacant; or
(2) if he ceases to be a resident of Israel and is not a non-resident member; or
(3) if he is convicted of an offense by final judgment and the Academy finds that in the circumstances of the case the offense involves moral turpitude.
President and Deputy President
7. The President of the Academy shall be appointed by the President of the State, upon the recommendation of the Academy, from among the members resident in Israel. The President of the Academy shall be appointed for three years, but he shall continue in office until the next appointment of a President of the Academy; the Deputy President shall be elected by the Academy.
The Sections
8. The Academy shall consist of a Humanities Section and a Sciences Section. Each Section shall elect a Chairperson of the Section.
Academy Council
9. The affairs of the Academy shall be managed by the Council of the Academy.
Composition of the Council
10. The Council of the Academy shall consist of the President of the Academy, the Deputy President, the Chairperson of the Humanities Section, the Chairperson of the Sciences Section and an Administrative Director to be appointed by the other members of the Council. In the absence of the President, his place shall be taken by the Deputy President. In the absence of both the President and the Deputy President, the Council shall elect an Acting President, from among the members of the Academy, for the duration of the absence of the President and the Deputy President.
General Meetings
11. The Academy shall convene for a General Meeting as may be necessary, but at least once a year, for the following purposes:
(1) to perform any act assigned to the General Meeting by this Law or by the Rules;
(2) to decide upon the approval of the reports of the Council, the plan of operations of the Academy and its institutions, which shall be submitted by the Council, the report of the auditor and the draft budget;
(3) to decide upon any other matter which will be placed on the agenda of the General Meeting by the Council or by five of the members of the Academy.
Foreign Members
12. The Academy may elect eminent scholars and scientists resident abroad as non-resident members of the Academy.
Implementation
13. The Minister of Education and Culture is charged with the implementation of this Law.
Charter
14. The Academy may, in consultation with the Minister of Education and Culture, formulate the Charter of the Academy, prescribing, inter alia –
(1) the rules - in so far as not prescribed by this Law - by which the Academy shall elect its members and officers;
(2) the work procedure of the Academy and its institutions;
(3) the management of property and finances;
(4) the status and rights of non-resident members.
Transition
15. (a) The Rules of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities which were approved by the Government on the 10th Elul, 5719/13 September, 1958, except the provisions thereof embodied in the Law, shall, mutatis mutandis, be the Rules of the Academy so long as they are not varied or replaced under section 14.
(b) Any election to the Academy and any appointment to an office therein, and any act for the furtherance thereof or the furtherance of its activities, which were made or done in accordance with the Rules of the Academy before the coming into force of this Law, shall be valid as from the day they were made or done.
The English translation is based on the text of the Israel Academy of Sciences Law, as published by Nevo Publications
* Published in Reshumot 5721 no. 348 dated 23.06.1961, page 193 (Knesset Bill 5721 no. 452, page 134).
Amended: Reshumot 5733 no. 679 dated 18.01.1973, page 45 (Knesset Bill 5732 no. 995, page 268)
Amended: Reshumot 5770 no.2256 dated 29.07.2010 page 649 (Knesset Bill 5770 no. 333, page 191)