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II. Membership

§ 5 Types of members

The society shall have full members, sponsoring members, student members and honorary members. The membership of the society shall be voluntary.

1. Full members can be individual or legal persons, associations, corporate bodies or public agencies, societies, communities of interests and authorities.
2. Sponsoring members can be individual or legal persons, associations, corporate bodies or public agencies, communities of interests and authorities that are able and prepared to ideally and materially sponsor the purpose of the society.
3. Students of various branches of study can join the society as student members. Student members shall give evidence of their status by presenting a current certificate of enrolment once per year.
4. Based on proposals submitted by the board of directors, the general meeting shall have the right to appoint persons as honorary members who especially promoted the purposes of the society.
    

§ 6 Acquisition of membership

1. Any individual and legal person can become a member of the society. The application of membership shall be submitted in writing and contain the name and address of the applicant.
2. With the submission of the application, the applicant accepts the articles of association in case of his or her acceptance.
3. The board of directors shall decide upon the acceptance. The board of directors shall not be obliged to disclose possible reasons of rejection. The applicant can appeal to the advisory council within a cut-off period of 10 days following receipt of the rejection notice.
    

§ 7 Membership fees

1. The society's costs incurred by pursuing the purposes laid down in its articles of association shall be met by membership fees of its members and by voluntary allocations.
2. The amount of the fees shall be determined by the general meeting based on a proposal of the board of directors. If student members fail to present a record of study in proper form, they shall have to pay membership fees equal to the amount ordinary members have to pay. Honorary members shall be exempt from paying membership fees.
3. The membership fee shall be paid in advance and on a yearly basis. If membership starts during the second half of the calendar year, half of the membership fee shall have to be paid. Membership fees shall be due on demand.
4. The board of directors shall be entitled to defer, reduce or waive fees of a member in case of extraordinary circumstances.
    

§ 8 Termination of membership

The membership shall terminate