The organs of the IPPF are: the Council of the Foundation (i.e. The IPPF Board), the three Committees of the Foundation, and the auditing body. The Council is the supreme body of the IPPF and is responsible for its administration. The Council is composed of five members, being a President, a Secretary-General, a Treasurer and two Vice-Presidents.
The IPPF has three committees whose members are persons who have distinguished themselves in the field of crime prevention and the treatment of offenders. The committees of the Foundation are: the Principal Committee (1st Committee), the Associates Committee (2nd Committee) and the Fellows Committee (3th Committee). The members of the committees are from countries all over the world covering all continents.
The Principal Committee
(1st Committee, 75 seats)
The Principal Committee plays an advisory and consultative role with respect to the Council on the activities of the Foundation. The Principal Committee is made up of persons from each country that was represented on the International Penal and Penitentiary Commission (IPPC), which was subsequently disbanded and succeeded by the Foundation. The aforesaid countries – numbering twenty-five – are as follows: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Norway, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Each country can have a maximum of three members on the Principal Committee.
The Members of the Principal Committee are required to actively contribute to achieving the goals and activities of the Foundation.
The three members of each country shall represent the judiciary, the criminal justice and prison administration, and academia.
All members of the Principle Committee are elected by a two-thirds majority both of the senior voting members of the Principal Committee as hereinafter defined and of the members of the Council. A person elected shall become a member of the Principal Committee when his or her election has been approved by his or her government.
The Associates Committee
(2nd Committee, 75 seats)
The Associates Committee plays an advisory and consultative role on subjects submitted to its members by the Council related to the IPPF’s activities.
The Associates Committee is comprised of not more than seventy-five persons. The members are: a) from a non-member country (see The Principal Committee), although in no case are there more than three members from any such country; or b) are affiliated with a public or private international organization that is relevant to the field of crime prevention and the treatment of offenders, although in no case shall there be more than three members from any such organization.
The Fellows Committee
(3rd Committee, unlimited number of seats)
The Fellows Committee plays an advisory and consultative role on subjects submitted to its members by the Council relative to the Foundation’s activities. The Fellows Committee is comprised of former members of the Principal Committee and of the Associates Committee who have expressed a wish to stay involved in the work of the Foundation.