The Statutes/Procedures Proposal had been adopted by the International Council in October, 1996, in Capri, Italy. The draft document, therefore, was prepared under the auspices of a Swiss attorney, and was presented to the International Council 28 May 1997 in Seattle, Washington, USA. The National Vice Presidents were directed to discuss the documents with their national association members and remit their comments to Liga Treasurer Dr. Ton Nicolai (the Netherlands) before 14 October 1997. They were to be voted upon at the Triennial (Extraordinary) Assembly held in
Amsterdam, April, 1998.

While predicated on the prioritized goals of the Liga established at the International Council Meeting in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1995, the two primary reasons for the constitutional changes were to make it easier to effect desired changes in the Liga and to make the Liga more democratic.

Additional actions taken at the 1997 International Council Meeting included a draft document, "National LMHI Elections Proposal" prepared by LMHI General Secretary Dr. Carles Amengual (Spain) which also was to be discussed by the National Vice Presidents with their respective national associations, the resulting comments and suggestions to be forwarded to the Office of the Prime General Secretary by 01 October 1997.

Also, a Reader's Survey for The Liga Letter was deemed necessary and was distributed with the October, 1997, issue of the newsletter. It solicited feedback regarding the newsletter and the issue of publishing advertisements therein. The tabulated results were positive in the former instance and affirmative in the latter.

A decision was taken at the 1997 International Council Meeting, as well, that no clinical paper should be presented in a LMHI Congress by those not licensed to practice in their country.

An Advisory was disseminated that the manifold tasks of the National Vice President being so complex, s/he would be advised to appoint a team to aid in their fulfillment.

Ukraine and Costa Rica were unanimously accepted as new members at the Seattle 1997 International Council Meeting. Poland, Republic of Georgia, and South Africa had been accepted as new LMHI members in 1996 in Capri, Italy.

The Liga Book Project, proposed by National Vice President, LMHI, India, Dr. D. Vijay Chand to the Executive Officers in 1996, in which proceeds from the 49th LMHI Congress held in New Delhi in March, 1995, would be used to provide homeopathic texts to financially challenged countries, gratefully acknowledged in The Liga Letter, Vol. 3, #1, March, 1997, was discussed again in May, 1997, in Seattle at the International Council Meeting. The Procedure Document for that project was published in The Liga Letter, Vol. 3, #2, October, 1997.

Educational Standards

As had occurred in Oaxaca (1995) and Capri (1996), an adjunctive meeting, chaired by the Liga General Secretary for Education Dr. Cesar Cremonini (Argentina) was held at the 52nd Congress in Seattle, Washington, in 1997. The task that he shouldered was twofold. One was to work toward a consensus for Basic Standards of Homeopathic Physician Education in the Americas, as had been achieved in Europe, and the second was to work toward the establishment of a global Basic Permanent Training Plan for Teachers of Homeopathic Schools.

Homeopathic Pharmacy

At the time of the 1997 Seattle meeting, a second ancillary meeting occurred under the auspices of the LMHI General Secretary for Pharmacy Dr. Amarilys de Toledo Cesar (Brazil), the first such meeting having taken place in Capri in 1996. To the two tasks initiated in 1996, Nomenclature of Homeopathic Remedies and Basic Text on Homeopathic Good Manufacturing Practices (HGMP) was added, at the Seattle meeting, Techniques of Manufacturing and Preparation of the remedies.

Another matter that was broached at the International Council Meeting in 1997 in Seattle was the designation for the office traditionally termed "National Vice President, LMHI." Member countries were asked to vote regarding this point by mail ballot. While some consideration had been given to changing the designation to "Delegate," the vote left "National Vice President" as the title of record.

Public Relations

LMHI General Secretary Dr. Jose Matuk (Mexico) distributed the update of his invaluable Directory of the Executive Committee and the International Council which he has been publishing annually since 1995. He also proposed a "Standardization of Annual Reports from National Vice Presidents" which was published in The Liga Letter, Vol. 3, #2, October, 1997. His internet page for the LMHI, having been created prior to the 1996 meeting of the International Council in Capri, continued in its development at the 1997 Seattle meeting, where he requested histories of homeopathy in each member country from the National Vice Presidents of the respective countries. There was also to be a link between the LMHI Web Page under the auspices of the General Secretary for Public Relations and that under the auspices of the General Secretary for Pharmacy.

April, 1998, was the time of the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Liga membership to be held in conjunction with the 53rd Congress of LMHI in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Liga had returned to the land of its birth (Rotterdam, 1925) in order to experience a rebirth.

The International Council Meeting convened on 25 April 1998 with the auspicious start of welcoming National Vice Presidents from Estonia and Latvia, as well as representatives in attendance from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. The previously published National LMHI Elections Proposal (The Liga Letter, Vol. 4, #1, p. 11.) was approved at this meeting. The slide-illustrated results of The Liga Letter Readers' Survey (published in the March 1998 Liga Letter, Vol. 4, #1, pp 26-27) were presented by Editor Dr. Sandra M. Chase (USA). The feedback had been positive. Additionally, it was decided to publish the 1998 biannual issues of The Liga Letter in Portuguese with the triennial report of the Liga and distribute them free to the thousands of homeopathic physicians in Brazil. This was an effort to support the 54th Congress of Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, and to interest the many Brazilian homeopaths in institutional membership in the Liga.

On Sunday 26 April 1998, the Extraordinary General Assembly opened. President Dr. Sandra M. Chase gave the requisite report regarding the progress of the Liga since the last General Assembly held in March, 1995, in New Delhi, India, illustrating her points with overhead transparencies. Thereafter, the attention of the assembly turned to the main topic of business which was the new Statutes and Procedures of the Liga. A vote by a raising of hands overwhelmingly approved the acceptance of their new constitutional documents with the proviso that two matters, one relating to quorum and the other to definition of membership, be addressed by the Swiss legal counsel.

With this historic vote, those members in attendance at this Extraordinary General Assembly participated in a rebirth of a more thoroughly democratized Liga. Moreover, these changes achieved in the new constitutional documents carried forth the will of the surveyed membership dating back to the Membership Survey prior to and the decisions taken in 1995 in Oaxaca.

There would be increased representation worldwide by encouragement of institutional membership of as many national associations as possible within a country via the auspices of the National Vice President.
Institutional Membership has been incorporated into the new Statutes. The possibility for the International Council, which meets annually, to appoint Working Committees, instead of the General Assembly which meets only triennially, has been added to the new Statutes/Procedures. More implementation of Liga decisions can occur under the new Statutes because the ultimate governing authority is the annually-meeting International Council, rather than the now defunct General Assembly. Finally, most significantly the one country, one vote International Council is much more democratic than was the General Assembly in which host country Liga members' greater numbers in attendance could sway the outcome of any measure.

Monday 27 April 1998 was the date for the first meeting of the International Council under the new Statutes/Procedures. Copies of these documents with the pertinent Articles modified as mentioned above were directed to be distributed by mail to the International Council Members in order to facilitate a vote at the next such meeting in Brazil in October, 1999. The 1998 Council Meeting concluded with the election of the new officers.

The 1998 Liga meetings were again marked by adjunctive meetings chaired by the LMHI General Secretary for Education Dr. Cesar Cremonini and the LMHI General Secretary for Pharmacy Dr. Amarilys de Toledo Cesar, respectively. Between the 1998 and 1999 Liga Meetings in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Salvador, Brazil, respectively, another crucial change occurred in regard to the Liga. After successful negotiations headed by newly-elected LMHI General Secretary Dr. Ulrich Fischer (Germany), the Liga Archives were moved from London's Faculty of Homeopathy to the Institut für Geschichte der Medizin in Stuttgart, Germany. This institute, the most important in Germany for history in medicine, including homeopathic medicine, containing many important volumes and papers belonging to Hahnemann and von Boenninghausen, offered to maintain the Liga Archives, free of charge. A mutually agreeable contract between the Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis and the Institut für Geschichte der Medizin was consummated.

The International Council Meeting held in conjunction with the 54th Congress of LMHI in Brazil in 1999 acted to finalize the remaining matters relative to the new constitutional documents, the Statutes/Procedures. The Quorum was maintained as recommended by the Swiss attorney. Article 5 of the Procedures was adopted with the modification of language to reflect that members of the Executive Committee may come from members of national homeopathic associations affiliated to or individual members of, the association. Article 12 of the Procedures was accepted with the modification of the reinsertion of the duties of the National Vice President and the appending of one additional paragraph.

Additionally, the International Council at that meeting acted to extend the professionalization of the Liga which they had started at the former meeting in Oaxaca in 1995. Allocation of funds to cover expenses of the General Secretaries for economy travel and three nights' hotel stay expanded that previously established professionalization from the Executive Officers to the balance of the Executive Committee.

Funds were allocated to investigate the LMHI's standing in the Gutmann Legacy and to support the renovation of Köthen House in Germany when Hahnemann spent part of his life.

As the Liga looks forward in the new millennium, it continues to address the priorities established by its own membership via the direct mail Membership Survey. This assessment tool was created and review by LMHI Prime General Secretary Dr. Carles Amengual and LMHI Treasurer Dr. Ton Nicolai who produced the Recommendations Report considered at the International Council in Oaxaca in 1995.

At the International Council Meeting in conjunction with the 55th Congress of LMHI in May, 2000, in Budapest, an LMHI Resolution on Homeopathy has been considered. The thrust of this five point document is to advance the global representativity of the Liga Medicorum Homeopathica Internationalis. The effort started with the change in the Statutes/Procedures to encourage institutional membership, followed by the International Council statement calling for the National Vice President to encourage Liga membership for all of the national associations in his/her respective country (October, 1996). This LMHI
Resolution on Homeopathy seeks to find a consensus document by which Liga membership and, thereby, Liga representativity, can be universalized across ideological viewpoints. Only then can the Liga truly represent homeopathic medicine to the world and homeopathic physicians in the world.