4 Election of Officers and Committee

The Officers and the Committee shall be elected by postal ballot to be held during the first 3 months of each year. The management of the Club shall be in the hands of the Officers of the Club and a Committee consisting of up to 9 other committee members, with a minimum of 5 other committee members whom, one third shall retire annually on rotation, but being eligible shall offer themselves for re-election.

Nominations shall be signed by 2 Club members other than the nominee and shall be accompanied with the nominees written agreement to accept nomination together with a statement not exceeding 80 words signed by the nominee explaining his qualifications for the post for which he is nominated. Nominees and nominators shall be Full Members of the Club for not less than 2 consecutive years on 1st January of the year in which the ballot is held.

Nominations shall be sent to the Secretary not later than a date of which at least 2 weeks notice shall be given, and the Secretary shall accept every nomination which does not contravene these Rules. The Secretary shall send to each Full Member a ballot paper which shall list the names and addresses of the nominees, the names of their nominators and the statement of qualifications. Candidates for contested offices shall be deemed to have been nominated also for a seat on the Committee and votes cast for them in the latter category shall be counted if they are not elected to an office for which they have been nominated.

The ballot shall be controlled by the Club's Scrutineer who alone shall receive and see the voting papers.  The result of the ballot shall be announced at the Annual General Meeting of that year and those elected shall there upon take office and subject to termination of office by resignation or otherwise shall remain in office until the announcement of their successors at the next following Annual General Meeting. Each retiring Officer or Committee Member shall be deemed to have been nominated for re-election unless he has been absent from 3 consecutive Committee Meetings of which he has received notice preceding the date set for receipt of nominations.

No person whilst an undischarged bankrupt may serve on the Committee of or hold any other office or appointment with a Kennel Club Registered Society.

5 Membership

Any person interested in the breed of dog known as the Finnish Lapphund whether an owner or not, shall be eligible for Membership provided that his application for Membership has been made in writing to the Membership Secretary accompanied by his first subscription and has not been rejected by the Committee. If the application is not so rejected the Membership Secretary shall notify the applicant in writing of his admission to Membership, furnish him with a copy of the Rules and issue a receipt for his subscription. If the application is rejected the Membership Secretary shall so inform the applicant and shall return to him the money paid as subscription (No reason for rejection need be given).

A Member who joins before his 16th birthday shall be a Junior Member and shall not be entitled to vote in the election of Officers and Committee nor upon any motion at any General Meeting of the Club. All other Members, except overseas members shall for the purpose of these Rules be Full Members. A Junior Member shall not become a full Member until his 16th birthday and only after his completed application to join the Club as a full member has been approved by the committee and he has paid a Full Members subscription whichever is the later but he shall be liable to pay a Full Members subscription on the first occasion on which his subscription fall due after his 16th birthday.

Any Full Member may be elected a Life Member by a two-thirds majority of those entitled to vote and voting at an Annual General Meeting of the Club but he shall not thereby cease to be a Full Member. Two Members of the same family or two people owning one or more dogs in partnership may be joint Members for the purpose of Rule 6 but each Member of such joint Membership shall nevertheless be a Junior Member or a Full Member as defined in the Rule A Life Member shall not be a Member of a Joint Membership. The Club must make a list of Members and their addresses available for inspection, if so requested by the Members of the Club or by the Kennel Club.

6 Voting Rights

Each Full Member shall be entitled to one vote at a General Meeting provided his application for membership has been received and accepted by the Committee by 31st December of the year prior to the general Meeting.

In the case of joint Memberships, each individual is entitled to one vote providing they are Full Members and the above statement is fulfilled. Voting at a General Meeting shall be by a show of hands (proxy votes are not allowed).

7 Subscriptions

The annual subscription shall be such amount as agreed by Members in General Meeting and notified to the Kennel Club. All subscriptions are payable to the Honorary Treasurer on the 1st January in each year. No member whose subscription is unpaid is entitled to any of the privileges of Membership and if the Member shall fail to pay outstanding subscriptions by 1st February his/her name shall be automatically erased from the register. Acceptance back on the register will be dependant upon a new application. Notwithstanding the foregoing a first subscription received during the last 3 months of a year shall be deemed to include the subscription for the whole of the next following year.

8 Expulsion

Any member who shall be suspended under Kennel Club Rule A42j (4) and/or any member whose dog(s) is/are disqualified under Kennel Club Rule A42j (8) shall ipso facto cease to be a Member of the Club for the duration of the suspension and/or disqualification.

If the conduct of any Member shall, in the opinion of the Committee of the Club be injurious or likely to be injurious to the character or interests of the Club, the Committee of the Club may, at a meeting the notice convening which includes as an object the consideration of the conduct of the Member, determine that a Special General Meeting of the Club shall be called for the purpose of passing a resolution to expel him/her.

Notice of the Special General Meeting shall be sent to the accused Member, giving particulars of the complaint and advising him of the place, date and hour of the meeting that he/she may attend and offer an explanation. If at the meeting a resolution to expel is passed by a two-thirds majority of the Members present and voting, his/her name shall be forthwith erased from the list of Members and he/she shall thereupon cease for all purposes to be a Member of the Club, except that he/she may within two calendar months from the date of such meeting, appeal to the Kennel Club upon and subject to such conditions as the Kennel Club may impose.

9 Effect Of Ceasing To Be A Member

Any person on ceasing to be a Member of the Club shall forfeit any right to and claim upon the Club it's property and funds arising solely from his Membership.

10 Club Accounts

A banking account shall be held in the name of the Club into which all revenues of the Club shall be paid. It shall be operated by the Hon. Treasurer for the time being. Cheques shall be signed or endorsed on behalf of the Club by any two Members of a panel of four signatories; the panel shall be appointed annually by the Committee from among the President, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer for the time being. The accounts of the Club shall be kept by the Hon. Treasurer and shall as soon as practicable after the end of the financial year be audited by a qualified accountant or firm of qualified accountants who shall be appointed at each Annual General Meeting.

11 Annual General Meeting

The financial year of the Club shall end on 31st December in each year to which day the Accounts of the Club shall be balanced. The Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held before 31st March in each year, upon a date and time to be fixed by the Committee for the following purposes:

To consider and, if approved, sanction any duly made alteration of the Rules.

To receive the results of the postal ballot for the Officers and the Committee.

To deal with any special matter which the Committee desires to bring before the Members and to receive suggestions from the Members for consideration by the Committee and to discuss any matter of which prior notice shall have been given to the Secretary at least 28 days prior to the AGM.

Notice convening the General Meeting shall be sent to the members not less than 42 days before the meeting and shall specify the matters to be dealt with. No business shall be transacted at an Annual General Meeting unless notice thereof appears on the Agenda, with the exception of routine matters or those, which, in the opinion of the Chairman of the Meeting, are urgent.

12 Special General Meeting

A Special General Meeting may be convened at any time by the Committee and shall be convened within 21 days from the receipt by the Secretary of a requisition in writing signed by not less than 25 Full Members specifying the object of the meeting.

Notice convening the Special General Meeting shall be sent to the Members not less that 14 days before the meeting and shall specify the matters to be dealt with. No business other than that named in the notice shall be brought before a Special General Meeting.

13 At all General Meeting of the Club the President or in his absence the Chairman or in the absence of both of them a Chairman shall be elected from the Committee shall take the Chair. Every Member present entitled to vote shall have one vote upon every motion and in the case of equality of votes the Officer in the Chair shall have a second or casting vote.

14 Amendments To Rules

The Rules of the Club may not be altered except at a General Meeting, the Agenda for which contains specific proposals to amend the Rules. Any proposed alteration to the Rules may not be brought into effect until the Kennel Club has been advised and approved the alteration. For the purposes of this Rule the Code of Ethics shall be deemed to be a part of these Rules.

15 Kennel Club Final Court Of Appeal

The Kennel Club shall be the final court of appeal in all matters of dispute.

16 Conditions Of Membership

Every Member shall be bound by and submit to these Rules and the current issue of the Code of Ethics shall for all purposed be deemed to be a part of these Rules. A Member shall not by reason of his Membership be under any financial liability except for payment of his annual subscription.

17 Notices

All notices required by these Rules to be given to Members of the Club maybe given by prepaid letter addressed to a Member at the last address which he has furnished to the Secretary and shall be deemed to have been given at the expiration of 48 hours after the posting of the letter except for addresses outside the United Kingdom. Members must furnish the Secretary with their addresses as necessary.

18 Property Of The Club

The property of the Club shall be vested in the Committee and in the event of the Club ceasing to exist a Special General Meeting shall be called to decide the disposal of any assets. The Kennel Club to be notified of all action taken. The donor of a Challenge Cup or other trophy shall be required to sign a paper acknowledging that such Cup or trophy is an outright gift to the Club.

19 Federations

The Club shall not join any federation of societies of clubs.

20 List Of Approved Judges

The Committee shall as often as required and in any case at least once a year prepare a List of Approved Judges of the Breed, which shall distinguish the judges approved for Championship Shows from those approved for Open Shows only. Nominations by Club Members for addition to or deletion from such list shall be in writing signed by at least 2 Members and may be sent to the Secretary at any time and such nominations shall be considered by the Committee as soon as practicable thereafter. The Secretary shall invite nominees for addition to the List to reply to a questionnaire setting out their experience in judging dogs in general and the Finnish Lapphund in particular and the Committee shall not authorise such addition without having considered such reply. Amendments to the List shall be announced to the Members as soon as possible.

21 Annual Returns To The Kennel Club

(Note: in this Rule only, the work `Officer` means the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer).

The Officers acknowledge that during the month of January each year, Maintenance of Title Fee will be forwarded to the Kennel Club by the Secretary for continuance of Registration and that by 31st July each year, other returns, as stipulated in the Kennel Club Regulations for the Registration and Maintenance of Title of Societies and Breed Councils and the Affiliation of Agricultural Societies and Municipal Authorities be forwarded to the Kennel Club. The Officers also acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel Club of the month in which the Club's Annual General Meeting is held and to notify the Kennel Club of any subsequent amendments to that date.