3 Committee (continued)

Meetings of the committee shall be held as often as deemed necessary but at least once every six months.

A quorum for committee meetings shall be half the number of members plus one.

Committee meetings shall normally be chaired by the chairman of the Club or, in his/her absence, the vice chairman.  If both are absent then the meeting shall elect a person to chair proceedings.

The committee shall have the power to co-opt members in the event of positions becoming vacant between General Meetings.  Those co-opted shall have full voting rights but will only hold office until the next General Meeting at which an election of Officers and Committee takes place.

No individual who has been a Club member for less than two years may be elected to the committee.

Members will be bound by the Club Rules, including the Code of Ethics.  Members shall not by reason of membership be under any financial liability except for payment of annual subscriptions.

An up to date list of members and their addresses must be maintained and, if so requested, made available for inspection by the Kennel Club and members of the Club.  A declaration of the number of members of the Club must be made with the Annual Returns.

Each Full Member shall be entitled to one vote at a General Meeting provided his/her application for membership has been received and accepted by the Committee by 31^st December of the preceding year and the current year’s subscriptions have been paid.

Each individual in a joint membership shall be treated a Full Member, with one vote each.   Proxy votes shall not be allowed.  Voting at a General Meeting shall be by show of hands unless decided otherwise by the meeting.

In the event of an equality of votes, the person chairing the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

7 Club Property

The property of the Club shall be vested in the Committee.  In the event of the Club ceasing to exist, a final General Meeting shall be called to decide the disposal of the Club’s assets and the outcome of the meeting notified to the Kennel Club.  The officers and committee shall be responsible for the proper winding up of the Club and must forward a final statement of accounts with a record of the disposal of the Club’s property to the Kennel Club within six months.

Any person on ceasing to be a member of the Club shall forfeit any right to and claim upon the Club, it’s assets and funds that arise solely from his/her membership.

8 Club Accounts

A banking account shall be held in the name of the Club into which all revenues of the Club shall be paid and from which withdrawal shall only be made on the signature of two of a panel of three officers of the Club to be agreed annually by the Club Committee.

The account will be operated by the treasurer, who will produce a report for the preceding financial year to be presented to the Annual General Meeting.  The report must be audited by a qualified accountant who should be appointed at the Annual Meeting to act for the following year.                           

9 Subscriptions

The annual subscription shall be such amount as agreed by members at General Meeting and notified to the Kennel Club.  Subscriptions are payable to the Club treasurer on 1^st January.  No member whose subscription is unpaid shall be entitled to any of the privileges of membership and if the member shall fail to pay outstanding subscriptions by 1^st February his/her name shall be automatically erased from the register.  Acceptance back onto the register will be dependent upon a new application.

Notwithstanding the foregoing: a first subscription received during the last 3 months of the year shall be deemed to include the subscription for the following year.

Any member who shall be suspended under Kennel Club rule A42j(5) and/or any member whose dog(s) is/are disqualified under Kennel Club rule A42j(9) shall ipso facto cease to be a member of the Club.

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 may, at a meeting the notice of 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 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 forthwith be 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 condition as the Kennel Club may impose.

If the Club expels any member for discreditable conduct in connection with dogs, dog shows, trials or competitions, the Club must report the matter in writing to the Kennel Club within seven days and supply any particulars required.

The financial year of the Club shall be from 1^st January to 31^st December.

The Annual General Meeting shall be held before the end of April each year at a date, time and venue to be arranged by the committee.

The Annual General Meeting shall be convened to receive reports from the Officers; the audited Club financial accounts; to elect officers and committee members for the following year; to consider proposed rule changes; to consider special matters raised by the Committee or proposed by members.

The notice convening the meeting shall be sent to members not less than 42 days before the date; notice of matters to be raised and nominations for officers and committee must be submitted to the Secretary not less than 28 days before the meeting and the Agenda shall be circulated 14 days before the meeting.

Those officers and committee members retiring under the rota shall, unless they resign, be deemed nominated for re-election.  Other nominations for the Officers and Committee should be in writing signed by two members other than the nominee and include a supporting statement from the nominee not exceeding 80 words.

Those nominated as Officers but not elected will be deemed to have been also nominated for the Committee.

If there are no more nominees than the number of places available then the nominees will be deemed elected.  Outstanding vacancies may be filled by nomination from the floor of the meeting.

No business shall be transacted at the meeting that is not on the Agenda with the exception of routine matters or those which, in the opinion of the person chairing the meeting, are urgent.

A Special General Meeting shall be summoned by the secretary within 21 days if not less than 25 members send a signed requisition stating the subject to be discussed and requesting a Special General Meeting to do so.  The Club committee is also empowered to call a Special General Meeting at any time.

No business other than that detailed on the agenda can be discussed at the meeting.

The rules of the Club may not be altered except at a General Meeting, the notice 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.  New rules or amendments introduced specifically to meet Kennel Club requirements shall be adopted immediately.

The Officers acknowledge that, during the month of January each year, the Maintenance of Title fee will be forwarded to the Kennel Club by the secretary for continuance of registration and that, by 31^st July each year, other returns, as stipulated Kennel Club Regulations for the Maintenance of Title of Societies and Breed Councils and the Affiliation of Agricultural Societies and Municipal Authorities shall be forwarded to the Kennel Club.

The Officers also acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel club of any changes of Secretary of the Club which may occur during the course of the year.

The Kennel Club is the final authority for interpreting the rules of the Club in all cases relating to canine or club matters.

The Club shall not join any Federation of Societies or Clubs.

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

The Club shall produce a list of Approved Judges each year to be submitted to the Kennel Club as part of the Annual Returns to indicate to interested parties those persons that the Club would support at different levels of judging.  These need not be members of the Club.  The list should include the date on which it expires and a new list must be completed on expiry.  The list should be divided into 5 parts:

A1 list:  Judges who have previously been approved to award CCs in a given breed and have carried out the appointment.

A2 list:  Judges who, if invited to judge by a Society, would in principle be approved by the Kennel Club to award CCs in a given breed for that occasion.

A3 list:  Judges who are recommended by the Club as being suitable to award CCs in the breed but not yet approved by the Kennel Club for inclusion on an A2 list.

B list:    Judges who have been approved by the Club to judge at shows without CCs or at Open Shows.

C list:    Any aspiring judges approved by the Club who do not fall into any of the above categories.

Individuals wishing to be included on the list may obtain a form from the Club secretary.  Applicants will normally be expected to have undertaken the Club’s basic or advance training course as appropriate for the list onto which they will be included.

A Judges Sub-Committee shall be appointed annually by the Club Committee to prepare the lists.  At least 75% of the sub-committee should be CC judges experienced within the breed but need not be members of the Club Committee.  The lists should be drawn up by secret ballot of the Sub-Committee and is not subject to ratification by the Committee or membership of the Club.

Agreed at Annual Meeting 2012.  Approved by the Kennel Club April 2012