RULES - Revised and amended April 2007
1 GENERAL
1.1 The name of the Society shall be “The Caledonian Society of Cyprus”.
1.2 In these rules, unless the context requires otherwise:
“Society” means The Caledonian Society of Cyprus
“Rules” means these General Rules
“Committee” means the General Committee of the Society
1.3 Words importing the masculine gender shall include the feminine gender.
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2 OBJECTS
The objects of the Society are:
a. To promote and encourage Scottish cultural interests and maintain fellowship and welfare among members.
b. To preserve the Scottish national character and Institutions and to celebrate Scottish anniversaries.
c. To adopt such means to make known the objects and purposes of the Society as may seem expedient and in
particular by advertising in the press or by circulars.
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3 MEMBERSHIP
3.1 Membership of the Association shall be open to:
Ordinary Members. Any person of not less than 18 years of age who was born in Scotland or is descended from a Scottish parent or grandparent.
Associate Members. Any person of not less than 18 years of age who does not qualify as an Ordinary Member.
Honorary Members. The General Committee may invite and elect any person who has rendered service to the Society to be an honorary Member. Honorary Members will not be required to pay an entrance fee or annual subscription.
3.2 Associate and Honorary Members shall be entitled to vote at any meeting of the Society but shall not be eligible to hold the office of Chieftain in the Society.
3.3 The spouse of any member is entitled to similar membership.
3.3 Any member on the date on which the Rules are changed shall continue as a member even if not qualifying under the new Rules.
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4 ADMISSION OF MEMBERS
4.1 Admission of ordinary, Associate and Honorary Members shall be by election by the Committee and no person shall be admitted to membership of the Society until so elected.
4.2 Every candidate for admission as an Ordinary or Associate Member shall be proposed by one member and seconded by another, both of whom shall vouch, from their personal knowledge, for the fitness of the candidate. Proposals must be on the forms provided by the Society and must be signed by the proposer and the seconder. The seconder shall be other than the spouse or partner of the proposer. The candidate shall also sign the form of application for membership giving all the particulars required by the Society and giving an undertaking to be bound by the rules of the Society, if elected. The omission from, or inaccuracy in the particulars relation to, or the description of any candidate shall render his election voidable at the discretion of the Committee.
4.3 The Committee at every meeting thereof appointed for the election of members shall consider the applications of all Candidates and shall elect or reject them. A candidate who receives a majority of votes of the members of the Committee present and voting, shall be declared elected.
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4.4 Every candidate for membership who has been duly elected by the Committee shall forthwith be informed by the Honorary Secretary of the Society that he has been elected and sent a copy of these rules with a request for payment of his entrance fee and annual subscription. Upon payment of his entrance fee and annual subscription he shall become a member of the Society and be entitled to all the benefits and privileges of membership and be bound by these Rules.
4.5 If such entrance fee and subscription be not paid within one month from the date of such request aforesaid, the election shall be void unless he shall satisfy the Committee that the delay in payment was due to absence from Cyprus or any other sufficient cause.
4.6 The entrance fee and annual subscription shall be such as the Committee shall from time to time determine and as approved by the Annual General Meeting.
4.7 Any member failing to pay the annual subscription by the due date shall not be entitled to vote at the succeeding Annual or Special General Meting and shall not be eligible for election to any office.
4.8 The first subscription shall be due immediately after election and thereafter the annual subscription shall become due and be payable on the first day of March on each year.
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5 TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP
5.1 Any member may resign his membership by giving to the Honorary Secretary, notice in writing to that effect. Any member giving such notice after the 15th day of April on any year shall be liable to pay his subscription for the full year.
5.2 It shall be the duty of the Committee, if at any time they are of the opinion that a member has behaved in such a manner that his continued membership is not in the best interests of the Society, he shall be invited by letter to appear before the Committee to offer an explanation of his conduct.
5.3 At such a meeting, whose membership is under consideration, shall be allowed to offer an explanation of his conduct and the question of his expulsion shall be determined. If not less than four members of the Committee shall vote for his expulsion, he shall cease to be a member of the Society.
5.4 Any person shall, upon ceasing to be a member of the Society, forfeit all right to and claim upon the Society and its property and funds.
5.5 Any member failing to pay his annual subscription by the 31st May will cease to become a member and subsequently if he wishes to rejoin the Society he must apply in accordance with Article 4.
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6 MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
6.1 The officers of the Society shall consist of a Chieftain, an Honorary Secretary and an Honorary Treasurer.
6.2 In the event of any casual vacancy in the office of Chieftain, Honorary Secretary or Honorary Treasurer, the Committee may appoint one of themselves or some other member of the Society to fill such vacancy until the next general meeting.
6.3 The management and control of the affairs of the Society shall be vested in the Committee which shall be constituted of:
• The Chieftain
• The Honorary Secretary
• The Honorary Treasurer
• Entertainments Member
• Dance Co-ordinator
• Membership Secretary
• A maximum of two other members
The Committee shall be elected at each Annual General Meeting and shall hold office until the next succeeding Annual General Meeting when
they shall retire but shall be eligible for re-election.
Candidates for Chieftain must have served on the current committee or on a previous committee of The Cyprus Caledonian Society.
6.4 The Committee shall have the power to co-opt any member either to fill any casual vacancy or by way of addition to the Committee provided that the prescribed maximum is not thereby exceeded. Any member so appointed shall have all the rights of a member elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall retain his office only until the next Annual General Meeting but shall then be eligible for election.
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6.5 The Committee shall meet as and when the business and interests of the Society shall demand. Four members of the committee shall form a quorum. Minutes shall be taken of all the proceedings of the Committee and shall be open to inspection by any member of the Society applying to the Secretary.
6.6 Questions arising at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes by a show of hands and in the case of an equality of votes, the Chieftain shall have a second or casting vote.
6.7 The Committee may from time to time appoint from among their number such sub-committees as they may deem necessary or expedient and may depute to them such powers and duties of the Committee as the Committee may determine. Such sub-committees shall periodically report their proceedings to the Committee and shall conduct their business in accordance with the directions of the Committee. Sub-committee members who are not on the Committee shall not have the rights of elected members of the Committee.
6.8 The Chieftain, the Honorary Treasurer and one member of the Committee elected by the Committee shall constitute a finance sub-committee to advise the General Committee on the finance and expenditure of the Society. Two members of the finance sub-committee shall form a quorum.
6.9 The Committee shall from time to time make, repeal and amend all such by-laws and regulations, not inconsistent with these Rules, as they shall think expedient for the internal management and well being of the Society. All by-laws and regulations made by the Committee under the Rules shall be binding upon the members until repealed by the Committee or set aside by a resolution of a general meeting of the Society.
6.10 Commencing in the new financial year beginning March 2007, the Chieftain will be awarded an annual ‘Honorarium in Lieu of Expenses’. The Chieftain will use this ‘Honorarium’ for the sole purpose of reimbursing the sitting Committee for out of pocket expenses, or to provide them with a Chieftain’s Thank You Dinner, whichever is their preference. This Honorarium will be based on, the figure of £200, the amount last shown in the 2005 Accounts for the items Postage and Computer Consumables, plus an annual increase in line with the Cyprus Retail Price Index.
6.11 When a Chieftain retires, he will be given a farewell party and/or a gift. This will be at the discretion of the incoming Chieftain and the sitting committee, who will give due regard to the length of his service and to the condition of the funds.
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7 THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
7.1 The annual General meeting of the Society shall be held on a date not later than 30th April each year for the following purposes:
a. To receive from the Honorary Treasurer a report, balance sheet and statement of accounts for the preceding financial year.
b. To appoint an auditor for the current year if such an appointment is considered necessary by the Committee.
c. Election of Officers and a Committee for the ensuing year.
d. To decide on any resolution, which may be duly submitted to the meeting as hereinafter provided.
7.2 A member wishing to move any resolution at the Annual General Meeting should give notice thereof, in writing to the Honorary Secretary not less than four weeks before the date of such meeting.
7.3 The Committee may at any time for any special purpose, call a Special General Meeting and they shall do so upon the request, in writing, by any fifteen members stating the purpose for which the meeting is required. The meeting shall be called within 28 days of such request.
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7.4 Not less than twenty-one days before the Annual General Meeting, notice of such meeting and the business to be transacted shall be sent to every member.
7.5 At all general meetings the chair shall be taken by the Chieftain, or in his absence by a member selected by the Committee. Every question shall be decided by a majority of votes. Every member present shall be entitled to one vote upon every motion and in the case of an equality of votes, the Chieftain shall have a second or casting vote. Members unable to attend may exercise a proxy vote by submitting the appropriate form to the Honorary Secretary in advance of the meeting.
7.6 At any general meeting, unless a poll is demanded by five members present, all questions shall be decided by a show of hands and a declaration by the chairman that a resolution has been carried, or carried by a particular majority, or lost or not carried by a particular majority and shall be conclusive.
7.7 If a poll is demanded by any five members, it shall be taken in such a manner, and at such time and place as the chairman of the meeting directs. The result of the poll, as declared by the chairman shall be deemed to be the resolution of the meeting at which the poll was demanded.
7.8 The quorum at all general meetings shall be 18 members. If within half an hour from the time appointed for the holding of a general meeting a quorum or not present, the meeting shall be adjourned for a period of not less than seven days. If at such an adjourned meeting a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for holding the meeting the members present shall be a quorum.
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8 ACCOUNTS
8.1 The financial year shall end on the last day of February in each year to which day the accounts of the Society shall be balanced.
8.2 All monies received on behalf of the Society shall be lodged in the name of the Society in a bank selected by the Committee. All cheques drawn on the account of the Society shall be signed by the Honorary Treasurer or any two of the Chieftain, the Honorary Treasurer and the Honorary Secretary and all sums received and paid on behalf of the society shall be recorded by the Honorary Treasurer.
8.3 The Society’s accounts shall be made up at the last day of February and the Honorary Treasurer shall cause to be prepared and printed every year a proper income and expenditure account and a balance sheet made up to the same date. The accounts shall be laid before the Society at the next Annual General Meeting and a copy of the same shall be made available to all members attending the Meeting.
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9 APPLICATION OF THE RULES
9.1 The Committee shall be the sole authority for the interpretation of these Rules and of the by-laws and regulations made thereunder and the decision of the Committee upon any question of interpretation or upon any matter affecting the Society and not provided by these rules or by-laws and regulations shall be final and binding on the members.
9.2 These Rules may be added to, repealed or amended by resolution at any annual or special general meeting, provided the resolution is passed by a majority of at least three-quarters of the members voting.
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10 NOTICES
10.1 Every member of the Society shall, from time to time, communicate to the Honorary Secretary his address and all notices posted to the last communicated address shall be considered as having been duly served.
10.2 Any notice required to be served by the Society to members and not provided for by these Rules shall be sufficiently given if given by advertisement which shall be inserted at least once in an English language newspaper published in Cyprus.
11 APPROVAL OF THE RULES
These Rules were amended and approved at the Annual General Meeting of the Society on 21st April 2007.
Amendments were made to include new rules 6.10 and 6.11.
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Rule Book 