Clan Duncan Society
CONSTITUTION
(as of the
14th February 2005)
1.
Name
The name of the Society shall be
“Clan Duncan Society”.
2. Aims and Objects
The aims and objects of the Society
shall be to reunite all those with the name
Duncan and its variant spellings and promote
continuance of the Clan as an effective body.
The Society will provide
opportunities for all members’ to develop
kinship amongst one another through various
publications, meetings and electronic media
such as an online forum and variety of
discussion groups. The genealogical histories
of individual Society members can be published
on the Clan Society website to aid, preserve
and advance research and can be openly
discussed on the Society’s forum.
The Society serves to promote
recognition and a general awareness of the
Clan and its history to its members, outside
bodies, the public here in Scotland, the UK
and overseas; through its presence at Highland
Games, various advertisements and the
worldwide web. In providing education about
the Clan and Scotland, its history and its
culture the Society promotes and protects the
interests of the Clan and its origins.
The Society will endeavour to find a
Clan Leader either through genealogical
research or by the raising of a derbfine to
elect a commander and petition the Lord Lyon
King of Arms, Her Majesty the Queens official
representative in Scotland for official
recognition.
3. Membership
3.1 A Member of the Society is a
person who holds paid up membership and holds
a current valid membership number.
3.2 Members of the Society shall be
people interested in matters falling within
the aims and objects of the Society.
3.3 The Society will maintain a “Clan
Roll Call” of all those Kinsfolk lending
support to the Clan revival.
3.4 Members’ of the Society will
automatically be added to the “Clan Roll
Call”.
3.5 The Committee shall not be
obliged to accept an application for
membership and shall have the right to
terminate the membership of any
Member. The Committee will endeavour to
give a reason for the non acceptance of an
application or the termination of a
membership.
3.6 The Society may have, as well as
the two categories of Member described above,
the following categories, namely:
President
Vice-Presidents
Honorary Members
All such appointments and honours
recommended by the Committee for ratification
at the Annual General Meetings shall be for
indefinite terms but without prejudice to the
right of the committee to terminate any
membership at any time.
3.7 Fellowship may be conferred on
any person in recognition of services rendered
to Clan Duncan generally as distinct from this
Society in particular.
Vice-Presidency or Honorary
Membership may be conferred on any Member in
recognition of services rendered by him or her
to the Society and on any person whom the
Society wishes to honour. Recommendations by
the Committee for Presidency, Vice-Presidency,
or Honorary Membership shall be submitted to
every Member of the Society along with
notification of the Annual General
Meeting.
3.8 No Member, without the consent of
the Committee, shall seek to advance any cause
or matter other than that of the Society by
publicising his or her membership of it.
3.9 The Committee shall ensure that
Members of the Society may have convenient
access to a reasonably up-to-date list of the
names and addresses of all Members.
4. Management
4.1 The business of the Society shall
be managed by a Committee, which shall consist
of Officers and Elected Committee Members and
may include others. A Quorum shall consist of
five, three of whom shall be Office
Bearers.
4.2 There shall be six Officer
appointments, namely:-
Chairman
Secretary
Treasurer
Publications Editor
Membership Secretary
Social Secretary
It shall be permissible for one
Officer to hold two of these appointments at
the same time but the number of Officers shall
be not less than Four.
4.3 At any meeting of the Committee
or of the Society where a decision has to be
reached by vote (and no other provision of
this Constitution determines otherwise), the
proposition shall be carried by a simple
majority of those voting. The Chairman shall
have a casting vote.
4.4 Elected Committee Members shall
number no fewer than three or more than
five.
4.5 Each Officer and Elected
Committee Member shall be elected at an Annual
General Meeting for a term of up to three
years and shall be eligible for re-election. A
Committee Member who fails to attend three
consecutive meetings of the Committee either
in electronic format or physical meeting
without due cause and notification will be
deemed to have resigned from the
Committee.
4.6 Not later than the 15th day of
January in each year the Secretary shall send
by post or email to every Member of the
Society a statement showing the vacancies for
Officers and Elected Committee Members which
at that time can be foreseen as bound to be
available for filling at the next Annual
General Meeting; and the statement shall be
accompanied by a nomination paper covering
every such vacancy.
4.7 To be valid, a nomination shall
be received by the Secretary by the 31st day
of March following, shall be in writing
(whether or not on the form provided) and
shall be signed by the proposer, seconder and
candidate, the last signifying readiness to
stand.
4.8 If the number of candidates for
any appointment necessitates a vote, a voting
paper showing the names of the candidates and
the proposer and seconder of each shall be
sent to every Member of the Society with the
notice of the Annual General Meeting.
4.9 Every Member of the Society, will
have one vote. Voting may be either by post or
electronic format, in the case of postal votes
using the envelope supplied with the voting
paper, which shall be opened at the Annual
General Meeting, or by bringing the voting
paper to that Meeting.
4.10 Nothing in 4.6 to 4.9 above
shall prevent an Annual General Meeting from
filling any vacancy for an Officer or Elected
Committee Member which has not been notified
to all Members of the Society in accordance
with 4.6 above because the vacancy could not
be foreseen by the Secretary when the
statement was prepared.
4.11 On the occurrence of a vacancy
among the Officers causing their number to
fall below four, the Committee shall, and on
the occurrence of the vacancy not having that
effect the Committee may, fill the vacancy by
appointing until the next Annual General
Meeting any eligible Member of the
Society.
4.12 If there be a vacancy among the
Elected Committee Members, the Committee may
fill it until the next Annual General Meeting
by co-opting any eligible Member of the
Society. In the absence of any such vacancy
the Committee may co-opt until the next Annual
General Meeting not more than three Members of
the Society whose qualifications enable them
to make contributions of special value to the
Committee's work.
4.13 In the determination of whether
a Member of the Society is eligible to become
a member of the Committee, no account shall be
taken of any part-year of Committee service
brought about through the exercise of the
Committee's own powers of appointment of
co-option.
5. Subscription
No subscription shall be exigible
from the President or from any Vice-President,
Fellow or Honorary Member. All Ordinary
Members shall pay such subscription as is from
time to time decided by an Annual or Special
General Meeting. Any Member whose subscription
is unpaid after one month shall be entitled to
have a written reminder sent to the Member's
address last known to the Society. Without
prejudice to the right of the Committee to
terminate any membership at any time, any
Member whose subscription is still unpaid one
month after the reminder shall, unless the
Committee decide otherwise, then cease to be a
Member.
6. Business Meetings
6.1 The Annual General Meeting of the
Society shall be held within two months after
the end of the financial year which shall end
on the 31st March; at least 28 days before the
date of the meeting, notice of it shall be
sent to every Member. The audited accounts of
the Society for the preceding financial year
shall be presented by the Treasurer to the
Annual General Meeting. Each Annual General
Meeting shall elect the Auditor for the Year
then current.
6.2 A Special General Meeting shall
be called by the Secretary on the instruction
of the Committee or on the request in writing
by two-thirds of the Members of the Society.
At least 28 days before the date of a Special
General Meeting notice of it shall be sent to
every Member, together with all explanation of
the reasons for it.
7. General
7.1 The Committee shall be the sole
authority for the interpretation of the
Constitution.
7.2 The Constitution may be changed
only at an Annual General Meeting or Special
General Meeting and then only if the change is
approved by at least two-thirds of the Members
present. Any Member of the Society who wishes
to propose a change to the Constitution shall
send the proposal in writing to the Secretary
not less than 14 days before the date of the
meeting at which he or she wishes it to be
discussed.
7.3 If the Society should cease to
function, any property and money remaining
after the settlement of all debts and charges
against the Society shall he donated to a
charitable body devoted to the furtherance of
the history and heritage in Scotland, which
failing, to the National Museums of Scotland
or their successor.
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