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CONSTITUTION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE DEBATING UNION
GENERAL
1. There shall be a University of Dundee Debating Union constituted by these
laws and hereinafter referred to as “the Union”.
2. The purposes of the Union shall be:
(a) to hold regular debates within the University of Dundee or the Students’
Association building;
(b) to enter into external debating competitions and events as often as is
possible, and where relevant to represent the University of Dundee;
(c) to promote debating within the university and support other groups
conducting debates and other related activities.
MEMBERSHIP
3. There shall be the following categories of membership:
(a) Ordinary Membership – ordinary membership with voting rights is
automatic to all fully matriculated students of the University of Dundee;
(b) Associate Membership – other members of the Students’ Association,
except those covered by subsection (c), shall automatically become associate
members of the Union;
(c) Honorary Life Membership – Shall be open to former Presidents and Convenors of Dundee debates subject to the approval of committee. This may be open to any other person who is deemed worthy by the committee.
(d) Honorary Patrons – It shall be within the power of the committee to invite
people to be honorary patrons of the Union. Such patronage should be ratified
by the Students’ Association Council.
OFFICE BEARERS
4. There shall be a committee of the Union consisting of a Convenor of Debates,
President, Treasurer, Secretary, Tournaments Secretary, Communication Secretary,
Membership Secretary, and a Fresher Representative.
5. The Convenor of Debates will chair committee meetings and shall have the
power to pass the chair to the President. The Convenor will only hold a casting
vote at meetings, and should use this to vote at the Convenor’s discretion with
the sole consideration of the interests of the Union.
6.(a) The Convenor is responsible for all aspects of the Union, except in financial
matters and minutes.
(b) Should the Union be represented on the Council of the Students’ Association
the Convenor or a member of the Union nominated by the Convenor and
approved by committee shall attend any meetings.
(c) The President shall oversee the general running of the Union and shall hold
primary responsibility for arranging speaker training on at least a fortnightly basis.
(d) The Treasurer is responsible for the finances of the Union in accordance with
the rules laid out in sections 17 to 21.
(e) The Secretary shall take minutes of all Committee meetings and General
meetings, as well as handling external communications as directed by the
committee and take action to make said minutes freely available to the
membership as well as maintaining the website.
(f) The Tournaments Secretary will be responsible for the annual intervarsity
competition of the Union, to be called the ‘Ustinov Tournament’ and shall
organise a competition for schools to attend and may create a sub-committee
to help them with either of these tasks.
(g) The Communication Secretary shall be responsible for publicising events of the Union and the recruitment of membership.
(h) Membership Secretary shall be responsible for retention of membership and organising of social events.
(i) Fresher Representative will be responsible for representing new members on the committee.
7. The Convenor and President shall be equally responsible for the taking of any
decisions in the absence of the committee or when the committee, having been
called, fails to attain quorum.
All decisions taken by the Convenor and President will be reported back to the
committee at its next meeting. The Convenor and President shall be personally
liable for any expense incurred due to any decisions taken by them, which are
not subsequently ratified by the committee of the Union.
Should the committee fail to attain a quorum on two consecutive occasions
then the committee shall accept responsibility as a body for any decisions
taken by the Convenor and President.
If there is a conflict between the Convenor and the President then the
Convenor shall be ultimately responsible for the decision taken and must
justify this decision to both the committee and also the Students’ Association
Council.
ELECTIONS
8. Elections will be held at an Annual General Meeting for the positions of: Convenor of Debates, President, Treasurer, Secretary, Tournaments Secretary, Communication Secretary and Membership Secretary. Members take office upon election.
8(a)Elections shall be held within four weeks of the beginning of the autumn semester for the position of: Fresher Representative
9. There shall be a period of one week prior to the Annual General Meeting during
which nominations may be put forward for any of the positions. Nominations must be
submitted to the secretary of the Union before 5pm on the day immediately prior to
the Annual General Meeting. A person may be nominated for any number of
positions. People may nominate themselves. Any nominations must be seconded by a
member of the debating Union at the Annual General Meeting.
9A. Elections at the Annual General Meeting will be held in the order set out in
Clause 4 of this constitution. Should a person be successfully elected to a post any
nominations for subsequent posts at the Annual General Meeting shall be void.10. Only ordinary members may vote or stand for election.
11.Voting will be by secret ballot and shall be by the single transferable voting
system.
12. Any office falling vacant during the year, excepting that of Convenor of
Debates, shall be filled by co-option only if the committee votes to declare a
special election to be impracticable.
MEETINGS
13.(a) The quorum of the committee shall be half of the committee serving plus one.
(b) The committee will hold at least five meetings each semester to be called by
the Convenor, or called by petition of at least half of the serving members of
the Committee to the Convenor of Debates who shall in the latter case hold a
meeting without undue delay.
14. The quorum of the Annual General Meeting shall be ten. Any decisions passed
by an Annual General Meeting shall be binding on the office bearers if there
are more than 10 members of the Union present.
15. There shall be at least one Annual General Meeting a year, at which the
committee shall be elected and the previous office bearers will present reports
15A. A General Meeting of the membership of the Union (other than an Annual
General Meeting) may be called by ordinary resolution of the committee. Such
a resolution shall state the business to be discussed at the meeting. Such a
resolution shall set a date for the meeting to be held, being no less than seven
days and no more than fourteen days from such date as the resolution is
passed, and the resolution shall state the method by which the membership is
to be informed of the meeting. Such a meeting shall be known as an
‘Extraordinary General Meeting’ and shall have a quorum of 10. Any
resolutions of the General Meeting shall be binding on the members of the
Committee.
15(b) The Annual general meeting's date shall be called at the discretion of the Convenor of Debates.
15(c)If the AGM is to be called during or after Easter, the Convenor of Debates must seek approval of the committee.
16. The Union shall draw up such by-laws and standing orders as are deemed
necessary for the proper conduct of debates and other relevant affairs.
FINANCE
17. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial matters of the Union and
see that claims against it are met.
18. There shall be a bank account in the name of the Union.
19. Cheques drawn on the Union’s bank account must be signed by any of the
following: Convenor of Debates, President of the Debating Union and
Treasurer.
20. The Treasurer will be responsible for:
(a) keeping proper books detailing the financial transactions of the Union;
(b) preparing accounts for presentation to the committee at the end of each
month and also at the Annual General Meeting.
21. The individual members of the committee and not the Students’ Association
shall be responsible for any financial deficit incurred by the Union.
MISCELLANEOUS
22. If the Students’ Association Council requests a debate to be held on a specific
motion then the Convenor will notify the Council of the result at its next
meeting.
23.(a) Selection of teams for external competitions shall be decided by the Convenor
and President, subject to approval by the committee.
(b) The Convenor will organise an internal competition for Worlds subject to
approval of the committee. The Convenor, with the approval of the committee
will select the Judges.
24. A member of the committee may be removed by a vote of no confidence, and
procedure for such a vote shall be determined by Standing Orders of the
Committee. This section shall not apply to the Convenor of Debates who shall
if deemed to have failed to fulfil their duties, may be removed by a vote of the
committee.
25. (a) A General Meeting of the Union which has attained quorum (and unless subsection (b) below applies only such a meeting) shall have the power to amend this Constitution. Every amendment will require the concurrence of 75% of those ordinary members present and voting before that amendment shall enter into force.
(b) This subsection applies where the numerical sequence of the Constitution is out of sequence. In the event of this subsection applying the Committee of the Union may change the numbering of the sections (and subsections) provided always that the meaning and spirit of the Constitution as last passed by a General Meeting is adhered to.
26.(a) Any action by a member or members of the Union in violation of this
Constitution shall be null and void unless expressly ratified by the first
subsequent General Meeting of the Union. Any expenses incurred as a result
of such a void action shall be borne by the member or members who
perpetrated the actionunless ratified by the next General Meeting.
(b) In this section references to an ‘action’ shall include omissions to act.
27. This Constitution having been agreed upon by an Annual General Meeting of
the University of Dundee Debating Union on 15th May 2008 shall have effect
as from the date of its agreement; and it is further resolved that this
Constitution supersedes any previous Constitution of the University of Dundee
Debating Union. IN WITNESS WHEREOF these presents typewritten on this
and the preceding four pages are asserted to be an accurate copy and are
subscribed as follows
________________ ________________
Adam McVey, Convenor 09/10 Iain Menzies, President 09/10
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