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Literary and Debating Society Constitution

Article I

Title:
The Literary And Debating Society,St. Patrick's College,Maynooth

Article II

AIMS

  1. To provide a forum through which both students and staff of this college may debate and have their views discussed
  2. To increase the use of debate as a means of communication on the campus
  3. To get this society involved in competitive debating on campus and on an intervarsity level.
  4. To invite external speakers to the college to debate topics of interest in the sphere of current affairs,at ordinary society meetings.

Article III

Membership:

    1. All students and staff members of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, shall be Ordinary Members of the Society.
    2. All Ordinary Members shall have the right to take part in the public business of the society.
    1. A student of St Patrick's College, Maynooth may be become an Enrolled Member of the Society by paying the subscription to the treasurer during the private business of the society, or at the society's stand in the Aula Maxima during Fairs day.
    2. The annual subscription for each year shall be fixed by the Executive and sufficient notice of this be posted on the notice boards at the beginning of the Michaelmas Term.
    3. Enrolled Members of the Society shall not vote as Enrolled Members in private business of the meeting at which they join the Society.

Article IV

EXECUTIVE:- The society shall have an Executive consisting of an Auditor, a Recording Secretary, a Correspondence Secretary, a Treasurer, two Public Relations Officers and the Auditor of the preceding session if he so wishes to take a position on the Executive.

The Executive shall be composed of not less than 7 Enrolled Members.

If the positions have not all been filled at the AGM the Auditor may co-opt Enrolled Members onto the Executive. In the event of this happening, first-year College Students may be co-opted onto the Executive.

  1. Auditor:
    1. The Auditor shall be elected at the AGM of the Society. His duties shall be to coordinate the working of the Executive and to look after the general functioning of the Society.
    2. The Auditor shall be Chairperson of the Executive and all subcommittees of the society.
    3. The Auditor shall preside at all meetings of the society except during the course of a public debate for which an outside Chairman has been provided.
    4. The Auditor during the period of his Auditorship shall not be Chairman,Auditor,President or their equivalent in any other Society, Club or any other representative student body in the college.
    5. The Auditor shall have power to suspend any member of the society from any or all his rights and privileges for such time as he deems advisable.
    6. The Auditor shall have complete power to remove any such suspension whether it be imposed by himself or by a previous Auditor and any attempt to limit this power shall be void.
    7. In the absence of the Auditor from any function or meeting of the Society, the Committee shall elect a Chairman from amongst t he Enrolled Members of the society unless the Auditor shall in writing have appointed a Deputy, who is himself an Enrolled Member of the society.
    8. It shall be at the discretion of the Auditor to determine which and in what order the members of the Society shall address the Society.
    9. The Auditor shall at Ordinary Meetings of the Society be the sole interpreter of the constitution and shall have full power to rule upon it as he thinks fit. He shall decide upon all matters of order not provided for in the Constitution, or the Rules of Procedure.
  2. Treasurer:
    The Treasurer shall be elected at the AGM of the society. his duties shall be:
    1. Responsibility for the accurate maintenance of the accounts of the society.
    2. Preparation and submission of an accurate statement of finance at the AGM, to be presented also to the Accounts Committee of the Capitation Board of the College.
    3. The furnishing of term accounts throughout the year to members and the Accounts Committee.
    4. He shall also be one of two signatories of any cheque to be written(the other being the Auditor).
    5. He shall present the accounts on notice of one week at any Ordinary Meeting of the Society.
    6. He shall write a report on the expenditure of the capitation Grant at the end of every term to be submitted to the Accounts Committee not later than the end of the second week of the following term.
    7. ALL PAYMENTS BY THE SOCIETY SHALL BE BY CHEQUE ONLY.
      All decisions on the subject of finances are the exclusive responsibility of the Executive.
  3. Recording Secretary:
    1. The Recording Secretary shall be elected to the AGM of the Society.
    2. He shall keep the minutes of meetings of the society and of the Executive and shall keep all current records of the society except the Financial Records.
    3. He shall, at the AGM of the society in each session present to the society a report of the work done by the Society during the session.
    4. The Recording Secretary shall be responsible for all communications of the society.
    5. In the event of the absence of the Recording Secretary from any meeting of the society, the Auditor shall appoint a member of the Executive to fulfill his/her functions.
  4. Public Relations Officers:
    1. Two Public Relations Officers shall be elected at the AGM of the Society.
    2. They shall be responsible for posting notices of relevance to the Society on College Notice boards in the Arts Block, Science Buildings and in the Old Campus.
    3. They shall also have other occasional duties as shall be entrusted to them by the auditor.
  5. Former Auditor
    1. The person who held the position of Auditor immediately previous to the AGM may if he wishes take a position without portfolio on the Executive of the following session. The purpose of this is to maintain some continuity on the Executive of the following session. the purpose of this is to maintain some continuity on the Executive from year to year. The duties of the Former Auditor are to be determined by the current Auditor.
  6. Convenor:
    1. Two convenors shall be elected at the AGM of the Society.
    2. They shall be responsible for organising the Maynooth Challenge, the Secondary Schools Competition and any other intervarsity debate which the society hosts.
    3. They shall also have other occasional duties as shall be entrusted to them by the Auditor.

Article V

[I] THE AGM
[II]ELECTORAL PROCEDURES

[I] The AGM is to take place before the last day's class of the trinity term.
the agenda shall include:-

  1. Confirmation of Minutes of last Annual General Meeting.
  2. The Treasurer's report of the years finances(of. Article IV 2[ii]).
  3. The Recording Secretary's report on the activities of the Society throughout the session.(cf. Article IV 3[iii]).
  4. The Auditors Report. The content of this is at the discretion of the Auditor.
  5. The elections of the Executive for the forthcoming session.
  6. The New Auditor takes the chair and gives a short address to the Society.
[II]
  1. Candidature for positions on the Executive is open to all Enrolled Members of the Society who have a minimum one-years experience of the society, as an Enrolled Member for the preceding year.
  2. Those seeking election to the Executive must submit a nomination form signed by the nominator and the seconder of the candidate, both of whom must be Enrolled Members of the Society. A person may not nominate or second more than one candidate for a particular position.
  3. In the event of a single nomination for any position on the Executive being submitted , he or she will be deemed elected to that position.
  4. In the event of more than one nomination being submitted for a position on the Executive; an election of the Society will decide the outcome.
  5. The election shall be by proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote, in accordance with the voting procedures of the Students' Union.
  6. All voting by the society in Annual elections will be secret and confidential.
  7. An officer of the Executive may seek re-election for a second term of office.
  8. The maximum duration for any officership is two years. However a member of the Executive of two years standing in one officership may contest election for another position.
  9. It is the responsibility of the outgoing Executive to supervise the elections for the new Executive. However a member of the Executive standing for election may not supervise an election. Instead an independent Returning Officer is to be sought.
  10. With the completion of the elections of new officers, the old Executive will immediately resign their positions.

Article VI

VACTION OF OFFICE BY AUDITOR:

1)

  1. The Auditor shall be deemed to have vacated his office if he tenders his resignation in writing to the Recording Secretary. A motion of censure on him proposed and seconded by Enrolled Members of the society is passed by a two-thirds majority at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society.
  2. No motion of censure may be moved unless leave to propose such a motion has first being obtained at an Ordinary Meeting of the Society.
  3. Such leave shall be deemed to have been obtained in a majority of Enrolled Members present and voting in favour of such a motion.

2)

  1. In the event of an Auditor vacating his office on or prior to March 1st in any Session, a new election shall be held.
  2. For the purpose of this election the Executive shall appoint a Nomination Day which be not later than one week after the vacation of office by the Auditor. Notice of such shall be made on all College notice boards.
  3. The Authority of Auditor between his Vacation of office and the Election of a new Auditor shall vest in the Executive. A unanimous vote on any issue is necessary for ant Executive decision to be binding during this period.

3) In the event of the Auditor vacating his office subsequent to March 1st in any session, the Executive shall appoint an Enrolled Member of the Society as Deputy Auditor.

Article VII

ORDINARY MEETINGS:

  1. For meetings of the Society the quorum shall consist of twelve members. the chairman shall not, however, declare the meeting void, unless a member draws his attention to the fact that no quorum is present.
  2. The Rules of procedure of Meetings shall be those3 contained in Appendix I of this constitution.
  3. A Ruling of an Auditor shall be a binding precedent in all subsequent sessions.
  4. The rulings of external chairpersons shall have no force of precedence in the Society.
  5. The decision of the chairman shall be final on all questions of order raised at the meeting; but a member shall be entitled to have registered upon the minutes of the society an objection to such decision, provided he states the grounds of his objection, and refers to the passage in the Constitution (Appendix I) or to precedents in the records of the Society which he regards as inconsistent with such decision. Decisions so objected to shall not be regarded as precedents.
  6. The Recording Secretary shall keep a record of all such rulings made during the session when he holds office.
  7. the order of business at Ordinary Meetings shall be as follows:
    1. Reading of Minutes of Last Meeting
    2. Reading of any Relevant Correspondence.
    3. Private Business which is open to all Enrolled Members.
    4. Public Debate, followed by discussion in the Society of the Motion of Debate.
    5. Adjournment of Society to suitable surroundings.
  8. Public Business shall close at 22.30 at the latest. In the event of Public Business closing at an earlier time, the Auditor may open Private Business again.
  9. Each speaker in ordinary debates shall be allowed no more than 10 minutes in which to address the Society.
  10. Private business is to offer a forum to Enrolled Members to discuss business of the Society and to debate on current Affairs issues.
  11. In order to discuss any subject in Private Business,it must take the form of a debate. One member of the Society must propose the motion and be seconded by another member. A motion will be carried without further debate unless one Enrolled Member object to the motion.

Article VIII

EXTRAORDINARY MEETINGS:

  1. The Auditor shall have power to summon an Extraordinary Meeting of the Society, provided that notice thereof be posted for at least four days previously on College notice boards, stating the business to be dealt with at such meeting.
  2. Any twelve Enrolled Members of the Society shall have the power to call an Extraordinary Meeting of the Society by a simple requisition signed by the said Enrolled Members, provided that notice thereof be posted for at least four days previously on College notice boards, stating the business to be dealt with at such meeting.
  3. No other business except the business for which the meeting was called shall be discussed at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Society.
  4. No motion shall be deemed carried at an Extraordinary Meeting of the Society unless two-thirds of the Enrolled Members, present and voting, vote in favour thereof.
  5. The minutes of an Extraordinary Meeting of the Society shall be read and confirmed at the next Ordinary Meeting of the Society.

Article IX

EXECUTIVE MEETINGS:

  1. Executive Meetings shall take place at least once every month of the College year.
  2. All Meetings shall be convened by the Auditor. However, any member of the Executive may convene an Executive Meeting through the Auditor.
  3. Each officer on the executive has the right to vote concerning any business of the Society.
  4. The Auditor of the Society, or the Deputy-Auditor shall have the power of veto.
  5. In the absence of the Auditor, meetings of the Executive shall be chaired by his nominee or the Deputy-Auditor.

Article X

THE CONSTITUTION:

  1. On adoption, this constitution becomes the only charter in operation in relation to the Society.
  2. This constitution is to be upheld at all times and the Executive of the Society are to ensure that this is so.
  3. A change in the Constitution may only be made with the approval of the Executive. The Constitution may be revised by:
    1. All proposed amendments must have the signatures of twelve enrolled members of the society.
    2. Each amendment shall take the form of a private members motion of three readings, entitled the constitution amendment no. [number],[year].
    3. The First Reading shall take place after the minutes.
    4. The Second Reading shall take place after private members time. The proposer and seconder shall propose the motion "that the bill be given a final Reading." No more than two opposition speeches may be made, after which the proposer may summarise for two minutes. A simple majority will suffice to give the bill a Final Reading.
    5. The Third Reading shall be held at the beginning of private members time, no less than one academic week and no more than two academic weeks following the Second Reading. A two-third majority will be required to gain assent.
    6. It is the duty of the committee in the time between the Second and Third Reading to ensure any proposed amendments do not conflict with any part of the constitution.

this is only a copy of the constitution. any differences in the texts are caused by the author of this page, in such a case the official bound copy, and the attached amendments which have been integrated into the text here, shall be deemed correct.


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