Cornwall Contract Bridge Association

CORNWALL CONTRACT BRIDGE ASSOCIATION
CONSTITUTION – JULY 2011

1. TITLE AND CONSTITUENT MEMBERSHIP

1.1 The Cornwall Contract Bridge Association is an Association as defined in the Bye Laws of the English Bridge Union Ltd., and shall be referred to as the Association throughout the Constitution.

1.2 The Association is a Constituent Member of the English Bridge Union Ltd. It shall abide with its Bye Laws, Rules and Policies.  Hereinafter the English Bridge Union Ltd., hereinafter EBU.

2. OBJECTS OF THE ASSOCIATION

2.1 To promote Duplicate Contract Bridge in Cornwall and to encourage participation in inter-club, inter-county and national competitions.

2.2 To employ the funds of the Association in the best interests of the game of Duplicate Contract Bridge, having regards to the fact that the Association is a non-profit making body.

3. MANAGEMENT OF THE ASSOCIATION

3.1 The management of the affairs of the Association shall be vested in the following officers :-

(a) Chairman (who acts as the chairman of the Executive Committee)
(b) Vice Chairman
(c) Secretary
(d) Treasurer
(e) Tournament Secretary
(f) EBU Shareholder + National Club Representative
(g) Chief Tournament Director

and not more than eight other members of the Association, who together will fulfil the roles of :-

(h) County Education Officer
(i) Press Secretary
(j) Membership Secretary
(k) Congress Secretary
(l) Secretary - East League
(m) Secretary – West League
(n) Clubs’ Representative (East)*
(o) Clubs’ Representative (West)**

* to represent Bodmin, Bude, Liskeard, Newquay, St. Austell, Wadebridge bridge clubs
** to represent A & J, Camborne, Godolphin, Falmouth, Penventon, Penzance, St. Ives, Truro bridge clubs

Officers (a) to (o) will together form the Executive Committee.

3.1.1. All Officers and other Executive Committee members shall be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting by a simple majority of the members of the Association.

3.1.2. All Officers and other Executive Committee members shall be eligible for re-election, provided that the Chairman shall not serve for more than three consecutive years.

3.1.3. A member of an affiliated club, which is not represented by the officers above, may attend committee meetings in a non-voting capacity.

3.2 The Executive Committee shall meet from time to time as it deems fit. A quorum shall consist of six members and, in the event of a tie on votes cast, the Chairman of the meeting shall have the casting vote.

3.3 The Executive Committee, by a three-quarters majority of those present at the meeting, may suspend or dismiss any of its Officers or other members, provided that the majority is more than half the total number of the Executive Committee, whether present or not.

3.4 The Executive Committee shall have the power to co-opt and to fill any vacancies.

3.5 The Executive Committee may from time to time appoint and disband sub-committees as may be deemed necessary, and may delegate to them such powers or duties as may be deemed to be expedient.  Such sub-committees shall conduct their business as directed by the Executive Committee.

3.6 The Executive Committee shall appoint a Laws & Ethics (L&E) Committee through its powers to appoint a sub-committee under Clause 3.5 of the Constitution. The L&E Committee shall consist of no fewer than 3, and no more than 5, members of the Association.

3.7 The Executive Committee is responsible for the control of all monies and assets of the Association.  The Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection of all monies due to the Association, the payment of all accounts and for keeping the books of account.  The Treasurer shall account to the Executive Committee for all financial transactions as and when required, and shall prepare a report and statement of accounts duly audited, for each Annual General Meeting.

4. MEMBERSHIP

4.1 All members of the Association must be members of the EBU or their                 Equivalent National Organisation (ENO).

4.2    There are three categories of membership.

a. Ordinary membership –members of the EBU who have their primary allegiance recorded with the Association; membership commences when their primary allegiance is recorded with the EBU.

Other members of the EBU or ENO may apply for membership of the Association as follows, and must satisfy any terms and conditions in force at the time of request for membership.

b. Dual membership –members of the EBU or ENO who have their primary allegiance recorded with another Association.

c.    Direct membership –members of the EBU or ENO who do not have primary allegiance to any Association.

4.3    The membership year shall run from 1st April to 31st March.

4.4 The Association may decide to charge an annual subscription fee for each category of membership.


4.5 A member of the Association becomes a paid-up member through payment of any Association Pay-to-Play County component when participating in events at an affiliated Duplicate Bridge Club and/or through any annual subscription for their membership category.

4.6 A member of the Association ceases to be a paid-up member if any annual subscription is not paid by 31st May.

4.7 A member of the Association must be a paid-up member for the relevant membership year in order to vote at its AGM, and to participate in its main competitions within that membership year.

4.8 The Association Pay-to-Play County component, and any annual subscription for each membership category for the year commencing the next 1st April, shall be decided by a simple majority of the paid-up members at the Association AGM.


5. LIFE MEMBERS

5.1 The Executive Committee of the Association may honour long standing members for their service to the Association by electing them to life membership of the Association.  A Life Member of the Association shall automatically become a paid up member of the Association for each Membership Year. In addition a Life Member of the Association shall not be required to pay the entrance fee to any of its county competitions.

6. MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION MEMBERS

6.1 An  Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Association shall be held in September of each year, or as soon as possible thereafter.  The place, date and time of the AGM shall be determined by the Executive Committee.  

6.1.1 A notice convening the meeting shall be sent to the secretary of each club which is a member of the Association at least six weeks before the date of the meeting.

6.1.2 This notice shall include an agenda, which will list the ordinary and special business to be transacted.

6.1.3 The ordinary business of the meeting shall comprise submission of the Reports of the Executive Committee, adoption of the Accounts, election of Officers and Executive Committee members, ratifying the membership subscriptions, appointment of an Auditor and election of EBU representatives.

6.1.4 A request for a Special Resolution from a paid up member of the Association, which shall require a vote by the paid up members at the AGM, must be lodged in writing with the Secretary no later than three weeks before the date of the AGM.  The request must be supported in writing by two other paid up members of the Association.  An addendum to the agenda will be distributed no later than 10 days before the date of the AGM.

6.1.5 A nomination for a paid up Association member to serve on the Executive Committee must be received in writing by the Secretary three weeks before the date of the AGM.  The nomination must be supported by another paid up member of the Association.

6.1.6 The Secretary shall publish all nominations to serve on the Executive Committee no later than 10 days before the AGM.

6.2 An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) shall be convened on the instructions of the Chairman or on receipt of a requisition signed by not less than 20 Association members and stating the purpose of such a meeting.  A notice convening the meeting together with either the motions or a statement of the matters to be discussed shall be sent to each affiliated club at least 21 days before the date of the meeting.  The meeting shall deal only with such matters.

6.2.1 The EGM shall be held no earlier than 28 days, and no later than 42 days, after the Secretary has received the written request.

6.3 Any vote at an AGM or an EGM which is tied shall be split by the casting vote of the Chairman of the AGM or EGM.

6.4 A notice convening an AGM or EGM shall be deemed to have been published three days after written details are posted (and this shall include email postings) by the Secretary to the secretaries of the Association’s affiliated clubs.  The notice shall also be posted on the Association’s website.

6.5 The quorum for an AGM and EGM shall be twenty members of the Association.

6.6 The Secretary shall be required to arrange a further EGM, if an AGM or EGM fails to reach a quorum. In both circumstances the additional EGM shall be scheduled to occur within the period of 28 to 42 days after the aborted AGM or EGM.  The Secretary shall publish the date, venue and time of the EGM at least 21 days before the date of the additional EGM.

6.7 If the additional EGM once again fails to reach a quorum, the Executive Committee shall take any decisions necessary to  continue to manage the affairs of the Association.

7 MEMBERS’ BEHAVIOUR

7.1 Each member of the Association shall be required to conform with standards of fair play, courtesy and personal deportment prescribed by the Bye Laws and regulations for the time being of the EBU.

7.2 The Association shall have the powers and the procedures for the enforcement of the requirement in clause 7.1.  They are set out in the Disciplinary Procedures in section 8.

8 DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES

8.1     Laws &Ethics (L&E) Committee
The L&E Committee is appointed in accordance with clause 3.5 of the Constitution. It shall act by simple majority vote, and its chairman, or whomsoever in his absence is selected to chair a meeting, shall have a second or casting vote in the event that there is parity of voting.

Any member of the L&E Committee who is personally involved in the allegations within a complaint will be disqualified from participating in the Committee’s handling of that complaint.

8.2 Complaints

Any person making a complaint against one or more members of the Association must do so in writing to the Secretary or the Chairman of the Association.

Where a written complaint is made, or a matter otherwise comes to the attention of the L&E Committee, it shall first consider whether further investigation is warranted. If it does, the L&E Committee shall contact the defendant, seeking the defendant’s comments on the substance of the complaint or matter that has been raised.  The L&E Committee shall be entitled to make such further enquiries and investigations as it considers fit, including seeking advice from within the Association and from the EBU L&E Committee.

8.2.1 Complaint not justified

If the L&E Committee decides that the complaint is not justified, all parties shall be notified and the matter ended.

8.2.2 Complaint justified

If the L&E Committee decides that the complaint is justified, it may, in its absolute discretion, offer
 
a) an invitation to the defendant to make an apology in writing to the complainant, which, if accepted, ends the matter.

b) a verbal caution to the defendant, which, if accepted, ends the matter.

If the L&E Committee decide that such offer is not appropriate, or that such offer, apology or caution has not been accepted, all relevant parties shall be notified in writing and advised of the right to make written submissions to the L&E Committee and to attend a hearing called by the L&E Committee.

The L&E Committee shall give at least two weeks notice of the hearing to all interested parties.  The defendant shall have the right to be accompanied by another person to speak on his behalf.

8.2.3 Complaint upheld

If after the hearing the complaint is upheld, the L&E Committee may in its absolute discretion:

a) give a written reprimand to the offending member.

b) suspend the offending member from all or some of the competitions sponsored or licensed by the Association, for such period as it shall determine.

If the complaint is against a member of the Association Committee, then in addition to any other sanctions applied, the L&E Committee shall have the power to suspend such member from the Association’s Committee and any of its sub-committees for such a period that it shall determine.

Any sanctions imposed by the L&E Committee must be communicated in writing to the offending member within fourteen days of the hearing.

Any sanctions imposed by the L&E Committee shall take effect as soon as time for appeal has elapsed, except that if the defendant has filed Notice of Appeal within the time allowed, the sanction shall not take effect until such appeal has been determined.

8.2.4 Appeal

Any member found guilty of a disciplinary offence by the L&E Committee has the right to appeal to the EBU L&E Committee.  Appeals must be in writing and lodged with the secretary of the EBU L&E Committee within twenty one days of the written communication of the L&E Committee’s decision to the offending member.

8.2.5 Referral to EBU

At any time the L&E Committee may refer a complaint to the EBU L&E Committee for its consideration, and in doing so shall be deemed to have fully discharged its responsibilities.

9. ELECTION OF COUNTY CLUB REPRESENTATIVE

All affiliated Clubs are entitled to propose and vote for a County Club Representative to sit on the Regional Club Committee (South-West).  All nominations for this must be submitted to the Secretary in writing (or email) at least 21 days prior to the AGM.  In the event that there is more than one nomination for the post each affiliated club shall have one vote to be exercised (by letter or email) to the Secretary to arrive prior to the commencement of the AGM.

10. CONSTITUTION  AMENDMENTS

Alterations to the Constitution shall be made only at an AGM or EGM through the positive votes of at least two thirds of the paid up members present.

11. DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION

The Association shall be dissolved at an EGM provided at least two thirds of the total paid up members present on the date of the EGM positively vote for its dissolution.  The assets of the Association on a dissolution shall be distributed in accordance with the wishes of the majority of the members present.

12. INTERPRETATION

On all questions of interpretation of the Constitution the decisions of the Executive Committee shall be binding until or unless upset at an AGM or EGM. The Executive Committee shall determine any point or matter that is not covered by the Constitution.





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