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Northern Administrative Law Association Constitution 1. Name The name of the Association shall be the Northern Administrative Law Association (NALA). 2. Adoption and Approval 2.1 This Constitution was adopted by the subscribers hereto on 19 September 2008. 2.2 The subscribers hereto shall have the power to establish the first Management Committee
to serve until the first Annual General Meeting of NALA. 3. Interpretation 3.1 In this Constitution, unless the context requires to the contrary, the words set out below
shall have the following meanings:- “the Committee” the Management Committee of NALA. “the Secretary” the Secretary of NALA or any person temporarily fulfilling the duties of
that office. “the Territory” the area covered by the Circuits referred to in clause 4.1 or such other
area as the Committee shall from to time decide. 4. Objects The objects of NALA shall be:- 4.1 The development and strengthening of the practice of administrative law in the area
covered by the Northern Circuit (including the Chester and North Wales Circuit) and
the North Eastern Circuit. 4.2 To provide a forum for discussion of matters of common interest. 4.3 To ascertain and represent views of members in relation to their professional interests. 4.4 To protect and promote the efficiency of Courts in the Territory in dealing with
administrative and public law. 4.5 To further the understanding and development of administrative law. 4.6 To develop the capacity in the Territory for the conduct of cases involving administrative
law. 5. Membership 5.1 Membership shall be open to any person who is a member of the bar, a solicitor, a
legal executive, a member of the legal department of a local authority, an adviser in a
law centre, a member of academia or any other category that the Committee may from
time to time decide and who has an interest in administrative law. 5.2 Associate membership shall be open to any person or organisation not otherwise eligible
for membership. Associate members shall not have the right to vote or to serve as
members of the Committee. The qualifications, rights and other terms of membership
of associate members shall be fixed by the Committee, but shall not extend to voting in
general meeting nor holding office. 5.3 The Committee may admit any person to honorary membership. Subject to clause 7.4
honorary members shall not be entitled to hold office or vote but shall have such other
rights as the Committee shall from time to time prescribe. 5.4 Subject to clause 5.7, a candidate for membership shall become a member and shall
thereupon be bound by this Constitution upon receipt by the Secretary of his or her
application form (in such form as the Committee may from time to time specify) duly
completed and any subscription which may be payable. 5.5 The Secretary shall maintain a register of membership. The register shall be open to
inspection by members. The register shall contain the full name of each member, the
last postal address which the member has given by notice in writing to the Secretary,
the date of his or her admission to membership, the subscription level applicable to that
member and the date of termination of his or her membership. The register shall be
prima facie evidence of the matters contained therein. 5.6 A member shall cease to be a member of NALA if:- 5.6.1 he or she has resigned his or her membership of NALA by giving written notice to
that effect to the Secretary; 5.6.2 he or she is in breach of this Constitution or fails to pay any subscription due, and is
removed from membership by resolution of the Committee; or 5.6.3 the Committee resolves that it is in the interests of NALA that that person’s
membership shall be terminated. Prior to resolving to this effect the Committee shall
give the person written notice of the proposed resolution and the opportunity to make
oral or written representations. 5.7 The decision of the Committee as to whether a person is entitled to become a member
or has ceased to be a member shall be final and binding for all purposes. Any person
whose membership has been terminated under the provisions of clause 5.6 may only
resume membership with the previous consent of the Committee. 6. Management Committee 6.1 Governance of NALA shall be the responsibility of the Committee, which shall be
made up of not more than fifteen members of NALA appointed as set out below. 6.2 Not more than twelve members of the Committee shall be elected by the members in
general meeting and shall serve for a period of three years (subject to clause 7.2). 6.3 The Committee may co-opt up to three members to the Committee for such period not
exceeding three years as it may determine in each case. 6.4 The Committee may appoint such members as it determines to fill any casual vacancy
or any vacancy left unfilled at an Annual General Meeting. Persons so appointed shall
serve until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting next following their
appointment. 7. Officers 7.1 The Committee shall elect from its number a Chairman and Vice-Chairman who shall
each hold office for a period of three years. 7.2 The term of office of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman as members of the Committee
shall if necessary be extended to be contemporaneous with their term as Chairman
and Vice Chairman. 7.3 The Committee shall appoint from its number a Secretary, a Membership Secretary
and a Treasurer in each case for such period not exceeding three years as it determines. 7.4 The Committee may elect as a President and one or more Vice-Presidents of NALA
any person or persons it deems in its absolute discretion it is appropriate so to
elect and such persons if not members shall be deemed to be honorary members. 8. Elections 8.1 Not less than two months prior to the Annual General Meeting in each year the
Secretary shall, with the notice of the Annual General Meeting to be given in
accordance with clause 9.1, call for nominations for election to the Committee by
notice in writing to the members. Such notice shall specify the form in which
nominations shall be made, the date by which they must be received and the place
to which they must be sent. 8.2 Any member of NALA may nominate himself or herself for election. 8.3 Not less than one month prior to any Annual General Meeting at which there is to
be an election under clause 6.2 the Secretary shall send to each member a voting paper
containing the names of those persons who have been validly nominated for election
to the Committee, together with such explanatory information as is necessary to assist
in completion of the voting paper and details of the date by which the voting paper is
to be returned. A ballot need not be conducted if there are the same or a fewer number
of nominations as the number of vacant places on the Committee to be filled. 8.4 A candidate may supply with his or her nomination a statement of up to 200 words
for circulation with the voting papers. The Secretary shall be entitled to remove from
any such statement any material which in his or her opinion is defamatory or the
publication of which would otherwise be unlawful. 8.5 Votes shall be cast by posting or returning the ballot paper to the Secretary or any
election scrutineer designated by the Committee, and the election shall be conducted
on a first past the post basis. In the event of a tie between two or more candidates,
the candidate or candidates shall be determined by lot. 8.6 Any dispute relating to the voting at any election shall be referred to the Leader of
Northern Circuit whose decision shall be final. 8.7 The results of an election shall be declared at the Annual General Meeting immediately
following that election. 9. General Meetings 9.1 An Annual General Meeting shall be held once in each calendar year (excluding the year
of formation of NALA) and shall be called on not less than two months’ notice. 9.2 All other meetings of the members other than the Annual General Meeting shall be
Extraordinary General Meetings and shall be called by the Secretary on not less than
one month’s notice by direction of the Committee or on a requisition signed by the
lesser of 25 members or 10% of the membership. 9.3 A quorum shall be the lesser of 15 members present in person or 5% of the membership.
If no quorum is present within half an hour of the time appointed for the meeting then
the meeting if convened upon the requisition of members shall be dissolved. In any
other case it shall be adjourned to such date, time and place as the Committee shall
resolve, provided that not less than 14 days’ notice of the adjourned meeting shall
be given to members. If at the adjourned meeting a quorum is not present within half
an hour of the time appointed the members present shall constitute a quorum in any event. 9.4 Every member present in person shall have one vote and no votes may be cast by proxy.
Voting shall be by show of hands unless before or immediately after the result of the
show of hands is declared the Chairman directs, or at least two members require, that
it shall be by the use of voting papers. 9.5 General meetings shall be chaired by the Chairman of the Committee. If the Chairman
is not present when the meeting proceeds to business the meeting shall be chaired by
the Vice-Chairman, and in default of either of these the meeting shall select from among
those present a person to chair the meeting. The Chairman of the meeting shall have
a second or casting vote in the case of an equality of votes. 9.6 The notice of the Annual or an Extraordinary General Meeting shall give details of
the business to be discussed and the full text of any resolution to be proposed. 9.7 Those opposing any resolution to be moved on behalf of the Committee may if they
provide the text to the Secretary in reasonable time to allow circulation require the
Secretary to circulate a summary of the reasons for opposing such resolution not
exceeding 200 words in length. The Secretary may also be required by the Committee
to circulate a summary of their views upon the resolution not exceeding that length. 9.8 The members requisitioning an Extraordinary General Meeting under clause 9.2
may supply with the requisition a statement of up to 200 words for circulation with
the notice of the meeting, and the Committee shall be entitled to circulate with the
notice its own statement of up to 200 words relative to the motion. The Secretary shall
be entitled to remove from any such statement any material which in his or her opinion
is defamatory or the publication of which would otherwise be unlawful. 10. Committee Meetings 10.1 The Committee shall meet for the despatch of business, adjourn or otherwise regulate
its meetings as it shall from time to time resolve. The Chairman or not less than three
other members of the Committee may at any time require the Secretary to summon a
meeting of the Committee. 10.2 Questions at meetings of the Committee shall be decided by a majority of votes. In the
case of an equality of voting, the Chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting
vote. The Secretary shall prepare minutes of each meeting of the Committee, or any
committee or sub-committee, and these shall be put to the next meeting for
confirmation, following which they shall be signed by the Chairman of that meeting. 10.3 The quorum necessary for the transaction of business at meetings of the Committee
shall be one-third of the number of members of the Committee at that time holding
office. Where the number of members of the Committee actually serving falls below
the quorum the Committee may only meet in order to appoint, or arrange for the
appointment of, such number of further members of the Committee as is required to
enable a quorum to be obtained at future meetings, and to that extent a quorum shall
be deemed to be present at that meeting. 10.4 The Chairman of the Committee shall act as Chairman at all meetings of the Committee,
if present. In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman shall preside. If neither
the Chairman nor the Vice-Chairman is present, the members of the Committee present
shall choose one of their number to preside at the meeting. 10.5 A resolution in writing signed by not less than 80% of the members for the time being
of the Committee, or all the members of any committee or sub-committee of the
Committee, shall be as valid and effectual as if it had been passed at a meeting of the
Committee, or such committee or sub-committee, duly convened and held in
accordance with this Constitution. 10.6 All acts done by members of the Committee, or any committee or sub-committee
of the Committee, shall be valid notwithstanding any defect in their election or
appointment. 10.7 In this clause, “meeting” includes a conference carried out by telephone or combined
telephone/video facilities, so long as the procedure adopted allows for simultaneous
communication between those taking part and prior to the start of the conference the
Secretary informs every member of the Committee of the proposed conference and
makes provision for each such member to take part if he or she is able to do so.
In the event that a telephone conference or video-conference is held in accordance with
this paragraph, the other provisions of this clause 10 shall be interpreted accordingly. 10.8 The Committee may appoint committees or sub-committees consisting of members
of the Committee, or members of the Committee and other persons, for any purpose
which in its opinion would be more conveniently undertaken by a committee, or
subcommittee, provided that all acts and proceedings of any committee or
subcommittee shall be fully and promptly reported to the Committee. 11. Finance 11.1 The Committee shall be responsible for the funds and assets of NALA. 11.2 The Committee may appoint bankers to hold NALA’s funds. 11.3 The Treasurer shall ensure that proper accounts and other financial records are
maintained and shall present the annual accounts and balance sheet to the Annual
General Meeting. 12. Amendment of the Constitution and Dissolution 12.1 This Constitution may be amended, or NALA dissolved, by a resolution passed by
not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting at a general meeting. 12.2 In the event of dissolution the Committee may in its absolute discretion resolve that
the assets of NALA be donated to a non-profit-making organisation having broadly
similar objectives to those of NALA and in default such assets shall be distributed in
equal shares to all those members (excluding honorary and associate members) who
can then be traced. 13. Notices 13.1 Any notice sent to a member by post, addressed to him or her by name and at the last
address communicated by him or her to the Secretary, shall be deemed to have been
properly given on the day on which it is posted. Any notice may be sent through a
document exchange service and in that event it shall be deemed to have been properly
given on the day when it was left at the relevant document exchange office. Any notice
may be sent by electronic mail to such email address as the member may have notified
and shall be deemed to have been properly given on the day it is transmitted.
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Constitution
