RULES OF THE SOCIETY

These rules were last amended at the AGM of 20 April 2024

1. The Society shall be called ‘The Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland’.
    
2. The Society’s objective is to promote the study of Mollusca in its widest aspects for the benefit of the public.
    
3. The Society shall consist of Honorary, Life, Ordinary, Student, Junior (Under-18) and Family Members. Ordinary, Student, Junior and Family Members shall be elected at the meeting following the receipt of their application for membership, at the discretion of the members present at that meeting. Honorary members shall be selected by Council; they shall be limited to ten, and they shall be exempt from all payments and shall have the privileges of Ordinary members. A Family membership shall consist of two or more members of the same family at the same address; Family members shall have the privileges of Ordinary members, except that each such membership shall receive only one of each publication of the Society. Student and Junior Members shall be subject to any conditions as laid down by Council.
    
4. All Members shall pay the current annual subscription on election. The annual subscription is thereafter due on the first day of January of each year. The subscription of any Member joining the Society for the first time on or after October 1st in any year may, at the Member’s own choice, be deemed to cover either the year following that of election OR the actual year of election; in the latter case he/she may receive back numbers of all publications issued in that year. The Society may when necessary change the annual subscription at the Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting.
    
5. If on December 31st of any year, a member shall be more than one year in arrears with his/her subscription, the Council may erase his/her name from the list of Members, and may take whatever steps may seem desirable for the recovery of the arrears. The Council shall be empowered to remove from the list of Members the name of any Member whose actions are considered to fall below the standard acceptable to the Society.
    
6. No member shall be eligible to vote or receive Society publications who has not paid the current year’s subscription and/or any previous arrears for which he/she may be liable.
    
7. Institutions and Societies are very welcome to subscribe to the Society’s publications, and to send representatives to meetings; they are not however entitled to vote.
    
8. The Society shall be governed by a Council consisting of the President, the voting Vice-Presidents, the Society’s Officers and between six and nine elected Ordinary Council members. All members of Council and Trustees shall be indemnified for any loss of the Society’s property arising from acts, mistakes or omissions made in good faith and with reasonable supervision or proper advice.
    
9. The President shall ordinarily be nominated by the retiring President with the approval of Council. The Presidency shall be tenable for not more than three years in succession and the President is expected to deliver at least one address. On the conclusion of his/her term of office he/she shall become for the period of his/her Membership a Vice-President of the Society and an ex-officio Member of the Council.
    
10. The Society’s Officers shall consist of a General Secretary, a Membership Liaison Officer, Treasurer, Journal Editor, Recorder for Non-marine Mollusca, Recorder for Marine Mollusca, Editor of Mollusc World or its successor publication, Programme Secretary, Conservation Officer, Webmaster and Publications Services Manager, all of whom shall be elected annually. All Officers shall be unpaid.
     
11. Ordinary Council Members shall be elected for a period of three years, and on the expiry of this term shall not be eligible for a further twelve months for re-election to the same position unless there are insufficient other candidates willing to stand. A vacancy arising through premature retirement of an Ordinary Council Member may be filled by ballot or by co-option of Council.
     
12. Candidates for nomination to Council shall be paid-up Members of the Society when nominated and at the Annual General Meeting and shall be nominated by two Members. Nominations, other than those made by Council, shall be sent in writing or by email to the General Secretary at least three months before the Annual General Meeting. Nominations shall be accompanied by a signed declaration of the candidate’s willingness to serve.
     
13. Ballot papers shall be sent to Members within Great Britain and Ireland only if there are more nominations than vacancies for any post, be it Officers or Ordinary Council Members. In the event of a ballot being held, ballot papers shall be returned in a sealed envelope signed on the outside by the voting Member and with their name in block capitals beneath the signature and addressed to the Hon. General Secretary and arrive before he Annual General Meeting.
     
14. The Council shall have the power to fill vacancies among the Officers for the current year, and to co-opt Members, who shall not have the power to vote at Council meetings.
     
15. The meetings of the Society shall be held at such a time and place as the Council shall determine; a Special General Meeting of the Society shall be convened upon the recommendation of Council or by the request of signed requisition of at least 20 Members, addressed to the Hon. General Secretary, and signifying the purpose thereof. At least twenty-one days’ notice of such a meeting shall be sent to Members.
     
16. For voting purposes, five Members shall form a quorum at Council meetings and ten at the Annual General Meeting or Ordinary meetings of the Society. Only the four most recent Vice-Presidents shall be counted in the quorum at Council meetings and be entitled to vote. For voting purposes members may vote either in person at the meeting venue, or by video conference which must allow simultaneous visual and audio participation.
     
17. The Annual General Meeting shall be held at such a time and place as may be fixed by the Council to receive and, if agreed, to adopt the reports and accounts of the outgoing Council, to elect the Council and Officers for the ensuing year and to vote upon proposed subscription changes and any other resolutions.
     
18. The accounts, before being presented, shall be examined by one examiner usually appointed at the previous Annual General Meeting.
     
19. The Journal, Mollusc World or their successor publications and other publications shall be published periodically under the direction of Council, whose decision concerning publication shall be final.
     
20. The assets of the Society shall be vested in Council, who will decide who should act as signatories on the Society’s bank and investment accounts and who should authorize the purchase and sale of investments. All Council members entitled to vote at meetings are Trustees during the period of their Council membership.
     
21. During the continuance of the Society, no parts of its funds shall be distributed amongst the Members generally, but this rule shall not preclude the Council from making grants to individual Members in furtherance of the objects of the Society.
     
22. On the dissolution of the Society, its remaining funds and assets shall be transferred by the Trustees to such charitable Societies or Institutions where objects include the protection or study of molluscs generally, as the Trustees think fit, or be applied by them as H. M. Charity Commissioners may direct.
     
23. No alteration to any Rule shall be made except at an Annual General Meeting or at a Special General Meeting and by a majority of three quarters of the Members present, and that no alteration shall be made to the Rules which would make the objects not exclusively charitable or the funds and assets applicable otherwise than for exclusively charitable purposes.