CONSTITUTION
1. NAME: The Club shall be called the Home Office and Justice Chess Club.
2. OBJECTS: The object of the Home Office and Justice Chess Club shall be to encourage and promote the playing of chess within the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. The Home Office and Justice Chess Club shall encourage its members to become members of the Civil Service Sports Council.
3. AFFILIATION: The Home Office and Justice Chess Club shall be affiliated to the Home Office Sports and Social Association (HOSSA) and the Ministry of Justice Recreational Association (JURA).
4. MEMBERSHIP: Membership of the Home Office and Justice Chess Club shall be open to all past, serving and retired members of the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, and all public bodies exercising functions on their behalf, and to honorary members of HOSSA and JURA. Persons falling outside those categories may be admitted to membership at the discretion of the Committee of the Home Office and Justice Chess Club.
5. OFFICERS: The officers of the Home Office and Justice Chess Club shall consist of:
i) Chairman
ii) Vice-Chairman
ii) Secretary
iii) Treasurer
iv) Match captains
v) Webmaster
vi) A maximum of two additional members.
The positions of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer shall be held by separate persons.
6. COMMITTEE: The officers specified in Rule 5 shall form the Committee of the Home Office and Justice Chess Club. A simple majority of the members of the Committee shall form a quorum of both Committee Meetings and General Meetings. Committee Meetings may be called by a General Meeting or by any member of the Committee.
7. VACANCIES: If a vacancy arises on the Committee, the Committee shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy as soon as possible until the next AGM.
8. AGM: The AGM shall be held in the month of April or May each year when a report by all relevant officers shall be given. The Secretary shall give members at least 14 days notice of the AGM.
9. EGM: Any member of the Committee may call an Extraordinary General Meeting. Any other member of the Club may call an EGM with the written support of at least two other members of the Club. In either case, at least 7 days notice must be given.
10. FINANCES: The annual subscription for the forthcoming year shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting. The accounts of the Home Office and Justice Chess Club shall be audited annually prior to the Annual General Meeting. An auditor, who shall not be an officer of the Home Office and Justice Chess Club, shall be appointed for this purpose at the previous Annual General Meeting.
11. ALTERATIONS/ADDITIONS: Alterations and additions to the Constitution shall take place only at a General Meeting.
12. VOTING PROCEDURES: All motions must be proposed and (other than Chairman’s motions) seconded. Any motions put to a vote, including alterations and additions to the Constitution, shall be decided by a simple majority of those present and voting. The Chairman may not vote except to resolve a tie. In this paragraph, references to the Chairman include the Vice-Chairman or any other member acting as Chairman in his or her absence.
13. DISPUTES: Any matters not provided for in the Constitution shall be decided by the Committee and reported upon at the AGM.
14. DISSOLUTION: The Home Office and Justice Chess Club may at any time be dissolved by the consent of 75% of the members present at a General Meeting at which a motion for dissolution has been duly notified in advance. Any assets remaining to the Home Office and Justice Chess Club following the discharge of debts and liabilities shall be given over to the Home Office Sports and Social Association and the Ministry of Justice Recreational Association.