Legacy Articles of Association, Show Rules and Standards
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- Articles of Association
- Show Rules
- Standards
- The encouragement of all parties to adopt and maintain high standards in the management and care of hamsters.
- The affiliation and registering of organisations having similar objectives.
- The fostering and maintenance of a high standard of excellence in judging and show management, by the adoption of national exhibition standards and show rules, drawn up in co-operation with affiliated specialist clubs.
- The publication of leaflets and periodicals providing information relating to the above objectives.
- The maintenance of a constant central postal address that can be used by fully affiliated organisations.
- Full Membership Affiliation
The flat fee is payable plus a payment per adult member (over 16 years of age) of the affiliating organisation, to be fixed for the following year and shall be payable in straight 12ths per month either by standing order or by monthly cheque. Any organisation defaulting on payments shall be liable to disqualification. The number of adult members for which affiliation fees are paid shall be the determining factor in the number of Delegates that the affiliating organisation has to the BHA. Affiliating organisations must supply details and names and addresses of adult members to the BHA at the time of registering their claim for representation. Full voting and representation rights are applicable. A maximum of two votes per adult membership of a fully affiliated club can be cast in any BHA vote.
- Associate Affiliation
The flat fee only is payable giving NO voting or representation rights.
- To receive written reports from the Officers for the previous year. To receive written financial accounts for the previous year.
- To determine the level of affiliation fees for the forthcoming year, to take effect on 1st April for one year.
- To consider any other business falling within the responsibility of the Association's Articles of Association, of which notification has been given to its affiliated organisations prior to the meeting, or other urgent business at the discretion of the Chairman of the meeting.
- Act as Chairman at all meetings of the Association.
- Not have a vote, except where a casting vote is required.
- Uphold the principles and objectives of the BHA at all times.
- Have charge of all moneys belonging to the Association, which shall be deposited in a bank or building society where the net cost of the Association's transactions shall be kept at a minimum.
- Be responsible for the prompt payment of the Association's debts and the collection of outstanding amounts from affiliated organisations. All payments from the account(s) must be made by cheque, signed by the Treasurer and any one of the Secretary or the Chairman. Signatories must not reside in the same household.
- Attend and keep correct minutes of all meetings of the Association and pass copies of minutes to all Officers and Delegates of the Association within 30 days of the meeting. Full Minutes of the Annual Meeting shall be published in the April publication of the BHA.
- Record all Association proceedings, conduct the correspondence and be responsible for administration of the Association's business.
- Call and arrange Association meetings, asking for nominations for office and items for the agenda and circulate the agenda 30 days prior to the meeting.
- Be responsible for appointing a scrutiniser.
- Ensure maintenance of the BHA's PO Box and arrange collection and answering of PO Box letters.
- Receive and edit articles submitted for publication in any of the Association's publications. Articles deemed to cause offence to either individuals or affiliated organisations may be withheld at the discretion of the Editor. Such correspondence shall be returned to the submitter for circulation through appeals procedures or directly with individuals.
- Receive payments for advertisements, receipt these and forward to the Association's Treasurer on a monthly basis.
- Co-ordinate the production of leaflets and publications on various topics relating to different species of hamster.
- Maintain a database of literary and research articles and publications for provision to interested parties.
- Advise the Association on its responsibilities under the Data Protection Act and Copyright Law.
- Maintain the breeders register for the BHA ensuring annual reminders requesting updated breeders details are sent.
- Publicise the existence and role of the Association.
- Publicise the leaflets and publications produced by the Association.
- Seek sponsorship of the BHA's activities.
- Ensure that all publicity material reflects the BHA's objectives.
- Organise publicity items e.g. stickers, badges, pens etc.
- Coordinate the activities of the Standards Panel.
- Ensure that the Standards Panel are consulted as required on any proposed new standards or amendments to existing standards.
- Ensure that the views of the Standards Panel are notified to the BHA annual meeting or BHA officers and delegates by post.
- Subject to cost - to indemnify the Officers of the Association against any legal proceedings arising from their actions as Officers of the Association.
- To indemnify the Association and its affiliated organisations, if they so wish and upon appropiate payment, against legal claims arising as a result of activities at shows and displays run under BHA rules.
Articles of Association |
4th Edition, August 2002 |
Title
1. The title of the Association shall be the British Hamster Association, normally abbreviated to BHA.
Objectives
2. To protect, further and co-ordinate the interests of all species of hamster.
3. To educate, advise and co-operate with the public and other associations on matters relevant to all species of hamster.
4. To encourage and assist the cultivation of a spirit of friendship amongst owners and all interested parties.
5. These objectives shall be met by:
Articles of Association and Rules
6. A copy of the Articles of Association and Rules must be provided to each adult member of a fully affiliated organisation upon joining, by and at the expense of that affiliated organisation.
Agreement to be bound by the articles, rules and decisions of the Association
7. Payment of affiliation fees shall be held to indicate an organisation's acknowledgement of, and agreement to observe and abide by the Articles and Rules of the Association. This responsibility extends to the organisation's individual members through their organisation's affiliation to the Association.
Affiliation Fees
8. A flat fee paid annually per organisation that entitles the organisation to receive one copy of the Association's publications.
9. There shall be two types of affiliation fee:
10. The level of both affiliation fees shall be determined at the annual meeting of the BHA and shall be
notified to organisations by 31st March each year.
Disaffiliation
11. When an organisation is deemed by a majority vote of the full BHA committee to have contravened the Articles of Association, then they shall be disaffiliated and all affiliation fees paid to date shall be forfeit.
12. The BHA Secretary shall issue one written warning, sent by registered post. If remedial action is not taken by the organisation within one calendar month of the date of receipt of the letter, disaffiliation shall take immediate effect.
Appeals against an officer decision/action
13. Appeals shall be made to the Secretary in writing signed by the appellant, including names, dates and places pertaining to the complaint, with sufficient copies provided for the Secretary to forward to each Officer/Delegate of the Association within 14 days of receipt. The Officer against whom the complaint has been made shall advise all other Officers and Delegates in writing of the reasons for the decision/action within 14 days.
14. The Secretary shall then organise a postal ballot of the BHA Officers/Delegates within 30 days, with the exception of any involved parties (who shall be advised of the contents of the ballot) to determine whether the appeal/complaint is upheld.
Appeals against a BHA decision
15. Appeals shall be made in writing by no less than 25 adult members of affiliated organisations who have paid affiliation fees for adult members (Article 9). Appeals shall be signed by the appellants and give details of names, dates and places relating to the appeal, with sufficient copies provided for the BHA Secretary to forward to each Officer/Delegate of the Association, within 14 days of receipt.
16. If the appeal is made in the correct manner then the BHA decision shall be reversed, returning the Association to its original position.
Publication of appeals outcome
17. The results of appeals shall be advised to all Officers and Delegates of the Association, together with affiliated organisations not represented by the former. The results of appeals shall also be publicised in the following publication of the Association.
Amendments to the Articles of Association
18. Amendments to the Articles of Association can only be made by a majority vote of all Officers and Delegates to the Association, providing that the proposal to amend the Articles has been circulated to all affiliated organisations at least 60 days prior to the vote taking place. It is the responsibility of the affiliated organisations, NOT the Association, to ensure that the views of their membership are taken into account when their delegates vote on the amendment.
19. Although the Articles and Rules of the Association have been drafted for the greatest clarity possible, there will always be areas upon which clarification on some point is necessary. It is hereby stated that the BHA is the right and proper body to make this interpretation and the decision made by the Association is binding on all parties.
20. Ignorance of any Article or Rule of the Association shall not excuse any affiliated organisation or one of its individual members from being bound by the Article or Rule.
Management
21. Elected Officers and Delegates shall conduct the business of the Association from the Association's affiliated organisations.
Officers
22. The Association shall comprise the following elected Officers:
President, Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor, Information Officer, Publicity Officer, Standards Officer,
together with Delegates from each of the fully affiliated organisations.
23. The Officers of the Association shall be elected by and from the individual adult members of the fully affiliated organisations. Each Officer of the Association shall be elected for a period of two years from 1st April. Any tie in the election of Officers shall be determined by the Chairman's casting vote.
24. The Association is empowered to fill any Officer vacancy occurring during the period of office on a temporary basis. In cases of emergency this power is vested in the Chairman or, in the event of the Chairman post being vacant, the Secretary, until such time as an election can be held. The Secretary shall notify all of the Officers and Delegates within 14 days of the vacancy occurring, that nominations are required. The election procedure shall follow the time scale for normal elections and shall be made clear at the time of calling for nominations.
Delegates
25. Delegates appointed by the Association's affiliated organisations shall represent their parent organisation's views.
26. The number of Delegates shall be dependent upon the number of adult members for which affiliation fees have been fixed for the current year. There shall be a minimum of one and a maximum of three Delegates, subject to a minimum affiliated organisation size of 25 adult members.
27. Numbers of delegates shall be fixed as follows:
| Number of adult members | Number of delegates |
|---|---|
| 25 - 100 | 1 |
| 101 - 200 | 2 |
| >200 | 3 |
Nominations for Office
28. The nomination of candidates to any of the Association's Officers' Posts must be forwarded to reach the Secretary by 31st October each second year. Each nomination must have a proposer and a seconder who are adult members of fully affiliated organisations and accompanied by the written consent of the nominee to stand for election.
29. If any individual is suspended, banned or refused membership of any affiliated organisation, they may not be nominated for or hold an Officer post or be a Delegate to the BHA during the period of suspension/ ban or refusal of membership.
30. A list of nominations shall then be prepared by the Secretary in the form of a voting paper and sufficient copies forwarded by 21st November to the membership secretaries of all affiliated organisations for circulation to all adult members. Votes shall be returned to the Association's scrutiniser by 14th January and the results of the ballot circulated to all Officers/Delegates by 31st January. Officers to take office on 1st April following.
Business of the Association
31. Business shall be conducted by post or at an Association meeting. A meeting of the Association shall take place every year in February, funds permitting.
32. Minutes of the Annual Meeting shall be published in the April publication of the Association. Objections to any decision taken at the Annual Meeting shall follow the appeals procedure laid down in Article 15.
33. The financial year of the Association shall run from 1st January to 31st December each year.
34. The business of the Annual Meeting shall be as follows:
35. The quorum for any meeting shall be four Officers and half the Association's delegates (or to the nearest whole number above in the event of unequal numbers).
36. In all instances where the members voting are of an equal number then the Chairman of the meeting, or the Association's Chairman in the case of a postal vote, shall have a casting vote.
37. Urgent business shall be conducted by post. Such business must be by written request, individually signed, by at least 6 of the Officers and Delegates of the Association. The Secretary shall administer such business.
Expenses
38. The Association shall meet all reasonable expenses of the Officers. Delegates' travel expenses for the Annual Meeting shall also be met by the Association.
39. All travelling expenses shall be limited to the standard class rail fare or the actual travel cost whichever is the lower.
Duties of elected officers
40. This is a post in recognition of outstanding service to the Fancy and cannot be held for two consecutive terms.
41. The Chairman shall:
42. The Treasurer shall:
43. A balance sheet and statement of all cash receipts and payments (incorporating petty cash sums held by other BHA Officers) shall be prepared for the financial year to 31st December for presentation to the February meeting of the Association. If a meeting does not take place then copies of the accounts shall be forwarded to all Officers and Delegates to the Association by 14th February. In the event of the termination of office other than in the normal course of elections, the retiring Treasurer must produce a balanced set of accounts within 30 days of termination of office, and pass all records to the new Treasurer or, in the event of there being no Treasurer, to the Association's Secretary for safekeeping.
44. Accounts shall be audited annually by 7th February or on termination of office within 35 days.
45. The Secretary shall:
46. The Editor shall:
47. The Information Officer shall:
48. The Publicity Officer shall:
49. The Standards Officer shall:
Other matters
50. The Association shall maintain insurance cover for the following items:51. Logo - The Association shall adopt the logo depicting a Russian, a Syrian and a Chinese hamster and the letters BHA within a triangle. The BHA official colours shall be black and white and these shall be used wherever possible on publicity items.
Dissolution
52. The Association may be dissolved by a majority vote of the full (entire) Association's Officers/ Delegates.53. Upon dissolution, the assets of the Association, after clearance of debts including the Officers' expenses, shall be divided among its affiliated organisations in direct relation to their cash payments to the Association in respect of affiliation fees over the immediately preceding calendar year.