THE BRITISH ITALIAN LAW ASSOCIATION
1. Name and office
1.1 The Name of the Association is:
“British Italian Law Association”
1.2 The principal office of the Association will be situated in London.
2. Objects
The objects for which the Association is established are as follows:
2.1 to promote in the United Kingdom the study and knowledge of the law and legal system of the Republic of Italy and in Italy the study and knowledge of the law and legal system of the United Kingdom;
2.2 to encourage and facilitate the education of the British and Italian lawyers in the study and practice of Italian and British law respectively;
2.3 to co-operate with the Italian Law Societies, Associations and Institutions for the furtherance of the aforementioned objects and to arrange lectures, seminars and other activities in the United Kingdom and Italy;
2.4 to arrange and participate in meetings seminars and conferences in Italy or the United Kingdom or elsewhere relating to the objects of the Association;
2.5 to foster personal and professional relations between Members of the legal professions in both countries.
3. Membership
3.1 The Association shall be composed of:-
(a) Ordinary Members;
(b) Corporate Members; and
(c) Honorary Members.
a) Ordinary Members
Any person who desires to further the objects of the Association shall be eligible for membership as an Ordinary Member.
b) Corporate Members
The expression “Corporate Members” shall include firms, partnerships, LLPs and entities (including without limitation corporations) with an interest in the objects of the Association shall be eligible to join the Association as Corporate Members.
c) Honorary Members
Honorary Membership may be bestowed by a General Meeting of the Association. Honorary Members are exempt from the payment of subscriptions. H.E. the Italian Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s from time to time shall be an Honorary Member of the Association.
4. Acquisition and Loss of Membership
4.1 Application for membership has to be made by notice to the Secretary in writing and is effective upon confirmation by the Committee.
4.2 Membership of the Association shall be terminated by notice to the Member, by expulsion or removal by the Committee, or by death.
4.3 Notice of termination shall take effect at the end of the month in which such notice has been given to or by the Secretary as the case may be.
4.4 A member may be expelled from the Association by the Committee for conduct incompatible with membership of the Association or for failure to pay his annual subscription. An appeal against expulsion lies to a General Meeting which may uphold or quash the decision of the Committee by simple majority.
5. Voting rights
5.1 Each ordinary member shall have one vote.
5.2 Two nominated representatives may attend meetings and vote on behalf of a corporate member and each of them shall have one vote.
5.3 Any ordinary Member or a nominated representative of a Corporate Member shall be entitled to vote by proxy. A proxy holder shall be an Ordinary member of the Association or a nominated representative of a Corporate Member. Proxies shall be received by the Secretary prior to the date of the meeting in question.
6. Subscriptions
6.1 The Annual Subscription shall be thirty pounds (£30) in each calendar year for individual Ordinary Members and two hundred pounds (£200) for Corporate Members, or as amended from time to time by the Committee.
6.2 The Committee shall be entitled at its discretion to reduce the amount of the subscription or waive it altogether for special classes or special cases.
7. Committee
7.1 The Committee shall consist of not more than 18 Ordinary Members and/or nominated representatives of Corporation Members of the Association elected in the Annual General Meeting by simple majority of the members present.
7.2 Not more than two persons who are members of or associated with the same firm, partnership, limited liability partnership or entity (including without limitation corporations) shall be members of the Committee at any one time.
7.3 The quorum of the Committee shall be not less than 5 members of the Committee.
7.4 The Committee shall decide by simple majority. In the case of equality of votes the President of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.
7.5 The Committee shall meet at least 4 times in each year at regular intervals as well as on the request of the President for the dispatch of urgent business. Meetings shall be conducted by the President or in his/her absence by a person nominated by the Committee.
7.6 The Committee may appoint Sub-Committees for the conduct of such business as the Committee thinks fit.
7.7 If any committee or sub-committee member has a conflict of interest or an interest which should be declared this must be disclosed at the beginning of any meeting; the committee or sub-committee shall determine whether or not that member should continue to be present for the purposes of that item.
8. Officers
8.1 The Officers of the Association shall be the President, , the Hon Secretary and the Hon. Treasurer. The Officers of the Association shall be members of the Committee elected by the Committee by simple majority and appointed at the Annual General Meeting by simple majority.. The President and the honorary officers of the Association shall hold office until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Association next after their election but shall be eligible for re-election provided that no honorary officer shall hold office for more than five consecutive years. On the expiration of such period one further year must elapse before any honorary officer shall be eligible for re-election.
8.2 The Roles of the officers are described below:
i) President
to oversee the business of the Association; to be the figurehead and to retain the database of the membership on behalf of the Association
ii) Hon Secretary
To take the minutes of the meetings of the Committee and act as liaison between the membership and the Association and the associated administrative duties particularly recording the resolutions of the committee and at the Annual General Meeting
iii) Hon Treasurer
To keep accurate financial records and accounts of the Association; make a full report of accounts at the Annual General Meeting and to report from time to time to the Ordinary Meeting of the Committee.
8.3 The Association may be represented for all purposes by the Officers of the Association for the time being.
8.4 The Officers shall conduct the current business of the Association in particular:-
i) Arrangement of lectures, seminars, meetings and conferences as provided by the Constitution;
ii) Communicating with other institutions in the United Kingdom and other societies relating to the objects of the Association;
iii) Convening Annual General Meetings or Extraordinary General Meetings;
iv) Collecting the members’ subscriptions;
v) Preparing an Annual Account and submitting to the Annual General Meeting;
vi) Recording the resolutions of the Committee and those of the Annual General Meeting or of Extraordinary General Meetings.
9. Annual General Meeting and General Meeting
9.1 An Annual General Meeting shall be held during the month of February in each year, the exact date therefore being determined by the Committee.
9.2 The business of the Annual General Meeting shall consist of:
i) The President’s report on the activities of the Association during the preceding year.
ii) The election of members of the Committee.
iii) The approval of the accounts of the Association.
iv) The appointment of the Officers;
v) Any other business of which notice shall have been given or which may be permitted to be raised without notice at the discretion of the president
9.3 Any member wishing to raise any matter at the Annual General Meeting shall give notice in writing thereof to the Hon. Secretary not later than 21 days before the date of the Meeting; provided that the President may allow any matter, other than a resolution to amend the constitution, to be raised at the Annual General Meeting without such previous written notice as aforesaid as he/she sees fit.
9.4 The President, or in the case of the President’s absence a person nominated by the Committee, shall preside at a General Meeting of the Association. The President of the General Meeting shall have a second or casting vote in case of equality of votes.
9.5 On the request of the President or of the Committee or of five Ordinary Members of the Association, an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called by the President to take place as soon as is reasonably practicable. The same provisions applicable to the Annual General Meeting shall apply to an Extraordinary General Meeting.
9.6 The Constitution may be amended by a Resolution of the Association at a General Meeting attended by not less than 20 members and passed by a simple majority of the members present.
Adopted this 6th day of February 2012
Signed: [Rocco Franco]
President
Signed: [Pat Deeley]
Hon. Secretary
Signed: [Andrew Godfrey]
Hon. Tresurer