The Constitution for Watford and
1. Name.
The Club shall be called the Watford and Bushey Bridge Club.
2. Object.
The object of the Club shall be to provide facilities for, and to encourage the playing of, duplicate and rubber bridge.
3. Committee.
i. The affairs of the Club shall be managed by a committee which shall be elected annually at the Annual General meeting (referred to hereinafter as the “AGM”) and shall consist of the following Honorary Officers:
a. Chairman
b. Treasurer
c. Secretary
d. Up to six other representatives, some of whom may hold other designates positions to which they may be specifically elected with the agreement of members at the AGM.
Nominations for the Committee shall be made in writing (including by electronic means) to the Secretary not less than seven days before the AGM at which the elections are to be held and shall state the names of the proposer and seconder, and indicate the agreement of the nominee.
ii. The Committee may co-opt to fill vacancies, form and disband sub-committees and co-opt members to serve on sub-committees.
iii. The quorum for a Committee Meeting shall be four elected members, including the officers and at least one executive member (chair, secretary or treasurer).
4. Membership and standards of Conduct.
i. Membership of the Club shall be open to all persons on payment of the subscription, provided that the Committee shall have the right to
a. limit the total membership,
b. refuse any applicant,
c. ask an applicant to play on a number of occasions with a member of the Club at their discretion, or
d. refuse to accept renewal of membership or otherwise expel a member acting in accordance with the Schedule of Disciplinary procedures listed below.
ii. Standards of conduct All members are required to conform to the standards of fair play, courtesy and personal deportment prescribed by the by-laws and regulations for the time being of the English Bridge Union (EBU) and the Committee of the Watford & Bushey Bridge Club. In the event of a complaint being made to the Committee about the conduct of a member, the Committee will take action in accordance with the Schedule of Disciplinary Procedures which is appended and forms part of this constitution.
5. Subscriptions and Fees.
The annual subscription shall be due on January 1st each year. The amount of the subscription and table money shall be determined by a resolution passed at the AGM or by a resolution passed by the Committee and subsequently approved at the next AGM.
Where any member's subscription is three months overdue, the Committee may expel that member from the Club. Any member so expelled may be re-admitted in accordance with
6. Finances.
i. The financial year shall run from 1st January to 31st December.
ii. The day-to-day control of all monies and of the Club shall be vested in the Committee. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection of all subscriptions, table monies and other monies due to the Club, the payment of all accounts and the keeping of books of account and shall present statements of accounts to the Committee and a report and audited accounts to each AGM.
iii. The Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer shall have authority to sign cheques on behalf of the Club. Two such authorised signatures shall be required. The accounts shall be audited annually. The auditor shall be appointed annually at the AGM and shall not be a member of the Committee.
7. AGM.
The quorum for an AGM shall be 40 members or one-fifth of the membership, whichever is the fewer.
i. AGM. This shall be held annually on a date decided by the Committee and published in the club programme. The Meeting shall consider the minutes of the previous AGM and any intervening Special General Meeting (SGM), receive officers' reports and transact all business required by this constitution, including items proposed by members which have been notified to the Secretary at least three weeks before the date of the AGM. The agenda of the meeting and the accounts for the preceding year shall be available to members for at least two weeks prior to the AGM.
ii. Special General Meeting. An SGM shall be called at the direction of the Committee, or within 42 days of receipt by the Secretary of a written requisition signed by at least eight members, or one-fifth of the membership on the date of the requisition, whichever is the greater, stating the purpose for which the meeting is to be called. Notice of the date, time and place of any SGM shall be provided to members not less than fourteen days beforehand together with a copy of the agenda.
8. Alterations to the Constitution.
i. No change shall be made to the Constitution except by votes of two-thirds of the members present and voting at a General Meeting.
ii. Any proposed change shall be notified in writing or by electronic transmission to the Secretary:
a. one month before the date of an AGM, or
b. by inclusion in the requisition of an SGM.
iii. Details of any proposed change shall be included in the Agenda for the relevant meeting.
9. Competitions.
The Committee may make and amend regulations for the play and conduct of any competition or rubber bridge session organised by the Club.
10. Play.
This shall be governed by the Laws of Contract Bridge as published by the Portland Club and Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge as published by the EBU.
11. Disputes.
In any dispute arising at a Club meeting regarding director’s decisions relating to the rules of game etc:
i. At a duplicate session, the decision of the director is final at the time,.
ii. At a rubber bridge session the dispute should be referred to a member of the Committee, whose decision is final at the time.
All parties shall have the right to appeal to the Committee who will act in accordance with the HBA’s procedures for hearing appeals from Directors.
All complaints relating to ethics, behaviour at the table etc shall be dealt with under the appended Schedule of Disciplinary Procedures.
12. Winding up.
In the event of the club being wound up any remaining assets shall be disposed of in a manner to be decided by a majority of those present and voting at a General Meeting of the club.
Schedule of Disciplinary Procedures
1. Requirements of the Schedule
This schedule is referred to under clause 4 of the Constitution of the Watford & Bushey Bridge Club (hereafter referred to as the Club) and prescribes the powers and procedures for enforcement. It will comply with and follow the EBU disciplinary procedures and any variations thereof that are made from time to time. The Club shall act through its Conduct and Disciplinary Committees for the enforcement of standards prescribed in clause 4 of the Constitution. The Club shall have additional powers as set out in the clauses below.
2. Receipt of the Allegation
Complaints against one or more members of the Club may be referred to the Conduct Committee under the terms of clause 4 of the Constitution as a written complaint either from a member or from the Club’s committee secretary following a minuted committee meeting.
3. Conduct Committee
The Committee of the Club shall appoint its Conduct Committee through its powers to appoint sub committees under clause 3 of the Constitution. The Conduct Committee shall be responsible for investigating complaints against the Club’s members and to determine whether a disciplinary offence should be referred to the Club’s Disciplinary Committee.
The Conduct Committee shall consist of no fewer than three members of the Club and no more than five. A quorum for any meeting shall be three of its members. It shall act by simple majority vote and its appointed chairman, or whomsoever in the Chair’s absence the Conduct Committee shall select to chair its meeting, shall have a second, or casting vote in the event that there is parity of voting.
4. Disciplinary Committee
The Committee of the Club shall appoint the Disciplinary Committee through its powers to appoint sub committees under clause 3 of the Constitution. The Disciplinary Committee shall determine sanctions for offences admitted by the defendant, hear charges of offences and determine whether those charges are proved and if proved, determine the sanction imposed.
The Disciplinary Committee shall consist of no fewer than three members of the Club and no more than five. At least three of its members must be present when it makes a decision to uphold a complaint and impose sanctions on the offending member. It shall act by simple majority vote and its appointed chairman, or whomsoever in the Chair’s absence the Disciplinary Committee shall select to chair its meeting shall have a second, or casting, vote in the event that there is parity of voting.
5. Conflicts of Interest and
Any member of either the Conduct or Disciplinary Committee who is in any way personally involved in the allegations within a complaint will be disqualified from participating in either Committee’s handling of the complaint.
A member of the Club cannot be a member of both the Conduct and Disciplinary Committees.
6. The Complaints Process
i. Notice of Meetings
Where a written complaint is made, or a matter otherwise comes to the attention of the Conduct Committee, it shall first consider whether such complaint or matter falls within the scope of the Disciplinary Rules and whether further action is warranted. If it does the Conduct Committee secretary shall first write to the Defendant, seeking the Defendant’s comments on the substance of the complaint or matter that has been raised. The Conduct Committee shall also be entitled to make such further investigations and enquiries as it in its absolute discretion considers appropriate. The Conduct Committee shall also be entitled to seek advice both from within the Club and from the EBU Laws & Ethics Committee, and to obtain external legal advice.
ii. Complaint not justified.
If the Conduct Committee decides that the complaint is not justified, all parties shall be notified and the matter ended.
iii. Complaint justified.
If the Conduct Committee decides that the complaint is justified, it may, in its absolute discretion, offer a verbal caution to the offending member, which if accepted, ends the matter.
If the caution is not accepted by the offending member, or the Conduct Committee does not feel a caution is appropriate, it shall refer the case to a hearing by the Disciplinary Committee. The Defendant shall be notified, in writing, within two weeks of this decision and of the defendant’s right to make a written submission to the Disciplinary Committee and to attend the hearing. The Defendant shall have the right to be represented by legal counsel of their choice or may be accompanied by a person to speak on their behalf. The Disciplinary Committee shall give at least two weeks notice of the hearing to the Defendant.
iv. Disciplinary Committee’s Sanctions
If after the hearing the complaint is upheld, the Disciplinary Committee may in its absolute discretion:
a. give a written reprimand to the offending member(s), or
b. suspend the offending member(s) from all or some of the competitions sponsored or licensed by the Club for such period as it shall determine, or
c. expel the offending member(s) from the Club.
If the complaint is against a member of the Committee then in addition to any other sanctions applied, the Disciplinary Committee shall have the power to suspend such member from the Club’s Committee and any of its sub committees for such a period that it shall determine.
Any sanctions imposed by the Disciplinary Committee must be communicated to the offending member(s) in writing within twenty one days of the hearing.
Any sanction imposed by the Disciplinary Committee shall take effect as soon as time for appeal has elapsed except that if the Defendant has filed Notice of Appeal within the time allowed the sanction shall not take effect until such Appeal has been determined.
v. Appeal
Every Defendant found guilty of an offence by the Club Disciplinary Committee has the right to appeal to the County Disciplinary Committee. Appeals must be in writing and lodged with the Secretary of the Association within twenty one days of the written communication of the Club’s Disciplinary Committee’s decision to the Defendant.
vi. Referral to the EBU Laws & Ethics Committee
At any time the County Disciplinary Committee may refer a complaint to the EBU Laws & Ethics Committee for its consideration. In doing so the County Disciplinary Committee shall have fully discharged its responsibilities under this Schedule.