Rules of The South East of England Dobermann Club

1. NAME & OBJECT.
The Club shall be called The South East of England Dobermann Club. Its' objects shall be to hold shows, foster and promote the interests and welfare of the breed in the South East of England.

2. OFFICERS & MEMBERS.
The Club shall consist of a Patron, President, Vice-Presidents, Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, a committee of eight, and an unlimited amount of Members, Junior Members (under the age of sixteen) and Honorary Life Members.

All members names and addresses shall be recorded and entered in a register kept by the Hon. Secretary and shall be available for inspection if so required by the members of the Club or The Kennel Club.

Application for membership shall be made to the Hon. Secretary on the official form, which shall be duly completed by the applicant and signed by the proposer and seconder, both of whom are fully paid-up members, accompanied by the current subscription.

Each application shall be considered by the committee, who shall have the right to refuse it by a simple majority vote by those present at a Committee meeting.

The Committee shall have the power to recommend for Honorary Life membership, their own, and other persons nominations, of such persons whom they consider merit such distinction.

All recommendations are subject to ratification by the membership at the following Annual General Meeting.

3. SUBSCRIPTION.
The Annual subscription to be payable on the 1st January each year, shall be until further notice:

Joint Membership: £10.00
Single Membership: £8.00
Junior Membership: £3.00
The Committee shall have the power to vary
the membership subscriptions as may be deemed suitable, such variations to be ratified at the following A.G.M. before they can be implemented.

No member whose subscription is unpaid shall be entitled to any privilege of membership if such member fails to pay the annual subscription by the 1st March.

The Committee shall have the power to erase his or her name from the Club register, but if the Committee subsequently receives a satisfactory explanation from the member, at the discretion of the Committee on payment of arrears, he or she may be re-admitted for membership.

Founder members of the Club on payments of the founder fee of £25.00 shall thereafter be eligible to receive a £1.00 reduction in their annual subscription to the Club.

4. MANAGEMENT
The management of the Club shall be in the hands of the Officers (Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer and Chairman) and a Committee of eight elected members, all with voting rights.

Meetings of the Committee shall be held as often as deemed necessary by the Chairman or Hon. Secretary for the transaction of business and there must be a quorum of six for the transaction of any Club business.

At least seven working days notice shall be given to the Committee Members stating time and place of the proposed meeting, except in an emergency.

Committee Members who fail to attend three consecutive meetings without a justifiable reason will forfeit their right to serve on the Committee.

5. VOTING.
At Committee and General Meetings each member and Officer (except junior members) shall have one vote on each motion and in the event of a tie, the Chairman at his or her discretion shall have an additional casting vote. No member shall participate in Club meetings or voting until twenty-eight days have expired since his or her application.

6. ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
The Club may elect a Patron, President and Vice Presidents, all of whom have full voting rights.

The Chairman, Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer, shall be ex-officio members of the Committee voted on by a majority at the A.G.M. They will serve a period of three years in their respective Offices, but will be eligible for re-election.

The eight Committee Members elected at the A.G.M. are to serve for a period of three years, but will be eligible for re-election.

Any officer of the Club must notify the Hon. Secretary in writing at least six weeks prior to the A.G.M if he or she wishes to stand for re-election.

New nominations for the Committee must be proposed and seconded by fully paid up members in writing, together with a letter from the proposed applicant with his or her agreement to reach the Hon. Secretary twenty-eight days before the A.G.M.

Only fully paid up members may be elected to Office or Committee, but in the event of insufficient nominations for the Committee being received, the requisite additional names are to be nominated from the floor at the A.G.M. All elections shall be by secret ballot of those present at the A.G.M.

No elected Officer or Committee Member of the SEEDC may serve on another Dobermann Club Society Committee, nor will any serving officer of any other Dobermann Club be accepted as a nominee for election to the SEEDC Committee, until a period of three years has elapsed since leaving the previous Dobermann Club Society Committee on which they served; any special circumstances relating to the above will receive discretionary attention by the Committee of the SEEDC and their decision will be considered final.

7. POWER OF COMMITTEE.
The Committee shall have the power to call meetings, make by-laws and rescind the same; to arbitrate in matters of dispute within the Club and to deal at its' absolute discretion with the funds and property of the Club; to settle all matters not at present provided for in the Rules.

All decisions taken under these Rules, shall remain in force until the following A.G.M.

The committee shall in respect of a vacancy on committee, have the power to co-opt members to fill such vacancies; no co-opted member shall have the power to vote

8. MINUTES OF MEETINGS
The minutes of all Club meetings shall be prepared by the Hon. Secretary for agreement with the Chairman. They will be read out and passed and voted on by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.

Members shall be allowed to give notice to the secretary within 14 days prior to the AGM of their wish to receive minutes of committee meetings for the ensuing year, the notice shall be accompanied by a cheque value £10.00 made payable to the SEEDC.

9. EXPULSION OF MEMBERS
Any member who shall be suspended under Kennel Club Rule A42j(4) and/or disqualified under Kennel Club Rule A42j(8), shall ipso facto cease to be a member of the Club for the duration of the suspension and/or disqualification.

If the conduct of any member shall, in the opinion of the Committee of the Club be injurious or likely to be injurious to the character of interest of the Club, the Committee of the Club may, at a meeting the notice convening which includes as an object the consideration of the conduct of the member, determine that a Special General Meeting of the Club shall be called for the purpose of passing a resolution to expel him/her.

Notice of the Special General Meeting shall be sent to the accused member, giving particulars of the complaint and advising the place, date and hour of the meeting that he/she may attend and offer an explanation. If at the meeting, a resolution to expel is passed by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, his/her name shall forthwith be erased from the list of members, and he/she shall thereupon cease for all purposes to be a member of the Club, except that he/she may, within two calendar months from the date of such meeting, appeal to the Kennel Club upon and subject to such condition as the Kennel Club may impose.

10. GENERAL MEETINGS.
The financial year of the Club shall be from 1st January to 31st December.

The A.G.M. shall be held not later than April for the following purposes:

To receive the report of the Committee and Balance Sheet, to elect Officers and to discuss any resolution duly placed on the Agenda of which prior notice has been given to the Hon. Secretary. Twenty-eight days notice must be given of an A.G.M. The election of Officers and Committee at the A.G.M. shall be either by vote or ballot of those present at the meeting. A Special General Meeting shall be summoned by the Hon. Secretary if twenty-five members send in a signed requisition stating the subject to be discussed; no business other than the matter on the Agenda can be discussed at a Special General Meeting. The Rules of the Club shall not be altered, except at a General Meeting or a Special General Meeting. Any alterations to rules passed at a General Meeting or Special General Meeting, shall not be brought into force until the Kennel Club has been advised and given its' approval of the alterations.

11. CLUB ACCOUNTS.
A bank account will be opened in the name of the Club into which all revenue shall be paid and from which withdrawals shall only be made on the signature of any two of the Club's Officers, namely the Chairman, Hon. Secretary and the Hon. Treasurer. The account shall be kept by the Hon. Treasurer and one auditor shall be appointed at each Annual General Meeting, who shall audit the Club accounts for the ensuing year before the next Annual General Meeting.

12. KENNEL CLUB FINAL COURT OF APPEAL.
The Kennel club shall be the final Court of Appeal in all matters of dispute.

13. CLUB PROPERTY.
The property of the Club shall be vested in the Committee, and in the event of the Club ceasing to exist, a General Meeting shall be called to decide the disposal of any assets.

14. The South East of England Dobermann Club shall not join any federation of clubs or societies. The Club may only join a breed council if 75% of the members present at an Annual General Meeting vote to do so.

15. Officers and Committee Members may enter their dogs but will not handle whilst holding an elected position. No Member of the Committee, Officer or any other member of the Club shall propose or second a person to judge the SEEDC shows if the proposed person is a relative or blood relation of any serving Committee Member or Officer of the Club,
Except in exceptional circumstances.

16. The South East of England Dobermann Club will support Dobermann Rescue or any organisation concerned with the welfare of the breed.

17. The Hon. Secretary will give due notice of forty-eight days of an A.G.M. to be published in the dog papers "Our Dogs" and "Dog World".

18. The Officers acknowledge that during the month of January each year, Maintenance of Title fee will be forwarded to the Kennel Club by the Hon. Secretary for the continuance of registration, and that by 31st July each year, other returns, as stipulated in Kennel Club Regulations for the Registration and Maintenance of Title of Societies and Municipal Authorities, will be forwarded to the Kennel Club.
The Officers also acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel Club of any change of Hon. Secretary of the society which may occur during the course of the year.

19. DECLARATION OF INTEREST
A member must disclose to the chairman of a committee or sub-committee on which he sits, any interest, which may conflict with the proper consideration of a matter under discussion. If the disclosing member is the chairman of the committee or sub-committee in question, he shall disclose his interest to the next most senior member. The meeting shall thereupon decide whether that member may participate and/or vote upon the said matter.

20. No person whilst an un-discharged bankrupt may serve on the Committee of, or hold any other office or appointment within a Kennel Club Registered Society.