Quanta members will now be receiving their AGM information and will note that no one is willing to stand for office as Treasurer. Once again it is repeated that John Gilpin has to stand down because of the six year rule. This is based on a misunderstanding of the Quanta constitution.
Clause 5.2 of the Quanta Constitution begins with the words: "Save as provided in clause 5.3 below..." You do not have to be a lawyer to appreciate that this qualifies the clause and indicates that it is not universally applicable. There are exceptions to the six year rule and we have to look at clause 5.3 to discover these. Clause 5.3 is solely concerned with the situation of the officers and thus we can conclude that any exceptions to the six year rule only apply to the officers and not to ordinary committee members. Here it becomes complicated because clause 5.3 is a badly drafted section of the constitution and contains something that is legally impossible. However in a cumbersome and roundabout way it tells us that the officers serve a 3 year period of office. It is therefore a reasonable assumption that the officers are excluded from the 6 year rule because they serve a 3 year period of office. Clause 5.4 provides the confirmation that that assumption is correct because it defines the one circumstance in which the six year rule does apply to officers. This is "at the expiration of the third year of office" and applies when the officer has served on the committee "for more than six years". Note those last five words. The Quanta Constitution allows for a situation in which officers can serve for longer than six years. In other words John Gilpin does not have to stand down as treasurer until the end of his present three year term of office in 2012. I am quite happy for people to dispute this interpretation of the Quanta Constitution, but I shall expect it to be done by detailed legal argument and not the usual Quanta bigotry. Two further problems for the Quanta Committee. 1: The wording of clause 5.4 is ambiguous and could give rise to problems in 2012. 2: Clarity needs to be given to the members over the situation regarding the treasurer if John Gilpin does stand down. Can an officer be co-opted to the committee as distinct from an ordinary committee member? If so, what would be his status? Would he have the full rights of an officer?. What would be his legal period of office? Can an unelected officer be authorised to sign cheques up to the value of £1,000 on behalf of Quanta? Best Wishes, Geoff _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
