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COG Constitution

 

Instituted at the COG AGM, Torquay, September 1998

Revised at the COG AGM, Paris, September 2005, the COG AGM, Brighton 2008,

 the COG AGM Edinburgh 2014 and the COG AGM, Liverpool 2016.


 

Preliminary

 

  1. The name of the Group shall be “The Consultant Orthodontists Group of the British Orthodontic Society”. The Group is a constituent group of the British Orthodontic Society and the Constitution of the Group will not over-rule that of the British Orthodontic Society.
  2. The object of the Group shall be the advancement for the public benefit of the science and practice of orthodontics. Correspondence will be conducted under the Group’s full title as a constituent group of the British Orthodontic Society. Copies of correspondence with outside bodies will be sent to the President and Secretary of the British Orthodontic Society. All matters concerning negotiation with national bodies will be referred to the Board of the BOS
  3. Membership shall be open to persons holding a contract as consultant orthodontist, issued by a recognised health body or NHS Trust in the United Kingdom, and whose period of higher training has been approved by the relevant SAC or who are deemed by the Committee to be trained to an equivalent level. Other orthodontists, who spend substantially the whole of their time in hospital practice, and possess an orthodontic qualification, may be elected on a named basis by the committee as non consultant members. Associate membership shall be open to those holding a contract as a Post- CCST Fixed Term Training Appointee in Orthodontics with a recognised health body in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, or as Senior Specialists in Orthodontics in the Armed Forces Dental Services, and who are in an orthodontic Additional Hospital Orthodontic Training Programme approved by the Specialist Advisory Committee in Orthodontics. Associate membership shall also be open to those holding a contract as a consultant orthodontist with a recognised health body in the Republic of Ireland and whose period of higher training has been approved by the relevant SAC or who are deemed by the Committee to be trained to an equivalent level.
  4. A candidate for election to the Group shall submit his/her name and other details as may be required by the Secretary. Election to membership shall be by the Committee. In the event of an application for membership being rejected by the Committee then the applicant may appeal for a decision to be considered by the whole Group at an Annual General Meeting.
  5. No person shall be admitted to ordinary membership until, having been elected as provided in Rule 4, he/she shall have paid the Treasurer his/her first annual subscription.
  6. A person shall be admitted to associate membership on election by the Committee.

 

Committee and Officers

 

7. The affairs of the Group, in all matters not in this constitution reserved for the Group in General Meetings, shall be managed by the Committee of the Group.

8.   The Committee shall consist of not less than nine and not more than twenty ordinary members of the Group. These shall include a Chairman, a Secretary, a Treasurer and six elected members. All members of the committee will normally take up their positions on January 1st of the year following their election. The Secretary and Treasurer and elected committee members shall be elected by a ballot. When electing the Chairman, a member may choose to cast his or her single vote by post or at the Annual General Meeting. Nominations for these elections, proposed and seconded by ordinary members of the Group must be received in writing by the Secretary at least two months prior to the Annual General Meeting. The Chairman will be elected at the Annual General Meeting of the year prior to the date at which he/she takes up the Chairmanship. 

Representation to other bodies and other committees both within the BOS and externally shall be selected from the elected members. The balance of the Committee shall consist of co-opted members from such relevant bodies as the Committee may from time to time feel appropriate. Members of the Committee co-opted in this way may represent one or more bodies. The President, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer of the British Orthodontic Society or nominated deputies shall ex officio be members of the Group Committee

The Committee may appoint one or more subcommittees for such purposes, as it may deem appropriate. Three members shall constitute a quorum of the Committee and two members a quorum of a subcommittee.

9.   A Committee member who misses two meetings in a year may be asked to stand down, depending on the circumstances and at the discretion of the Chair.

10. The Chairman shall serve for not more than three years and will attend Committee Meetings during the year prior to taking up the Chairmanship. The immediate past Chairman shall continue as a member of the Committee for one year following his/her retirement as Chairman. The Secretary and Treasurer shall serve for not more than four years. The six elected Committee members shall serve for not more than four years. The Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and the six elected officers shall be eligible for re- election.

11. The Chairman of the Group shall also be the Chairman of the Committee and shall preside at the meetings of the Group, or failing him/her the Treasurer or failing him/her a member of the Committee chosen by the Meeting, and shall decide on all questions of order according to the rules or in cases of doubt at his/her discretion.

12.  The Secretary shall perform the secretarial duties required by the Group and shall report to the Group at the Annual General Meeting of the work of the Committee.

13. The Chairman of the Group, or his/her representative, will be a member of the Group Chairs Forum of the British Orthodontic Society, which will report to the Board of Trustees of the Society. Representatives of the Group to serve on the Specialty Advisory Committee for Orthodontics and on the committee of the Clinical Practice Directorate of the British Orthodontic Society shall be elected by a ballot and shall be notified to the Board. Other representatives of the Group will be elected from time to time as decided by the Committee. Nominations, proposed and seconded by ordinary members of the Group and signed by the nominee confirming their willingness to stand for election must be received in writing by the Secretary at least two months prior to the General Meeting marking the start of their term of office.


 

Subscriptions, Finances & Accounts

 

14.   The annual subscription for an ordinary member shall be a sum recommended by the Finance Committee of the BOS and agreed by the members at the Annual General Meeting of the Society.

15    Annual subscriptions shall be payable on election as provided in Rule 5 and thereafter annually at a date determined by the Board. The Board may terminate membership of any ordinary member who is twelve months in arrears with his/her subscription: the member may apply for re-admission on payment of arrears of subscription.

16    The group accounts will be held by the BOS and will be identified to the COG group. The COG Treasurer shall be responsible for the overseeing of the financial transactions of the group. The Treasurer will draw up a statement of the group finances and a report which will be presented at the Annual General Meeting of the Group, or as required (on reasonable notice)  by  the Committee.  The  report  should cover  the  preceding  years’ finances, or those of the current financial year, as required. The Group will be able to generate surplus on an annual basis. Any sum accumulated at the end of the financial year in excess of the Group’s financial requirements will be transferred to the Society’s funds, except with the explicit agreement of the BOS treasurer.


 

General Meetings

17.   An Annual General Meeting of the Group shall be held every year and there shall be not more than fifteen months between one Annual General Meeting and the next.

18.      A General Meeting of the Group may be summoned at any time by the Committee, and shall be so summoned immediately upon any twenty members delivering to the Committee a written request on their behalf. There shall be at least one General Meeting of the Group annually.

19.      At any General Meeting of the Group every member of the Group shall be entitled to be present. Every question unless otherwise expressly provided by these rules shall be decided by a majority of votes of ordinary members present in person. Every ordinary member shall have one vote, and in case of equality of votes, the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote. The quorum at the General Meeting shall be 20 members present in person. Associate members shall have no vote at any meeting of the Group and will not have a postal vote in any election.

 

Guests

     20. Guests may attend any meeting of the Group at the invitation of the Committee.

Byelaws

 21.     The Committee may from time to time make, vary and revoke bye-laws (not inconsistent with these rules) for the regulation of the internal affairs of the Group and the byelaws for the time being in force shall be binding on all members.


Conduct of Members

22. The Committee may recommend to the Board of Trustees, under article 17 of the BOS Articles of Association, the suspension from the BOS membership of any member whose conduct is or has been, in the opinion of the Committee, contrary to the interests of the Group or injurious to its reputation and that of the BOS.

 

Notices

23.   Each member shall keep the Secretary informed at the address of the Secretary’s main hospital base of that member’s private address or of some other address at which communications may be sent to him. Notices intended for members generally shall be sent by the Secretary to all members, and if convening any Meeting for the purposes of

 Rule 17, Rule 18 or Rule 24 not less than fourteen days before the date appointed for such a Meeting, but any accidental omission to send such notices or the non-receipt of the same shall not invalidate any proceedings or resolution.

 

Alterations of Rules

24.   No alterations to this constitution may be made except at the Annual General Meeting or a special General Meeting called for this purpose. No amendments or alterations shall be made without the prior written permission of the Charity Commission to clauses 2, 24, and this clause and no alterations shall be made which would cause the Group to cease to be a Charity in law. Alterations to the constitution shall receive the assent of two thirds of the members present and voting at an Annual General Meeting or Special Meeting.

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Dissolution

    25. The Group may be dissolved by a resolution presented in a Special General Meeting called for this purpose. The resolution must have the assent of two thirds of those present and voting. A copy of the notice convening any Special General Meeting under this rule shall be sent in accordance with Rule 22.