1. (a) The Society shall be named the Gibraltar Photographic Society, and Membership shall be open to all interested in photography.

     (b) There shall be three classes of Members of the Society termed respectively Honorary Member, Life Member and Ordinary Member.

     (c) Honorary Membership and Life Membership shall be granted in accordance with Clause 7.(a).

     (d) Ordinary Membership shall be open to all residents of Gibraltar and also to non- residents who wish to further the aims of the Society.

     (e) The right to vote and eligibility for election to the Committee shall be restricted to Life Members and Ordinary Members only.

2. Membership of the Society implies the undertaking to comply and abide by these rules.

3. The object of the Society shall be the raising of the standards of photography by organising meetings, lectures, excursions, competitions; to encourage beginners and advanced alike by the exchange of ideas and to affiliate with foreign clubs and societies. All classes of photography shall be included.

4. (a) The affairs of the Society shall be managed by a Committee of seven, comprising of  the Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, and four Ordinary or Life Members, all to be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee is also empowered to co-opt any number of auxiliary committee members to assist the Committee, as and when required, from any of the three  classes of Members described in Clause 1.(b). Whilst assisting the Committee they will have full voting rights.

    (b) The Committee shall be elected to office for a period of one year and all Officers and Committee Members are eligible for re-election each year.

    (c) The quorum for a Committee Meeting shall be four.

    (d) The Honorary Secretary shall keep minutes of all meetings and conduct the correspondence of the Society.

    (e) The Honorary Treasurer shall collect all subscriptions and moneys due and at the end of the year shall be required to draw up a statement of accounts which shall be audited by two members selected by the Membership at the Annual General Meeting, and presented at the next Annual General Meeting. Any Member wishing  to inspect the books may do so at a time and place agreed to with the Treasurer.

     (f)  A current account shall be kept at any local bank under the names of the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer in Office.

     (g) The current account shall be named : The Gibraltar Photographic Society.

     (h) Power to withdraw money from the account is vested in the signatures of the Treasurer and any one of the other two signatures.

     (i) The Committee shall have the power to invest any amount of money in Bonds or Savings Accounts to benefit the Society with the interest rendered.

     (j) The Committee shall present its Annual Report on the activities of the Society at the Annual General Meeting.                               

    (k) Any Committee Member failing to attend three or more Committee meetings, (unless due to justified reason), shall be asked, after due consideration by the Committee, to resign his/her post.

     (l) The Committee shall appoint a member to fill any vacancy which may arise in its number, and such an appointment shall be valid until the next Annual General Meeting.

5. (a) The Annual General Meeting shall be held at the end of the Society’s season, whenever that occurs according to the year’s programme of events. An Extraordinary General Meeting shall be convened by the Committee if considered necessary or if requested in writing by at least six Ordinary or Life Members, stating the object, and sent to the Secretary at least 14 days before the proposed date.

    (b) The quorum for the Annual General Meeting or any Extraordinary General Meeting shall be one quarter of those members with voting rights. In the absence of such a quorum, the General Meeting shall be held half an hour after the original scheduled start of the meeting.  After this half an hour extension has elapsed, the meeting shall be held, with the same agenda, and all decisions then taken shall be valid independently of the numbers present.          

    (c) Non-members will be allowed to attend the Annual General Meeting only as observers.

    (d) The annual subscription and membership fee shall be fixed for the following year by the Committee at the Annual General Meeting, and will be payable in advance on the date set aside for such payments.

    (e) Motions put to the vote at a General Meeting will be carried by a simple majority. Every Life Member and Ordinary Member shall have one vote. Voting by proxy is not allowed. In the case of equality of votes, the Chairman is entitled to a second or casting vote.

    (f) All motions moved at a General Meeting must have a proposer and a seconder. Motions must be received by the Secretary within one week of the Meeting, but  amendments to motions and emergency motions can be made from the Committee or from the floor on the day of the meeting.

    (g) A person who has not paid the subscription fee set at the Annual General Meeting within 60 days of the date set aside for such payments, will not be considered a Member of the Society. Members in arrears will not be permitted to use the Society’s equipment or participate in the Society’s competitions until such fees are paid.

6. Any Member or Members alleged to have brought or attempted to bring disrepute on the Society, or is alleged to have committed some offence against the Society, shall be asked to appear before the Committee and if, in the opinion of the Committee, the case be found proven, the Member shall be deprived of his/her Membership, forfeiting all rights of  Membership. If the said Member fails to appear before the Committee without justification, he/she shall be deprived of Membership.

7. (a) The Society shall have the power to extend the Honorary and Life Membership of the Society to those persons who in their opinion deserve recognition for outstanding services rendered to the Society.

                                (i) Life Membership will be extended to active members who participate fully in the Society’s events and activities. Life Members have the right to vote and are eligible to serve in the Committee (SeeClause 1(e)).

                                (ii) Life Members who fail to show an active interest or participate in the Society’s events and activities for a continuous period of 5 years or more, shall have their Life Membership commuted to Honorary Membership. Honorary Members do not have the right to vote and are not eligible to serve in the Committee (See Clause 1(e)).

                                (iii) Honorary Membership may be extended to non-members of the Society who deserve recognition for services to the Society.

    (b) The Society is also empowered to offer the patronship of the Society to a person of distinction.

8. (a) All Challenge Trophies will always remain the property of the Society, irrespective of how many times any individual Member may have won it.

    (b) Members winning Challenge Trophies must return these to the Society when requested to do so and in particular if they cease their links with the Society for whatever reasons.

9. (a) The Society’s premises and darkroom and certain listed items of equipment will be available for hire by paid-up Members at a fee set by the Committee, and to be paid in advance.

    (b) No Member is allowed to use the Society’s premises, darkroom and equipment for commercial work. Any Member found doing so will be dealt with under Clause 6.

    (c) Processing/darkroom equipment must not be removed from the darkroom, and neither can individual items be hired out.

    (d) The Society’s premises and darkroom can only be hired out if there is a paid-up Member present, and this Member will bear full responsibility for the place.

    (e) Members hiring out the premises or darkroom are responsible for the safety of equipment and furnishings therein, and for the order and cleanliness of the rooms. Disregard for this implies that the Member responsible will be liable to not being allowed to hire out the rooms again.

    (f) Members damaging or losing any item of equipment hired out or found in the darkroom or premises, are liable to be asked to replace the damaged or missing item, or pay all or part of the cost of its replacement. Failure to do so will result in their not being allowed to   hire out equipment or rooms again.

   (g) Non-members wishing to use the premises or darkroom can do so only if the Committee feels it will be in the Society’s best interest to do so, and at a fee set by the Committee. ( See also Clause 9.(d)).

   (h) The Committee is empowered to draw up detailed guidelines and regulations to cover the use and hiring of the premises, darkroom and equipment, and all users will be bound by them.

    (i) The Committee reserves the right to refuse the use of premises, darkroom and equipment to any person(s) if it feels there is sufficient justification to do so.

10. Should the Society be dissolved, the Trophies and other objects presented to the Society shall be returned to their donors when this is possible. After settling any debts, the moneys and property remaining shall be disposed of as determined  by an Extraordinary General Meeting.

11. (a) The interpretation of these rules shall be vested in the Committee.

       (b) The Committee shall have the power to give ruling on any matter on which the rules are silent, after the Chairman has ruled that the rules are silent.

12. The formulation and interpretation of competition rules shall be vested in the Committee.

13. (a) The Committee is empowered to set up any special-interest group to cover a particular aspect of photography, if it considers that there is sufficient interest among the membership.

       (b) Any special interest group will form an integral part of the Society and will governed by this Statute.

       (c) Membership of any group will be open to all paid-up members of the Society.

       (d) The group shall be run by the Committee or else by a person or persons co-opted to do so by the Committee. If the latter is the case, such person(s) will be expected to attend Committee meetings whenever necessary.

       (e)  Each group will sponsor and organise its own activities to supplement those arranged by the Society. The Committee will only provide financial assistance to a group if it is deemed necessary.

       (f) In addition to the annual subscription payable for membership of the Society, members of a group shall pay such annual subscription as shall be resolved by the group organisers, and which has been approved by the Committee. Such payment will be in advance.

       (g) The group organisers will be expected to keep an accurate record of all income and expenditure incurred by the group, and will provide an audited statement of accounts at the end of the year, to be presented at the Annual General Meeting.

       (h) The group’s accounts shall be kept by the Society’s Treasurer, or else by a person appointed by the group to act as Group Treasurer. If the latter is the case, then the Group Treasurer shall be answerable to the Society’s Treasurer and must keep him abreast of all financial transactions within the group.

       (i) Programmed group activities which are held in the Society’s premises and using the Society’s equipment, will not require the payment of hiring fees, so long as the other conditions of use outlined in Clause 9 of this Statute are adhered to. Individual and personal use of the premises and equipment by a member or members of the group will still require the payment of hiring fees.

14. No alteration of, or addition to, these rules should be made except at the Annual General Meeting, or at a special meeting called in accordance with Clause 5.(a).