CONSTITUTION OF ASIA OCEANIA GEOSCIENCES SOCIETY

NAME
1.1

This Society shall be known as the “Asia Oceania Geosciences Society”, hereinafterreferred to as the “Society”.

PLACE OF BUSINESS
2.1

Its place of business shall be at “1 COMMONWEALTH LANE #06-23
COMMONWEALTH

Singapore

149544”

or

such

ONE

other address as may

subsequently be decided upon by the Council and approved by the Registrar of Societies.
The Society shall carry out its activities only in places and premises which have theprior written approval from the relevant authorities, where necessary.

OBJECTIVES
3.1

The Society shall pursue scientific objectives exclusively. With the exception of the
Executive Director, who may be a member or former member, members of the Society
shall not receive any remuneration from the Society, but may be reimbursed expenses
incurred on Society’s business based on the established guidelines approved by theCouncil.

3.2

Its objectives are:a)

To further the cooperation and discussion in Asia and Oceania amongscientists concerned with studies of the Earth and its environment and theplanetary and space sciences.

b)

To promote and encourage the development of any or all of the relevant sciences
within and outside Asia and Oceania.

3.3

The Society shall achieve the objectives through the organization of scientificassemblies, publications, and by any other suitable means.

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MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATION AND RIGHTS
4.1

The membership of the Society shall consist of the following:a)

Individual Members
Individual members are persons who subscribe to the objectives of the Society.

b)

Honorary Members
Honorary members are persons whose international standing in geosciences, orwhose services to the Society are recognised by the Society and are elected by
the General Meeting.

c)Supporting Members
Supporting members are individuals, corporations or institutions who support theobjectives of the Society, with the approval of the Council.

4.2

Only Individual Members who are 21 years of age and above shall have the right to voteand to hold office in the Society.

4.3

Membership of the Society, in whatever category, does not constitute any right tothe funds of the Society.

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
5.1

A person who pays to attend the Society’s Annual Meeting/Conference and obeys theCode of Conduct will be automatically included as an Individual Member of the Society
for a period of 3 years. Membership will be discontinued if the member does
not attend at least one of the Society’s Annual Meetings/Conferences in three (3)consecutive years, or if, in view of the Executive Committee, such an Individual
Member has repeatedly or breached the Code of Conduct or has committed a single
instance of a flagrant breach of the Code of Conduct.

5.2

The Council will decide on the application for membership. A copy of the Constitution
shall be made available to every member.

5.3

A copy of the Constitution shall be made available to every member.

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CODE OF CONDUCT AND CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP
6.1

The membership of a member shall cease in the following circumstances:a)

The death of the member;b)

Failure to attend at least one of the Society’s Annual Meetings/
Conferences in three (3) consecutive years.

c)

Repeated breaches, or a single instance of a flagrant breach of the Code of
Conduct such that the Executive Committee decides the member should nolonger be allowed to attend the Society’s future and present meetings.

6.2

The Council shall set a Code of Conduct for the scientific assemblies, and allother society events, with participants required to obey the Code of Conduct.

ENTRANCE FEES, SUBSCRIPTIONS AND OTHER DUES
7.1

The membership fees shall be determined by the General Meeting on recommendationfrom the Council from time to time.

7.2

Any additional fund required for special purposes may only be raised from members withthe consent of the General Meeting.

SUPREME AUTHORITY AND GENERAL MEETINGS
8.1

The supreme authority of the Society is vested in a General Meeting presided over by
the President.

8.2

An Annual General Meeting shall be held within 5 months of the close of the Financial
Year and may be held virtually through electronic means, in-person or through a
hybrid process of both.

8.3

At other times, an Extraordinary General Meeting must be called by the President on therequest in writing of not less than 25% of the total voting membership or 30 voting
members, which is the lesser, and may be called at anytime by order of the Council. The
notice in writing shall be given to the Secretary General setting forth the businessthat is to be transacted. The Extraordinary General Meeting shall be convened within
two months from receiving this request to convene the Extraordinary General
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Meeting. The Extraordinary General Meeting may be held virtually through electronicmeans, in-person or through a hybrid process of both.

8.4

If the Council does not proceed to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting
within two months after the date of the receipt of the written request, then the members
who requested the Extraordinary General Meeting shall convene the Extraordinary
General Meeting by giving ten days’ notice to voting members setting forth the businessto be transacted and simultaneously posting the agenda on the Society’s notice board.

8.5

At least two weeks’ notice shall be given of an Annual General Meeting and at leastten days’ notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting. A notice stating the mode of
meeting, date, time and place of the meeting shall be sent by the Secretary to all voting
members. The particulars of the agenda shall be posted on the Society’s notice board
four days in advance of the meeting.

8.6

Unless otherwise stated in this Constitution, voting by proxy shall not be allowed at any
General Meetings.

8.7

The following points will be considered at the Annual General Meeting:a)

The previous financial year’s accounts and annual report of the Council.

b)

Where applicable, the election of office-bearers and Auditors for the following
term.

8.8

Any member who wishes to place an item on the agenda of a General Meeting may
do so by giving notice to the Secretary General one week before the meeting is due to be
held.

8.9

At least 25% of the total voting membership or 30 voting members, whicheveris the lesser, present at a General Meeting shall form a quorum. Proxies shall not
be constituted as part of the quorum.

8.10

In the event of there being no quorum at the commencement of a General Meeting, themeeting shall be adjourned for half an hour and should the number then present be
insufficient to form a quorum, those present shall be considered a quorum, but theyshall have no power to amend any of the existing Constitution.
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SECTIONS
9.1

The Society comprises Sections covering different areas of geosciences. The Sections
are: Atmospheric Sciences Biogeosciences, Hydrological Sciences, Interdisciplinary
Geosciences, Ocean Sciences, Planetary Sciences, Solar and Terrestrial Sciences,
Solid Earth Sciences.

9.2

The formation of new Sections and the reorganization of Sections must be approved by
the Council and ratified by an Annual General Meeting.

9.3

Each Section shall have its own Section President, Section Vice-President (PresidentElect or Past-President) and one or more Section Secretaries.

MANAGEMENT AND COUNCIL
10.1

The administration of the Society shall be entrusted to the Council comprising of an
Executive Committee, the Assistant Secretary General, the Assistant Treasurer and theSection Presidents. The Executive Committee consists of the following:
A President,
A Vice-President,
A Secretary General,
A Treasurer.

10.2

The President shall serve for a term of two Meeting years. He/She shall be elected one
year before the beginning of the term and serve as Vice- President (President-Elect),and shall continue for one year after the term as a member of the Council as VicePresident (Past- President). A Vice- President is either President-Elect or PastPresident or Acting Vice- President.

10.3

The Secretary General shall serve for a term of two Meeting years. He/She shall be elected
one year before the beginning of the term and serve as Assistant Secretary General(Secretary General-Elect), and shall continue for one year after the term as a memberof Council as Assistant Secretary General (Past-Secretary General). An Assistant
Secretary General is either Secretary General-Elect or Past-Secretary General orActing Assistant Secretary General.
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10.4

The Treasurer shall serve a term of two Meeting years and not be eligible for theconsecutive term. He/She shall be elected one year before the beginning of the term andserve as Assistant Treasurer (Treasurer-Elect) and shall continue for one year after theterm as a member of Council as Assistant Treasurer (Past-Treasurer). An Assistant
Treasurer is either Treasurer- Elect or Past-Treasurer or Acting Assistant Treasurer.

10.5

The Section Presidents shall serve for a term of two Meeting years. Each shall be elected
one year before the beginning of the term and serve as Section Vice-President (Section
President- Elect), and shall continue for one year after the term as Section Vice-President(Past-Section President). A Vice-President is either President-Elect or Past-President or
Acting Vice- President.

10.6

A Meeting Year is defined as from the end of an Annual Meeting/Conference
until the end of the next calendar year’s Annual Meeting/ Conference.

10.7

For the election of Council members at the Annual General Meeting, the Council
may appoint a Nomination Committee.

10.8

The tasks of the Nomination Committee are as follows:a)

Prepare a slate of candidates for the Council members, i.e., President- Elect,
Secretary

General-Elect,

Treasurer-Elect and Section Presidents-Elect.

Ideally, two to three candidates are required for each of these positions.
The candidates for Section Presidents-Elect will be identified in consultation
with the individual Sectionsb)

Ascertain the willingness of all candidates to stand for election; andc)Present the proposed slates to the Council for approval. In selecting nominees,care should be given to assure that there is representation of the Society’s
diverse regional and disciplinary interests and that the Council reflect, over time,a reasonable balance of these interests.

10.9

Election will be by ballot. In the event of a tie, the Chair of the Nomination
Committee shall have a casting vote. Ballots marked for candidates for Section
President-Elect in more than one Section will be declared null and void as far as
Section elections are concerned. Space for write-in candidates will also be provided.
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10.10 A Council Meeting shall be held at least 3 times a year after giving seven days'
notice to Council members. The President may call a Council meeting at any
time by giving five days' notice. At least 1/2 of the Council members must bepresent for its proceedings to be valid.

10.11 Any members of the Council absenting themselves fromthree meetings

consecutively without satisfactory explanations shall be deemed to be withdrawn fromthe Council and a successor may be co-opted by the Council to serve until the next
Annual General Meeting. Any changes in the Council shall be notified to theRegistrar of Societies within two weeks of the change. The same rule applies to theSection Vice-Presidents.

10.12 The duty of the Council is to organise and supervise the day to day activities of theSociety. The Council may not act contrary to the expressed wishes of the General
Meeting without prior reference to it and shall always remain subordinate to the General
Meetings.

10.13 The Council has power to authorise the expenditure of a sum not exceeding $50,000/per month from the Society’s funds for the Society’s purposes.

10.14 The Council may appoint an Executive Director, who will execute the strategy andpolicies set forth by the Council. This person will manage and be responsible for theadministration and general operation of the Society. The amount of remuneration
will be decided and approved by the Council.

10.15 The Council may appoint a professional secretariat to perform assigned duties. The
appointed secretariat may be nominated by the Council to be an official signatory forwithdrawals from the bank.

10.16 In the event of a Council member being elected to simultaneously be President andVice President, or Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General, or Treasurerand Assistant Treasurer, the General Meeting of members shall elect a person to act fora renewable one Meeting year term as the relevant Vice or Assistant officer. If theGeneral Meeting fails to elect, the Council shall appoint an individual to act for arenewable one Meeting year term as the relevant Vice or Assistant officer.
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10.17 In the event of a Council member being elected to simultaneously be both President andVice President of the same Section, then Council may appoint a person to act for arenewable one Meeting year term as the relevant Vice President. This officer will beknown as the Acting Vice President. Council will ideally appoint an individual
nominated by the relevant Section’s Business Meeting.

DUTIES OF OFFICE-BEARERS
11.1

The President shall chair all General and Council meetings. He/she shall also
represent the Society in its dealings with outside persons.

11.2

The Vice-President shall assist the President and deputise for him/her in his/herabsence.

11.3

The Secretary General shall keep all records, except financial, of the Society and shallbe responsible for their correctness. He/she will keep minutes of all General and Council
meetings. He/she shall maintain an up-to-date Register of members at all times.

11.4

The Assistant Secretary General shall assist the Secretary General and deputise forhim/her in his/her absence.

11.5

The Treasurer and/or an appointed Society Secretariat shall keep all fund and collectand disburse all moneys on behalf of the Society and shall keep an account of all
monetary transactions and shall be responsible for their correctness. He/She and/or
the Society Secretariat is authorized to expend up to $1,000/- per month for petty
expenses on behalf of the Society. He/She will not keep more than $1,000/- in the formof cash and money in excess of this will be deposited in a bank to be named by theCouncil. Cheques, etc. for withdrawals from bank will be signed by the Treasurerand either the President or up to any 2 member of the Council.

11.6

The Assistant Treasurer shall assist the Treasurer and deputise for him/her in his/herabsence.

11.7

A Section President shall be responsible for representing their Section at all Council
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meetings and organizing their Section‘s business.

11.8

A Section Vice-President shall assist the Section President and deputise for him/her
in his/her absence.

AUDIT AND FINANCIAL YEAR
12.1

One voting member, not being member of the Council, shall be elected as Honorary
Auditor at alternate Annual General Meeting and will hold office for a term of two years.
The Council will appoint a certified auditor to audit the Society’s account. The auditor
will be approved at alternate Annual General Meeting and will hold office for a term of
two years.

12.2

The auditora)Will be required to audit each year’s accounts and present a report upon them to
the Annual General Meeting.

b)

May be required by the President to audit the Society’s accounts for any
period within their tenure of office at any date and make a report to the Council.

12.3

The financial year shall be from 1st June to 31st May.

TRUSTEES
13.1

If the Society at any time acquires any immovable property, such property shall be vested
in trustees subject to a declaration of trust.

13.2

The trustees of the Society shall:a)

Not be more than four and not less than two in number.

b)

Be elected by a General Meeting.

c)

Not effect any sale or mortgage of property without the prior approval of theGeneral Meeting.

13.3

The office of the trustee shall be vacated:a)

If the trustee dies or becomes a lunatic or of unsound mind.

b)

If he/she is absent from the Republic of Singapore for a period of more than one
year.
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c)

If he/she is guilty of misconduct of such a kind as to render it undesirable thathe/she continues as a trustee.

d)

13.4

If he/she submits notice of resignation from his/her trusteeship.

Notice of any proposal to remove a trustee from his/her trusteeship or to appoint a
new trustee to fill a vacancy must be given by posting it on the notice board in theSociety’s premises at least two weeks before the General Meeting at which theproposal is to be discussed. The result of such General Meeting shall then be notified
to the Registrar of Societies.

13.5

The address of each immovable property, name of each trustee and any subsequentchange must be notified to the Registrar of Societies.

AWARDS
14.1

In order to achieve its objectives, the Society shall present Awards and Medals, inaddition to Honorary Memberships defined in Rule 4.1. The Council shall appointan Award Committee to:a)consider the need or desirability for creation of new awards and medals of theSociety;b)

identify and nominate appropriate recipients of the awards, medals, andHonorary Memberships;c)report the slates of candidates to the Council for approval.

VISITORS AND GUESTS
15.1

Visitors and guests may be admitted into the premises of the Society but they shallnot be admitted into the privileges of the Society. All visitors and guests shall abide by
the Society’s rules and regulations.

PROHIBITIONS
16.1

Gambling of any kind, excluding the promotion or conduct of a private lottery
which has been permitted under the Private Lotteries Act Cap 250, is forbidden on
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the Society's premises. The introduction of materials for gambling or drug taking andof bad characters into the premises is prohibited.

16.2

The funds of the Society shall not be used to pay the fines of members who havebeen convicted in a court of law.

16.3

The Society shall not engage in any trade union activity as defined in any written law
relating to trade unions for the time being in force in Singapore.

16.4

The Society shall not attempt to restrict or interfere with trade or make directly or
indirectly any recommendation for any arrangement with its members which has
the purpose or is likely to have the effect of fixing or controlling the price or any
discount, allowance or rebate relating to any goods or service which adversely
affect consumer interests.

16.5

The Society shall not indulge in any political activity or allow its funds and/or premises
to be used for political purposes.

16.6

The Society shall not hold any lottery, whether confined to its members or not, inthe name of the Society or its office-bearers, Council or members unless with theprior approval of the relevant authorities.

16.7

The Society shall not raise funds from the public for whatever purposes without
the prior approval in writing of the Head, Licensing Division, Singapore Police
Force and other relevant authorities.

AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITUTION
17.1

No alteration or addition/deletion to this Constitution shall be made except at a
General Meeting and with the consent of two-thirds of the voting members present at
the General Meeting, and they shall not come into force without the prior sanctionof the Registrar of Societies.

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INTERPRETATION
18.1

In the event of any question or matter pertaining to day-to-day administration which
is not expressly provided for in this Constitution, the Council shall have power
to use their own discretion. The decision of the Council shall be final unless it isreversed at a General Meeting.

DISPUTES
19.1

In the event of any dispute arising amongst members, they shall attempt to resolve thematter at an Extraordinary General Meeting in accordance with this Constitution.
Should the members fail to resolve the matter, they may bring the matter to a court oflaw for settlement.

DISSOLUTION
20.1

The Society shall not be dissolved, except with the consent of not less than 3/5 of thetotal voting membership of the Society for the time being resident in Singapore
expressed, either in person or by proxy, at a General Meeting convened for the purpose.

20.2

In the event the Society being dissolved as provided above, all debts and liabilities
legally incurred on behalf of the Society shall be fully discharged, and the remaining
funds will be disposed of in such manner as the General Meeting may determine or
donate to an approved charity or charities in Singapore.

20.3

A Certificate of Dissolution shall be given within seven days of the dissolution to theRegistrar of Societies.

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