LAWS OF THE
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY METAPHYSICAL SOCIETY

Chapter 1.  Fundamental Laws
Section (i)	The Society shall be called the Dublin University Metaphysical Society.
Section (ii)	The object of the Society shall be to promote the study of mental and moral science in the University of Dublin.  This shall be done with paper readings, debates and discussion.  Videos about philosophy may also be shown.
Section (iii)	The Society shall consist of a President, Vice-Presidents, Honorary Members, Ordinary Members and Associate Members.
Section (iv)	No person shall be eligible for Ordinary Membership whose name is not on College books or who has reached M.A. standing.
Section (v)	The affairs of the Society shall be in the hands of a Council which shall consist of an Auditor, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Librarian, four ordinary members and the President (or his/her deputy).
Section (vi)	The annual subscription shall be set by the Council.
Section (vii)	The meetings of the Society shall be held as often during Arts Lecture Term as Council shall decide, provided that there shall be two meetings in each term.  The meetings shall not be protracted beyond the hour of midnight, College time.

Chapter II  Membership etc..
Section (i)	The President shall be the head of the School of Mental and Moral Science.
Section (ii)	Vice-Presidents shall be elected for life by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting at an ordinary meeting of the Society.  The candidates for such election shall be recommended by Council.
Section (iii)	a)	Honorary Membership shall be open to ex-officers, to those who have received the awards for composition or oratory and to distinguished contributors to the study of mental and moral science.
	b)	Honorary Members shall have the right of attending and speaking at all ordinary meetings of the Society without payment of an annual subscription.  They shall not be entitled to vote at elections nor shall they be eligible for awards, offices or seats on Council
	c)	The mode of election of Honorary Members shall be the same as that for Vice-Presidents.
Section (iv)	a)	Associate membership shall be open to graduates of the University of Dublin and to graduates of any other university.
	b)	Associate Members have the same rights as Honorary Members, under Chap. II, Sec. (iii), Subsection (b), upon the payment of an annual subscription.
Section (v)	a)	Ordinary Membership shall be open to all persons whose names are on College books.
	b)	Ordinary Members shall have the right of attending, speaking and voting at all ordinary meetings of the Society.  They shall be eligible for offices and seats on Council and shall be entitled to vote at elections for officers and council subject to the conditions laid down in Chapter III Sections 2 (b), (d) and (e).  They shall be entitled to awards.
Section (vi)	Any member of the College is entitled to become a privileged member of the Society, the cost of which is £4.00.  A privileged member is obligated to attend 80% of the society's meetings in one session.  If they fail to attend this quota, their privileged membership will come up for review at the next committee meeting of the society.
	In return for this, the Society will offer the following:
	a)	An end of year dinner paid for by the Society and the Philosophy Department.
	b)	Special receptions for privileged members only where the speaker will be present.
	c)	Tickets for commons will be booked for them, by the Society (to be paid for by themselves) to s it with the visiting speaker if any privileged member wishes.
	d)	Free entry into any fund raising activity organised by the Society (subsidies for field trips are also included)
	Privileged membership will be restricted to 20% of the Society's total membership.
	Privileged membership lasts for one session only.

Chapter III - Election of Officers, Council & Sub-Committees
Section (i)	The Officers and Council shall be elected annually by a simple majority.  They shall enter upon their offices on election and shall hold office until the next General Election of the Society.
Section (ii)	a)	In the case of a General Election all the candidates for offices and seats on Council shall be nominated at a meeting of the Society held at least one fortnight before the last meeting of Trinity Term.  Notice of this meeting shall be given during the three preceding days on College noticeboards.
	b)	At this meeting a Balloting Committee of three, none of whom are contesting an election, shall be nominated and elected for the purpose of conducting all arrangements relative to the General Election.  They shall draw up balloting papers for every member that they judge eligible to vote.
	c)	Polling shall take place during the last meeting in Trinity Term.
	d)	An Ordinary Member of the Society shall not be eligible to hold any office in the Society unless he or she has attended at least one-third of the said meetings.
	e)	No member shall be eligible to vote unless he or she has attended at least three meetings of the Society.
Section (iii)	In the event of any office or seat on Council becoming vacant during the Session such vacancy shall be announced at the next Private Business meeting of the Society, and nomination and election, by secret ballot, shall take place at the following meeting; provided always that the Council have the power to fill such office or seat on Council provisionally during the long vacation.
Section (iv)	Sub-committees may if necessary be nominated and elected at a private business meeting of the Society; the Auditor shall appoint the chairman and the date upon which such sub-committees shall report.

Chapter IV - The Auditor
Section (i)	The Auditor shall be the chief officer of the Society and shall preside at private business meetings of the Society; if absent Council shall appoint a deputy.
Section (ii)	a)	The Auditor shall be immediate interpreter of all question of law and order than arising.
	b)	In cases of repeated breaches of order the Auditor shall have power to suspend a member for the duration of the meeting.
Section (iii)	All rulings on questions of the interpretation of law shall be recorded in a Rulings Book by the Auditor; this book shall be maintained by successive Auditors.  All rulings shall be subject to an appeal to Council notice having been given of such an appeal to the Secretary at the conclusion of the meeting at which the ruling was given.
Section (iv)	The Auditor shall have power to refuse all motions which in his or her opinion are frivolous or improper.
Section (v)	The Auditor shall deliver an auditorial address to the Society at the first meeting of Hilary Term.  If unavoidably prevented form doing so, he or she shall appoint a substitute.

Chapter V - The Secretary
Section (i)	The Secretary shall conduct the correspondence of the Society (except that directed to the Treasurer and Librarian) and shall keep minutes of Public and Private Business of the Society in separate books.
Section (ii)	The Secretary shall arrange for a chairman to preside at Public Business meetings of the Society.  He or she shall
provide essayists and speakers for such meetings subject to the approval of Council.
Section (iii)	He or she shall post up at the Front Gate, in the G.M.B., in Mandela House, T.C.D. and other prominent places notices of the public meetings of the Society during the week before the date of such meetings.
Section (iv)	He or she shall convene meetings of Council at the direction of the Auditor and inform each member of Council of the same at least 24 hours before the meeting, allowing for that member being in Ireland.  He or she shall keep the minutes of Council.
Section (v)	He or she shall read minutes of the previous meetings, standing notices of motion and correspondence at meetings of the Society.
Section (vi)	He or she shall file all reports of committees and keep them in the Society's library.
Section (vii)	He or she shall call the Auditor's attention to breaches of law and to the existence of any vacancies in the offices or seats on Council.
Section (viii)	He or she shall provide the Secretary of the C.S.C. with a records of the Society's activities during his or her term of office by the date set by the C.S.C.

Chapter VI - The Treasurer
Section (i)	The Treasurer shall receive subscriptions of members and shall keep an account of and transact all financial business of the Society.
Section (ii)	He or she shall record in a book the names of all members present at each ordinary meeting of the Society together with a list of speakers.  This list shall be presented to the Auditor (or his or her deputy) for his or her signature at the conclusion of each meeting.
Section (iii)	He or she shall keep copies of the Laws which may be purchased by members.
Section (iv)	The Treasurer shall on assuming office audit the accounts left by the previous Treasurer and present a report to the House at a Private Business Meeting detailing the condition of the accounts as left to him or her and the financial state of the Society.  The Council shall decide the date on which this report is to be presented.
Section (v)	That the annual subscriptions be paid to him or her on or before the end of Michaelmas Term after which those who have not paid cease to be members.
Section (vi)	He or she shall have the duty of conducting routine communications with the C.S.C. on financial matters including the provision of estimates for expenditure.
Section (vii)	The Treasurer shall close his/her accounts on March 31st of each year and thereafter as soon as may be possible, shall arrange for the accounts to be audited as provided by the
C.S.C. and these accounts shall be presented to the Committee of the Society and the C.S.C. for approval

Chapter VII - The Librarian
Section (i)	The Librarian shall have charge of the library of the Society and shall deal with all the communications relating thereto.  All purchases of books or periodicals shall be effected by him or her at the advice of the Council.  He or she shall report at the next Private Business Meeting to the Society on all acquisitions of books and shall enter in the catalogue the names and authors of books required.
Section (ii)	He or she shall be responsible for the cleaning of the Society's rooms and for seating arrangements and hospitality at meetings of the Society.
Section (iii)	Books may be borrowed from the library for a period of a fortnight, renewable for a further fortnight if there be no applicant for them.  Books may be retained during a vacation with the written permission of the Librarian.  He or she shall keep a record of books issued and retained.
Section (iv)	In the event of a breach of these conditions, the Auditor on the Librarian's representation may fine the offender, and in the event of any book being lost the loser shall either replace it or refund its value.
Section (v)	On the advice of the Librarian the Council may forbid the removal of any book from the Society's library.
Section (vi)	The Librarian shall file a copy of each and every paper and report read before the Society.

Chapter VIII - The Council
Section (i)	The Council shall have management of all ordinary affairs of the Society, always subject to any resolution of the Society.  They may direct the officers in the performance of their duties.
Section (ii)	a)	The Secretary shall be obliged to convene a meeting of Council on the written request of four members, the Auditor, or most senior officer present, to take the chair at such meetings.
	b)	that the Secretary shall be obliged to convene a meeting of Council on the request of the Auditor or the President.
Section (iii)	The Council shall meet not less than twice in Michaelmas and Hilary term and once in Trinity term.
Section (iv)	Any member of Council who shall absent him or herself, without good reason, from more than four of either Council or ordinary meetings of the Society in any one session shall lose his or her seat on Council.
Section (v)		Five members shall constitute a quorum.
Section (vi)	Any officer or member of Council may be impeached by a motion of impeachment carried by a 2/3rds majority at a Private Business Meeting of the Society.
Section (vii)	The Auditor and the Treasurer shall be jointly responsible for the financial affairs of the Society.  Although the affairs of the society shall be in general conducted according to the vote of all of the members of the Council, if the Council over-rules the advice of the Auditor and the Treasurer on a major financial matter or the Council proceeds in the absence of the Auditor and the Treasurer on such a matter, then the Auditor and the Treasurer shall either accept responsibility for the decision, or communicate directly and immediately with the Treasurer of the C.S.C. in which case the Council shall hold responsibility for the consequences of the decision in question.  If only one of the said officers disassociate himself/herself from the decision, then the other officer shall assume complete responsibility; neither will the officer disassociating himself/herself be forced to accept responsibility by the vote of the Council or of the Society, though they may be called upon to resign by the due process of the Society in which case such former officer shall bring the case to the notice of the C.S.C.
Section (viii)	The Treasurer or the Auditor or any persons may be requested to appear before the C.S.C. or officers or sub-committee of the C.S.C. to provide information concerning the finances of the Society.  If a prima facie case exists that Society funds have been misused or mis-appropriated, the C.S.C. may ask the Senior Dean to declare the person or persons concerned indebted to the College, in which case they may not be permitted to register for the following academic year or to have their degree conferred.
Section (ix)		All cheques and withdrawal forms from the Society's bank account shall be signed by two of the designated officers: who shall be the Auditor, Treasurer and Secretary.


Chapter IX - Standing Orders
Section (i)	a)	At ordinary meetings of the Society seven members shall form a quorum.
	b)	The order of Public Business shall be:-
	1	Minutes of the previous Public Business Meeting shall be read and signed if correct.
	2	The main business of the meeting shall take place.
	3	The discussion shall be closed by the Auditor.
	4	The Chairman may address the meeting.
	5	The Auditor shall declare Public Business at an end.
Section (ii)	a)	The order of Private Business shall be:-
	1	Minutes of the previous Private Business Meeting shall be read and signed if correct.
	2	Communications to the Society.
	3	Reports from (a) Officers, (b) Council and (c) Committees.
	4	Nominations and Elections.
	5	Notices of Motion.
	6	General Business.
	7	Motions.
	8	Questions.
	9	Signing of lists in the Treasurer's book.
Section (iii)	a)	All reports from Council or Committee shall be in writing.
	b)	No motion may be discussed unless notice of motion has been handed in at the previous meeting.  This shall not apply to Privileged Motions (see below Section (iv)) or to reports from Council or Committees.
	c)	Not more than one amendment to a motion shall be before the House at any one time.
	d)	A motion as amended shall be treated as a substantive motion and may be subject to further amendment.
	e)	The proposer of a motion shall have the right of reply before a division is taken.  This right does not extend to the proposer of an amendment.
Section (iv)	a)	The following which must be passed by a simple majority unless otherwise specified shall be deemed Privileged Motions and may be proposed and seconded at any time during Public or Private Business.
	1	That the House do now adjourn.  (2/3rds majority)
	2	That the Auditor now close the discussion. (during Public Business only).
	3	That a vote of thanks, congratulations or sympathy be passed.
	4	That the motion before the House be withdrawn.
	5	That standing orders be suspended.
	6	That the speaker be or be not heard.  (2/3rds majority).
	7	That the Chairman do leave the chair and A.B. to take it.
	8	That the motion before the House be amended to read ......
	9	That this House do appoint a sub-committee to .... (Private Business only)
	b)	Not more than two Privileged Motions may be before the House simultaneously.
Section (v)	Any alteration in the above Laws must be affected at a general meeting of the Society by a majority of 2/3rds of the members present and voting.