THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH IN MEDICINE (SRMed)

Constitution approved at the meeting of professional voting members, 2020

NAME

The name of this body shall be THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH IN MEDICINE (SRMed) and it shall hereinafter be referred to as the “Society”.

OBJECTIVES OF THE SOCIETY

The objectives of the Society are:

to disseminate the knowledge of research in human diseases in simple language to the generalpublic to raise the awareness regarding the importance of research in human health and diseases.
to increase coordination among researchers from different fields /areas leading to public awareness about issues related to human health and disease.
to promote and advance the basic and clinical research in human pathological conditions.
to promote the exchange and publication of scientific information and knowledge in the field of medicine; in particular, to promote, sponsor, or encourage regular scientific meetings/conferences for this purpose.
to raise the awareness regarding human health and disease in general public by organizing conference/seminars by clinical/basic researchers for general public in simple language.

POWERS OF THE SOCIETY

For the purpose of carrying into effect the foregoing objectives the Society may:

make public announcements and produce and issue publications to members of the Society and the public;
make representation to the government bodies;
cooperate with any other association, company or body having objectives in whole or in part similar to the objectives of the Society;
encourage, arrange for, promote, establish and support facilities for scientific meetings or exchanges of news and information on matters related to the objectives of the Society;
advise and cooperate with research workers and institutions on matters relevant to research in medicine and the objectives of the Society;
accept monies in way of grants, gifts, bequests or otherwise for any one or more of the objectives of the Society;
execute any special trust in connection with monies received, obtained or held by the Society;
apply the capital and income of the funds and the property of the Society, or any part thereof, subject to such trusts (if any), for purposes constituent with the objectives of the Society;
insure against all risks, liabilities and eventualities as may seem advisable and apply the proceeds of any claim under any insurance in such manner for such purpose as shall be thought fit;
employ such officers and servants as the Society may deem necessary and pay such sums to such officers whether by way or remuneration or bonus as the Society may deem reasonable and proper;
do all such other lawful things as are incidental or conducive to the attainment of these objectives;
carry out any one or more of the foregoing objectives independently or exclusively of the remainder of such objectives;
carry out any or all of the objectives of the Society in any part of the Pakistan or elsewhere.

BY-LAWS

The General Meeting of the professional voting members may make by-laws necessary for the proper administration of the Society. Any by-law made shall not be repealed, added to or amended unless and until:

notice of intention to propose such repeal, addition or amendment is first given in writing by a member of the Society to the Secretary of the Society no later than 30 days prior to the date of the General Meeting of the professional voting members and included in the agenda for such meeting,
such repeal or addition is proposed at such General Meeting of the professional voting members and is approved by not less than two-thirds of the members of the Society present at such meetingsand voting thereon.

MEMBERSHIP

4.1 TYPES

Membership to the Society shall consist of:

Professional Membership: Open to all research persons who support the objectives of the Society. Professional Membership can be both full and student member (Pakistani national and International). The executive committee will decide that which professional members will be given the right to vote in the society’s matters. They will be notified and registered as voting professional members at the time of membership approval.
Ordinary Membership – open to all persons who support the objectives of the Society. Ordinary membership can be both full Member or student member (Pakistani national and International)
Corporate Membership – extended to those groups, bodies, societies associations or businesses, which have an interest in the objectives of the Society.
Life Membership – distinguished person who has contributed extra-ordinarily to delivering the objectives of the Society, and who will be elected by the Committee. Life members will not pay subscriptions.

4.2 SUBSCRIPTIONS

The subscription fees for membership shall be such sum, as the members shall determine from time to time at the General Meeting.
The subscription fees shall be payable annually at such other time as the Committee shall determine.

4.3 REGISTER OF MEMBERS

A register of members (or a computerised record) must be kept and contain the name, address and relevant details of each member.

4.4 RESIGNATIONS

A member may resign from membership of the Society by giving written notice thereof to the secretary.

4.5 EXPULSIONS

Subject to giving a member an opportunity to be heard or to make a written submission, the committee may resolve to expel a member upon a charge of misconduct detrimental to the interests of the Society.
Particulars of the charge shall be communicated to the members at least one month before the meeting of the committee at which the matter will be determined.
The determination of the committee shall be communicated to the member, and in the event of an adverse determination the member shall, (subject to 4.5d below), cease to be a member 14 days after the committee has communicated its determination to the member.
It shall be open to a member to appeal to the Society in general meeting (Researcher’s Body) against the expulsion. The intention to appeal shall be communicated to the secretary within 14 days after the determination of the committee has been communication to the member.
In the event of an appeal 4.5d above, the appellant’s membership of the Society shall not be terminated unless the determination of the committee to expel the member is upheld by the members of the Society in General Meeting (Researcher’s Body) after the appellant has been heard by the members of the Society, and in such event membership will be terminated at the date of the general meeting (Researcher’s Body) at which the determination of the committee is upheld.

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE or THE GOVERNING BODY

5.1 POWERS AND DUTIES

The business and the affairs of the Society shall be under the management and control of the Committee, with the proviso that except in the case of extreme urgency, the Committee shall not take any action contrary to decisions made at the General Meeting (Researcher’s Body) or objectives of the Society.
The Committee may, subject to decisions made at General Meetings (Researcher’s Body), collectively exercise all the powers of the Society and undertake such actions, which it considers necessary or expedient to carry out consistent with the objectives of the Society.
The Committee has the management and control of the funds
The Committee shall correspond or meet as often as may be required to conduct the business of the Society.
The Committee collectively may sanction an action by any committee member or member of the Society in accord with the objectives of the Society. Such sanction may arise from a meeting of the Committee or after informal consultation among the Committee.
The Committee may form sub-committees anywhere in the world to further the purposes of the Society, and appoint members of such committees.
The Committee may appoint temporary members for any special task it may find necessary for any time period
The Committee may ask any advisory board member to attend any executive committee meeting
The Committee, in consultation with advisory board members, may form international and/or field-specific chapters of the Society to support the objectives of the Society.

5.2 APPOINTMENTS

The Executive Committeeshall consist of the following 7 permanent positions:

President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Technical Expert, Newsletter Editor,

Clinical Coordinator.

The executive Committee can have a number of advisory board members and councilors.
The “Selection committee”shall consist of the executive members (President and Vice President) and three advisory board members selected by the executive committee. The selection committee will approve the nominations for the advisory board members, councilors and any vacant permanent position made by the executive committee. The selection committee has no other power than making a decision on nominations made by the executive committee.
The executive committee can nominate a number of advisory board members and councilors to the selection committee to support the objectives of the Society and ask them to attend specific or regular meetings.
The executive committee can form the sub-committees, field-specific chapters, and international chapters anywhere with the approval of the selection committee.
All Committee members must be financial members of the Society. All permanent executive members and advisory board members of the selection committee will also be the professional voting members.
The Committee collectively may at any time appoint one or more Committee membersas may be necessary for specific purposes. The tenure of such committee members will be reviewed and approved by the selection committee.
Should any vacancy occur in the Committee, the Committee collectively shall nominate such vacancy from the financial members of the Society and such member duly selected by the selection committee.

i) The committee can nominate specific advisory board members from anywhere in the world even if they are not the financial members of the society to seek advice on international matters in research in Medicine and to increase the reach of the Society to the international research community in Medicine. The selection committee must approve all nominations by the executive committee.

Responsibilities/Roles of the permanent executive positions:

The president and vice president will set forward the directions of the society. They will lead and supervise the executive committee members to efficiently fulfil their responsibilities.
The Secretary shall give a true record of minutes of all meetings, attend to correspondence, issue notices of meetings, keep records and carry out such duties as may arise from the executive and General Meetings.
The Treasurer shall receive all money payable to the Society and give receipts for it. All money so received shall be paid into the banking account of the Society. The Treasurer shall keep all recordsof finance auditable by the committee and if required shall present at General Meeting of the professional voting members a balance of the finances of the Society and shall keep proper books of account of all monies received and dispersed and generally perform such duties as directed by the General Meeting the professional voting members fromtime to time.
The Clinical Coordinator will facilitate and increase the reach to clinicians that can assist the Society to achieve its objectives.
The Technical Expert will overlook all the technical aspects of the Society including web designing, Cyber security and IT related issues.
The Newsletter Editor will prepare Society’s Newsletter sent to all members on behalf of the Society and look after social media related affairs of the society. The Newsletter Editor will actively be engaged in the social media including platforms such as YouTube to promote objective of the Society.

5.3 PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEE

The Committee shall meet together for the dispatch of business quarterly.
Issues arising at any meeting of the Committee shall be decided by a majority of votes, and in the event of equality of votes the President shall have a casting vote in addition to his/her vote.
A quorum for a meeting at the Committee shall be one-half of the members of the Committee.

5.4 DISQUALIFICATION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

The office of a committee member shall become vacant if a committee member is:

Disqualified from being a committee member by the Pakistan Society Act
Expelled as a member under these rules
Permanently incapacitated by ill health
Absent without apology from more than four meetings in a financial year
Any other inappropriate misconduct and unsatisfactory involvement/engagement in the Society’s business as measured by the executive committee

THE SEAL

The Society shall have a common seal upon which its corporate name shall appear in legible characters.
The seal shall not be used without the express authorisation of the Committee, and every use of the seal shall be recorded in the minutes of the Society.

GENERAL MEETINGS

7.1 GENERAL MEETING OF THE PROFESSIONAL VOTING MEMBERS

The Society shall hold a professional voting members’ General Meeting annually or at least once in two years.
The Meeting shall be held in conjunction with the Scientific Meeting of the Society at an appropriate time to be determined by the Committee, after the close of the financial year.
The General Meeting shall be specified as such in the notice convening it.
The ordinary business of the General Meeting shall be to:
- confirm the minutes of the preceding General Meeting and of any General Meeting since that meeting;
- receive reports from the President, Secretary, Treasurer and others as may be appropriate, concerning the transactions and the activities of the Society during the preceding financial year;
- discuss any other business requiring consideration by the Society.

7.2 SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE PROFESSIONAL VOTING MEMBERS

The Committee may, whenever they collectively think appropriate, convene an Extraordinary General Meeting of the professional voting members.

7.3 NOTICE OF GENERAL MEETINGS OF THE PROFESSIONAL VOTING MEMBERS

The Secretary of the Society shall, at least fourteen (14) days before the date fixed for holding a General Meeting of the professional voting members of the Society, notify all members of the location, date and time of the meeting and of the nature of the business to be transacted at the meeting.
A Special Meeting of members shall be called at the request of the President or the Secretary or at the written request of any seven members of the executive committee. Such a meetingshall be held within 30 days of such request and all members shall be notified in writing not less than 10 days before such meeting.

7.4 PROCEEDINGSAT GENERAL MEETINGS

The President of the Society shall be the Chairman at all General Meeting of the Researcher’s Body. Should he or she not be present, then the members present may choose a executive committee member or they shall elect a member to take chair.
At all meetings the Chairman’s decision on points of order shall be final.
The Chairman shall have a casting vote in addition to his/her vote.
The quorum for the General Meeting of the Researcher’s Body shall be 10 members present. If, within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting a quorum is not present the meeting shall stand adjourned to the following day at the same time and place or to such other day and at such other time and place that the Committee may determine. If, at the adjourned meeting, a quorum is not present within half an hour from the time appointed for the meeting the members present should constitute a quorum. The meeting can be attended by online meeting means such as ZOOM or Skype.

7.5 VOTING AT GENERAL MEETINGS OF THE PROFESSIONAL VOTING MEMBERS

Every member of the Society has only one vote at a meeting of the Society.
A question for decision at a General Meeting of the professional voting members must be determined by a majority of members who vote at that meeting.
Unless a poll is demanded by at least 10 members, a question for decision at a General Meeting of the Researcher’s Body must be determined by a show of hands.

MINUTES

Proper minutes of all proceedings of the General Meeting of the Researcher’s Body of the Society and of meetings of the Committee shall be recorded.
The minutes kept pursuant to this rule must be confirmed by the members of the association or the members of the Committee (as relevant) at a subsequent meeting.
Where minutes are entered they shall, until the contrary is proved, be evidence that the meeting was convened and duly held, that all proceedings held at the meeting shall be deemed to have been duly held, and that all appointments made at a meeting shall be deemed to be valid.

FINANCIAL REPORTING

9.1 FINANCIAL YEAR

The financial year of the Society shall be the period commencing on 1 July and ending on 30 June of each year or the period specified by the executive committee.

9.2 ACCOUNTS TO BE KEPT

The Society shall keep and retain such accounting records as are necessary to correctly record and explain the financial transactions and financial position of the Society.

INCOME

The income of the Society wheresoever derived shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objectives of the Society as set forth in this Constitution and these Rules and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise howsoever by way of profit to members of the Society provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent the payment in good faith of reasonable and proper remuneration to any officers or employees of the Society or to any members of the Society in return for any services actually rendered to the Society or for goods supplied in the ordinary way of business, nor prevent the payment of interest at a rate not exceeding the rate for the time being fixed by the rules on money borrowed from any member of the Society or reasonable and proper rent for premises demised or let by any member of the Society.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

This will be the only constitution of the Society for Research in Medicine (SRMed), and shall come into force forthwith and shall not be altered, varied, added to or appealed unless two-thirds of the financial professional voting members present at a General Meeting of the professional voting members or a meeting especially convened for that purpose (virtual or in presence) are in favour of such alteration, variation, addition or appeal.