.. Hong Kong Archaeological Society ..

(Amended 2002)

NAME

1. The name of the Society shall be the Hong Kong Archaeological Society.

ADDRESS

2. The address of the Society shall be Block 58, Kowloon Park, Haiphong Road, Kowloon

OBJECTS

3. The objects of the Society are:

a)	to bring together all those interested in archaeology in Hong Kong;
b)	to co-operate with the Hong Kong Museum of History, Government departments, the universities and learned societies in preserving the archaeological and historical heritage of Hong Kong;
c)	to carry out excavations of sites of archaeological and historical interest;
d)	to organize meetings, lectures and visit to sites of interest;
e)	to co-operate with the Hong Kong Museum of History in building up and maintaining a collection of local antiquities;
f)	to publish a journal.

MEMBERSHIP

4. Membership of the Society shall be open to all who subscribe to the Society's objects as set out in Article 3 and are willing to abide by the Society's Constitution.

CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP

5. There shall be the following categories of members:

a)	Ordinary Members - persons aged 18 and above elected to membership under Article 6 below;
b)	Life Members - persons aged 18 and above whose application for life membership has been accepted by the Committee and who have paid the fee prescribed for life membership under Article 7;
c)	Patron, President, Vice-President, Honorary Advisors and Honorary Members - Such persons of distinction as are invited by decision of the Committee to become Patron, President, Vice-President, Honorary Advisors and Honorary Members of the Society for life or such a period as may be decided by the Committee;
d)	Group Members - any association may apply for group membership which may be granted at the discretion of the Committee;
e)	Student Members - persons attending full-time post-accondary educational institutions may be elected as student members;
f)	Sustaining Members - any individual or institution, who supports the Society's aims and who makes a regular annual financial contribution towards the Society's activities or who makes a substantial lump sum contribution toward a particular Society project.

ELECTION OF MEMBERS

6. Candidates for election to ordinary , life or student membership of the Society shall be proposed and seconded by two ordinary of life members of the Society, and shall fill in an application in the form prescribed by the Committee. All applications for membership shall be considered by the Committee whose decision shall be final.

MEMBERSHIP FEES

7.

a) The annual subscription for ordinary members, student members and group members and the life membership fee shall be paid according to the current rate approved at General Meetings of the Society. Subscriptions shall be due in advance in the month of May each year.

b) The Parton, President, Vice-President, Honorary Advisors and Honorary Members shall not pay a subscription.

RIGHT OF MEMBERS

8.

a) Ordinary members and life members who are resident in Hong Kong shall have the right to exercise all powers which may be exercised by the members of the Society at a General Meeting.

b) All members of the Society shall have the right to participants in the activities of the Society under Article 3 and to receive any copy of the Society's journal published during the period of their membership.

c) The Parton, President, Vice-President, Honorary Advisors, Honorary Members, Student Members, Group Members and Sustaining Members shall have the right to participate in the activities of the Society, but shall have no voting rights.

OBLIGATIONS OF MEMBERS

9. All Members shall fulfil the following obligations:

a)	to abide by the constitution and resolutions of General Meetings of the Society;
b)	to pay the prescribed fees where applicable.

GENERAL MEETINGS

10. An Annual General Meeting shall be held in the month of April every year. Members shall be notified in writing by the Hon. Secretary 14 days before the date of the meeting. Fifteen ordinary of life members shall form a quorum at any General Meeting. If a quorum cannot be formed at the first convocation, the meeting shall be adjourned and reconvened within a month, and members shall again be given 14 days notice in writing. At the second convocation, any number of members present at the meeting shall form a quorum.

11. Upon the written request signed by a majority of the members of the Committee or any ten ordinary or life members of the Society, the Chairman shall call an Extraordinary General Meeting within one month of receiving such request. The request for the calling of an Extraordinary General Meeting shall specify the object or objects for which the meeting is to be called. The discussion at the Extraordinary General Meeting must be striotly confined to the object or objects stated in the request. The method of notifying members and the quorum shall be the same as those of the Annual General Meeting.

12. At the Annual General Meeting members shall elect from among themselves by ballot to form a Committee of nine ordinary or life members. The Committee shall at its first meeting select from among their number the following officers:

one Chairman
one Vice-Chairman
one Hon. Secretary
one Hon. Treasurer
one Hon. Editor of the Society's Journal
four ordinary Committee Members

In addition, the Antiquities and Monuments Office of the Home Affairs Bureau and the Hong Kong Museum of History will be invited to appoint one person each to the Committee who will have the right to vote and be eligible to hold office. The terms of office of the Committee members shall be two years and they shall be eligible for re-election. Two Honorary Auditors or a firm of auditors shall also be elected at the meeting.

13. At every General Meeting of the Society, the Chair shall be taken by the Chairman, or in his absence, the Vice-Chairman, or in his absence by a member of this Committee chosen by the members present. If no member of the Committee is present, the meeting shall be adjourned and reconvened within a month, and members shall again be given 14 days notice in writing. At the second convocation, the Chair shall be taken as described above in this paragraph except that if no Committee member is present, the members shall elect one of their own number as Chairman of the meeting.

14. A General Meeting shall have the following functions and power:

a)	to raise any matter relating to the policy and management of the Society;
b)	to recall office-bearers or Committee members and elect others in their palace;
c)	to vote on amendments to the Constitution.

In addition, an Annual General Meeting shall:
d)	elect the Committee for the coming year;
e)	receive and vote on the reports submitted by the outgoing Chairman and Hon. Treasurer.

At all General Meetings, motions shall be carried by the approval of over half the members present.

COMMITTEE

15.

a)
The Committee shall meet as often as necessary, at least once every two months, and at least seven days written notice shall be given by the Hon. Secretary.

b) At meetings of the Committee five members shall form a quorum.

c) All decisions of the Committee shall be taken by a majority of members present. In the event of the voting being equal, the Chairman of the meeting shall have a casting vote.

d) In the event of a vacancy occurring on the Committee, the remain members shall have the power to fill the vacancy from among their members of the Society until the next Annual General Meeting.

e) All of the Committee members shall give their services free of charge to the Society. They should not receive profits from their office either specifically by way of remuneration for their services as members by allowing them to salaried offices while remaining as members.

DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE

16. The Committee shall, subject to this Constitution and to any directions of the members given by resolution at a General Meeting, have general management of the affairs of the Society and, without derogation from the generality of the foregoing, the Committee may:

a)
authorize payments out of the funds of the Society;

b) define the duties of the several officers who shall in all respects be subject to the control of the Committee;

c) draw up a programme of activities, lectures, talks, visits, publications and excavations to be carried out by the Society;

d) prepare Chinese versions of minutes of meetings and of circulars and letters to members where necessary.

CHAIRMAN AND VICE-CHAIRMAN

17. The duties of the Chairman of the Society shall be as follows:

a)	to call and preside at all meetings of the Society;
b)	to sign all papers in the name of the Society; except on such matters as he shall delegate to other members of the Committee;
c)	to present an annual report of the Society's work to the Annual General Meeting.

In the absence of the Chairman, the Vice-Chairman of the Society may discharge any duty which, by this Article, is to be discharged by the Chairman.

HON SECRETARY

18. The duties of the Hon. Secretary of the Society shall be as follow:

a)	to give notice of all General and Committee meetings of the Society as laid down in the Constitution;
b)	to record the minutes of all meeting;
c)	to keep an up-to-date list of all members of the Society and to ensure that they are kept fully informed of the Society's activities.

HON. TREASURER

19. The duties of the Hon. Treasurer of the Society shall be as follows:

a)	to collect all subscriptions and other monies due to the Society and to deposit these into an account at a bank to be named by the Committee;
b)	to make all payments on behalf of the Society duty authorized by the Committee;
c)	to submit a financial report of the past year and an audited statement of account at the Annual General Meeting.

AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION

20. Any alterations, amendments or additions to this Constitution shall be subject to the approval of a General Meeting. A copy of the proposed amendment shall be sent to all members at least 14 days prior to such Meeting. A two-thirds majority of those present and eligible to vote shall be necessary to ratify such alteration, amendment or addition.

DISCIPLINE

21. Any member who:

a)	acts contrary to the Constitution of the Society;
b)	carries out excavations in the name of the Society without prior approval of the Committee;
c)	publishes photographs, drawings or data from Society excavation from study of the Society collection without prior approval of the Committee;
d)	retains objects found on Society excavations without the approval; the Committee;
e)	acts in an unethical manner or brings discredit upon the Society.

After having been given an opportunity to explain his/her action, he/she may have his/her membership of the Society terminated by decision of two-third of the total Committee members.

22. Any member whose annual subscription remains unpaid after a period of three months from the date of demand shall have his/her name brought to the attention of the Committee at its next meeting. Any member who fails to pay after due warning by the Committee shall cause to be a member of the society.

23. Any member of the Society who has his/her membership terminated shall have the right to lodge an appeal within a month to a General Meeting of the Society whose decision shall be final.

USE OF FUNDS

24. The funds of the Society shall only be used in furtherance of the objects of the Society as laid down in Article 3. Any debts or other liabilities of the Society shall be the sole responsibility of all the Committee members of the term during which the liabilities were incurred.

DISSOLUTION

25. The Society shall not be dissolved except with the consent of two-third of members attending an Extraordinary General Meeting. In the event of such dissolution, all debts and liabilities legally incurred on behalf of the Society shall be fully discharged, and the remaining assets donated to the Hong Kong Museum of History.