1)  Name and objects:  “The Club” shall be called the Northern Bernese Mountain Dog Club and its objects shall be to promote the welfare of and protect the interests of the breed, principally in the North; to organise shows and social gatherings, and to assist members wherever possible in matters relating to the breed.  To maintain its status as a Registered Society with the Kennel Club, the Club is expected to maintain and abide by the highest standards in all its activities in accordance with the Kennel Club Rules and Regulations and appropriate Codes of Best Practice as published from time to time, including any modifications thereto. 

2) The Club shall consist of Patron, President, Vice-President, Honorary Secretary (“The Secretary”), Honorary Treasurer (“The Treasurer”) (which are collectively the Officers of the Club), a Committee of up to 10 (excluding Officers) and an unlimited number of members whose names and addresses shall be kept by the Club.  The Club will make an up-to date list of members and their addresses available for inspection if so requested by the members of the Club or by the Kennel Club.

3)  Membership of the Club.   All applications for membership of the Club shall be made in writing to the Committee.    The Committee reserves the right to refuse any application for membership; any such refusal must be by majority vote of the Committee.  All members are expected to observe and comply with Kennel Club Rules and Regulations and to observe the Club’s Code of Ethics.  Members shall each be entitled to one vote immediately after acceptance of membership for use in ballots or decisions to be held in any General Meeting.  Joint members shall be 2 members of the same family or 2 persons who own a Bernese Mountain Dog in partnership and each joint member shall enjoy the benefits of individual membership.  Junior members, who must be under 18 years of age, will be entitled to membership benefits but will not be eligible for election as Officers or Committee members and shall have no voting rights.  Overseas members shall be deemed to be associate members, receiving all copies of newsletters, etc., but no voting rights.

   Any member who wishes to resign shall notify the Secretary in writing of his or her intention to do so.

  The Committee shall have the right to offer honorary membership of the Club to specific individuals.  If accepted, Honorary Members shall have voting rights as a normal member.

4)  Subscriptions:  The annual subscription shall be such amount as agreed by members in a General Meeting and notified to the Kennel Club and shall become payable by the 1st January of the following year.  The subscription of any new member joining after the 1st October shall be valid for the following calendar year.  No member whose subscription is unpaid shall be entitled to any of the privileges of membership. If standing for the Committee subscriptions must be paid by the end of the first week in January.  If any member shall fail to pay the annual subscription by the 1st February, the Committee shall have the power to erase his or her name from the list of members.  Any member who wishes to resign shall thereby forfeit any subscription paid to the Club up to that date.  Upon resignation taking place, a member shall have no further claim on any of the property or funds belonging to the Club.  Acceptance back on the list of members will be dependent upon a new application.

5)  Management:  The management of the Club shall be in the hands of the Officers and Committee who are appointed for a 2 year period.  Committee members shall be nominated and seconded by other members in advance of the Annual General Meeting and an election shall be conducted at the Annual General Meeting. Candidates for Committee Membership shall have been members of the Club for a minimum continuous period of at least three years immediately prior to nomination.      The President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer shall serve for two years and shall retire bi-annually and shall be eligible for re-election without nomination.  The President and Secretary shall retire in one year and the Vice-President and Treasurer in the next.

6)  The President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Committee members shall hold office from the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting at which elected, to the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting next appropriate.  The President shall be offered the chair at the Annual General Meeting.  In the absence of the President the meeting shall elect a chairman for that meeting.

7)  The Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Committee shall be elected by the Committee from amongst the Committee members at the first Committee meeting held after the Annual General Meeting. 

8) Committee Meetings shall be held as often as deemed necessary by members of the Committee; six shall form a quorum for the transaction of business; the quorum to consist of general Committee members and Officers.  All Officers and Committee members shall have a single vote in decisions to be taken in Committee, except that in addition to the vote as a Committee member, the Chairman shall also have a casting vote.

9)  The Committee shall have the power to appoint sub-committees.

10) The Committee shall have the power to deal with or dispose of any questions which may arise on any matter whatsoever which are not expressly provided for in these Rules.

11)  Any Committee member failing to attend 3 consecutive meetings of the Committee without a reasonable explanation shall be deemed to have resigned.  The Committee shall have the power to co-opt members, for example, to replace those who have ceased to be members of the Committee, with due regard to unsuccessful candidates of the last election, and subject to there being unfilled vacancies available on Committee.

12)  The Secretary or a nominated deputy shall be required to summon and attend all meetings and keep the minutes of any such meetings in a proper minute book and to conduct the correspondence of the Club.

13)  Should the Secretary or Treasurer resign from their positions, the Committee will co-opt an acting Secretary or Treasurer to serve until the next Annual General Meeting.

14)  General Meetings:  The financial year of the Club shall be from the 1st January to the 31st December.  The Annual General Meeting shall be held before the end of April for the following purposes:  To receive the reports of the Committee and the statement of Accounts and balance sheet; to receive the result of the election of Officers and members of the Committee. Also to discuss any notice of motion signed by the proposer and seconder of which prior written notice of at least 28 days has been given to the Secretary and which has been duly placed on the agenda. 

    At least 42 days prior to the Annual General Meeting, fully paid up members shall be notified of the meeting, and asked to submit items for the agenda and nominations for candidates to the offices of President, Vice-President,  Secretary,  Treasurer and Committee members for the following year.  This notification may also be given by publication in the papers ‘Dog World’ or ‘Our Dogs’ or the Club’s own Newsletter if this meets the specified time schedule. 

    Nomination for any office of the Committee must be proposed by one member and seconded by another, and signed by the nominee.  These nominations must be in the hands of the Secretary at least 28 days prior to the meeting.  A voting paper recording the names of the nominees shall be sent to each member at least 14 days prior to the meeting.  Those voting papers, on which members must record their vote, must be returned for counting by impartial scrutineers by the date shown on the voting paper. The sealed envelope in which the votes are recorded will be opened in the presence of the members at the Annual General Meeting.  The candidates obtaining the largest number of votes shall be declared by the Chairman to be Officers and Committee members for the ensuing period.  In the event of the same number of votes being recorded for any 2 or more candidates for the last place on the Committee, a final decision between these candidates will be made by a ballot of the members present at the meeting. 

    No business shall be transacted at an Annual General Meeting unless notice thereof appears on the agenda, with the exception of routine matters or those which in the opinion of the Chairman of the Meeting are urgent.  The Meeting Agenda will be circulated at least 14 days in advance of the Meeting. 

    The Committee of the Club is empowered to call a Special General Meeting at its discretion.

    A Special General Meeting shall be called by the Secretary or Chairman if 25 members send a signed requisition stating the subject to be discussed and requesting a Special General Meeting to do so.  No business other than the matter on the agenda can be discussed at a Special General Meeting.  Members will receive at least 14 days notice of a Special General Meeting.  25 shall be the quorum of such a General Meeting. 

15) Club property and dissolution:  The property of the Club shall be vested in the Committee.  If a Special General Meeting is called for such a dissolution of the Club and it shall be passed by the majority of those present, then the members present at such a Special General Meeting may decide upon the disposal of the assets of the Club.  Save that trophies which have been donated to the Club shall be disposed of in accordance with the wishes of the donors, or the executors of the donors, if such wishes are known at the time of the dissolution.  If this should prove impractical, then the value of the trophies may be realised and the proceeds donated to a suitable canine charity or service selected by the Committee.  If dissolution is decided upon, the Officers and Committee shall be responsible for the proper winding up of the Club, including sending a final statement of accounts and a record of disposal of assets to the Kennel Club within six months of dissolution.

16)  Club Accounts:  A bank account and an investment account and/or Building Society account shall be opened in the name of the Club into which all the revenue of the Club shall be paid and from which withdrawal shall only be made on the signatures of two of the following three Officers, namely, Chairman/Secretary/Treasurer.  The accounts shall be kept by the Treasurer .Certification of the accounts carried out by one qualified Accountant or two individuals with accounting experience.Those undertaking the certification must be independent from those who prepared the accounts.  The accounts shall be certified annually and presented to members at the Annual General Meeting.

17)  All Club expenditure must be submitted in detail to the Committee and authorised by majority vote.  This authority is to be obtained whenever possible by the Treasurer before payment is made, but where this is not possible, the expenditure must not exceed the sum of £50.00 and must receive the approval of the Committee at its next meeting.  This amount may be amended at future Annual General Meetings.

18)  Expulsion of Members:  Any member who shall be suspended under Kennel Club Rule A42 j(5) and/or any member whose dog(s) is/are disqualified under Kennel Club Rule A42j(9) shall ipso facto cease to be a member of the Club for the duration of the suspension and/or disqualification.  If the conduct of any member shall, in the opinion of the Committee of the Club, be injurious or likely to be injurious to the character or interests of the Club, the Committee of the Club may, at a meeting, the notice convening which includes as an object the consideration of the conduct of the member, determine that a Special General Meeting of the Club shall be called for the purpose of passing a resolution to expel him/her.  Notice of the Special General Meeting shall be sent to the accused member, giving particulars of the complaint and advising the place, date and hour of the meeting that he/she may attend to offer an explanation.  If at the meeting a resolution to expel is passed by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, his/her name shall forthwith be erased from the list of members, and he/she shall thereupon cease for all purposes to be a member of the Club except that he/she may within 2 calendar months from the date of such meeting, appeal to the Kennel Club upon and subject to such conditions as the Kennel Club may impose.  If the Club expels any member for discreditable conduct in connection with dogs, dog shows or competitions the Club will report the matter to the Kennel Club within seven days and supply any particulars required.

19)  The Rules of the Club shall not be altered except at an Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting, the notice for which contains specific proposals to amend the Rules.  Any alteration to the Rules shall not be brought into force until the Kennel Club has been advised and given its approval to such an alteration, except that new rules or amendments introduced specifically to meet Kennel Club requirements shall be adopted immediately and incorporated into revised Rules prior to the next Annual General Meeting.

20)  The Kennel Club is the final authority for interpreting the Rules of the Club and in all cases relative to canine and Club matters.  The Club shall not join any federation of Clubs or Societies.

21)  The Officers acknowledge that during the month of January each year, Maintenance of Title fee will be forwarded to the Kennel Club by the Secretary for continuance of Registration and that by 31st July each year, other returns, as stipulated in Kennel Club Regulations for the Registration and Maintenance of Title of Societies and Breed Councils and the affiliation of Agricultural Societies and Municipal Authorities, will be forwarded to the Kennel Club.  The Officers also acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel Club of any changes of Secretary of the Club which may occur during the course of the year.

22)  Judges : Nominations for consideration for inclusion on the judges’ lists may be made by any member in writing to the Secretary.

    The Club shall produce a list of judges annually, which shall be submitted to the Kennel Club, the purpose of which is to indicate those persons the Club would support at different levels of judging.  Membership of the Club is not a prerequisite for inclusion on the judges list.  The lists will be divided into four parts and will, in each case, indicate the date on which the list will expire and a new list compiled.  The four parts are as follows:

A1 List - Judges who have previously been approved to award CCs in BMD and have carried out the appointment;

A3 List - Judges who are recommended by the Club as being suitable to award CCs in BMD but are not yet approved by the Kennel Club for inclusion on the A2 List. These Judges must have judged a minimum, total of 150 BMD dogs.

B List - Judges who have been approved by the Club to judge at shows without CCs or Open Show. The judges, must have judged a total of at least 9 classes of BMD dogs, and judged a different dog in each . of the nine classes.

C List - Aspiring Judges who do not fall into any of the above categories.

The Lists will be prepared by the Judges Sub-Committee of the Club, which shall comprise at least 75% CC Judges for BMD, appointed by the Committee. Judges Sub-Committee members need not be members of the Club Committee and the Lists compiled are not subject to ratification of the Committee or members of the Club.

Each list shall begin and end on specific dates and on expiry new lists shall be compiled.

23) No person whilst an undischarged bankrupt may serve on the Committee or hold any other office or appointment within a Kennel Club Registered Society.

Amended at 2009 AGM.

Approved by the Kennel Club