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1. The heads of the official reports of debates of certain Commonwealth Parliaments (which shall include Legislatures, Assemblies, Councils or other parliamentary bodies), meeting at Westminster, England, in July 1984, having declared the formation of an association to be known as the Commonwealth Hansard Editors Association (to be referred to hereinafter as “the Association”), a secretariat based at Westminster shall serve as the headquarters and treasury of the Association.
2. The object of the Association shall be to serve the interests of parliamentary democracy by enhancing the quality of all parliamentary reporting through the regular exchange of technical and other information and, if possible, by the mutually acceptable exchange of personnel between Commonwealth parliamentary reporting services.
3. Membership in the Association shall be open to the Editor or senior staff person of each Hansard for all Commonwealth Parliaments, who must be a person engaged in the reporting or editing of the debates.
4. A Deputy Editor or other staff person may substitute at meetings of the Association, at the discretion of the Editor (or Chief), and shall have full voting rights at any meeting at which that person is a substitute.
5. The chief officer of the Association shall be the President, to be assisted by a chairman, secretary and other officers as required. The chairman usually shall be that Editor in whose jurisdiction the current meeting of the Association is being held; the President shall be that Editor in whose jurisdiction the immediately preceding meeting was held. An information officer will co-ordinate all Internet activities, communiqués, newsletters and other communications. Such officers shall be elected at each meeting of the Association, to serve until the subsequent meeting.
6. The Association shall meet every three years, at a place and time to be agreed upon at the Association’s previous meeting. The location and date of the following meeting (or meetings) shall be agreed by delegates on the invitation of any Editor. A Conference Organising Committee shall be established; a chairman be appointed; membership to include one delegate from the forthcoming regional conference site, one from the expected following conference site and one representative each from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia where those countries are not already represented. In the absence of any decision by the meeting regarding the venue for the following conference, a committee consisting of the chairman, the secretary and representatives of the various regions, shall be appointed to arrange the subsequent venue.
7. The chairman of the Association will chair all business meetings. In the chairman’s absence, the President will preside and in the absence of both the chairman and President, a chairman will be elected at the outset of the meeting by the voting members present.
8. All decisions of the Association shall be made by votes. The chairman of any meeting shall have the discretion to accept a decision by a show of hands or to call for a vote by roll-call. Decisions of the Association (with the exception of approval of changes to the constitution) will require a simple majority. No decision shall be made without a quorum, consisting of the chairman and at least 15 other members.
9. All delegates to meetings of the Association shall arrange for the payment of their own travelling and other expenses.
10. An annual subscription to be determined at each meeting of the Association shall be paid to the secretariat in respect of each member in advance of the following meeting. Any member who has not paid the subscription and is not in good standing shall not be entitled to vote. The Association’s funds will be held for disbursement at the discretion of the voting members of the Association at any meeting. In addition, the host jurisdiction may charge delegates to any of the Association’s meetings a registration fee.
11. Parliamentary reporting bodies other than those in the Commonwealth, and such organisations as InterSteno, may send observers to any meeting of the Association, on invitation. These observers may participate in any activity of the Association, including discussion, but may not vote or be elected to office. Such observers who accept the invitation to attend will be subject to payment of the registration fee and an appropriate annual fee if they wish to receive material disseminated by the Association.
12. The constitution of the Association shall be governed by the Association and its code of conduct shall conform to the spirit of parliamentary democracy.
13. Proposed amendments to the constitution must be submitted to the Westminster secretariat at least 12 months before any conference, for distribution to all members in advance of the conference. Such amendments will be placed on the agenda at the first business meeting for consideration. Amendments proposed through this process will be accepted, and will immediately form part of the constitution, upon approval by a majority of at least two-thirds of the voting delegates.
14. All meetings of the Association shall be minuted or reported and copies of the minutes or reports shall be circulated to all members in good standing, and to observers in good standing attending the meetings.