BYE-LAWS

The name of the Society will be The British Neuropathological Society (previously known as The Neuropathological Club).

2 THE OBJECT OF THE SOCIETY

The object of the Society shall be to further the study of neuropathology, to promote the exchange of scientific and professional information by means of regular meetings, lectures and publications, and to provide the opportunity for discussions between neuropathologists primarily in Britain, but also worldwide.

A. Honorary Members

Ordinary Members may become Honorary Members on retirement by application to the Society Committee. The Committee may also nominate for election to Honorary membership other individuals who have reached retirement or equivalent status and who have made an outstanding contribution to the Neurological Sciences. Honorary Members shall not be eligible to vote at business meetings, hold office or to become members of the Committee. Honorary members shall pay no subscription and will not receive the Society Journal (Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology)

B. Ordinary Members

Ordinary Membership shall be confined to Neuropathologists and others with a strong and practical interest in Neuropathology. Ordinary members will pay an annual subscription which will include the subscription to The Society Journal .

4 ELECTION OF MEMBERS

The name of any person wishing to apply for election to the Society shall be received by the Secretary for consideration by the Finance and General Purposes Committee (hereafter called the Society Committee). Applications should be submitted electronically on the approved application form, together with a brief curriculum vitae including publications list and statement of involvement in neuropathology practice or research.

i) For applicants with BNS sponsors - The application shall be accompanied by letters or messages of support from two Ordinary Members of the BNS.

ii) For applicants with no BNS sponsor – The application shall nominate two senior academic or clinical colleagues within the candidate’s Institution to act as sponsors. The secretary shall seek a hard copy of a written and signed reference from these Institutional Sponsors before seeking the approval of the Society Committee to proceed with election to membership

The Secretary shall send a list of candidates for membership, approved by the Society Committee, to all Ordinary Members as completed applications are received. Circulation of applications to the Society Committee, and to Ordinary members, will be conducted by electronic communication to enable elections to membership to proceed throughout the year. Any member may express their opposition to the election of any individual candidate by email, giving their reasons, within two weeks of receipt of the Secretary’s communication. Applications subject to such opposition will be deferred for consideration at the next Society Committee meeting. The Secretary will report to the Society at the Winter Business Meeting the full list of all applications received and the outcome of the election process since the preceding meeting.

Lapsed members may renew their membership by submission of a curriculum vitae to the Secretary, who will circulate it to the Committee for approval.

5. TENURE OF MEMBERSHIP

Any member whose subscription remains unpaid for two years without explanation will be deemed to have resigned. If it is the opinion of the majority of the Society Committee that a member has acted in a way that brings the reputation of the society into disrepute, membership will be withdrawn. The individual may appeal against this decision to the general membership at a business meeting.

There shall be the following officers: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Programme Secretary (Chair of the Meetings and Education Committee), Chair of the Clinical Practice Committee, Chair of the Academic Committee, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal.

7. ELECTION OF OFFICERS

A. The President and Vice-President shall be elected annually at the Winter Meeting. They may be re-elected, but shall not normally hold the same officefor more than three years consecutively.

B. The Secretary, the Treasurer, the Programme Secretary, the Chair of the Clinical Practice Committee and the Chair of the Academic Committee shall be elected annually at the Winter Meeting and may not normally hold the same office for more than three years.

C. Nominations for vacancies for the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Programme Secretary shall be made annually by the Society Committee and shall be circulated with the notice of the Winter Meeting of the Society. With this notice the Secretary shall invite further nominations from Members for these posts. Each further nomination must be signed by both proposer and seconder, and the proposer shall ensure that the Member proposed would, if elected, be prepared to hold office. If there is more than one nomination for any of these offices, a ballot will be taken.

A committee termed the Finances and General Purposes Committee, (hereafter simply termed the Society Committee) shall be formed to transact the business of the Society composed of twelve members. The President, the Vice President, the Secretary, the Treasurer and the Editor-in-Chief of Neuropathology & Applied Neurobiology and a webmaster shall be ex officio members of the Society Committee. The other members of the Society Committee shall consist of the Chairs of working groups of the BNS as follows: Chair of the Education & Meetings Committee (Programme Secretary), Chair of the Academic Committee, Chair of the Clinical Practice Committee, Chair of the Trainees Group. In addition a Euro-CNS representative and an ISN Counselor representative.

The committee will have a written terms of reference, reviewed and agreed each year by the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

9. FINANCE OF THE SOCIETY

A. The Society's income will be used to further the Object of the Society as decided by the Society Committee.

B. All funds will be administered by the Treasurer, with joint administration with other officers as decided by the Society Committee.

C. Reserve funds may be allowed to accumulate to levels decided by the Society Committee and endowments created for specific purposes in accordance with the Object of the Society.

10. CLINICAL PRACTICE COMMITTEE

This Sub-Committee has a remit to implement the policies of the Society related to professional aspects of neuropathology and to liaise with the Royal College of Pathologists and other professional bodies as appropriate.

The Committee shall consist of nine members but may be extended by co-option.

The committee shall comprise a Chairman, a Secretary, the Society's President (or vice-President in the event of a non-clinical President), Honorary Secretary, trainee representative and two members elected by the Members of the Society. The Coordinator of the Neuropathology EQA and workforce coordinator may be co-opted, as appropriate. The Chairman of the Neuropathology Sub-committee of the Royal College of Pathologists shall be an ex-officio member.

The committee will have a written terms of reference, reviewed and agreed each year by the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Election of Clinical Practice Committee Members:

The term of office will normally expire at the end of December. Chairman and Secretary shall be elected at the Winter Meeting of the Society and shall hold office for three years. They may be re-elected for a further period of office. Nominations for these positions will be invited by the Secretary of the Society from the Members of the Society prior to the Winter Business Meeting. The Society Finances and General Purposes Committee may also make nominations. If necessary, a ballot will be held of the members to determine the election.

Nominations will be invited by the Secretary of the Society from the Members of the Society for two representatives to serve on the clinical practices committee, prior to the Winter Business Meeting. The Society Finances and General Purposes Committee may also make nominations. If necessary, a ballot will be held of the members to determine the election. Society representatives of the Subcommittee shall hold office for three years and shall not be eligible for immediate re-election as representatives.

The Chairman of the Clinical Practice Committee (or a Deputy) shall report to meetings of the Society's Finance and General Purposes Committee, conduct the business of the committee according to its written terms of reference and conduct a professional affairs meeting open to all Society members at each scientific meeting of the Society.

This sub committee has a remit to implement the policies of the Society related to academic aspects of neuropathology and to liaise with other professional bodies as appropriate.

The committee shall comprise an elected chair, the Editor-in-Chief of Neuropathology & Applied Neurobiology (ex officio), any member elected to serve on the Academic Affairs Committee of the Royal College of Pathologists (ex-officio), two -non-clinical members elected from the membership, two clinical members elected from the membership.

The committee will have a written terms of reference, reviewed and agreed each year by the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Election of Academic Committee Members:

The term of office will normally expire at the end of December. The Chair (Programme Secretary) shall be elected at the Winter Meeting of the Society and shall hold office for three years. They may be re-elected for a further period of office. Nominations will be invited by the Secretary of the Society from the Members of the Society prior to the Winter Business Meeting. The Society Finances and General Purposes Committee may also make nominations. If necessary, a ballot will be held of the members to determine the election.

Nominations will be invited by the Secretary of the Society from the Members of the Society for four representatives to serve on the Academic Committee, prior to the Winter Business Meeting. The Society Finances and General Purposes Committee may also make nominations. If necessary, a ballot will be held of the members to determine the election. Society representatives of the Subcommittee shall hold office for three years and shall not be eligible for immediate re-election as representatives.

The Chairman of the Academic Committee (or a Deputy) shall report to meetings of the Society's Finance and General Purposes Committee and conduct the business of the committee according to its written terms of reference.

This Committee runs the annual meeting of the Society and makes arrangements to run the Wye Symposium, with the Academic Committee. It is also responsible for promotion and selection of individuals in relation to the Society named Lectures and Prizes; Dorothy Russell Memorial Lecture, Alfred Meyer Lecture, Cavanagh Prize and Lecture

The Committee shall consist of five members but may be extended by co-option

The committee shall comprise a Chair who is ex-officio the elected Programme Secretary of the Society. The Vice President and the Editor-in-Chief of Neuropathology & Applied neurobiology are also ex-officio members. There are two other members as follows; a member elected by the Society as Deputy Programme Secretary and any member who has been identified as organiser of a Symposium to support the related Society meeting.

The committee will have a written terms of reference, reviewed and agreed each year by the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Election of Meetings and Education Committee Members:

Terms of office will normally expire at the end of December. The Deputy Programme Secretary shall be elected at the Winter Meeting of the Society and shall hold office for three years. They may be re-elected for a further period of office. Nominations for this position will be invited by the Secretary of the Society from the Members of the Society prior to the Winter Business Meeting. The Society Finances and General Purposes Committee may also make nominations. If necessary, a ballot will be held of the members to determine the election

The Education & Meetings Committee shall be responsible for promotion and selection of individuals, with the final approval of the Society Committee, for the Dorothy Russell and Alfred Meyer Memorial Lectures.

The Education & Meetings Committee shall be responsible for promotion and selection of individuals, with the final approval of the Society Committee, for the Cavanagh Prize which will be awarded biannually to a European Neuroscientist, normally under the age of 40, to recognise young neuroscientists whose studies have made a significant contribution to the understanding of the Neuropathology of Human or Veterinary Neurological Disease. The value of the Prize will be agreed by the Society Committee. The Education & Meetings Committee will solicit nominations from members of the Society, on behalf of potential prize-winners, and recommend the prize-winner for ratification by the Society Committee.

13. ROYAL COLLEGE OF PATHOLOGISTS NEUROPATHOLOGY

The two ordinary representatives will be elected to serve on the Royal College of Pathologists to serve on the College Neuropathology sub-committee for a period of three years. The Chairman of the Clinical Practice Committee will also be recommended as a third representative for three years. The College is not obliged to take up these recommendations and any other clinical neuropathologist appointed to the Neuropathology Sub-committee would usually be co-opted to be part of the Clinical Practice Committee. It is a College regulation that one year has to elapse before re-selection or nomination by an outside body, unless the retiring member is elected to Council. Under normal conditions the term of office of one representative will expire in December of each year.

14. INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF NEUROPATHOLOGY

The Society's representatives (councillors) shall serve for a term of up to five years, and under normal conditions will attend two meetings of the General Council. There shall be one representative for every fifty Society members. When a vacancy occurs, nominations will be invited by the Secretary of the Society from the membership prior to the Winter Business Meeting. These nominations must be accompanied by the names of proposer and seconder; the proposer must ensure that the Member proposed would, if elected, be prepared to hold office. The Society Committee may also make nominations. If necessary, a ballot will be made of members to determine the election.

15. EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION OF NEUROPATHOLOGICAL SOCIETIES (EURO-CNS)

The EURO-CNS representative shall be a member of the Society Committee and will represent the Society at Business meetings of EURO-CNS. The Society’s representative shall serve a term of up to five years and shall not normally be eligible for immediate re-election. When a vacancy occurs, nominations will be invited by the Secretary of the Society from the membership prior to the Winter Business Meeting. These nominations must be accompanied by the names of proposer and seconder; the proposer must ensure that the Member proposed would, if elected, be prepared to hold office. The Society Committee may also make nominations. If necessary, a ballot will be made of members to determine the election.

16. TRAINEE REPRESENTATIVE

The neuropathology Trainees Group may nominate an individual as a representative to attend the Committee and Clinical Practice Committee. The individual will stand down after he/she has obtained a consultant (or equivalent) and in any case after a maximum period of two years.

A. At each meeting of the Society the place and date of the next meeting shall be announced.

B. In addition to the presentation of completed scientific work, submissions may include accounts of current research in progress. The proceedings of the Society should be informal; to this end, whenever possible, papers should not appear to be read from script.

C. Before being accepted for presentation abstracts will normally be refereed by a group convened by the Programme Secretary

D. Papers presented at the Society Meetings shall normally be published, in abstract form, in "Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology" at the discretion of the editorial board, unless the author declares that publication is not desired.

E. Members may invite guests to submit presentation papers and poster demonstrations. Non-Members should not be invited to present contributions unless the sponsoring Member will be present at the Meeting.

F. The President and Secretary are empowered to invite officialguests of the Society to attend meetings. Such guests should be invited to attend the Society's dinner at the Society's expense.

18. SOCIETY JOURNAL

A. The official Journal of the Society shall be "Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology", and abstracts of papers presented at the Society's meetings shall be published as a supplement to the Journal.

B. The Editor-in-Chief shall be a member of the Society nominated after consultation with the publishers and the Editorial Board and shall be elected by the Society to serve for five years. The Editor-in-Chief shall be eligible for re-nomination at the end of that period.

C. The Editor-in-Chief, after consultation with the Committee of the Society, shall have power to appoint members of the Editorial Board for a period chosen by the Editor. Members of the Editorial Board need not be members of the Society.

D. TheSecretary of the Society shall be an ex-officio member of the Editorial Board.

E. The Editorial Board so constituted, the Editor-in-Chief being the Chair, shall be responsible to the Committee of the Society for the management of the Journal.

F. The Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the Committee of the Society, shall have power to co-opt Editorial Advisers who need not be members of the Society or residents of the United Kingdom.

G. The President of the Society shall be an ex-officio Editorial Adviser.

H. The Editor-in-Chief shall be an Officer of the Society and may attend meetings of the Committee for the purpose of dealing with matters relevant to the Journal.

I. Any financial profits accruing from the Journal's sales shall be used both to advance the Journal and to further the objectives of the Society.

STATUS: For adoption by the Committee Jan 2009

AUTHOR: BNS Society Committee(David Hilton & Jim Lowe)