British Paediatric Neurology Association
Constitution

1. The Association shall be called the British Paediatric Neurology Association.

2. The aims of the Association shall be to promote care for children with neurological disorders; to promote communication of views and experiences between clinicians working within the field of paediatric neurology and in neuropaediatric research; to promote the development of paediatric neurology and to arrange meetings in paediatric neurology.

3. Election to membership will be open to doctors devoting the majority of their time to paediatric neurology, or paediatric neurodisability or allied neurosciences. On reaching the age of retirement, members will become senior members and cease to have voting rights. The conference fee for the annual meeting will be waived for senior members aged 80 years or over.

4. Candidates for membership will be nominated by two members and the nominations should be received by the Assistant Secretary of the Committee at least six weeks before the Annual Meeting and must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae. Application may be made electronically, via the British Paediatric Neurology Association's website. The election of new members will be at a plenary meeting of the Association on the recommendation of the Committee. The official membership list (including name and category of membership, but not contact details) of the Association will be published by the Assistant Secretary on the BPNA's website.

5. a. The Council of the Association will consist of the Deanery Advisers, the Executive Officers, who may also be Deanery Advisers, and co-opted members to represent Neurodisability and Training in Neurodisability (nominated by the Neurodisability CSAC), Child Psychiatry (nominated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists), Neurosurgery (the Secretary of the British Paediatric Neurosurgical Group), a Representative of Trainees in Neurology and of those in Neurodisability, the Editor of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, the organiser of the annual meeting and the CSAC representative nominated by RCPCH. Members of Council will be allocated specific responsibilities as the need arises eg for Audit, Governance, Meetings, Regional representation etc, or co-opted as necessary.

   b. Deanery Advisers will be elected by each Deanery and ordinarily hold office for three years, with one third being replaced each year. Deanery Advisers may offer themselves to serve a further term. Retiring Deanery Advisers will be responsible for notifying prospective candidates within their deanery of the forthcoming vacancy and for notifying the Secretary of the Association of applicants at least 3 months prior to the Annual General Meeting. If only one candidate emerges, their appointment will be ratified at the Annual General Meeting. In the event of more than one candidate offering themselves in a Deanery, the position can be resolved by local negotiation but if this is unsuccessful the choice will be made by vote at the next AGM, using the same mechanism as for the election of the Executive.

   c. The day to day business of the Association will be conducted by the BPNA Executive consisting of the President, President Elect or Immediate Past President, Treasurer, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, and National Training Adviser. In conducting this business they shall be bound by strategy as defined by the whole Council. Except for the President, members of the Executive will be elected for a period of three years after which they may stand for re-election for a further three years or for another Executive office of the Association. If an Officer wishes to stand for another post they shall resign from their current post but may stand for re-election. The President will be elected for four years, the first as President Elect, the second and third as President and the fourth as Immediate Past President. The duties of the President Elect and the Immediate Past President will be to assist the President. Notification that any of these offices are to become vacant will be in the preceding spring newsletter. Candidates must have a proposer and seconder and must submit a short statement (maximum 200 words) for circulation in the autumn newsletter. When there is more than one candidate a postal voting paper will be circulated in the autumn newsletter, to be returned to the Secretariat by 1 December, and the result announced at the next AGM.

6. The Council will arrange an Annual General Meeting of the Association, the Neurology Section of the RCPCH, and such other meetings as it shall decide.

7. The Council has a responsibility for communicating with the RCPCH and other official and voluntary bodies on matters concerned with paediatric neurology.

8. The annual subscription of the BPNA includes the subscription for Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology at a reduced rate and shall be paid by 1 January each year. Payment of this reduced Journal subscription is obligatory for all ordinary members except for those who are members of the editorial board of Developmental Medicine and receive their copies free. Senior members are not obliged to take the Journal but are required to pay a nominal sum for secretarial expenses. The amount of the annual subscription shall be decided from time to time by the AGM. The Treasurer shall receive subscriptions, pay all bills and present the account yearly to members.

9. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology is the official journal of the Association. The editorial board will maintain a representation of members of the Association and the Association will support the promotion of paediatric neurology through DMCN. The Journal undertakes to keep a significant proportion of the Journal concerned with child neurology and is happy to publish by title the scientific proceedings of our meetings. The Association will promote the Journal and its aims.

10. The Secretary shall keep Minutes of the proceedings of the AGM and of the Committee Meetings of the Association and circulate the members with details of forthcoming events.

11. As a continuing mark of respect and affection to Ronnie MacKeith, who was instrumental in starting the Association and who died on 30 October 1977, an annual guest lecture was founded and named "The Ronnie MacKeith Memorial Lecturer". This will be part of the Annual Meeting. The Committee will propose a lecturer each year to the Annual General Meeting. This lecturer is supported by Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology.

12. Overseas Membership will be available to candidates who are Paediatric Neurologists or those working substantially in the field, working outside the UK or Ireland. They must be proposed and seconded by existing members and should submit a CV to the Membership Secretary. They will not have voting rights. Honorary Membership of the Association may be conferred upon a small number of paediatric neurologists. Honorary members pay no subscriptions and do not receive the Journal, but have the same rights as other members.

13. Members should be informed of any proposed changes to the Constitution at least six weeks before the AGM.

14. An annual Ronnie MacKeith prize was instituted in 1982. Members are requested to nominate candidates for the Prize after each Annual General Meeting. Nominees should have made a significant contribution to Paediatric Neurology as judged by published work and be under the age of 40 years or within 5 years of obtaining a CCST, whichever is later, at the time of the next Annual General Meeting. The prize winner is decided by the Committee at their summer meeting and is invited to attend the next Annual Meeting as a guest of the Association and to present a paper. The money for the prize is provided from the funds of the Association.