Introductory rules
From ScanzWiki
Constitution
- This document is the constitution of the The Society for Creative Anachronism (New Zealand) Incorporated (referenced in this constitution as "SCANZ"), incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.
- This constitution entirely replaces the rules of incorporation for The Society for Creative Anachronism (New Zealand) Incorporated under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908.
Context
- The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international non-profit volunteer educational organisation comprised of affiliated organisations. The SCA is devoted to the research and re-creation of pre-17th century skills, arts, combat, culture, and employing knowledge of world history to enrich the lives of participants through events, demonstrations, and other educational presentations and activities.
- SCANZ is the New Zealand instance of this global organisation.
- SCANZ and the Australian instance of the SCA, the Society for Creative Anachronism Limited (Australia) (SCA Ltd), form the group known as the "Kingdom of Lochac".
- As part of the broader SCA international organisation, and where possible under New Zealand law, SCANZ follows the intent and principles of the established rules and procedures of our parent organisation, the Society for Creative Anachronism Incorporated (SCA Inc.), incorporated in California, USA, laid out in a document known as "Corpora", part of SCA Inc.'s Organizational Handbook. Elements of the SCA Inc.'s Corpora document that are required to be in a New Zealand incorporated society's constitution are included within the SCANZ constitution (this document).
- Where not otherwise covered by the SCANZ constitution, SCANZ affiliation (operating) agreements or SCANZ bylaws, policies, rules and procedures around SCANZ's activities are found in:
- The Corpora of the Society for Creative Anachronism Inc.,
- SCA Inc's Society Officers' policies,
- the document known as the "Book of Laws of the Kingdom of Lochac", and
- SCANZ and SCA Ltd's (Lochac's) administrative handbooks and rules for the various activities and procedures that are regulated.
- From time to time, SCA Inc. will make amendments to Corpora. If this happens, changes will only be made to this constitution following the procedures for amending this constitution. Where the changes to Corpora are incompatible with New Zealand law, or are deemed by the committee to be contrary to the interests of the members of SCANZ, the committee will notify SCA Inc, and SCA Ltd of the problems with the policy and seek to implement a relevant alternative where possible.
- Changes to our affiliate organisations' rules and procedures have no effect within New Zealand unless implemented by SCANZ.
Definitions (mandatory section)
| Some words throughout these ‘model rules’ are shown in bold type. What those words mean is set out here.
Where the words are used in a society’s constitution, they should be in bold type to remind users that they are specifically defined in these rules. |
- In this constitution, unless the context requires otherwise, the following words and phrases have the following meanings:
- the Act
- means the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 or any Act which replaces it (including amendments to it from time to time), and any regulations made under the Act or under any Act which replaces it.
- Affiliate and affiliates
- means other instances of the Society for Creative Anachronism encompassed by an affiliation agreement, whether directly or indirectly.
- Annual general meeting (AGM)
- means a meeting of the subscribing members of SCANZ held once per year which, among other things, will receive and consider reports on SCANZ's activities and finances.
- Baron or Baroness
- means XXXX and does not mean any real-world nobility.
- Barony
- Define
- Branch
- means any branch of SCA Inc or its affiliates, as defined in SCA Inc's Organizational Handbook.
- Chairperson
- means the officer responsible for chairing general meetings and committee meetings, and who provides leadership for SCANZ.
- College
- Define
- Committee
- means the governing body of SCANZ, as set out in the relevant section of this constitution.
- Committee meeting
- means a meeting of the committee convened according to the process in the relevant section of this constitution.
- Complaint and dispute
- have the meanings contained within section 38 of the Act.
- Constitution
- means the rules in this document.
- Contact details
- means a physical or an electronic address used by the person and a telephone number that is used by the person.
- Event
- define event
- Event member
- means an individual who is not a current subscribing member, but who has been granted temporary membership with limited privileges for a single event.
- Exchequer
- See Reeve
- Financial statements
- has the same meaning as section 6 of the Financial Reporting Act.
- General meeting
- means either an annual general meeting or a special general meeting of the subscribing members of SCANZ.
- Geographical branch
- means any branch either of shire or greater status, or of lesser status than shire but occupying a unique geographical area not encompassed by any other Branch.
- Greater officer
- Define
- Hamlet
- Define
- Interested member
- means a member who is interested in a matter for any of the reasons set out in section 62 of the Act.
- Interests register
- means the register of interests of officers, kept under this constitution and as required by section 73 of the Act.
- King
- meansXXX and does not mean any real-world royal person.
- Kingdom
- Define
- Matter
- means -
- SCANZ's performance of its activities or exercise of its powers; or
- an arrangement, agreement, or contract (a transaction) made or entered into, or proposed to be entered into, by SCANZ.
- Member
- means both subscribing members and event members whose membership has not been suspended or revoked, and who has not otherwise ceased to be a member of SCANZ.
- Notice
- to members includes any notice given by email, post, or courier.
- Officer
- means a natural person who is:
- a member of the committee, or
- occupying a position in SCANZ that allows them to exercise significant influence over the management or administration of SCANZ, including any Chief Executive or Treasurer.
- ??means the members of the committee and individuals appointed to roles that facilitate the management and administration of SCANZ, its branches and its activities.
- Operating agreement
- An affiliation agreement between two instances of the SCA that documents the relationship between the two organisations and describes the mutual rights and obligations of the parties.
- Prince or Princess
- meansXXX and does not mean any real-world royal person.
- Principality
- Define
- Queen
- means XXX and does not mean any real-world royal person.
- Reeve
- Define
- Register of members
- means the register of members kept under this constitution as required by section 79 of the Act.
- The SCA
- The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international non-profit volunteer educational organisation comprised of affiliated organisations devoted to the research and re-creation of pre-17th century skills, arts, combat, culture.
- SCA Inc
- means the Society for Creative Anachronism Incorporated in California.
- SCA Ltd
- means the Society for Creative Anachronism Ltd (Australia).
- SCANZ
- means "the Society for Creative Anachronism (New Zealand) Incorporated".
- SCANZ Registrar
- means the officer who maintains the register of members of SCANZ.
- Secretary
- means the officer responsible for the matters specifically noted in this constitution.
- Seneschal
- Define
- Shire
- Define
- the Society
- means "the Society for Creative Anachronism (New Zealand) Incorporated". As the Society is affiliated with numerous organisations with a similar name, the Society will be referred to as SCANZ throughout this constitution.
- Special general meeting
- means a meeting of the subscribing members, other than an annual general meeting, called for a specific purpose or purposes.
- Subscribing member
- means an individual who has consented to become a subscribing member of SCANZ, by completing the application form, and paying the membership fee, and whose membership has not been suspended or revoked, or who has not ceased to be a subscribing member of SCANZ.
- Working days
- mean as defined in the Legislation Act 2019. Examples of days that are not working days include, but are not limited to, the following — a Saturday, a Sunday, Waitangi Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, ANZAC Day, the Sovereign's birthday, Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki/Matariki Observance Day, and Labour Day.
The name of the society (mandatory section)
| Every society must have a name that ends with the word 'Incorporated', 'Inc' or the word 'Manatōpū'. You can choose to use a combination of these words as the last words of the society's name.
There are restrictions in the Act around what you can use for your society’s name, such as —
|
- The name of the society is "The Society for Creative Anachronism (New Zealand) Incorporated".
Charitable status (mandatory section)
A society that exists for charitable purposes (that is, it seeks to advance education, to relieve poverty, to advance religion, or any other matter beneficial to the community) is entitled to register with Charities Services as a charity under the Charities Act 2005.
}Note — The charitable status chosen controls which rule variations are available to you in other parts of the constitution builder. For example, if your society intends to also register as a charity under the Charities Act 2005 you must record appropriate information in your society's purposes. |
- SCANZ is not and does not intend to be registered as a charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005.
The purposes of the society (mandatory section)
| The constitution of every society must set out its 'objects' or purposes (what it intends to do or achieve). Importantly your society's purpose cannot be for the financial gain (benefit) of its members.
Where the society exists for charitable purposes (seeking to advance education, relieve poverty, advance religion, or any other matter beneficial to the community) those purposes need to be described in more detail in this rule. This is particularly important if your society intends to also register as a charity under the Charities Act 2005. |
- SCANZ is a not-for-profit educational, sporting and recreational society whose purposes include:
- conducting and promoting research into pre-17th century culture and life; and
- presenting activities and events which recreate the environment of said era, such as, but not limited to, tournaments, jousts, feasts, fairs, dances, classes; and
- actively pursuing and encouraging the recruitment of new members into SCANZ and its affiliates; and
- undertaking such activities as may be reasonably expected in a society of this nature.
- SCANZ must not operate for the purpose of, or with the effect of -
- distributing, any gain, profit, surplus, dividend, or other similar financial benefit to any of its members (whether in money or in kind); or
- having capital that is divided into shares or stock held by its members; or
- holding, property in which its members have a disposable interest (whether directly, or in the form of shares or stock in the capital of SCANZ or otherwise).
- But SCANZ will not operate for the financial gain of members simply if SCANZ -
- engages in trade,
- reimburses a member for reasonable expenses legitimately incurred on behalf of SCANZ or while pursuing SCANZ's purposes,
- provides benefits to members of the public or of a class of the public and those persons include members or their families,
- provides benefits to members or their families to alleviate hardship,
- provides educational scholarships or grants to members or their families,
- pays a member a salary or wages or other payments for services to SCANZ on arm's length terms (terms reasonable in the circumstances if the parties were connected or related only by the transaction in question, each acting independently, and each acting in its own best interests; or are terms less favourable to the member than those terms and the payment for services, or other transaction, does not include any share of a gain, profit, or surplus, percentage of revenue, or other reward in connection with any gain, profit, surplus, or revenue of SCANZ),
- provides a member with incidental benefits (for example, trophies, prizes, or discounts on products or services) in accordance with the purposes of SCANZ.
Act and regulations (recommended section
| This rule is a reminder that a society’s constitution, which regulates its activities, must be consistent with New Zealand legislation. |
- Nothing in this constitution authorises SCANZ to do anything which contravenes or is inconsistent with the Act, any regulations made under the Act, or any other legislation.
Restrictions on SCANZ powers
| By default, a society has the powers of a natural person, but it must not be carried on for the financial gain of any of its members.
If the society should have its powers restricted in any way (for instance to prohibit borrowing), this should be set out here. |
- SCANZ must not be carried on for the financial gain of any of its members.
- SCANZ's capacity, rights, powers, and privileges are subject to the following restrictions (if any) -
- any? Can we borrow money?
Registered office (recommended section)
Under the Act, every incorporated society is required to have a street address to which official letters and documents can be sent or delivered.
Any time your society changes its registered office address you must update the address on the Incorporated Societies Register (along with Charities Services if the society is also registered under the Charities Act 2005).
Documents can be served on your society, including in legal proceedings, by leaving them at the society's registered office, or by delivery to an officer or employee of your society at the society’s registered office.
- The registered office of SCANZ shall be at such place in New Zealand as the committee from time to time determines.
- Changes to the registered office shall be notified to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies -
- at least 5 working days before the change of address for the registered office is due to take effect, and
- in a form and as required by the Act.
Contact person (mandatory section)
Every incorporated society must have at least one contact person, and no more than 3, that the Registrar can contact when needed. Every contact person must be at least 18 years of age and ordinarily resident in New Zealand.
A contact person's details will not be published on the Incorporated Societies Register but will be used by the Registrar to contact the society. For example, a contact person would receive notifications from the Registrar and reminders to file certain documents. It is important that you choose an appropriate contact person, and preferably a committee officer.
- SCANZ shall have at least 1 but no more than 3 contact person(s) whom the Registrar can contact when needed.
- SCANZ's contact person must be:
- At least 18 years of age, and
- Ordinarily resident in New Zealand.
- A contact person can be appointed by the committee or elected by the sustaining members at a general meeting.
- Each contact person's name must be provided to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies, along with their contact details, including:
- a physical address or an electronic address, and
- a telephone number.
- Any change in that contact person or that person's name or contact details shall be advised to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies within 20 working days of that change occurring, or SCANZ becoming aware of the change.
