Bangladesh Bioethics Society
Promotes Integrity for Peace, Dignity and Sustainability

CONSTITUTION OF BANGLADESH BIOETHICS SOCIETY

PREAMBLE

Given the urgent need for research, education and implementation of bioethics principles in social development and in consideration of the advances in science and technology, biomedical technologies and the environmental crisis, the Bangladesh Bioethics Society was founded through the unanimous decision of participants at the First and Second UNESCO Ethics Workshop, Dhaka, 2009.

ARTICLE 1. NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION

The name of this organization shall be: Bangladesh Bioethics Society (BBS).

ARTICLE 2. TYPE OF ORGANIZATION

It is a non profit, non political, multi-disciplinary and voluntary organization.

ARTICLE 3. REGISTRATION

Bangladesh Bioethics Society shall be registered under Society Registration Act 1860 section 21 with Joint Stock Society, Government of Bangladesh.

ARTICLE 4. OFFICE

Temporary office: Bangladesh Bioethics Society, 1085/1, Malibagh Chowdhury Para, Dhaka-1219.

ARTICLE 5: CALENDAR YEAR OF THE SOCIETY

The year of the Socity shall be from 1st July to 30th June of next year for the purpose of beginning of tenure of the Executive Committee, accounts and audits.

ARTICLE 6. DEFINITION OF BIOETHICS

Bioethics is interdisciplinary study of philosophical, ethical, social, legal, medical, ethnological, environmental, economic, therapeutic, religious, and other related issues arising from biological sciences and technologies, and their applications in human society and the biosphere.

ARTICLE 7. OBJECTIVES

The BBS shall strive to:

  1. uphold the value of free, open and reasoned discussion of issues in bioethics;
  2. facilitate contacts and exchange of information between those working in bioethics across Bangladesh;
  3. encourage teaching of bioethics in Bangladesh at all levels;
  4. disseminate the idea of bioethics and results through popular lectures, public awareness programme and publications;
  5. encourage application of the knowledge and skills of bioethics in personal and social life and promote bioethical maturity of the society;
  6. encourage development of research about bioethics issues in Bangladesh and from across the world;
  7. organize and promote lectures, seminars, workshops and national and international conferences in bioethics;
  8. assist the linkage with regional and global organization of bioethics;
  9. encourage other academic work or project to accomplished their goal consisting of the objectives of the society and
  10. facilitate the government policy.

ARTICLE 8. MEMBERSHIP

8.1 All interested individuals and institutions from any discipline sharing the same objectives of the BBS can be Members of the Society. Professor Shamima Parvin Lasker and Dr Arif Hossain are the Founding Chairman of BBS in recognition of their dedicated work and organizational skills to promote the formation of Bangladesh Bioethics Society.

8.2 Membership shall be in five categories: Honorary Life Member, General Member, Life Member, Student Member and International Member. All categories of membership require approval of the EC.

8.2.1. Honorary Member: Person of high scientific or literary attainments or individuals whose contributions are noteworthy to bioethics or to the Society can be elected as Honorary Member.

8.2.2. General Member: Individuals and institutions from any discipline sharing the same objectives of the Society can be General Members. General Member shall have at least graduate degree. Representative from the respective institution shall have the same requisite qualification for membership. Institution has up to 20 members or subscribers shall have one vote. Institution has 21-40 members or subscribers shall have two votes. Institution has 41-80 members or subscribers shall have three votes and so on.

8.2.3. Life Member: Members who shall subscribe ten times the annual subscription at a time to the Society can be Life Member.

8.2.4. Student Member: Individuals who share the same objectives of the BBS and enrolled as undergraduate students in any academic institution of Bangladesh can be Student Members.

8.2.5. International Member: Any individual (International) showing commitment to the objectives of the Society can be International Member.

8.3 A Member of the Society shall be in good standing upon payment of membership fees.

8.4 BBS shall have Members from throughout the country. Application for membership shall include complete CV submitted to the General Secretary and accepted by the EC.

8.5 Any Member whose dues are in arrears by more than two years shall loose her/his membership of the Society roll until payment of back dues as decided by the EC. The position of the Member may be declared vacant if a Member of the EC is absent from three successive meetings of the Society without information. Membership may be withdrawn from the Society by written request to the EC.

ARTICLE 9 MEMBERSHIP FEES:

The EC shall set the membership fee at a certain rate for each category of membership and fees may vary year to year.

ARTICLE 10 COMMITTEES:

There shall be two committees. 1. Executive Committee (EC) and 2. Advisory Committee (AC).

10.1 Executive Committee:
The Members of the Executive Committee shall be responsible for coordinating the work of the BBS, such as setting the agenda of meetings, programmes and publications. Members of the EC shall work to achieve the goals of the Constitution. The EC shall consist of 21 Members where at least 4 Members shall be selected from outside Dhaka. If Members from outside Dhaka are not available, Members from Dhaka can be nominated for the members of the EC. The EC shall work in consultation with the Advisory Committee as and when required.
10.1.1 Term: The term of the Executive Committee shall be for two years.
10.1.1 Office Bearers of the Executive Committee:
President
Vice Presidents (Two)
General Secretary
Joint Secretary
Treasurer
Publicity Secretary
Publication Secretary
Members (12)*
Student representative (1)
Immediate Past President (ex-officio)
* When immediate Past President is included as Member, the numbers of the Members will be 11.
10.2 Advisory Committee:
Advisory Committee shall consist of maximum of 15 Members. Members of the Advisory Committee shall advice the EC to uphold the objectives of BBS.

11 SUB-COMMITTEES:

Sub-committees may be formed by the EC as and when necessary.

ARTICLE 12. DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

12.1 President
The President shall declare the opening and closing of each meeting of the Society. S/he shall facilitate discussions, ensure observance of the rules, accord the right to speak and put questions to the vote in the course of a debate. Any Member may raise a point of order and such point of order shall be immediately decided by the President. The president shall have a maximum two term.

12.2 Vice President (Two)
The Vice President shall be in charge in the absence of the President during a meeting or any part thereof. One of the Vice-Presidents shall take place according to seniority when both the Vice Presidents are present. Vice President can be elected for a maximum of two successive terms as a Vice President.

12.3 General Secretary (GS)
The General Secretary shall be responsible for implementation of all decisions of the EC. S/he shall execute the plans and programmes of the Society in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Society. S/He shall keep all records of BBS and minutes of meetings. S/he shall correspond to the Members and shall maintain an up-to-date webpage. GS shall present all the meeting as ex-officio to ensure the continuity work.

12.4 Joint Secretary
The Joint Secretary shall assist the GS in all activates of the Society. S/he shall act as GS in charge in the absence of the General Secretary for period of more then three months.

12.5 Treasurer
The Treasurer shall be the custodian of the society’s funds and shall keep full and accurate account of the receipts and disbursements and shall deposit those and other valuable effects in the name and to the credit of the Society in a bank decided by the EC. The Treasurer shall arrange for an Annual Audit by a registered audit firm as decided by the EC and place it to the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

12.6 Publicity Secretary
The Publicity Secretary shall assist the General Secretary to organise any conference/seminar/ workshop/ any other relevant programme held under the auspices of the Society. S/he shall assist the General Secretary in all types of liaison with other entities.

12.7 Publication Secretary
The Publications Secretary shall assist the General Secretary to organise, collect articles, edit and publish a journal and all other publications.

12.8 Student Representative
The Student Representative shall be the Member representing for youth voices and participation.

12.9 Immediate Past President [ex-officio]
To ensure the continuity of the Society, the immediate Past President can continue as an EC Member for an additional two years (exempt from normal EC term limits and not subject to re-election).

ARTICLE 13. CO-OPTED MEMBERS

The EC may co-opt additional member to the committee for the current term. In case of vacancy arising due to resignation /death / absentee for three successive EC meeting/ being abroad of any EC Member, the EC may co-opt the Member of EC until the next election.

ARTICLE 14. VOTING

Candidates for elections shall be nominated by a Member and seconded by another Member. Each Member can place one vote for each vacant position using a procedure approved by the majority decision of the EC. Voting rights shall be limited to General Members, Life Members, International Member and Student Representative only. Student Members shall have voting rights only to elect their own representative.

ARTICLE 15. RETURNING OFFICER

The EC shall appoint a Returning Officer who shall conduct the election. The Returning Officer can not be a candidate in the election. S/he need not be a Member of the Association. Candidates shall provide a brief biographical statement to the Returning Officer.

ARTICLE 16. WORKING LANGUAGES

The working languages of the BBS shall be Bangla and English. The documents of the BBS shall be prepared in Bangla or English.

ARTICLE 17. REPORTS

The BBS shall make an annual report and place it to the General Meeting.

ARTICLE 18. MEETING

18.1 EC Meeting: Meeting of the EC shall be held at least four times a year. Notice of the Meeting shall be sent by email or by other means to each Member of the Association not less than 7 days for the EC Meeting.

18.2 General Meeting: A General Meeting shall be held at least once a year. Notice of the Meeting shall be sent at least 21 days before a General Meeting.

18.3 Extra Ordinary Meeting: Notice for the Extra Ordinary Meeting shall be sent one day before the EC Meeting and 3 days before the GM respectively.

18.4 Annual General Meeting: AGM shall be held at the end of the calendar year. GS and Treasurer shall prepare the annual report and place it before the AGM.

ARTICLE 19 QUORUM

The Quorum for the Executive Committee meeting shall consist of a 1/3rd majority for the Executive Committee. Committees shall not decide any matter unless there is a quorum. In a general meeting 1/5 of the members (Life and General) shall make the quorum.

ARTICLE 20. FUND

Funds shall consist of membership fees, donations and endowments from individuals, government, non governmental and national and international bodies.

ARTICLE 22. TRANSACTIONS:

President, General Secretary and Treasurer jointly shall have authority to sign and execute all deeds, contracts or disburse funds in the name of the Society with any scheduled bank as decided by the EC. A bank account shall be opened in the name of the Society. Treasurer and President or General Secretary can transect the bank account.
No one shall solicit funds or other support from any source(s) in the name of the Society unless approved by the EC.

ARTICLE 23. AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION

This Constitution may not be amended, replaced, or annulled except by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members of the BBS in a secret ballot. An amendment may be proposed in writing by a group of Members (at least 15) or by the EC and the proposal must be circulated to all the Members at least one month before the AGM and shall be included in the agenda of the AGM.

ARTICLE 24. DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY

Dissolution of the Society can be done by three fourth of vote in an extra ordinary general meeting.

ARTICLE 25. DISPOSITION OF ASSETS

Upon dissolution of the Society, the net assets of the Society shall be distributed exclusively to non-profit educational or charitable organizations in Bangladesh as decided by the members of Extra Ordinary General Meeting.

DRAFTED BY

Arif Hossain and Darryl Macer

EDITED BY

Constitutional Sub-committee:
Convener:
Prof Hasna Begum (Rtd)
Members:
Prof Dr Naiyyum Choudhury
Prof Ahmadullah Mia
Prof. AQM Mahbub
Prof ASM Badruddoza
Adv Alamgir Kabir
Prof Shamima Parvin Lasker General Secretary, BBS (Ex-Officio)

REVIEWED BY

Constitution review committee:
Convenor:
Prof Taslima Monsoor
Member:
Prof Sitesh C Bachar
Adv Alamgir Kabir
Adv Hosne Ara Lutfa Dalia
Abu Mehedi Imam
Prof Shamima Parvin Lasker General Secretary, BBS (Ex-Officio)


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