Bye-Laws - Scansect

§1
NAME/BUSINESS AND PURPOSE
The name of the Society is The Scandinavian Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology,
SCANSECT.

The purpose of the Society is to:

promote the scientific development of extracorporeal technology.
encourage and support research within the field of extracorporeal technology.
promote networking and collaboration between individuals, authorities and organisations working with or otherwise interested in extracorporeal technology.
arrange training courses and supplementary training programmes within the field of
extracorporeal technology.
protect its members' interests in matters relating to extracorporeal technology and
its conditions in Scandinavia.

§2
ORGANIZATION
SCANSECT is a collaborating society open to all perfusionist societies in Scandinavia. The
Society performs its activities through:

societies affiliated with SCANSECT
the General Assembly
the Executive Committee

§3
TYPES OF MEMBERSHIP
(1) Active members are:

all active members of Scandinavian perfusionist societies who wish to be
members of SCANSECT.
active perfusionists who are not members of a national perfusionist society.

(2) Associated members are:

perfusionists who are not active within the perfusion profession.
retired perfusionists.
non-perfusionists who have been granted personal memberships by
SCANSECT.

(3) Corporate members are:

companies which have been granted membership by SCANSECT

§4
APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP
Perfusionists who are not members of a national perfusionist society as well as the entities
specified in § 3 (2) and (3) must apply to the General Secretary for membership of SCANSECT.

§5
MEMBERSHIP RIGHTS
(1) Subject to the exceptions specified in § 7 (5), all active and associated members
shall be entitled to attend the General Assembly and attend scientific meetings,
training courses and conferences arranged by SCANSECT.

(2) Subject to the exceptions specified in § 7 (5), all active members shall be entitled
to vote and eligible to work for the Society.

(3) Subject to the exceptions specified in § 7 (5), all associated members shall be
entitled to make proposals at the General Assembly.

(4) Corporate members shall be entitled to attend SCANSECT's scientific meetings
and conferences.

§6
MEETINGS
SCANSECT shall arrange at least one scientific meeting per year, which shall include
technical/professional presentations and discussions.

§7
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
(1) The General Assembly shall be SCANSECT's supreme authority.

(2) The Annual General Assembly shall be held no later than on 30th September.
The Executive Committee shall set the time and place of the Annual General
Meeting, which should, however, be co-ordinated with SCANSECT's scientific
annual meeting.
The time and place shall be announced no later than 5 months prior to the
meeting, and notice convening the meeting shall be given 1 month prior to the
meeting.

(3) The General Assembly shall be convened by personal written notice or by written
notice to all cardiac centres employing active and associated members.
The notice convening the General Assembly shall include the accounts and budget
to be presented for adoption as well as any proposals received.

(4) Any proposals for discussion by the General Assembly must be received by the
General Secretary no later than 3 months prior to the General Meeting.

(5) Only active members shall be entitled to vote. Votes may be cast personally or by
written proxy to another active member.
Corporate members shall not be entitled to attend the General Assembly.
Active and associated members employed by private companies associated with
extracorporeal technology shall not be entitled to attend the General Assembly.

(6) An Extraordinary General Assembly shall be convened to be held at the time and
place set by the Executive Committee, when:

this is deemed necessary by the Executive Committee.
a written request to this effect has been submitted by the auditors or by at
least one third of the active members. In this case, the Extraordinary General
Assembly shall be held within 6 weeks of the Executive Committee's reception
of such request.

The Extraordinary General Assembly shall be convened by personal written
notice or by written notice to all cardiac centres employing active and
associated members, no later than 14 days prior to the meeting.

The notice convening the Extraordinary General Assembly shall include: the
time and place, a statement of the matter(s) to be discussed, and the agenda
for the meeting.

The agenda for the Annual General Assembly shall at least include the following items:

Election of a chairman of the meeting.
Election of a minute-taker, 2 minutes scrutineers, and 2 counters of votes.
Approval of the notice and convention of the meeting
Approval of the agenda for the meeting.
Roll-call of members present.
Presentation and adoption of the Executive Committee's report.
Presentation and adoption of the special committees' reports.
Presentation and adoption of the accounts.
Discussion of proposals from the members and the Executive Committee.
Presentation and adoption of the budget and decision on the membership fee.
Election of General Secretary (every fourth year – uneven).
Election of Executive Committee members (every other year).
Election of special committee members (every fourth year).
Election of 2 auditors and 2 substitutes (every year).
Any Other Business.

The approved minutes of the General Assembly shall be made available to the members no later
than 6 weeks after the General Assembly.

§8
VOTING
(1) All members of SCANSECT's decision-making body shall have one vote each.

(2) Voting shall be by showing of hands, but shall be made by secret ballot if so
requested.

(3) In case of an equality of votes, the proposal shall be rejected.

§9
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
(1) SCANSECT's Executive Committee shall be responsible for the daily management.

(2) The Executive Committee shall be elected by the General Assembly to serve for a
term of two years, and in addition to the General Secretary shall consist of one
active member from each affiliated perfusionist society, the latter to be elected
upon nomination by the respective societies.

(3) The seats on the Executive Committee shall be up for election as follows:
The General Secretary and the representative of SWESECT shall be elected in odd
years.
The representatives of DANSECT and NORSECT shall be elected in even years.
Executive Committee members may seek re-election.

(4) The Executive Committee shall elect a treasurer from its midst. The General
Secretary may not accept this duty.

(5) The Executive Committee shall decide the time and frequency of its meetings, and
in order to form a quorum, at least three members of the Executive Committee
must attend a meeting.
Telephone conferences shall have the same legal effect and validity as physical
meetings of the Executive Committee.

(6) The name/business of the Society may be bound by the entire Executive
Committee or by the General Secretary and the treasurer, collectively or
separately.

(7) If an Executive Committee member retires before the end of his term of office,
the perfusionist society nominating that Executive Committee member shall be
entitled to appoint a substitute for the remainder of the retiring member's term of
office.

§10
THE TASK OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee shall:

monitor all matters and issues which may be of interest to the members of the Society.
keep active and associated members continually posted on the Society's decisions and
activities.
be responsible for managing the affairs of the Society in accordance with these ByeLaws.
be responsible for the Society's finances and account for these before the General
Assembly.
prepare and convene the General Assembly in accordance with these Bye-Laws.
prepare and plan scientific meetings, training courses and conferences.
keep an updated register of the members of the Society.

§11
GENERAL SECRETARY
The General Secretary, who is elected by the General Assembly, shall have primary
responsibility for the daily management and shall be in charge of the Executive Committee's
work in his capacity of moderator at the Executive Committee meetings.

In addition, the General Secretary shall be responsible for SCANSECT's external contacts.

The General Secretary shall remain well-informed of the activities of the special committees
established by SCANSECT. Minutes of the special committees' meetings shall be forwarded to
the General Secretary.

§12
TREASURER
The Treasurer shall be responsible for collecting membership fees and managing the Society's
income and expenditure, and shall present the Society's accounts based on the Society's
bookkeeping.

§13
AUDITORS
(1) The Executive Committee's management procedures and the Society's accounts
shall be reviewed by the Society's auditors.

(2) The Society's accounting year shall coincide with the calendar year. Before 15
February of any given year, the Executive Committee shall submit to the auditors
the accounts, lists of members and any other documents that the auditors may
wish to review.

(3) The auditors shall return the audited accounts before the end of March.

(4) The Executive Committee shall make a written statement to address any
qualifications made by the auditors.
The report of the Executive Committee, the auditors' report and the Executive
Committee's statement addressing the auditors' qualifications shall be made
available to active members no later than two weeks before the General Meeting
where these items are to be discussed.

§14
SPECIAL COMMITTEES
1. Committee for Training:

Purpose: The committee shall work to promote uniform training standards for
perfusionists in Scandinavia. The committee shall endeavour to increase training
standards within the field of extracorporeal technology in Scandinavia and assist
SCANSECT in any matter related to training.

The committee shall co-ordinate PV training (supplementary training courses for
perfusionists) and the topics to be addressed during such training.
The committee shall consist of one representative of each of the affiliated
perfusionist societies. One of these members shall be appointed chairman of the
committee. In other respects, the committee shall nominate candidates for its
different positions from among its members.
The General Secretary shall be entitled to attend the meetings of the committee,
but shall not be entitled to vote.
If a member of the committee wishes to retire before the end of his term of office,
a representative shall be appointed from that member's perfusionist society to
replace him on the committee until the next General Meeting where a by-election
may be held.

2. Scientific Committee:

Purpose: The committee shall endeavour to increase the scientific standards of
extracorporeal technology in Scandinavia and assist SCANSECT in any matter
related to science.

The committee shall consist of minimum three and maximum five members, one
or two representatives of each of the affiliated perfusionist societies. One of these
members shall be appointed chairman of the committee. In other respects, the
committee shall nominate candidates for its different positions from among its
members.

If a member of the committee wishes to retire before the end of his term of office,
a representative shall be appointed from that member's perfusionist society to
replace him on the committee until the next General Meeting where an election
may be held.

The committee members shall contribute to coordinating and stimulating research
activities within the field of extracorporeal technology in Scandinavia.
The committee shall evaluate the abstracts received at SCANSECT's scientific
meetings.
In addition, the committee shall act as an advisor in all matters of science
submitted to the Executive Committee or the General Meeting.

The chairman of the committee shall act as the committee's contact and shall be
responsible for convening all meetings and for ensuring that minutes of the
meetings are distributed to the committee members and to the General
Secretary.

§15
TRAVEL EXPENSES
Travel expenses incurred by members when travelling on behalf of the Society shall be
reimbursed. Such reimbursement may not exceed the official rate applicable in that member's
country of residence.

§16
AMENDMENTS TO THE BYE-LAWS
Any amendments to the bye-laws shall be presented for adoption by an Annual or Extraordinary General Assembly, and shall require adoption by at least two thirds of all the votes cast.

§17
DISSOLUTION
A decision to dissolve SCANSECT may be made by two consecutive General Meetings, both of
which must be Annual General Meetings, held at least four months apart.
A decision to dissolve the Society shall require adoption by a majority of at least two thirds of
all the votes cast.

In the event of a dissolution, SCANSECT's funds shall accrue to the affiliated perfusionist
societies in proportion to their active memberships.

Adopted by the 2003 General Meeting in Turku, Finland.
Amended by the 2004 General Meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Amended by the 2005 General Meeting in Bergen, Norway.
Amended by the 2007 General Meeting in Helsinki, Finland.
Amended by the 2010 General Meeting in Oslo, Norway.

Bye-Laws for Scandinavian Society of Extracorporal Technology, SCANSECT