ARTICLE 2
    There shall be a competition, which for the purposes of this constitution shall be named the World Universities Debating Championship. A round of the Championship shall be held once during each and every calendar Year

ARTICLE 3
    (1) The purpose of the Championship shall be the promotion of debate, the free exchange of ideas and international contact and co-operation.
    (2) It should be noted that anything said by any debater during a debate round does not necessarily represent the debater's personal beliefs, those of his/her nation.

ARTICLE 4
    The functions of the Council shall be as follows:
        (a) To appoint a host for each Round of the Championships;
        (b) To decide on appropriate sanctions against a host organization in the event that it fails significantly to comply with the terms of the bid;
        (c) To perform the functions conferred upon it by this Constitution.

ARTICLE 5
    The Council shall consist of the following members:
        (a) the Chair, who shall be elected in accordance with Article 6;
        (b) delegates, who shall be appointed in accordance with Article 7;
        (c) the Registrar, who shall take office in accordance with Article 8 he/she shall not have a vote on Council, and
        (d) the Chair for the next round of the Championship ("the Chair-elect"), as determined by the provisions of Article 6 (1), or his/her designate. The Chair-elect does not have a vote on the Council.

ARTICLE 6
    (1) The acceptance of a bid by the Council in accordance with Articles 15-IS shall be deemed to operate as the election of the proposer as Chair of the Council.
    (2) The Chair elected under paragraph (1) above shall take office two weeks after his/her election
    (3) The outgoing Chair shall remain in office until his/her successor takes office.
    (4) The Chair may resign from office only by appointing a successor in writing.

    Where the office of Chair becomes vacant other than by reason of paragraph (4) above, or the Chair fails totally in his/her duties under Article 10 (1) (ensuing the organization of a round of the Championship), the Council, convened by registered mail sent to all members, may appoint a successor to the Chair and new venue.

ARTICLE 7
    (1) Every country represented at a Round of the Championship shall be entitled to send a delegate to the meeting of the Council convened during that Round.
    (2) Where there exists in relation to a country a debating body consisting of an executive elected by the debating organizations in that country, and relating to parliamentary debate as generally understood in common law Countries, the President of that body, or equivalent, shall be deemed to have been appointed as delegate flit thin country provided that he/she or a nominee in writing is present at the Round of the Championship during which the meeting is held.
    (3) In any other case the members of the teams originating from a country shall by common or majority action appoint one of their number as the delegate for that country.
    (4) Every delegate shall provide the Chair with notice of his/her appointment, a home telephone number and address, and an alternative contact number and address if home details do not relate to permanent residence. This information shall be provided within 24 hours of appointment of the delegate or, in the case of an appointment not taking place during a Round of the Championship, within two weeks of appointment. The Chair shall furnish a list of all the information provided under this paragraph to all delegates within two weeks of the end of the Round for which he/she is responsible.
    (5) A delegate may resign from office only by appointing his/her successor in writing.
    (6) A delegate shall hold office until his/her successor takes office.
    (7) Delegates shall take office immediately upon appointment.
    (8) Save as provided below, each delegate member of Council shall be entitled to cast one vote on every substantive motion placed before the Council.
    (9) Save as provided below, every substantive motion placed before the Council shall be decided by majority vote.
    (10) The Chair shall not have a vote on any substantive motion placed before the Council, save on the event that the number of votes cast for and against the motion are equal, in which case he/she shall exercise a casting vote.
    (11) On every substantive motion placed before the Council, the delegates representing Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America shall be entitled to cast five votes each. The delegate representing Greece shall be entitled to cast three votes.
    (12) Where there is placed before the Council a substantive motion which proposes amendment to this Constitution, such a motion shall not be carried unless it gains support of at least two-thirds of the delegates representing the "Charter Nations". These are Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
    (13) The schedule formerly appended to this Constitution shall no longer be so appended, and shall cease to have effect save as otherwise provided.

ARTICLE 8
    (1) The Registrar to the Council shall be appointed by the Council, and such appointment shall give due consideration to the necessity of preserving continuity in the membership of the Council.
    (2) A Chair who vacates office under paragraphs (4) or (5) (if Article 6 shall be disqualified from subsequently holding the office of Registrar
    (3) The Registrar or his/her deputy shall be responsible for keeping minutes of meetings of the Council and for making available to all interested parties copies of this Constitution. He/she shall maintain a permanent record (if the names and addresses of organizations participating in the championship.
    (4) The Registrar may appoint a deputy to act on his/her behalf

ARTICLE 9
    Any member of the Council may appoint a deputy to attend meetings, speak, vote, and otherwise act, on his/her behalf

ARTICLE 10
    The duties of the Chair include:
        (a) Ensuring that a Round of the Championship is organized during his/her term of office, which Round shall be a continuous period of not more than ten days;
        (b) Convening at least one meeting of the Council during that Round;
        (c) convening such other meetings of the Council as are in his/her opinion necessity, provided that there be not less than one meeting per calendar year;
        (d) giving novice to the other members of the Council of any meeting of the council. Such notice shall be given in writing at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting and shall include an agenda containing full details of any proposed amendments to this Constitution;
        (e) providing notice of the Round for which he/she is responsible to all Societies which attended the priate. Such notice shall be posted at least four months before the Round and shall include a legally binding statement of the total Cost to the entrant team of registration and accommodation. A further legally binding notice shill be sent at least one month in advance detailing the cost of meals, activities and other related expenses;
        (f) ensuring that a briefing is held for all adjudicators and debaters before the first Session of debate where the full tournament rules and forms shall be explained and clarified;
        (g) ensuring that all ballots are returned to the competitors at the end of the tournament
        (h) ensuring that any surplus made by a host university be passed to the next host university to reduce fees for needy universities;
        (i) ensuring that there is a women's meeting at the beginning and end of the tournament which would be open to all participants in the Championship.

ARTICLE 12
    The Chair shall regulate the proceedings of the Council, subject to this Constitution.

ARTICLE 13
    The quorum for meetings of the Council shall be two-thirds of the countries listed in the former Schedule to this Constitution, namely Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, England and Wales, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and the United States of America.

ARTICLE 1 4
    Within six months of a Round, the outgoing Chair shall send to the Chair of the next Round full accounts of income and expenditure in relation to the organization of that Round. The accounts shall be considered in the following meeting of the Council. These accounts should reflect ordinary accounting standards applicable in the host nation

ARTICLE 15
    (1) On meeting during a Round of the Championship, the Council shall consider bids to host future Championships two years in advance. Successful bids shall be ratified automatically at the meeting of the Council during the Round following one year later, if the conditions specified in a memo drawn up by the Council at the time of the bid have been satisfied. If the said conditions have not been satisfied, bids shall be reopened without prejudice to any bidder.
    (2) All bids shall be submitted in writing and shall be signed by a proposer. Bids may be signed hy one or more seconders. A bid shall state the College and Society which will host the Championship, the dates of the round, the debating procedures to be followed and any relevant financial or other information.

ARTICLE 16
    When a bid is accepted, the appropriate Round of the Championship shall be held in accordance with its terms, subject to Article 18.

ARTICLE 17
    When the Council accepts a bid, the Chair shall endorse a copy of that bid with the resolution of the Council and such endorsed copy shall be evidence of the acceptance of the bid.

ARTICLE 18
    The Chair shall use his/her best endeavors to ensure that the Round of the Championship for which he/she is responsible is held within the context of the College and Society mentioned in the bid, but he/she may, with the consent of at least two other members of the Council, alter the venue to another venue within the same metropolitan area.

© 1998 Colm Flynn. All Rights Reserved.