Hong Kong Academy of Medicine Regulation
(Enacting provision omitted—E.R. 2 of 2020)
[31 March 1994]
(Format changes—E.R. 2 of 2020)
In this Regulation unless the context otherwise requires—
College (學院) means Academy College; Council member (院務委員) means any member of the Council; elected Council member (經選舉產生的院務委員) means a member of the Council elected under section 9(2)(b) of the Ordinance; Officer (幹事) means a person holding an office of the Council referred to under section 9(5) of the Ordinance.Unless otherwise stated by the Council, authentication of the seal of the Academy shall be by the joint signatures of—
the President, or the Vice-President (General Affairs), or the Vice-President (Education and Examinations); and
the Honorary Secretary or the Honorary Treasurer,
of the Academy.
The Academy shall hold an Annual General Meeting not less than once every 15 months.
Any general meeting other than an Annual General Meeting shall be called an Extraordinary General Meeting.
Extraordinary General Meetings shall be held—
whenever the Council deems necessary; or
when a request is made in writing to the Honorary Secretary by 30 or more Fellows to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting.
An Annual General Meeting shall be called by not less than 21 days’ notice in writing and an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be called by not less than 14 days’ notice in writing delivered to all Fellows, Members and Associates. (E.R. 2 of 2020)
The notice shall be exclusive of the day on which it is served and of the day for which it is given and shall specify the place, date and time of the meeting and the nature of the business to be conducted at the meeting.
The accidental omission to give notice of a general meeting to, or the non-receipt of notice of a meeting by any member shall not invalidate the meeting.
All business conducted at an Extraordinary General Meeting shall be deemed special and all business conducted at an Annual General Meeting shall be deemed special except—
the admission of Fellows;
the recognition of any College or Faculty;
the report of the Council;
the results of elections conducted by postal ballot, and the determination of such results in case of equivalence of postal votes;
the Honorary Treasurer’s report, the audited accounts and balance sheets; and
the appointment of auditors and if appropriate, fixing the remuneration of the auditors.
The business of a general meeting shall be confined to that which has been duly notified in writing.
The President of the Academy shall preside at every general meeting, but if he is not present 15 minutes after the time appointed for holding such a meeting, or is absent from Hong Kong, or has given notice to the Academy of his intention not to attend the meeting, the Vice-President (General Affairs) of the Academy shall take the chair.
If the Vice-President (General Affairs) of the Academy is absent the Vice-President (Education and Examinations) of the Academy shall take the chair.
If all of these 3 Officers are absent, members of the Council present will elect one of their number to act as Chairman.
No business shall be transacted at any Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting unless a quorum of not less than 30 members having the right to attend and vote are present in person at the commencement of such business.
If within 30 minutes from the time appointed for a general meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting, if convened upon the requisition of 30 or more Fellows, shall be dissolved; in any other case it shall stand adjourned to a date not less than 14 days but not more than 28 days later at the same time and place, or to such other date, time and place as the Council may determine, and if at such adjourned meeting a quorum is not present within 30 minutes from the appointed time those members entitled to vote who are present shall constitute a quorum.
At any general meeting, a resolution put to the vote of the meeting shall be decided by a show of hands unless a poll (i.e. secret ballot) is demanded—
by the Chairman of the meeting; or
by at least 2 Fellows present in person.
In the case of an equality of votes the Chairman shall be entitled to a second or casting vote.
Every Fellow shall have one vote; no other class of member shall have the right to vote.
A person who is a Fellow in more than one College is entitled to one vote only where matters of the Academy are concerned.
No Fellow shall be entitled to vote at any meeting or election of the Academy unless all moneys payable by him to the Academy in his capacity as Fellow and which have been outstanding for more than one month after falling due have been paid.
On a poll votes may be given either personally or by proxy, provided that no voting by proxy shall be allowed in respect of—
elections;
the admission of members of the Academy;
the granting of awards under section 5 of the Ordinance;
the recognition of Colleges and Faculties; and
the powers of the Academy conferred under section 7 of the Ordinance.
The Academy shall require a College—
to develop, maintain and implement programmes of training and continuing education relating to its specialty or specialties in a manner determined by the Council;
for the purposes specified in paragraph (a), to establish an education committee or similar body;
to keep the Council informed in such manner as the Council may determine of any amendments to its constitution, rules or documents of incorporation or of its decisions on general policy and to submit a report of its activities to the Council in a manner specified by the Council; and
to provide, with the approval of the Academy, for reviews in cases in which a recommendation for the purposes of section 3(3)(a) of the Ordinance has been refused.
The Academy shall prohibit a College from establishing or including as part thereof any other association or body of persons without the approval of the Academy.
Only Fellows of the Academy shall be entitled to hold office, to stand for elections, to nominate others for elections, and to vote, provided that no Fellow shall be so entitled unless all moneys payable by him to the Academy in his capacity as Fellow and which have fallen due for more than one month, have been paid.
The 6 Officers shall be nominated and elected by the members of the Council.
The elected Council members under section 9(2)(b) of the Ordinance shall be nominated and elected by all Fellows.
Nominations shall not be valid unless delivered to the Honorary Secretary before the specified time on the closing date for any particular election, on a form carrying the signature of the Fellow standing for election and supported by the signatures of 2 other Fellows.
Elections shall be conducted by postal ballot.
A list of all nominated candidates and their proposers for whatever specified or unspecified posts shall be delivered together with a ballot paper by ordinary or by registered mail to every Fellow entitled to vote in the election.
The address of a Fellow entitled to vote shall be in accordance with the Gazette pursuant to section 15 of the Medical Registration Ordinance (Cap. 161).
14 days shall be allowed for the return of postal ballots and in any case the closing date of acceptance of returned ballots shall be specified.
Ballots returned by hand may be accepted provided they conform to the format specified during the election.
No copy of a ballot paper in whatever form shall be valid.
All ballots shall be counted by the Honorary Auditor who shall have absolute discretion to determine the validity of ballot papers.
During the interim period nominations by members of the Council for election of the 6 Officers shall begin at least 21 days before and shall close 7 days before the election date which shall fall within the interim period and the results shall be announced at the first Annual General Meeting.
After the interim period nominations shall begin at least 3 months before and shall close 1 month before the postal ballot and the results shall be announced at the next Annual General Meeting.
In case of equivalence of votes the outcome shall be determined by another postal ballot.
Not more than one member of any single College may be elected to the Council under the category of elected Council members.
The nomination of candidates for elected Council members shall begin at least 3 months and shall close 1 month before the serving of ballot papers by post and the results shall be announced at the next Annual General Meeting.
During the interim period the Council may decide to hold the election in respect of elected Council members after the first Annual General Meeting.
At least half of the total number of elected Council members shall have been Fellows of not less than 5 years’ standing at the time of nomination, provided that this requirement shall not apply during the first 5 years after the interim period.
In case of equivalence of postal votes the outcome shall be determined by voting in person at the Annual General Meeting at which the results are announced and voting by proxy shall not be allowed.
The term of office for Officers and elected Council members other than ex officio members shall be 2 years.
No person shall hold the post of President of the Academy for more than 2 consecutive terms of office.
(Repealed L.N. 125 of 2002)
No Fellow shall serve more than 12 years on the Council during his lifetime, provided that the year of service of the immediate past President as a Council member shall not count.
The period of service of any Council member of 182 days or less in a year shall not be counted, while service of more than 182 days shall be counted as a whole year.
A Council member may resign from the Council by written notification to the Honorary Secretary.
In such case or whenever a casual vacancy should arise the Council shall until the next Annual General Meeting have the power to co-opt another person to fill the vacancy or to leave the post vacant.
No person may hold more than one post on the Council concurrently, in particular an Officer or an elected Council member may not at the same time hold the post of President of a College.
A register of Fellows shall be kept by the Honorary Secretary.
The name of every Fellow for the time being shall be entered in the register, in a manner directed by the Council.
Subject to such reasonable conditions as the Council may direct, the register shall be open to the inspection of any Fellow.
The contents of the register may be made available to the public at the discretion of the Council.
The name of any Fellow who resigns or whose membership is terminated or otherwise forfeited shall be deleted from the register, but may be reinstated subject to the approval of the Council.
The functions of the Education Committee shall be, unless otherwise determined by the Council—
co-ordinating and monitoring the programmes of postgraduate education and training and continuing medical education of the Colleges to ensure that they are of the standard set by the Academy;
ensuring the proper organization and conduct of examinations; and
advising the Council on education and training policy of the Academy, and on any other matters concerning postgraduate education and training and continuing medical education.
The Education Committee shall consist of—
the Vice-President (Education and Examinations) of the Academy who shall chair the Committee;
the chairman of the education committee, or equivalent person, of each and every College, or his representative during his absence; (L.N. 413 of 1996)
one representative nominated by the Medical Council of Hong Kong; (L.N. 413 of 1996)
the Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority or his representative during his absence; (L.N. 413 of 1996)
the Director of Health or his representative during his absence; (L.N. 413 of 1996)
the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong or his representative during his absence; (L.N. 413 of 1996)
the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong or his representative during his absence; and (L.N. 413 of 1996)
such additional persons as the Committee may from time to time co-opt.
The term of office of a member other than a co-opted member shall last for as long as that member holds the office or acts as a representative of the institutions under subsection (2). (L.N. 413 of 1996)
The period of the office of a co-opted member shall be decided by the Committee.
A casual vacancy shall be filled by an acting chairman of the education committee of the relevant College.
The Council may from time to time establish such other committees as it deems fit and determine the composition, function and duration of such committees.
The Council may delegate its powers and functions to the Education Committee and such other committees as it may establish from time to time, and provide for the restriction and regulation of such functions and powers.