BGA Byelaws

Introduction

The Byelaws are part of the BGA's suite of governance documents. They are subservient to the Articles; Article 50 refers to them.

Byelaws

Election of Examiner

Provided that there is at least one member who is willing to serve in the role, each annual general meeting will elect a BGA member to serve as the BGA Examiner.

The BGA Examiner must not be a BGA Board member.

At least six weeks prior to the circulation of any financial accounts of the BGA to BGA members, the Board must provide a copy of such accounts to the Examiner, and give the Examiner such access to the BGA’s financial records as the Examiner may require.

The Examiner will prepare a report to BGA members for presentation at the general meeting at which the said accounts are to be approved by members. The content of such report will be at the discretion of the Examiner, and the Board must circulate the Examiner’s report to BGA members when the said accounts are circulated to BGA members.

None of the above requirements will apply to any set of accounts of the BGA which are to be audited in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Acts.

BGA Youth Players

Persons aged under 18 may not be Members of the BGA (Article 26). Using the powers in Article 29, the Board has created an Affiliation Scheme for people under the age of 18. On completion of the Application Form and payment of the relevant fee, any person under the age of 18 can become a “BGA Youth Player”.

BGA Youth Players will have the same rights and benefits of membership as Members, except that they cannot vote at General Meetings and cannot serve as Directors since they are not BGA Members.

Schools with Go Clubs and Youth Go Clubs

Using the powers in Article 29, the Board has created an Affiliation Scheme for Schools with Go Clubs and Youth Go Clubs.

Each school applying for affiliation under this scheme must nominate a responsible adult who will act as the prime point of contact. The responsible adult must provide a name and email address. This adult does not need to be a Member of the BGA, although they are free to apply for membership in the same way as any other adult.

The responsible adult will receive all communications from the BGA that are sent to Members, but as they are not a Member do not have the right to vote at BGA General Meetings or to serve as a BGA Director.

Under this scheme, all pupils at the school have the same rights and benefits as “BGA Youth Players” as described in Byelaw 2.

Other Go Clubs primarily for those under 18 can affiliate to the BGA in the same manner, by nominating a responsible adult, with all under-18 members of the Go Club thereby becoming BGA Youth Players.

1. Vice-Presidents

   The Board may appoint Vice-Presidents.

   Vice President is an honorific term awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the BGA or the game of Go.

   Vice Presidents are not Directors, have no management powers, and the post of Vice-President does not confer any BGA membership rights if the Vice-President is not otherwise a BGA Member.

   Each appointment as Vice-President may be for a fixed period of time, or may be for life, at the discretion of the Board.

   Disputes Panel

   Nominations to serve on the Disputes Panel must be received by the Company Secretary or designated alternative at least 2 weeks before the AGM, with a Proposer and Seconder, all of whom must be Members of the BGA. The nominations will be declared elected unless a member requests a vote, in which case each nominee will be voted on separately.

   Any serving Panel members who are willing to be re-elected may inform the Company Secretary or designated alternative at least 2 weeks before the AGM that they are available for re-election without requiring to be nominated.

   In the event that there are fewer than 6 nominations, the Board shall appoint sufficient additional members to bring the number up to 6.

Byelaw no. 1 was approved by the Board on 1 April, 2022. Byelaws 2-4 were approved by the Board on 7 August 2022, and Byelaw 5 on 4 April 2023. The last paragraph of Byelaw 5 was added on 22 May 2023.