THE SOCIETY OF MEDICAL PHYSICISTS
Statute
I. General Provisions
1. The Society of Medical Physicists' (hereinafter - SMP) is a voluntary non-profit public organization uniting citizen of the Republic of Lithuania and foreigners permanently residing on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, with higher education, whose scientific, educational or practical activities are related to the application of ionizing radiation technologies and other medical physics methods in radiotherapy, nuclear medicine, diagnostic radiology and other fields.
2. The SMP is a public legal person with limited civil liability, the legal form of which is association.
3. The registered office of the SMP is located at 16, Volungių St., LT-45434, Kaunas, Lithuania, the Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kauno Klinikos branch Oncology Hospital.
4. The SMP operates throughout the territory of the Republic of Lithuania and does not establish branches.
5. The SMP shall have its settlement and currency accounts in banks registered in the Republic of Lithuania. It shall be liable for its obligations with all its assets. The members shall not be liable for the obligations of the Society and the Society shall not be liable for the obligations of its members.
6. The SMP shall be guided by the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, the Law on Associations of the Republic of Lithuania, other legal acts and these Statutes.
7. Documents and other information on the activities of the association shall be easily accessible to the members and shall be made available to them without delay upon request of a member of the association.
8. Public information - the annual report - shall be made available at the seat of the association. If necessary, this public information, notices or announcements shall be published in republican or regional newspapers and other means of public information.
II. Goals and Objectives of the SMP
9. The main goal of the SMP is to accumulate and disseminate knowledge and experience in the application of radiation technologies and medical physics methods in the use of ionizing radiation for human treatment and diagnostic purposes.
10. In pursuit of its goal, the SMP shall carry out the following tasks:
- maintain relations with Lithuanian institutions whose activities are related to the use of ionizing radiation for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes or radiation protection of patients;
- initiate new concepts or consider concepts proposed by international and other national organizations related to the use of new radiation technologies and techniques in medical practice;
- maintain contacts with international organizations and societies, medical physicists from other countries and other allied organizations;
- organize meetings and conferences to discuss topical theoretical and practical issues in the work of medical physicists;
- informing the public about the activities of the SMP and promoting the aim and objectives of the Society;
- where appropriate, officially express its position on specific issues related to the application of radiation technologies and techniques for the treatment or diagnosis of patients using ionizing radiation;
- coordinate the activities of its members;
- represent and defend the interests of its members;
- publishing.
11. In order to implement the purpose and objectives set out in the SMP Statutes, the SMP may:
- disseminate information about its activities in writing, orally or in any other way, promote the aims and objectives of the Society;
- join international public organizations whose goals do not contradict the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and are close to the objectives of the SMP, as well as maintain relations with related organizations of other countries and international organizations, conclude agreements with them that do not contradict the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and the laws on public organizations of the Republic of Lithuania and other laws. Decisions on joining international public organizations shall be taken by the Assembly;
- establish mass media, to engage in publishing;
- purchase or otherwise acquire, use, manage and dispose of property necessary for its activities;
- employ persons for the activities provided for in its Statutes;
- receive funds or other assets from international public organizations, non-state organizations, foundations and individuals;
- establish (be a founder of) enterprises registered and operating under the laws of the Republic of Lithuania;
- establish foundations;
- receive donations.
12. Main SMP activities:
- Activities of professional membership organizations;
- other research and development activities in the natural sciences and engineering;
- other education, not elsewhere classified;
- book publishing.
III. Members of the SMP, their rights and obligations
13. The Society shall consist of Full Members and Honorary Members.
14. Full members may be citizens of the Republic of Lithuania of full age and foreigners permanently residing on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, possessing higher education, whose scientific, educational or practical activities are related to the application of ionizing radiation technologies and other medical physics methods in radiation therapy, nuclear medicine, diagnostic radiology and other fields and having received recommendations from two full members. Members admitted to the SMP at its founding meeting shall be exempt from the requirement to present the recommendations of two members.
15. The title of Honorary Member of the SMP shall be conferred by a resolution of the General Assembly on a person for outstanding services in the field of medical physics and who does not meet the requirements for full membership and who has been recommended in writing to the SMP Board by two full members at least three months prior to the General Assembly. Honorary Members shall not participate in the votes of the SMP and shall be exempt from payment of membership fees. Honorary Membership shall be conferred by a two-thirds vote of the General Meeting.
16. Full members shall be admitted to the SMP by the Board. Its decisions on admission shall be approved by the SMP General Meeting.
17. A Full Member may resign from the SMP on his/her own or may be expelled for activities incompatible with the SMP Statutes. The decision to expel a member for activities incompatible with the SMP Statutes shall be taken by the SMP Board by secret ballot by a simple majority vote. This decision of the Board must be approved by the General Meeting of the SMP.
18. Full members of the SMP have the following rights:
- to attend and vote at the General Assembly;
- to elect and be elected to the SMP Board;
- to make presentations and participate in discussions at SMP meetings and conferences;
- to submit projects to the SMP Board on specific medical physics issues;
- to make proposals for the improvement of the activities of the SMP;
- to make proposals for members of the SMP Board;
- to use the services provided by the SMP;
- to have access to the documents of the SMP and to all available information on its activities;
- to withdraw from the SMP at any time.
19. Responsibilities of SMP members:
- to comply with the SMP Statutes;
- to actively participate in the activities of the SMP;
- to comply with the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Board;
- to pay the membership fee.
IV. Governing Bodies of the SMP
20. The supreme organ of the SMP shall be the General Assembly of Members. An ordinary general meeting shall be convened once a year by the Board. A meeting at which decisions of the MFA are taken shall be deemed to be held if more than half of the full members of the MFA are present. Decisions shall be taken by open ballot by a simple majority. The date, place and program of the meeting shall be determined by the SMP Board at least one month before the meeting, informing all full members of the SMP by post, fax or e-mail. Each full member of the SMP shall have one vote. It shall not be permitted to vote on behalf of another member, even with his proxy. In the event of a tie, the vote of the President of the Society, or of the member of the Management Board appointed by him/her to act as President of the Society, shall be decisive. If a quorum is not present at a general meeting, a reconvened general meeting shall be convened after 1 month.
21. Extraordinary meetings may be called at any time on the initiative of the SMP Board or more than half of its full members. In the latter case, an extraordinary meeting shall be convened by the SMP Board upon receipt of written requests for an extraordinary meeting from more than half of its members.
22. Full members of the SMP may call for extraordinary elections of the Board and the President of the Society. In order for these elections to take place, they must be demanded by more than half of the Full Members. The Board shall convene an extraordinary general meeting within 2 months upon receipt of written demands for the re-election of the Board or the President of the Society from more than half of the Full Members. All members of the Society shall be informed of this meeting, its place, time and program at least one month before the meeting.
23. SMP General Assembly:
- adopt, amend and supplement the Statutes;
- approve the SMP's annual financial statements;
- approve the decisions of the Board to admit Full Members and confer the title of Honorary Member of SMP;
- approve resolutions of the Board to expel SMP members whose activities are incompatible with the SMP Statutes;
- elect and dismiss the Board and the President of the Society, who shall also be Chairman of the Board;
- appoint two auditors;
- determine the amount of members' joining fees and the amount of members' dues and the procedure for their payment;
- consider and approve the reports of the Board and the auditors;
- take decisions on admission to international social organizations;
- decide on the establishment of other legal entities or on becoming a member of other legal entities.
- reorganize the SMP and terminate its activities.
24. The General Meeting of Members shall elect the SMP Board and the President of the Society. The Board and the President of the Society shall be elected at the meeting by secret ballot. The Board and the President of the Society shall be elected for a period of 3 years. The President of the SMP shall be elected for a maximum of one consecutive term.
25. The Board of the SMP shall consist of five members, together with the President of the Society, who shall also be the Chairman of the Board.
26. The President of the Society and the members of the Board whose term of office has expired shall be eligible for re-election to the Board after the expiry of their term of office. The new Board and the President of the Society shall take over the affairs of the Society immediately after the end of the General Meeting and shall manage them until the next election. On taking over, a deed of acceptance and handover shall be drawn up and signed by the former and the new Presidents of the Society.
27. The Board shall be the collegiate governing body of the SMP, directing its activities between General Meetings.
28. The Board:
- admit new full members of the SMP and expel members whose activities are incompatible with the SMP Statutes;
- manage the financial affairs of the SMP;
- prepare material to be submitted to the SMP General Meeting;
- prepare a report on the activities of the SMP;
- maintain contacts with and inform SMP members of related international and Lithuanian public organizations with similar objectives;
- submit proposals to the General Assembly for the affiliation of the SMP to related international social organizations;
- consider, accept or reject draft statements of the SMP's position on specific issues in medical physics and authorize the competent members of the SMP to publish these statements;
- set up working groups to deal with the problems of the application of radiation technologies and techniques in the use of ionizing radiation for human therapeutic and diagnostic purposes;
- organize meetings and conferences of the SMP and prepare their programs;
- prepare proposals for the amendment of the Statutes;
- appoint the Secretary and the Treasurer.
29. The first meeting of the Board shall take place immediately after the General Meeting of the SMP members at which the Board was elected. Subsequent meetings shall be held when convened by the President of the Society, or if at least two members of the Management Board write to the President of the Society requesting a meeting of the Management Board. Notice of the meeting shall be published at least one month in advance. Resolutions of the Board may be circulated by post, fax or e-mail. A quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be constituted by the presence of at least three Board members. In the event of an equality of votes, the Chairman of the Society, or the member of the Board appointed by him to act as Chairman of the Society, shall have a casting vote.
30. President of the Society:
- shall represent the SMP in court, before state authorities and governmental bodies, in relations with other natural and legal persons in Lithuania and shall represent the SMP abroad;
- convene meetings of the Board;
- preside at general meetings of SMP members;
- execute the resolutions of the General Meeting of Members and the Board;
- appoint a member of the Board to replace the President of the Society when necessary;
- present the report of the Board to the SMP General Meeting.
31. Secretary:
- Prepare the meetings and the report of the Board;
- write the minutes of the meetings;
- keep the records and correspondence of the SMP;
- at least one month before the meeting, the Secretary shall send to the members of the SMP notices of the meeting and a list of scientific papers to be presented at the meeting;
- inform SMP members of the resolutions of the Board;
32. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the collection of the membership fee, the management of the funds in accordance with the decisions of the Board and the preparation and submission of the annual financial statements to the Board.
33. The Society shall appoint two auditors from among its members at the time of the SMP General Meeting. The auditors shall monitor the administrative work of the Board and audit the SMP's annual financial statements. The auditors shall submit a report for the period since the previous general meeting at the time of the ordinary general meeting. Auditors shall be appointed for a period of 3 years.
V. Procedures for the publication of SMP notices
34. Public announcements of the SMP shall be published in the daily newspaper "Lietuvos rytas" in accordance with the procedure established by the Civil Code and taking into account the cases, terms and procedures provided for by the Law on Associations of the Republic of Lithuania.
35. The President of the SMP shall be responsible for the timely publication of notices.
VI. SMP funds, control of their use
36. The SMP may own buildings, facilities, vehicles, as well as other property for the purpose and objectives stipulated in the Statutes, which may be acquired with the funds belonging to the Society, as well as property acquired by donation, inheritance, donation or any other lawful means.
37. The funds of SMP shall consist of:
- Members' fees;
- donations from natural persons, charitable organizations and charitable foundations;
- donations from non-state organizations, international public organizations;
- interest earned by credit institutions on SMP funds held in custody;
- borrowed capital;
- donations granted;
- other funds legally received.
38. The state authorities and municipalities may allocate funds to the Society only for the implementation of specific cultural, educational, sport, health, social or other targeted programs. Such funds may be used only for the programs and other purposes for which the funds were allocated and only in accordance with the estimates approved by the state authority which allocated the funds. The use of the funds must be accounted for at the request of the granting public authority, and must be accompanied by documents certifying their use.
39. The funds and assets of the SMP shall be used for the purpose and objectives set out in its Statutes and shall not be distributed in any form whatsoever to its members.
40. No financial means or other support may be accepted which would undermine the objectives of the Society or interfere with the free expression of the Society's opinion.
41. If a member fails to pay the membership fee for more than two years, he/she shall be deemed to have left the SMP.
42. The work of the President, members of the Board, Secretary, Treasurer and Auditors shall be unpaid.
VII. Procedure for additions and amendments to the Statute
43. The Statute of the SMP may be amended or supplemented at a general meeting of Members.
44. A written proposal by a Full Member of the SMP to amend the Statutes of the SMP must be submitted to the Board at least two months before the General Meeting. The Board shall, at least one month before the general meeting, give its opinion on the proposal to the full members of the SMP.
45. If the amendment of the SMP Statute is initiated by the Board, this proposal shall be submitted to the SMP members at least one month prior to the general meeting.
46. Amendments to the Statute shall enter into force on the date of their registration.
VIII. Termination of the SMP
47. The SMP shall cease to exist by a resolution of the General Meeting of Members, by secret ballot by a two-thirds majority or by a decision of a State authority provided for by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania.
48. All matters relating to the termination of the SMP shall be decided by a liquidation committee (liquidator) elected by the general meeting of members.
49. Upon termination of the SMP's activities, the remaining assets and funds shall be used in accordance with the procedure established by law.
The Statute of the Society of Medical Physicists were adopted at the founding meeting of the SMP on 07 December 2007.