SCHEDULE 1 - Provisions with Respect to Membership of the Board

Section 4 (8)

1.    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

2.    Terms of office

(1) A member shall, subject to this Act, be appointed for such term, not exceeding 3 years, as is specified in the instrument of his appointment.

(2) A member shall, if otherwise qualified, be eligible for re-appointment for such term, not exceeding 3 years, as is specified in the instrument of his re-appointment.

3.    Provisions relating to members

(1) Where, by or under any Act, provision is made requiring the holder of an office specified in that provision to devote the whole of his time to the duties of his office, that provision shall not operate to disqualify him from holding that office and also the office of a member, or from accepting and retaining any remuneration payable to a member under clause 4 .

(2) The office of member shall not, for the purposes of any Act, be deemed to be an office or place of profit under the Crown.

4.    Remuneration of members

Each member is entitled to be paid such remuneration (including travelling and subsistence allowances) as the Minister may from time to time determine in respect of him.

5.    State Service Act 2000 not to apply

The provisions of the State Service Act 2000 shall not apply to or in respect of the appointment of a member, and a member shall not, in his capacity as a member, be subject to the provisions of that Act during his term of office.

6.    Election of chairman and deputy chairman

The members shall elect one of their number to be chairman of the Board for the term of his office as member and another of their number to be deputy chairman of the Board for the term of his office as member.

7.    Appointment of substitute to act during absence of member

(1) The Minister may appoint a person or a registered veterinary surgeon, as the case may require, to act in the office of a member other than the chairman while that member is absent from his office through illness or any other cause.

(2) A member shall be deemed to be absent from his office if there is a vacancy in that office which has not been filled in accordance with clause 9 or if he is acting in the office of the chairman.

(3) If the chairman is absent from his office through illness or any other cause, the members shall elect one of their number to be chairman during that absence.

(4) No person shall be concerned to inquire whether or not any occasion has arisen requiring or authorizing a person to act in the office of a member, and all things done or omitted to be done by that person while so acting shall be as valid, and shall have the same consequences, as if they had been done or omitted to be done by that member.

8.    Vacation of office

(1) The office of a member becomes vacant –

(a) if he dies during the term of that office;

(b) when he becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of any law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his creditors, or makes an assignment of his remuneration or estate for their benefit;

(c) if he is absent from 3 consecutive ordinary meetings of the Board of which reasonable notice has been given to him, either personally or in the ordinary course of post, unless on leave granted by the Board or, unless, before the expiration of 4 weeks after the last of those meetings, he is excused by the Board for his absence from those meetings;

(d) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

(e) when he is convicted in the State of an offence which is punishable by imprisonment for 6 months or upwards, or if he is convicted elsewhere than in the State of an offence which, if committed in the State, would be a crime or an offence so punishable;

(f) when he is convicted of an offence against this Act;

(g) when he is convicted of an offence against the Misuse of Drugs Act 2001 or Poisons Act 1971 ;

(h) when he ceases to be a registered veterinary surgeon;

(i) when he resigns his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Minister and the Minister accepts the resignation;

(j) when he is removed from office by the Minister under subclause (2) .

(k) .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  

(2) The Minister may remove a member from office for misbehaviour or incompetence.

9.    Filling of casual vacancies

On the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of a member, the Minister may appoint a person or a registered veterinary surgeon, as the case may require, to the vacant office for the balance of his predecessor's term of office.

10.    Validity of proceeding, &c.

(1) No act or proceeding of the Board or of any person acting pursuant to any direction of the Board is invalidated or prejudiced by reason only of the fact that at the time when the act or proceeding was done, taken, or commenced, there was a vacancy in the office of a member.

(2) All acts and proceedings of the Board or of any person acting pursuant to any direction of the Board are, notwithstanding the subsequent discovery of any defect in the appointment of any member or that any person was disqualified from acting as, or incapable of being, a member, as valid as if the member had been duly appointed and was qualified to act as, or capable of being, a member, and as if the Board had been fully constituted.

11.    Presumptions

In any proceedings by or against the Board, unless evidence is given to the contrary, no proof shall be required of –

(a) the constitution of the Board;

(b) any resolution of the Board;

(c) the appointment of any member; or

(d) the presence of a quorum at any meeting of the Board.