Welcome | Constitution
1. Name
The Association shall be known as the Pharmaceutical Information & Pharmacovigilance Association (PIPA).
2. Aims
The aims of the organisation are to support pharmaceutical information and pharmacovigilance professionals by:
- Promoting the highest professional standards.
- Providing a forum for the exchange of experience and the advancement of all aspects of their professional roles.
- Ensuring provision of high quality training and continued professional development.
- Fostering relations with appropriate external bodies.
- Promoting the profession within the pharmaceutical industry and to other organisations.
3. Membership
3.1 Individual membership of any grade shall be open to residents of any country and shall be at the discretion of the Committee (see Section 5.1), who shall have the full power and authority to refuse any application for membership, and who shall also have the power to withdraw membership from any Member whose conduct conflicts with the aims of the Association (see Section 4). Applications for membership should be submitted to the Committee via the PIPA Administrator.
3.2 There are three classes of membership:-
- Full Membership
Full membership shall be open to persons involved in medical, scientific, technical or business information or pharmacovigilance activities in the pharmaceutical industry.
Full members are employees of pharmaceutical companies (companies which supply medicines, either branded or generic, and companies engaged in research and development with a view to marketing medicines or licensing them to others); and persons involved in pharmaceutical information or pharmacovigilance work (this includes, but is not limited to, contractors and those who are self-employed, and those working for medical education agencies).
Full members are able to vote on the Association's affairs, hold office, become members of the Committee and working parties, except where there is competing interest between their role on the Committee or working party, the Association's activities and their business activities. Full members can take part in all the Association's activities.
- Associate Membership
Associate membership shall be open to persons with an interest in information and pharmacovigilance work in the pharmaceutical industry who are not eligible for Full Membership. Examples of Associate members include suppliers of information and pharmacovigilance services and resources. Associate membership shall be available to any member who has retired from employment.
Associate members receive benefits of membership through publications and mailings and can attend the majority of the Association's meetings. Associate members are not able to vote on the Association's affairs, cannot hold office or become members of the Committee. Associate members can become members of working parties provided that there are no conflicts of interest between their role on the working party/the Association's activites and their business activities. The appointment of an Associate member to a sub-committee or working party requires the approval of the main Committee.
- Honorary Membership
The Committee shall have the discretion to grant Honorary Associate Membership or Honorary Full Membership of PIPA to any person who has given outstanding service to the Association. The Committee shall only consider nominations for Honorary Membership proposed by at least three Full Members of the Association and the proposal must be passed by a majority vote of the Committee.
3.3 The Association reserves the right to levy annual subscriptions from Full and Associate Members (see Section 10.2).
3.4 The Association shall maintain an up-to-date list of the names, status and business addresses of members. The list shall not be released for commercial purposes.
4. CONDUCT OF MEMBERS
4.1 The conduct of all members must be compatible with the aims of the Association.
4.2 No individual member shall represent the views of the Association without the express permission of the Committee.
4.3 Individual members may not ask the Association to become involved in contentious matters between individuals and their employers.
4.4 Members shall notify the Association of any changes in their address or status.
4.5 Members wishing to resign shall do so in writing to the Association.
5. Office Bearers
5.1 The affairs of the Association shall be conducted by a Committee consisting of three Executive Officers and up to twelve other members. The Executive Officers shall be, in order of seniority: a President, Vice President and Honorary Secretary, and Treasurer. Six members of the Committee, including an Executive Officer, shall constitute a quorum. Each member of the Committee shall be elected to serve for two years, after which they shall stand down, but will be eligible for re-election. Committee members shall be elected by postal ballot of Full Members of the Association held prior to the Annual General Meeting. New Committee members shall serve the period of two years from the end of the Annual General Meeting, onwards.
Committee members may serve for a maximum of eight consecutive years. They will be eligible for re-election to the Committee after a period of one year.
5.2 The Committee shall then elect the three Executive Officers from within its ranks. In the event of the resignation or retirement of an Executive Officer of the Association during that year of office, the Committee shall have the right to appoint a replacement from within its own Committee membership. The Committee shall have the right to fill other vacancies occurring during its year of office by co-option from the Full membership, but co-opted members must stand down at the next Annual General Meeting. They may then offer themselves for election. The President will be elected according to procedures laid out in the Committee Terms of Reference, which shall be made available for inspection by any members of the Association, upon written request to the Vice President and Honorary Secretary.
5.3 The President-elect shall be elected from the Committee in office prior to the Annual General Meeting to take up his/her post as President from the end of the Annual General Meeting. Nominees for President must have served at least one year on the Committee (not necessarily immediately prior to nomination for President) and must be proposed and seconded by members of the Committee. In the event of more than one candidate standing for Presidency, the President shall be chosen by secret ballot of the Committee.
The President shall hold office for two years (renewable) but, in exceptional circumstances, may be challenged at the end of his/her first year in office by any member of the Committee if proposed and seconded by other Committee members. In the event of a successful challenge, any member of the Committee fulfilling the criteria outlined above may stand for Presidency if proposed and seconded by other Committee members. The new President-elect shall be chosen by secret ballot of the Committee and will then take up office for two years (renewable) from the end of the Annual General Meeting.
The President will be required, as are all Committee members to stand for re-election to the Committee after two years on the Committee according to section 5.1. In the event of a President or President-elect not being re-elected to the Committee by the membership, a replacement President will be chosen from within the ranks of the Committee by the above procedure. A similar procedure will be adopted to nominate an immediate replacement in the event of a President needing to stand down from his/her post during a term of office.
5.4 Sub-Committees
The Committee shall appoint, as necessary, sub-committees, working parties or individuals to be responsible to it for special tasks. The main Committee shall define the composition, the objectives and the terms of reference of any sub-committee, working party of individual appointed. The sub-committee, working party or individual shall be obliged to submit a report of its progress and accounts of its finances, as appropriate, to the main Committee at regular intervals or when specifically asked. The sub-committee, working party or individual so appointed may not act on behalf of the Association except with the prior consent of the main Committee.
Exceptionally, sub-committees or working parties may require expertise that can only be provided by an individual who is not a member of the Association. Such an individual may be invited to join the sub-committee or working party as an adviser. The appointment of an adviser to a sub-committee or working party requires the approval of the main Committee. Advisers to sub-committees or working parties cannot vote on the Association's activities.
5.5 Auditors
Two auditors (neither of whom shall be a member of the Committee, but at least one of whom should be an experienced and long-standing member of PIPA) shall be elected annually, by simple majority of votes cast, at the Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting if necessary.
6. Elections
6.1 The Vice President and Honorary Secretary shall give notice of vacancies for the Committee not less than 56 days before the Annual General Meeting. Election of the Committee shall be by postal ballot and the Vice President and Honorary Secretary shall give notice of the methods of counting to be used. Full members of the Association shall be sent a ballot paper together with manifestos of all candidates not less than 28 days before the Annual General Meeting. Full members shall return their ballot papers to the Vice President and Honorary Secretary before the Annual General Meeting by a date to be specified. Counting of votes shall take place before the Annual General Meeting and tellers shall consist of two members of the Committee not standing for re-election. In the event of a tie for the last place on the Committee the senior member of the Committee not standing for re-election shall have the casting vote. The result of the ballot shall be declared by the Vice President and Honorary Secretary at the Annual General Meeting.
6.2 The results of this ballot, or any other ballot conducted by the Association may be subject to scrutiny by the Auditors.
7. Meetings
7.1 The Annual General Meeting shall be held during the Annual Conference and shall include an annual report from the Committee, presentation of the Association's accounts, announcement of the result of elections to the Committee and the appointment of auditors. Members shall be notified by the Vice President and Honorary Secretary not less than 56 days beforehand of the date and place of the meeting. Notice of any motion, including proposals to change constitutional rules, must be submitted to the Vice President and Honorary Secretary, duly proposed and seconded by Full members at least 42 days before the meeting. The Vice President and Honorary Secretary shall notify members of the agenda at least 28 days before the meeting.
7.2 An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called either:-
- by the Committee; or
- by a petition signed by at least one fifth of the Full members of the Association; the petition shall be delivered to the Vice President and Honorary Secretary who will then be obliged to call an Extraordinary General Meeting within 56 days.
7.3 In either case members shall be notified of the date, place and agenda at least 28 days before the Extraordinary General Meeting.
7.4 For voting on all matters except Constitutional amendments, all proposals will be carried by a simple majority of votes cast.
7.5 If, in the opinion of the Committee any matter is regarded as a major issue, that issue may be decided by postal ballot of all members, with proposals carried by a simple majority of ballot papers received except in the case of Constitutional amendments.
7.6 The Committee shall meet at sufficiently regular intervals to carry out the work of the Association.
8. Records of Meetings
8.1 The Vice President and Honorary Secretary shall keep record of all Annual General Meetings, Extraordinary General Meetings and Association Committee Meetings and produce Minutes for confirmation. The Minutes of all such meetings shall be subject to confirmation by the Chairman, who shall normally be the President or a deputising Executive Officer.
8.2 Sub-committees, working parties or individuals appointed by the main Committee for special tasks must also produce records of their activities for submission to the main Committee.
8.3 Minutes shall be available for inspection by any members of the Association, upon written request to the Vice President and Honorary Secretary.
9. Alteration of Constitutional Rules
9.1 Periods of notice for motions to change the rules, are as defined in the section on meetings. No alteration or amendment of these rules shall take place except by ballot of Full Members at the Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting, called for the specific purpose of such alteration or amendment.
Alternatively, at the discretion of the Committee or at the request of one fifth of Full members by signed petition, the Vice President and Honorary Secretary shall order a postal ballot on a proposal to change the rules, with results announced at the Annual General Meeting or at an Extraordinary General Meeting.
9.2 To be adopted, any proposed change in the rules must be supported by at least two thirds of all votes cast.
10. Finance
10.1 The financial year shall run from the 1st January to 31st December.
10.2 Subscription rates for the following financial year shall be decided by vote at the Annual General Meeting on the advice of the Treasurer. The subscription monies collected are intended to cover ordinary administrative expenses, production of the Newsletter, or other such expenses as directed by the Committee.
10.3 The subscription year will be the 12 months from the date the member joined the Association and all subsequent anniversaries.
10.4 The Treasurer shall keep a record of all income and expenditure and a statement of account shall be prepared by an independent Chartered Accountant prior to presentation for approval at the Annual General Meeting or when requested by the Committee. A 5-year audit of accounts shall be presented at the Annual General Meeting or as and when requested by the Committee.
10.5 The Treasurer may draw cheques upon the Association for amounts not exceeding £500.00. For amounts exceeding this sum, the cheques must also bear the signature of the President or Vice President and Honorary Secretary.
10.6 Committee members, or persons appointed on behalf of the Committee, are generally expected to meet all their own attendance expenses in the course of the Association's work. The Committee's full expense policy is laid out in the Committee Terms of Reference, which shall be made available for inspection by any member of the Association upon written request to the Secretary.
11. Indemnity
Members of the Committee shall not be liable (otherwise than as members) for any loss incurred by the Association as a result of the discharge of their respective duties on its behalf, except such loss as arises from their respective wilful default.
12. Winding Up
12.1 Any proposal to wind up the Association must be supported by at least two thirds of those present and voting at the Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting. The Committee will then hold a postal ballot, which must be completed at a further Annual General Meeting or Extraordinary General Meeting not less than 28 days later. The postal ballot must ratify the earlier vote, to wind up the Association, by a two-thirds majority of all votes cast.
12.2 If the Association were to wind up, a final audit must take place. If the financial position of the Association when wound up would be one of net debt, the Committee shall be empowered to levy a supplementary subscription from the Full members, only, for the purpose of recouping such debt.
12.3 After payment of all the Association's debts and liabilities, any moneys remaining after winding up shall be given to the library of the Royal Society of Medicine.