The Council submit the following Graces to the Regent House. These Graces, other than any which is withdrawn or for which a ballot is requested in accordance with the regulations for Graces of the Regent House (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 109), will be deemed to have been approved at 4 p.m. on Friday, 2 June 2006.
1. That Regulations 5-15 for Graces and Congregations of the Regent House be amended so as to read:1
5. A Grace shall be deemed to have been approved by the Regent House at 4 p.m. on the Friday next but one after the day of its submission unless before that hour
| either | (a) | the Grace has been withdrawn by the Vice-Chancellor in accordance with Regulation 6; |
| or | (b) | the Council have given notice in accordance with Regulation 7 that a vote is to be taken on the Grace; |
| or | (c) | a request has been received by the Vice-Chancellor for a vote to be taken on the Grace in accordance with Regulation 8; |
| or | (d) | a proposal has been received by the Vice-Chancellor for the amendment of the Grace in accordance with Regulation 9. |
6. A Grace may be withdrawn by the Vice-Chancellor (i) at any time before the hour specified in Regulation 5 for its approval, and (ii) if voting is requested (Regulation 5(c)) or (iii) if amendment is proposed (Regulation 5(d)), within three weeks after the day of its submission. Withdrawal of a Grace under this regulation shall be announced by means of a Notice posted outside the Senate-House and subsequently published. If the Council decide to resubmit such a Grace in its original form they shall either (a) call a ballot or (b) publish an explanatory Notice explaining why in their opinion a ballot is not necessary.
7. The Council shall have power to determine that a vote shall be taken by ballot on any Grace. Notice of such a ballot shall be published in the Reporter when the Grace is submitted.
8. Any twenty-five members of the Regent House may submit a written request to the Vice-Chancellor for a vote to be taken on a Grace by ballot. If such a request is received by the Vice-Chancellor before the hour specified in Regulation 5 for the approval of the Grace, a ballot shall be held in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 13, unless the Grace is withdrawn under Regulation 6.
9. A written proposal for the amendment of a Grace which has been submitted to the Regent House may be initiated by members of the Regent House in accordance with Statute A, VIII, 7, provided that the proposal is received by the Vice-Chancellor before the hour specified in Regulation 5 for the approval of the Grace or, if a request for a ballot on the Grace has been received, within one week of the date on which a Notice of the request has been published under Regulation 10 below. In that event, (unless the Grace is withdrawn under Regulation 6), and subject to the provisions of Statute A, VIII, 9 and of Regulation 11 below, a vote shall be taken by ballot, using the procedure prescribed in the Single Transferable Vote regulations; the options to be voted on shall include (a) approval of the proposal contained in the Grace as submitted to the Regent House, (b) rejection of the proposal, (c) approval of alternative proposals formulated in accordance with the amendment or amendments proposed, and may include (d) any further alternative proposal which may be formulated by the Council; provided that the Vice-Chancellor may instead decide that a vote shall be taken by ballot, using the procedure prescribed in the Single Transferable Vote regulations, between propositions that the Grace be left unamended or that it be substituted by one of such one or more alternative forms as may be determined by the Vice-Chancellor to reflect the amendment or amendments proposed. If an alternative form is approved, then that alternative form shall be substituted for the Grace as originally submitted, and shall be treated for all purposes as if it were that Grace. A ballot shall then be taken for the approval of the Grace, in accordance with Regulation 13 below.
10. If a request for voting is received under Regulation 8, or if a proposal for the amendment of a Grace is received under Regulation 9, the Vice-Chancellor shall give notice accordingly by means of a Notice posted outside the Senate-House and subsequently published. The Notice shall include the names of the persons who have requested the ballot or who have proposed the amendment, as the case may be.
11. The Vice-Chancellor shall have the following powers in respect of proposals initiated under Regulation 9 for the amendment of a Grace:
| (a) | If in the opinion of the Vice-Chancellor a proposed amendment is in substance and effect incompatible with the main purpose of the Grace to which it refers, or immaterial to that purpose, the Vice-Chancellor may rule the amendment inadmissible, or may refer it to the Council for subsequent separate submission as a Grace. The proposers of such an amendment shall be deemed to have requested that a vote be taken on the Grace in accordance with Regulation 8 above. |
| (b) | If two or more amendments have been proposed which in the opinion of the Vice-Chancellor are substantially similar in effect the Vice-Chancellor may select one of the amendments for submission to the Regent House and may rule the other or others inadmissible. |
| (c) | The Vice-Chancellor shall have authority to determine the form in which the various propositions are set out in the voting papers; without prejudice to the generality of that power (i) if in the opinion of the Vice-Chancellor a proposed amendment comprises two or more separable propositions, the Vice-Chancellor may treat the amendment as if it were a number of amendments, each comprising one or more of those propositions as the Vice-Chancellor may determine; and (ii) the Vice-Chancellor may determine that votes shall be taken on propositions as if they were separate Graces, each such Grace being treated for all purposes as if it were the Grace as originally submitted. The Vice-Chancellor shall if necessary indicate in the voting papers (i) whether the result of voting is effective without a further Grace (by rescinding or amending a Statute, Ordinance or Order, or otherwise) or (ii) whether a further Grace would be needed to implement the result of voting. |
12. If a ballot is to be held under any of Regulations 7-9, the arrangements for voting shall be determined by the Vice-Chancellor, subject to the provisions of Regulation 13, and shall be published in the Reporter.
13. A ballot on a Grace of the Regent House, or a ballot held under the provisions of Regulation 9 above, shall be conducted by post. Voting-papers shall be distributed to all members of the Regent House not later than a day appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, which shall be neither less than fourteen days nor normally more than twenty-eight days of term after the publication of the Notice announcing the ballot; provided that the Vice-Chancellor shall have power to postpone the distribution until a date not later than eighty days of term after the publication of the Notice. The Vice-Chancellor shall give public notice of the day for the distribution of voting-papers and of the latest time for their return, which shall be not earlier than the tenth day after the day appointed for distribution.
14. When a ballot is held in accordance with the preceding regulations, the presiding officer shall be the Vice-Chancellor or a duly appointed deputy. The presiding officer shall
| (a) | arrange for the counting of the votes as soon as possible after the conclusion of the voting; |
| (b) | decide upon the validity of any doubtful vote; |
| (c) | declare the result as soon as the counting of the votes is completed. |
If there is an equality of votes, the Grace or amendment shall be deemed not to be approved. The result of a ballot shall be announced by means of a Notice posted outside the Senate-House and subsequently published.
15. If an obvious or immaterial error occurs in the published form of a Grace or amendment, the Vice-Chancellor may announce a correction by means of a Notice published in the Reporter and for the purpose of Regulation 5 or Regulation 9, as the case may be, the Grace or amendment shall be deemed to have been submitted in its corrected form.
2. That the recommendation in paragraph 4 of the Report of the General Board, dated 20 March 2006, on the establishment of a Royal Society Research Professorship of Chemical Biology (Reporter, 2005-06, p. 526) be approved.
3. That the recommendations in paragraph 5 of the Report of the General Board, dated 28 April 2006, on the establishment of certain Readerships in the School of the Humanities and Social Sciences (Reporter, 2005-06, p. 559) be approved.2
4. That, on the recommendation of the Library Syndicate, Regulations 2 and 3 of the regulations for the Commonwealth Library Fund be amended to read as follows:3
2. The capital and the income of the Fund shall be used for the cataloguing and digitization of material in the Royal Commonwealth Society Library and the Royal Commonwealth Society Archive, the production of online catalogue records for Commonwealth official publications in the University Library, and the provision of electronic access from the Royal Commonwealth Society's premises to the Royal Commonwealth Society Library at the University Library.
3. The Library Syndicate shall submit an annual report on their administration of the Fund to the Trustees until the capital and income of the Fund have been fully expended.
1 (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 109). See the Council's Notice on p. 647.
2 See the Council's Notice, p. 647.
3 Statutes and Ordinances, p. 734. The Library Syndicate have proposed that the remainder of this Fund be utilized as shown in the revised Regulation 2. The change in use has the approval of the Trustees of the Fund to Acquire the Royal Commonwealth Society Library for the Nation and the Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund.