SACC AGM 2007 - Draft Report

Held as part of the "Rights and Resistance" Conference organised by SACC
Saturday 21 April 12.30pm - 2pm
STUC, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow

Chair: Sofiah MacLeod

The meeting was quorate

Reports from key officers

Secretary's report

Richard reported that there were over 600 people on the SACC mailing list, and that our emails are forwarded to many more people than this. For an overview of SACC's activities over the last year he referred the meeting to his comments in the opening plenary of the Rights and Resistance Conference.

Membership Secretary's report

Julia reported that formal membership was in double figures. She noted that this included affiliations from a number of organisations. However, she also pointed out that our formal membership was still far smaller than the support base indicated by our mailing list

Chair's report

To be added

Treasurer's report

To be added

Constitutional Amendments

Constitutional Amendment 1

SACC's Aims should be modified to read:

(2.1)To campaign against the use of excessive state powers to criminalise political activity which are contained within the Terrorism act 2000, the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 and the Terrorism Act 2006; to campaign for the repeal of these acts; to campaign against any other legislation that has a similar effect; to monitor the use of such legislation and to work in close association with the communities most affected by these acts in order to highlight their discriminatory nature.

(2.2)To demand that everyone must be treated as innocent until proven guilty; that habeas corpus (the right of a person to be brought before a judge to determine if their detention is lawful) be fully respected and to demand those imprisoned without trial are released or granted a fair trial.

Proposed: Richard Haley
Seconded: Julia Davidson
CARRIED

Constitutional Amendment 2

Insert a new paragraph under 5.3, "The procedure for calling and running General Meetings shall be as follows", to follow paragraph 5.3.16, and renumber paragraphs 5.3.17 and 5.3.18 accordingly. The new paragraph shall read:

5.3.17 Emergency Resolutions: Emergency Resolutions and amendments to Emergency Resolutions may be submitted by in advance of or during a GM in response to major developments outside SACC's control that occurred too late for a resolution to be submitted in the normal way. If the Emergency Resolution or an amendment to it is accepted for debate and voting by the Chair of the GM, all individual members and delegates attending the GM shall be allowed to vote on it; the voting shall be by a simple majority. There shall not be a postal ballot. Emergency Resolutions and amendments to them may only be accepted if:

5.3.17.1 They are consistent with the constitution;
5.3.17.2 They have been duly seconded;
5.3.17.3 They deal with matters of great importance;
5.3.17.4 They have been submitted at the earliest date practicable;
5.3.17.5 Where the resolution has been submitted in advance of the GM, all practicable efforts have been made made to notify members about it.

Proposed: Richard Haley
Seconded: Julia Davidson
CARRIED

Election of key Officers

Chair: Rob Patterson
Nominated by Dalkeith UCATT
Seconded by Richard Haley
CARRIED

Secretary: Richard Haley
Nominated by Sofiah MacLeod
Seconded by Julia Davidson
CARRIED

Membership Secretary: Julia Davidson
Nominated by Richard Haley
Seconded by Sofiah MacLeod
CARRIED

Treasurer: Catherine Vaughan
Nominated by Julia Davidson
Seconded by Richard Haley
CARRIED

Thanks

The meeting thanked the outgoing Chair, Sofiah MacLeod, recalling that she had been instrumental in creating SACC and had put in a great deal of work during the crucial first phase of the campaign. Her involvement had also helped to cement our links with the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and with the wider movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people - links that are founded on the common ground of support for the Palestinian people criminalised in their homeland and support for the Palestinian community in Scotland.

The meeting noted that our new Chair, Rab Patterson, was involved in the EIS and the wider trade union movement and expressed the hope that his tenure of the post would consolidate SACC's trade union links.