Article 1Citation, commencement and interpretation#
(1)This Order may be cited as the General Medical Council (Constitution) Order 2002.
(2)This article and articles 2 and 5 shall come into force on 27th January 2003, and the other provisions of this Order shall come into force on 1st July 2003.
(1)Subject to the provisions of this article and article 7(4) and (5), the term of office of an elected member shall be four years.
(2)Subject to paragraph (3) and article 7(4), a person who is or has previously been a member may be elected as a member for a further term.
(3)No person who has served as a member for an aggregate of at least eight years during the period of eleven years ending with the last occasion on which he left office (excluding in calculating that aggregate any time prior to the relevant day) shall be eligible, for a period of four years after leaving office, to be elected for a further term.
(4)An elected member may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the President.
(5)When an elected member dies, resigns or otherwise ceases to be a member before completing his term of office, a person shall, subject to paragraphs (6) and (7), be elected to hold office from the date on which he is entitled to take office until the end of the unexpired term.
(6)Subject to paragraph (7), elections to fill casual vacancies among the elected members may be postponed and held together, but no casual vacancy shall be left unfilled for a period exceeding six months.
(7)If the unexpired term of the elected member giving rise to the casual vacancy is less than twelve months then the vacancy need not be filled.
Article 4Terms of office of appointed and nominated members#
(1)Subject to the provisions of this article and article 7(4) and (5), the term of office of a person appointed or nominated to the General Council shall be for a period not exceeding four years.
(2)Subject to paragraph (3) and article 7(4), a person who is, or has previously been, a member may be appointed or nominated as a member for a further term.
(3)No person who has served as a member for an aggregate of at least eight years during the period of eleven years ending with the last occasion on which he left office (excluding in calculating that aggregate any time prior to the relevant day) shall be eligible, for a period of four years after leaving office, to be elected for a further term.
(4)An appointed or nominated member may at any time resign his office by letter addressed to the President.
(5)When an appointed or nominated member dies, resigns or otherwise ceases to be a member before completing his term of office, a person shall be appointed or nominated, as the case may be, to hold office in his place for a term not exceeding four years.
Article 5Universities and other bodies empowered to choose appointed members#
(1)The universities and other bodies listed in column 1 of the Schedule to this Order are designated as appointing bodies.
(2)Each appointing body shall, in combination with the other appointing bodies with which it is grouped in column 1 of the Schedule, choose the number of appointed members specified against that group in column 2 of that Schedule.
Article 6Termination of office of members holding office on the relevant day#