Why Are Minutes Of Your Meeting Essential?
The answer is that they are required by Section 50 the Associations Incorporation Act, 2009 and must be kept by the Secretary. Similarly, corporations are required to keep minutes of meetings too. Members may at all reasonable times inspect the minutes, although shareholders of corporations have only limited ability to view minutes of Directors’ meetings.
There are no absolute rules about how minutes of meetings should be set out, other than they need to be in English and be reasonably
understood. We suggest that minutes should include; a list of attendance, apologies, correspondence (including electronic) and a Treasurer’s report. The meeting date and location should be recorded, along with the meeting’s start and finish times.
Motions need to be accurately set out by the Secretary in the minutes and he or she should indicate if they were carried, lost, or amended and carried. The Chairperson might ask for a show of hands or may pass the motion on the voices. Too often the Chairperson fails to declare the motion as passed and that can lead to controversy. Some laws or rules require motions to have secret ballots, and these must be strictly observed.
There should always be a motion to confirm the previous minutes with or without amendments. The Chairperson should sign and date the minutes to certify they are correct. Circulating minutes via email eliminates the need to read out minutes at subsequent meetings, saving time.
All Chairpersons, the Executive, and members should read articles on the internet about meeting procedure. If you have questions on Minutes, Meeting Procedure or anything else, please contact any of our Solicitors at Matthews Williams.