The unconstitutional and illegal proceedings of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society / by William Dickinson.

  • Dickinson, William.
Date:
[1853]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The unconstitutional and illegal proceedings of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society / by William Dickinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    32/50 (page 31)
    1851, sec. 1, Nos. 3 and 4; to the Bye-laws of November, 1852, Nos. 1 and 2; and j to the Act 15th and 16th Yict. cap 56, sec. 1, 2, 5, 6, and 10. It is to be observed that there is a class of persons who were neither associates oj | the Society prior to the lift July, 1842, nor established in business prior to the 18th I of February, one thousand eight hundred and forty-three, but who applied for admission in conformity with the Bye-law No. 1, of November, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, and have been elected. Q. The Council desire to be advised whether these persons have been legally ; elected, and whether the Registrar can properly place them upon the register ot Pharmaceutical Chemists. A. I am of opinion that these persons have been legally elected, and that the Regis- trar can properly place them upon the register of Pharmaceutical Chemists.—J. Tidd Pratt. 4th. The attention of Counsel is in the next place directed to the Charter, lines 237, 8, and 9; to the Act, 15th and 16th Yict., cap 56, sec. 1; and to the Bye-laws of June, 1853, sec. 6, No. 4. Q. The Council desire to be advised whether they have the power to remove a member of the Board of Examiners during the current year for which he was elected, in the event of their considering it advisable so to do? A. Under the Bye-laws of June, 1853, sec. 6, No. 4, the Council are to appoint a Board of Examiners for each year; in my opinion, therefore, the examiners when elected are elected for one year, and though in the Charter, lines 237, 8, and 9, there is power to make a Bye-law for filling up any vacancy in case of death, Sfc.; but, as there is no Bye-law on the subject of removal of officers, fyc., the Council have not, I think, the power to remove a member of the Board of Examiners during the current year for which he was elected, in the event of the Council considering it desirable so to do.—J. Tidd Pratt. 5th. The attention of Counsel is in the last place directed to the code of Bye- laws made in June, 1853, and to the confirmation thereof by a Special General Meeting of the Society, and by the Secretary of State. This latter confirmation is in the following form :— “I hereby certify my confirmation and approval of the annexed Bye-laws, “ confirmed and approved at a Special General Meeting of the Pharmaceutical “Society of Great Britain, held on the 11th ult., for the space of one year from “ this date, and subject to the decision of a Court of Law upon the legal questions “ which have arisen or may arise in reference to any of them. “(Signed) “ Whitehall, 17th June, 1853. “Palmerston.” It is to be noticed that the validity of these Bye-laws has been impugned, and that legal advice has been obtained with a view of raising certain questions in a Court of law. Q. The Council desire to be advised as to the validity of the Bye-laws of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and generally as to the course to be taken in reference thereto under existing circumstances ? A. By the 15 and 16 Viet., cap 56, § 2, the Council are authorized to make and establish Bye-laws, as they shall deem proper and necessary, for the purposes contem- plated by the Charter, or that Act, provided such Bye-laws shall be confirmed and approved by a special general meeting of the members of the Society, and by one oj her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State. I am of opinion that the Bye-laws of June, 1853, confirmed and approved by a Special General Meeting of the Members, and by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, are valid and legal, and should be acted upon by the Society, until they have been set aside by the Court of Queen's Bench. It appears to me, that as the Special General Meeting of the members confirmed the Bye-laws, without any reference to time, Sfc., there is no proviso in the Act which authorized the Secretary of State to limit the operation of them for the space of one year, or subject to the opinion of a Court of Law upon any legal question which may have arisen, or may arise, in reference to any of them.—John Tidd Pratt, 27th Sept., 1853. The first question that will occur to your minds will, doubtless, be, What does the learned Counsel say to the Opinion of the eminent Queen’s Counsel,