STATUTE OF THE MALTA FEDERATION OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Approved EGM February 2020
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1. The Malta Federation of Professional Associations hereinafter referred to as the ‘Federation’ is established with the following aims, objectives and purposes:

  • the promotion of the professions;
  • the maintenance of professional standards;
  • the protection of professional rights and privileges;
  • the promotion of inter-professional relationships;
  • to contribute towards the advancement of the interests of society;
  • to take any appropriate measures to fulfil the above aims and objectives;
  • is a non profitable organisation

2. The seat of the Federation is situated at the Professional Centre, Sliema Road, Gzira, or at such other place as Council may determine from time to time.

DEFINITIONS

3. For the purpose of this statute the following terms are defined as:

(a) Affiliate Member Organisation (AMO): is an organisation which will be accepted as a member of the Federation and will be eligible to apply to become a federated member association after three years from its acceptance, during which years the association must have actively participated in the Federation by attending at least sixty percent (60%) of the meetings held during the preceding three years. Affiliate member means a member without voting rights but otherwise enjoying all other rights and obligations appertaining to the federated members save as specifically stated or qualified in the statute.

(b) Council: Board of Administrators of the Federation

(c) Council members: the persons nominated by each member organisation to sit on the

council.

(d) Federated Member Organisation (FMO): any PO which is a member of the Federation

(e) Member: a member organisation (f) a Professional Organisation (PO) may be an association, a chamber, society, institute or a group of professional individuals as provided for by this statute and subject to its rules of ethical conduct;

(g) a Professional Person is one who has undergone a period of study at a university or a recognised institution of higher learning, and has obtained the formal qualification entitling the person to practise the respective profession; and who provides a specialised service to the public, based primarily on a fiduciary relationship between himself and the party to whom he provides such service on his own personal credibility and responsibility;

CHARACTER

4. The Federation shall be an autonomous non-profit organisation set up in terms of the Laws of Malta, with a distinct legal personality and subject to the provisions of this Statute, shall be capable of entering into contracts, of acquiring, holding and disposing of property, movable and immovable, by any title; borrowing money and granting security also by means of hypothecs and privileges on its assets; of suing or of being sued; and of doing all such things and entering into such obligations and transactions as are incidental and / or conducive to its proper functions and purposes.

5. The Federation shall continue to be deemed as non-profit making notwithstanding that:

(i) it acquires assets or income gratuitously, by way of sponsorship, donation, endowment, fund-raising or public collection;

(ii) it obtains a pecuniary gain from its activities when such gain is not received or credited to its members but is exclusively utilised for its established purposes; and /or

(iii) it buys or sells or otherwise deals in goods or services where such activities are exclusively related to its principal purposes.

Provided, that any excess of income over expenditure shall form part of the assets of the Federation and shall be re-employed by the Council for the achievement of the purposes of the Federation or to augment its capital.

COUNCIL

6. (a) The Council of the Federation shall be formed of two persons nominated/appointed by each PO which has been a federated member for at least five years and one from each AMO

(b) The officials of the Federation shall be:

  • President
  • Vice-President/s (not more than two)
  • Honorary Secretary
  • Honorary Treasurer

All Council members as per article 4 (a) of each federated association shall be eligible for election as officials. These officials shall be elected during the annual general meeting and extraordinary general meeting by a vote amongst the members present. The post of President will be chosen on the basis of article 8.
POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICIALS

PRESIDENT

7. The President shall have the power to:

  • call meetings and determine the agenda of the meeting
  • call urgent meetings at short notice;
  • preside over such meetings;
  • explain the matters to be discussed and the questions to be decided;
  • ensure the execution of the decisions taken;
  • ensure that minutes of the meetings are kept and at the next meeting to demand that these are read out to members present and to vouch for their correctness by their signature, together with that of the Honorary Secretary;
  • to represent the Federation on all occasions.

8. For the purposes of this article, a term is defined as the period of time between two consecutive annual general meetings. The President of the Council of the Federation shall not hold office for more than five consecutive years, with election to the post being held every year. The first term shall be of two years, then renewable every year. At the end of the term of office, nominations for the post of President may only be accepted from alternative FMOs

VICE PRESIDENTS

9. The Vice-President Administration shall assume the powers of President in the absence of the President. Whenever the Vice-President Administration is also unable to attend, the meeting shall be chaired by the Vice-President Membership. A maximum of two persons may fulfil the roles of Vice-President.

In case of resignation of the president, the vice-president administration shall take up the duties of president in the interim period until a new president is elected. An EGM shall be held within two months of the date of the resignation letter to elect a new President.

VICE-PRESIDENT ADMINISTRATION

In the absence of the President, the VP Administration shall have the power to:

  • call meetings and determine the agenda of the meeting
  • preside over such meetings
  • explain the matters to be discussed and the questions to be decided
  • ensure that minutes of the meetings are kept and at the next meeting to demand that these are read out to members present

VICE-PRESIDENT MEMBERSHIP

The VP Membership shall be responsible to:

  • keep the list of member organisations updated
  • propose new member organisations to the Council
  • chair membership subcommittee

HONORARY SECRETARY

10. The Honorary Secretary shall:

  • keep the minutes of every meeting;
  • vouch for their correctness by their signature together with that of the President;
  • keep any statutory records as required by law;
  • be in charge of all correspondence and all communications.Correspondence referring to financial matters shall be dealt with by the Honorary Treasurer

HONORARY TREASURER

9. The Honorary Treasurer shall:

  • administer the finances of the Federation and ensure the collection of all membership fees;
  • keep proper books of accounts and shall submit financial statements supported by the auditors to the Council.
  • secure the repayment of any monies borrowed on behalf of the Federation, by hypothecation, charge or lien upon the whole or part of the movable or immovable property or assets of the Federation present and future.

10. No extraordinary expenditure may be incurred on behalf of the Federation without the specific or general authorisation of the Council.

PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER

11. The council can appoint an individual for the role of PRO to provide an efficient, effective and high quality promotion and public relations service to the Federation

LEGAL and JUDICIAL REPRESENTATION

12. The Treasurer shall represent the Federation in all judicial matters. The legal representation, such as the signing of documents and contracts, shall vest in the President together with another Official. If the President is not available, the Vice-President Administration will sign in the place of the President. MEETINGS OF COUNCIL

13. The President, or in their absence, the Vice President Administration shall set the date, time and venue of all Council meetings. During each calendar year there shall be at least quarterly meetings. All meetings of the Council are to be notified to each member of the Council not less than 10 days before the date of a Council meeting.

Such notification shall include an agenda but the President may table for discussion any other matter which in their opinion is considered of an urgent nature, provided that members agree to the suspension of the rules.

In exceptional circumstances a meeting may be called at short notice to deal with any urgent matter.

14. The quorum for a Council meeting shall be more than 50% of the total number of the FMOs. In the absence of a quorum the meeting shall proceed after twenty minutes unless a Council member has indicated any objection to the Honorary Secretary or any other official about the agenda being discussed at the meeting and the quorum of the second meeting shall be two less than the original quorum and shall not be less than six members. Furthermore two of the officials must be present. During such reduced quorum meeting agenda items linked to the statute or matters resulting in a financial commitment by the Federation cannot be discussed. Council members unable to attend may be represented by a proxy from their PO who will produce the written authorisation of the Federated or AMO being represented.

15. Each FMO is entitled to one vote. All decisions shall be taken by a majority of votes except in the case contemplated in articles 21 and 32 covering application for membership. In case of equality of votes the motion shall be considered as “not carried”.

16. In the absence of the Hon Secretary, the President or the person acting in his stead, may appoint another member of the Council to act in this capacity for that meeting.

17. On receipt by the President of a written request for a Council meeting, signed by at least three FMOs and/or AMOs , the President shall within twenty one days of such receipt, call a meeting to discuss the matter referred to in the signed request.

DUTIES OF COUNCIL

18. The management and administration of the Federation shall be the full responsibility of the Council.

19. The Council, on behalf of the Federation, is empowered to borrow, raise money in such amounts and manner and upon such terms as the Council shall think fit and for the purpose of or in connection with the Federation’s requirements. 20. The Council may, at its own discretion, appoint a secretary general on a remuneratory basis, and any other employees as may be considered necessary from time to time as long as the remuneration is a reasonable honorarium which does not conflict with the purposes of the Federation.

21. The Council shall serve on a voluntary basis and shall not be entitled to receive any remuneration save for a reasonable honorarium for services rendered insofar as the payment of such honorarium does not materially prejudice the achievement of the purpose of the Federation.

22. The Council of the Federation is obliged to hold on file the statute/regulations and code of conduct of each FMO and AMO. These are to submit to the Council details about their respective subscribed members by the end of each year.

23. If any amendments to the original statute of any FMO and AMO run counter to the Federation’s statute, the Council is obliged to refer back to the association the objection and if this is not complied with within six months, the Council may have to consider expulsion.

24. Any FMO or AMO considered to be in default of the Federation’s statute is liable to expulsion. Such a decision by the Council has to be reached after due notice has been given to the respective FMO and AMO, and has been duly notified in the agenda of an appropriate meeting of the Council. The expulsion of a FMO or AMO must be approved by at least two thirds of the voting member organisations attending the meeting.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

25. An Annual General Meeting shall be called annually for the following purposes:

  • to consider the President’s report;
  • to accept the audited accounts of the Federation (of the previous year)
  • to elect the officials of the Council of the Federation for the next term;
  • to appoint auditors for the ensuing year.

26. Notice of the Annual General Meeting shall be given in writing to all FMOs AMOs at least four weeks before the date of the Annual General Meeting.

27. Attendance at the General Meetings shall be open to the council members of the respective FMO and AMO. On all business of the general meeting each Federated Member shall be entitled to one vote. All members will be entitled to participate and contribute to the debate.

28. The quorum for a general meeting shall be 50 percent of the total number of FMOs or six FMOs, whichever is the lower. In the absence of a quorum a new meeting shall be called within two weeks and the quorum shall be 50 percent or 4 FMOs whichever is the lower. If after 30 minutes this quorum is not achieved that the quorum shall be of those present. 29. Two auditors who are Certified Public Accountants and Auditors shall be appointed at the AGM. No member of the Council may be appointed auditor. The audited accounts of the Federation may be examined by authorised members of any federated member at any time after a formal written request has been placed;

30. An Extraordinary General Meeting may be called and has power to discuss those matters which the Annual General Meeting can.

ACCOUNTS OF THE FEDERATION

31. The audited accounts of the Federation are to be presented to the Council during the Annual General Meeting.

32. The provisional financial situation of the Federation is to be presented to the Council at least every three months.

ELECTION OF COUNCIL

33. The officials of the Council are to be elected at the Annual General Meeting. Nominations have to be formally made and duly seconded by previous notice in writing or at the Annual General Meeting.

34. Any FMO and AMO may nominate for election to the Council of the Federation any member of their Organisation even if they are not a member of the Council/Committee of the respective FMO or AMO

MEMBERSHIP OF THE FEDERATION

35. Membership of the Federation is open to all established POs which are regulated by their own statute and code of professional conduct, and who in turn subscribe to the Statute of the Federation.

Professional associations, chambers or groups are for this purpose deemed to be such if they are open to individuals in possession of the recognised appropriate qualification granted by a university or a recognised institution of higher learning. This period of study should not be less than four years on full time basis or its equivalent.

36. Notwithstanding the above, POs may by their own statute provide for membership of individuals who though they may not be in possession of the requisite qualifications, are eligible on their personal merits achieved through a proven long period of service and attested experience. Each organisation must show that two-thirds of its members are full members on the basis of recognised qualifications. This exception is to be limited to a transitory period which must also be acceptable to the Council of the Federation.

37. To qualify for AMO with the Malta Federation of a Professional Associations, the applicant must:

  • be a properly constituted PO;
  • have as one of its main objectives the promotion, support and advancement of the status and interests of the profession it represents;
  • be open for membership to all eligible persons without any discrimination;
  • be a non-profit making organisation;
  • not have any members belonging to another organisation affiliated with the Federation, membership with more than one organisation in the Federation is not acceptable.

38. A PO seeking Affiliate Membership shall apply in writing to the Honorary Secretary of the Federation, attaching to such application

  • a certified copy of the statute and other instrument constituting the PO;
  • the code of ethics applicable to members of such organisation;
  • the names, addresses and the capacity of the officials of such organisation;
  • the number of regular members of such organisation and their qualification
  • a resolution by the PO duly authorising it to seek Affiliate Membership with the Federation;
  • any other information or document as may be requested by the Federation.

39. The membership subcommittee, made up of VP Membership and at least two other Council members, shall evaluate the application of prospective new POs and recommend to the Council acceptance or otherwise within three months.

40. Acceptance for Affiliate membership will require the vote of at least two-thirds majority of the federated members represented at a Council Meeting called for the purpose. The organisation applying for affiliate membership will be informed in writing whether the request has been accepted or rejected. Each accepted new organisation will become an AMO for a period of three years, terms as per clause 3 letter (a). After the third year it will be eligible to apply to become a FMO as per clause 36.

41. An AMO seeking Federated membership shall apply in writing to the Honorary Secretary attaching to such application a resolution by the PO duly authorising it to seek Federated membership with the Federation. Acceptance for Federated membership will require the vote of at least two-thirds majority of the Federated members represented at a Council Meeting called for the purpose.

42. In the case of rejection of an application for membership, the application may be resubmitted if new circumstances exist that would allow for acceptance of the organisation for membership.

43. Nothing in the above articles may in any way prejudice the status or position of any of the POs already federated. 44. If changes to the statute of a PO or its action result in default of the Statute of the Malta Federation of Professional Associations, an Affiliate or Federated member may be refused further membership. Should the Federated or Affiliate member no longer meet the conditions necessary to be a member of the Federation, the President of that association shall be notified and be authorized to present its defence at a council meeting. If the President of that organisation, or their representative, having been duly notified, do not present a defence, the termination of membership shall be communicated to them. All outstanding subscription fees and dues have to be paid immediately on termination or legal action will be taken.

SUBSCRIPTION

For the avoidance of doubt this article 44 shall be interpreted as the basis on which each member organisation fee for the year is to be calculated.

45. The annual subscription fee shall be 7 euro per individual member within each FMO or AMO. There shall be a minimum of 470 euro and a maximum of 2350 euro per Federated/Affiliate Member Organisation paid in advance. The number of members will be as registered with each individual organisation, as at 31 December of the previous year and notified to the Honorary Treasurer by the 31 January of each year. The fees have to be paid by the 31 March each year. The subscription fee may be payable as agreed with the Honorary Treasurer in four equal instalments. The instalments must be paid by the end of the following September.

When an association’s membership is less than 50 members, the minimum fee shall be 9.50 euro per individual member with a minimum of 280 euro.

46. The above rates are to be increased as from January 2016 as follows:

(a) The average percentage of the previous individual three years percentage increase of the COLA on the minimum wage

(b) The first increase is to begin from January 2016 and the rate shall be 2.07 percent added to the fees payable. The base rate shall be that of the year 2014

(c) The second increase will become effective in 2019 and every 3 years thereafter using the same three year average percentage increase but shall never be less than 2 percent.

47. Other expenses incurred by the Federation on behalf of any FMO or AMO will be notified to each member association and have to be paid within 90 days of this notification. If these expenses are not refunded to the Federation on due date, a fee of 25 euro will have to be paid each time by the failing association to cover administration fee.

48. (a) In default of the payment by the time stipulated in article 44, a FMO may have its voting powers forfeited and may be refused further membership of the Federation saving any other right of action for the enforcement of payment.

(b) In default of the payment by the time stipulated in article 44, an AMO may be refused further membership of the Federation saving any other right of action for the enforcement of payment. 49. Any FMO and AMO desiring to terminate its membership of the Federation shall give notice in writing to the Honorary Secretary and VP Membership not less than thirty days before the first February of each year when its membership fees are due, in default of which it shall be deemed to have renewed its membership for a further period of one year. All outstanding subscription fees and dues have to be paid immediately on termination.

50. At the discretion of the Council non-member organisations may, on application, be granted, against financial compensation, the use of the facilities of the Federation.

51. The fees by non-member organisations shall be set by the Council.

AMENDMENTS

52. Amendments to this statute are to be duly proposed and seconded to be discussed at a duly notified General Meeting. Any proposed amendments have to be circulated to the members of the Federation a minimum of three (3) weeks prior to the meeting. Adoption of such amendments requires the support of at least two thirds of the FMOs attending the meeting.

EMBLEM

53. The Malta Federation of Professional Associations may adopt an emblem the design of which is to be agreed to by the Council.

DISSOLUTION

54. (a) Dissolution of the Federation must be discussed at a meeting convened specifically for this purpose. Each FMO will have one vote. Dissolution requires the approval of at least of three quarters of all FMOs.

(b) The distribution of the assets of the Federation between the FMOs at such dissolution shall be allocated as follows:

  • A FMO with less than seven years Federated membership with the Federation will not have a share in the distribution of assets;
  • Each FMO should have a share in the distribution of assets proportionate to the number of years as Federated members that it had paid its membership fees subject to (i) above.

55. Any FMO that withdraws or be terminated from the Federation will not be entitled to any of the assets. However this member organisation will be responsible for any liabilities that might have been incurred during its period of membership.

56. The Council shall keep and maintain a register of all current members of the Federation, which register shall be kept at the Federation’s headquarters; and shall give any person who is duly authorised by law or by the Courts access to said register of members.

Revised – Clause 8; 9 February 2020 Appendix

MFPA Member Organisations as at April 2017

Association of Podiatrists of Malta (APM)
Association of Speech-Language Pathologists (ASLP)
Chamber of Engineers (CoE )
Dental Association of Malta (DAM)
Kamra tal-Periti (KTP)
Malta Association of Counselling Profession (MACP)
Malta Association of Occupational Therapists (MAOT)
Malta Association of Physiotherapists (MAP)
Malta Institute of Accountants (MIA)
Malta Association of Professional Conservators and Restorers (MAPCo-Re)
Malta Chamber of Pharmacists (MCOP)
Malta Veterinary Association (MVA)
Maltese Association of Social Workers (MASW)
Maltese Association of Youth workers (MAY)
Maltese Chamber of Psychologists (MCP)
Medical Association of Malta (MAM)
Society of Medical Radiographers (SRM)