Management

 

1. The Annual General Meeting shall be held during the month of March each year with due notice of six weeks to be given.

 

2.   The business and financial year shall commence on the 1st January and end on the 31st December.  Accounts shall be audited to the 31st December by auditors appointed at the Annual General Meeting. Honorariums paid yearly at the Annual General Meeting.  

 

3.   All Officers except President shall be appointed annually at the Annual General Meeting but all must be individually appointed and not elected “en bloc”.

 

4.   A Vote Teller shall be appointed at the Annual General Meeting to count votes: ‘FOR’,  ‘AGAINST’, which will be recorded. No Abstentions.

 

5.   Matters for discussion and/or decision at the Border Convention shall be submitted in the form of mandates from affiliated clubs and the Border Convention committee.  Any mandate, nominations for change of officers and names of fanciers for inclusion on the judges’ panel must be received by the Secretary by the 31st December.   Mandates should be accompanied by a short explanatory note.  The Secretary will then forward them to all affiliated clubs together with a notice of the Annual General Meeting  at least SIX WEEKS prior to the A.G.M.  Clubs to hold open meetings to discuss mandates.  A delegate from the submitting club can read each mandate to the A.G.M. and a vote will be taken.

 

6.   If any matter is raised during the A.G.M. discussions or since the deadline for submissions of mandates etc. that requires urgent discussion and decision in the interests of the fancy, delegates shall have the authority to vote on the matter without reference back to their membership, but this authority SHALL NOT be used to AVOID the normal process of decision making.  A simple majority of delegates shall decide what is ‘IN THE INTERESTS OF THE FANCY’ before proceeding to discussion and a vote.

 

7. All matters shall be decided by a simple majority in voting.

 

8. The Chairman and Secretary shall have the authority to call an ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING or an EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING at any time if they consider it necessary, by giving all affiliated clubs one month’s notice in writing, together with details of any matter to be discussed and/or decided.  A minimum of ten affiliated clubs shall also have the right to call an EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING by giving similar notice to all clubs and the officers.

 

9.  Affiliated clubs shall have the right to send TWO delegates to the A.G.M.  Interested OBSERVERS may attend but not vote. They should be seated separately from the delegates and may only speak on any matter when specifically asked to do so by the chairman. At the AGM only one delegate is allowed to vote. (One vote per Club)

 

10. At the A.G.M if a delegate from a club is unable to attend, he/she, can appoint a delegate from the observers present. Such person must be a member of the club concerned.  The chairman shall have a casting vote only in addition to the votes of the delegates when it is necessary.

 

11. A record shall be kept of all matters discussed and decisions made.  A record of all financial matters shall be kept.

 

12.  An annual subscription shall be paid by each affiliated club to the Convention and each club shall provide the Convention Secretary with the current name and address of their Secretary and annual subscriptions.  A list of these details shall be kept available. Affiliation Fees to be paid by the Annual General Meeting.

 

13. The office of President is an honorary one only and does not afford the President to take control of a meeting except in very exceptional circumstances.

 

14. The 2005 Border Convention Model should be known as ‘THE BORDER CONVENTION MODEL’, and all reproduction rights shall rest with the Border Convention.  This is the only model to be used in specialist clubs’ literature.

 

15. In the event of a need arising for an urgent decision on any matter that does not give sufficient time for a meeting to be called, the Officers and Committee of the Border Convention shall have authority to act and make such a decision, so long as changes of Rules and Constitution are not involved.

 

16.Any member of an affiliated specialist club expelled from that club is automatically excluded from membership of any other affiliated club. The person so expelled and barred shall have the right of appeal which will be heard by the Officers and Committee of the Border Convention. Any club expelling a member shall inform the Border Convention Secretary forthwith in writing. The Border Convention Secretary shall inform the fancier concerned, in writing, of his/her right to appeal within a period of twenty eight days. Any member of an affiliated specialist club expelled from that club shall have the right of appeal which will be heard by the Officers and Committee of the Border Convention. If an appeal is lodged within that time the officers and committee shall consider the matter as soon as possible.

 

17. Any other complaint or grievance by an individual fancier should be submitted to the Border Convention Secretary through an affiliated club.

 

18.  When a new rule is introduced or an existing rule changed and found to be acceptable for a period of 12 months it becomes a rule.

 

 

SPECIALIST SHOWS

1. The Border Convention shall specify a Standard Classification to be used by all specialist Clubs.

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2. Catalogues must be produced for all affiliated specialist club open shows.

 

3. Show schedules will have the option to show which classes have been allocated to each judge. When a club omits the Judges Classes from their Schedule, these   details will be printed in their catalogue.

 

4. When nominating specialist clubs on an entry form the fancier must specify each club to which he/she belongs.  Nominating ‘ALL’ clubs is not allowed.

 

5. Each show cage shall, before judging, bear only one label, i.e. a class and number label.  This label shall bear no detail other than the class number and allocated cage number.  Cage label to be fixed on the front rail with the centre of the label under the perch nearest to the seed hopper.

 

6. Show schedules should state whether variegated classes are for green variegated or cinnamon variegated birds or both.

 

7. Clubs receiving patronage from Border specialist clubs do not have to offer class prize money, but are encouraged to do so, provided that the Borders feature for section specials in their own right in the specials list.  Individual specialist clubs are entitled to insist on prize money as a condition of patronage being awarded.

 

8. Birds to be disqualified and prize money forfeited if it is found that a cock is exhibited in a hen class.  The Border Convention to be notified.

 

9.Artificial  colour feeding, including the use of artificial colouring agents is barred.  Any bird showing signs of colour feeding shall be disqualified. The Border Convention to be notified.

 

10. Exhibitors may use plain or mixed canary seed in a show cage. Show cage floor covering to be oat husks. In very exceptional circumstances a club must apply to the Border Convention for permission to use an alternative option. The club applying must supply a sample of the proposed alternative floor covering for approval by the border convention

 

11. The use of rings, closed or split, is optional on show birds.

 

12. The standard show cage is the Dewar type of cage as per the H. Parminter drawing number HJP.001.

 

13. Spirals on show cage perches may be left or right handed, in pairs

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14. Birds shown in show cages that, in the opinion of the show manager or the judge, are dirty are to be removed from the staging and not judged.

 

15.A ticked or foul bird is one where the single mark or single clear area is coverable by a one penny piece, (a grizzle mark coverable thus shall be classed a single mark) or there are not more than three light (or dark) feathers side by side in a wing or tail.

 

16. The three-part dark section is a section in its own right and does not compete for variegated or dark specials.

 

17. Dark specials to be awarded to green or cinnamon, self or foul birds only.

 

18. An even marked bird must have four technical marks, and the marks to be as even as possible on wings and eyes. Broken marks are not allowed..

 

19. All Clubs are allowed to judge for Specials according to their own management.  

 

20. Judges engaged to adjudicate at specialist shows must come to a decision with regard to all special awards without outside help to arbitrate.

 

21. Any specialist club that grants patronage to another specialist club must honour the patronage given to that club and the winning exhibitor irrespective of its own club rules.

 

22.  When a fancier phones his/her entries with a promise to pay later at the show that fancier is obliged to pay even if the birds are not subsequently sent to the show.  Offenders should be reported to the Border Convention Secretary who shall register that fact and offenders will be dealt with.

 

23.  Clubs are asked to help fanciers and judges by publishing maps and directions in their schedules including post codes for sat. navs., and a mobile phone number.

 

24.  NOVICES.  As from May 2007 The Border Convention will not take into consideration ‘Best Novice in Show Awards’ achieved at C.B.S. Shows.  Only those awarded at Border Specialist Clubs or Border & Fife Specialist Clubs, with or without Patronage will be accountable, ten wins being the limit whilst exhibiting with Novice status.  Please note the total of wins to date will still count. Novice wins at Border Specialist Shows do not count towards wins for champion status unless there are three or more exhibitors at the show.  A Novice may move up to the Champion section at any time he/she wishes to do so, but once a Champion always a Champion.  An exhibitor living in the same house as a Champion and showing the same breed as the Champion must exhibit as Champion unless he/she is a Juvenile.

 

25. A JUNIOR being a person between the age of 8 and 16 years of age and showing in Junior classes competes for JUNIOR specials only.

 

26. Specialist clubs awarding patronage to other clubs must let the clubs receiving that patronage know what has been allocated by the 31st.July

 

27.  No exhibitor shall be permitted to exhibit a bird he/she has obtained from a judge when that judge is officiating at that show.

 

28. Patronage returns from the promoting club to the club giving the patronage should include full name and address of the winners and runners up.

 

29.  The cross bar of the show cage that supports the perches must be at 41/2” (inches) from the inside of cage bottom and perches must fit on the rail and not be fitted to stand above it.

30. Specialist clubs must give details of show dates and officials as early as possible

 

31. A bird which is obviously in the wrong class should present no problem and the cage marked w/c without hesitation.  If a judge is faced with a borderline exhibit where the correct classification is called to doubt, then the judge should seek a second opinion from one of the other judges, always remembering to give the benefit of any doubt to the exhibitor.

 

32. Only flighted birds should be exhibited in classes designated for flighted birds.

 

33. Entries not shown in the catalogue will not be eligible for specials.

 

34. As show dates are long standing events, before a Border Specialist Club changes its show date they must first contact the Border Convention to check if the new date clashes with any other club.  If such a clash takes place the Border Convention have the authority to reject such a show date change.

 

35.All Border Convention Affiliated Clubs must judge the novice section before the champion section.

 

 

JUDGES

 

1. The Secretary shall maintain a list of panel judges, as approved by the Border Convention.

   

2.  Fanciers shall qualify for inclusion on the judges’ panel through their ‘local’ specialist club.  IF THE SPECIALIST CLUB FINDS THAT THE APPLICANT IS QUALIFIED AND SUITABLE IT MUST SUBMIT THE APPLICANT’S NAME TO THE CONVENTION SECRETARY.   It is the responsibility of the sponsoring club to ‘vet’ the applicant’s application.  On leaving the fancy a judge and/or the sponsoring club should inform the Convention Secretary that he/she is no longer available as a panel judge. Any Judge that retires from keeping Borders, may continue to judge C.B.S. for a further five years.

 

3. The Secretary shall circulate the names of proposed new judges with the notice and agenda of the A.G.M.  

 

4.  Judges for shows shall not stay at an exhibitor’s home who is exhibiting birds at that particular show.

 

5.  There will be two judging panels - Panel A and Panel B.  To qualify for Panel A and remain on the judge’s panel the fancier MUST BE A CURRENT BREEDER AND EXHIBITOR, (AT SPECIALIST SHOWS) of Border canaries, and have at least five years’ experience as a champion exhibitor IN OPEN BORDER SPECIALIST SHOWS immediately prior to the application or appointment.  Panel B: To qualify you need to have been a champion for a minimum of two years and only be able to judge Cage Bird Society Shows.  Any club using a Panel B judge will not be disqualified from receiving patronage from a specialist society.

 

6. Judges should respond promptly to clubs asking them to officiate.  Judges who persistently fail to do so should be reported to the Border Convention Secretary. Response from judge and confirmation between judge and club should be in writing.

 

7. Judges must judge according to the Model and Standard of Excellence. The ideal length from the top of the head to the tip of the tail is five and three quarter inches (5 3/4’’).  Length should be in proportion and balance with other features of the bird.

 

8. Where two or more judges are appointed to a show the champion and novice classes must be divided as equally as possible between the judges with each judge having a share of each section classes.  Allocating one judge to the champions and one to the novices is not acceptable.  Offending clubs should be reported to the Convention Secretary.

 

10. In the event of a judge having any doubt about an exhibits classification, i.e. 3/4 dark, clear/ticked etc., the judge should consult with fellow judges for an opinion.

 

11.  A fancier rejoining the fancy after being out for less than 1 year, to serve 1 year before judging. A fancier rejoining the fancy after being out for less than 2 years, serve 2 years before becoming a Specialist Show judge again, and so on, to the maximum of 5 years.