Subcommittee Membership Bylaw

[Setemu]

RONR states "Subcommittees must consist of members of the committee, except when otherwise authorized by the society in cases where the committee is appointed to take action that requires the assistance of others" (p. 497, ll. 16-19). If an assembly changed their bylaws regarding subcommittee membership to only read "Subcommittees may consist of assembly members who are not on the committee," does that eliminate the requirement that nonmembers of the parent committee must be authorized? It seems to me that the second clause of the RONR statement above might still be in effect, and the amended bylaw can be read to merely affirm what RONR states: that subcommittees may consist of members not of the parent committee.....[if they are authorized by the assembly].

Edited April 26, 2018 at 04:07 AM by Setemu

[Joshua Katz]

If you word the bylaw correctly, it will be the authorization needed.  Besides, bylaws outrank RONR.  You just need to word it correctly.  If it helps, ambiguous bylaws are interpreted so as to not be redundant, including, I expect, redundancy with the parliamentary authority.

I would certainly interpret the language you suggest as meaning that non members of the committee may be on subcommittees and that no further action is needed, although I'd want to be a little more clear to avoid the misinterpretation that parent committee members are excluded.

[Setemu]

My understanding form discussions elsewhere on this board is that subcommittees are essentially committees of committees, and as such the same rules apply for subcommittees as committees unless otherwise specified. 

So, am I correct that the assumed method of appointment, given only the above language (perhaps with some tweaking to your point) and no bylaw language regarding appointments, would be the same as for committees: "by unanimous consent or by majority vote at the time the committee is appointed" (p. 492, ll. 13-17)? If the bylaws have language regarding the method of committee appointments, yet no explicit language regarding the method of appointment in subcommittees, would your interpretation be that that is also the method to appoint subcommittees?

Edited April 26, 2018 at 12:45 PM by Setemu

[Josh Martin]

9 hours ago, Setemu said:

RONR states "Subcommittees must consist of members of the committee, except when otherwise authorized by the society in cases where the committee is appointed to take action that requires the assistance of others" (p. 497, ll. 16-19). If an assembly changed their bylaws regarding subcommittee membership to only read "Subcommittees may consist of assembly members who are not on the committee," does that eliminate the requirement that nonmembers of the parent committee must be authorized? It seems to me that the second clause of the RONR statement above might still be in effect, and the amended bylaw can be read to merely affirm what RONR states: that subcommittees may consist of members not of the parent committee.....[if they are authorized by the assembly].

My interpretation would be that the rule in question eliminates the requirement for assembly approval, because the other interpretation renders the rule meaningless, and it is generally assumed that rules are placed in the bylaws for a reason.

1 hour ago, Setemu said:

So, am I correct that the assumed method of appointment, given only the above language (perhaps with some tweaking to your point) and no bylaw language regarding appointments, would be the same as for committees: "by unanimous consent or by majority vote at the time the committee is appointed" (p. 492, ll. 13-17)?

Yes.

1 hour ago, Setemu said:

If the bylaws have language regarding the method of committee appointments, yet no explicit language regarding the method of appointment in subcommittees, would your interpretation be that that is also the method to appoint subcommittees?

Maybe. I think it certainly could be the case that the rules for appointing committees also apply to subcommittees, and it could also be the case that they do not.