CHAPTER ONE:
PART 1- THE LAW STUDENT ASSENTIUM MENTIUM, NASARAWA STATE UNIVERSITY, KEFFI.
1. (1) This constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on all members of the law students association, Nasarawa state
university, Keffi.
(2) The law Student assentium mentium shall not be governed, or shall any person or group take control of the administration of the association except in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
(3) If any other rules made within the law students association are inconsistent with the provision of the constitution, this constitution shall prevail and those other rules shall to the extent of their inconsistent be void.
2. (1) Any student who wishes to be a member, shall do that by way of application.
(2) Notwithstanding the foregoing provision, only financial members shall have their rights and benefits determined by the association.
(3) Each member of the association must possess a copy of this constitution.
(4) Honorary membership maybe conferred on a person who is a member of the
association but who is distinguished himself or made immense contribution to the association.
(5) The conferment of such membership shall be at the discretion of the Executive council.
3. (1) the patrons of the law students assentium mentium shall be determine by the formal consent of the following person:
a. The Vice Chancellor, Nasarawa state University, Keffi.
b. The Attorney General Nasarawa state.
c. The Chief Judge of Nasarawa state.
d. The Attorney General of the Federation.
e. The Grand Khadi of Nasarawa state.
f. The Dean faculty of law, Nasarawa state University, keffi.
g. The Chairman Nigeria Bar Association, Nasarawa state.
h. Any other persons as maybe nominated by the Executive council from time to time, such nominees must have been persons who have
distinguished themselves by contributing to the development of the association or persons who have the potentials of doing so.
4. (1) There shall be an advisory council of The Law Student Assentium Mentium
(2) The Advisory council shall consist of:
a. The Dean faculty of law;
b. All heads of Department faculty of Law
c. The Association of designated staff advisers;
d. Any other two persons as may be approved by the Executive Arm of the association in conjunction with the parliament and congress.
5. (1) There shall be a minimum of three general meeting in one academic session.
(2) The president shall cause the secretary general in summon a general meeting.
6. (1) A quorum for the purpose for general meeting will be deemed to have been formed when there is a reasonable organ of the association.
(2) The congress shall consist of a meeting of all the members of the association.
(3) The congress shall have the powers to the execution of any other organ(s) of the Law student association to:
a. Suspend and or pass a vote of no confidence of the Exco, the caretaker committee of any organs of the association subject to two third majority
of the members present and subject to section 6()
b. Deliberate upon any matter(s) referred to it.
c. Suggest for the amendment and or modification of the constitution therefore subject to two third majority of the members present and voting.
d. For the purpose of sub-section (a & c) above, the congress shall be two third of the whole financial members.
CHAPTER TWO.
FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF
LAWSA’s POLICY.
7. It shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of the Law Student Assentium Mentium and of all authorities and persons exercising Executive powers to conform to observe and apply the provisions of this chapter of the constitution.
8. It shall be obligatory on each members of the association to dress in accordance with the profession on every Monday, all through to friday.
9. (1) Every members of The Law Student Assentium Mentium shall pay an annual subscription.
This shall be subject to review from time to time by the executive.
(2) Monies.
a. Subject to the provisions of the constitution, all the society’s monies shall be kept in bank specified from time to time by the Exco.
b. The president, financial secretary and Treasure shall be signatories to the society’s account.
10 (1) No person or persons shall embark on the creation, production, sales etc of any LAWSAM merchandise without the express authorization of the president.
11 (1) The tenure of every office in the Law association shall be for a period of one academic session subject to the provisions of this constitution.
12 (1) The motto of The Law Assentium Mentium .
(2) Accordingly, Unity and Justice shall actively be encouraged whilst discrimination on the grounds of place of origin, sex, religion, status, ethnic, or linguistic association or ties shall be prohibited.
(3) For the purpose of promoting Unity and Justice, it shall be the duty of the executive to provide conducive atmosphere for free interaction amongst the members
13 (1) It shall be duty of every congress member to:
a. Abide by this constitution; respect its ideals and its institution and legitimate authorities.
b. Help to enhance the power, prestige and good name of the Association, defined the association and render services as may be required.
c. Respect the dignity of other members and the rights and legitimate interest of others; in other to live in unity and Harmony and in the spirit of common brotherhood and
CHAPTER THREE
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
14. (1) there shall be a president of The Law Student Assentium Mentium and the president emerge by way of election .
(2) He shall perform the following functions:
a. Assume a general supervisory role for the smooth running of the law association.
b. Be the spokesman of the association in matter(s) approved by either the Exco, or congress.
c. Issue through the secretary general summons for the Exco meeting and also through the public relation officer, summons for the congress
meetings.
d. Be the chief representative of the association in every external function and may for this purpose select any member(s) of the
executive as provided by this constitution.
e. May delegate any of this functions or power to any other officer(s) of the law association, provided that the president shall remain liable for
any default in the exercise of such powers or the performance of such duties.
f. Be a co-signatory to the association bank account.
15. (1) There shall be a vice president of law association. He shall come by way election.
(2) The Vice president shall perform the following functions:
a. Assist the president in the performance of his duties and also deputize for him in his absence.
b. Perform any other duty as may be assigned to him by the president.
16. (1) There shall be a Secretary General of the law association. He shall emerge by way of election
(2) The secretary general shall perform the following functions.
a. Summon, in constitution with the president or Vice-president as the case may be all Exco and congress meetings.
b. Take minutes of all Exco and congress meetings.
c. Submit report(s) of the association activities to the congress at the expiration of his tenure of office.
d. Be the custodian of all association documents.
e. Prepare all programme(s) as directed by the Exco and carry out such programme(s) by preparing and circulating agenda for those
programmes before it’s circulating agenda for those programmes before it’s commencement.
f. Conduct all correspondence with the approval of the president or Executive council.
g. Perform any other functions as may be required of him by the president.
17. (1) There shall be an Assistant Secretary General for the Law association.
(2) The assistant secretary general shall perform the following duties:
a. Deputize for the Secretary General in his absence.
b. Perform any other functions as may be required of him by the constitution.
18. (1) There shall be for the association a financial secretary.
(2) He shall perform the following duties:
a. Prepare in conjuction with the Exco all budgets of the Law association.
b. Authorities the payment of Law association debts and financial obligations.
c. Collect the association monies and forward such monies to the treasurer within fourty-eight (48) hours.
d. Be co-signatory to the association bank account.
e. Performs any other function as may be assigned to him by the president.
19. (1) there shall be the office of the treasurer for the Law students association.
(2) He shall perform the following functions.
a. Be a co-signatory to the association bank account.
b. He shall maintain an impress of not more than two thousand Naira only.
c. He shall collect the association monies and deposit such monies within forty-eight hours to the association bank account.
d. The treasurer shall work in conjuction with the financial secretary on the association monetary issues.
e. Perform any other functions as may by assigned to him by the president.
20. (1) there shall be a public relation officer (PRO) for the association.
(2) He shall perform the following duties:
a. Be responsible for the general publication and publicity of the association’s activities.
b. He shall hand over all publications and other material to the sales director.
c. He shall work with the publicity committee of four members.
the following duties:
26. (1) the meeting of the Exco shall be presided by the president and in the
absence of the president, the vice president shall preside over the Exco meeting.
(2) Where neither the president nor the vice president is present, the other members of the Exco shall elect from amongst themselves a person to
preside over the meeting.
(3) Members of the Exco shall formulate their own rules of proceeding subject however to the provision of this constitution of their meeting.
(4) Members of the Exco shall in exercise of their powers and duties under this constitution act in good faith and in the overall interest of the law student association.
27. (1) any member(s) of the executive who wishes to re-context should resign his/her office at least four (4) weeks before election.
CHAPTER FOUR
28. (1) There shall be election within the last two weeks before the end of the session.
(2) Elections shall be held in accordance with the following:
a. Only members of The Law student Assentium Mentium are eligible to vote and be voted for.
b. Each voter shall be entitled to one vote for each election.
c. When the number of candidates nominated for any office does not exceed one, such candidate has to be voted for and shall be deemed a
winner only after polling at least a simple majority number of votes cast for any elected post with the least vote scored.
d. In the event of a tie in any elective post(s) the electoral committee shall within fourty eight hours conduct fresh election(s) involving the
candidates with the tie only.
e. The electoral committee shall list in alphabetical order, the names of candidates as shown in the nomination papers and shall publish the
lists of the students on the notice board at least forty-eight hours before the start of the campaign and no name(s) shall be added to the
list after the sane has been published.
f. Withdrawal of candidature by candidate shall be accepted after the expiration of eighteen (18) hours.
29. (1) Every member of The Law Student Assentium Mentium, shall be eligible to vote and be voted for or sponsor a candidate subject to section 47 (c) of this constitution.
(2) A candidate shall be declared elected to any post in the association where he score a simple majority of the votes cast in the election to that office.
(3) Where there is tie of vote in the elections to any office a second voting shall take place and where there is a tie even after the second ballot the members of the electoral committee shall cast a decisive vote.
(4) Notwithstanding the provision(s) of this constitution a person shall not be eligible to contest for any elective office unless he obtained a minimum of 3.0 CGPA.
30. (1) A candidate shall be disqualified if:
a. His campaign strategies are based on religious or ethnic affiliation.
b. Found guilty by either a duly constituted committee or by a court of competent jurisdiction.
c. Receive money or other forms of grant from the university authorities or form external bodies for the purpose of his campaign.
d. Attempts to use physical violence to intimidate his opponents.
e. Violate any of the electoral procedure(s) provided by the electoral committee and the provision(s) of this constitution.
f. Nothing in this section shall preclude the electoral committee from stipulating additional conditions for disqualification of a candidate, as
they are deemed necessary for the orderly conduct of the election.
31. (1) A candidate shall be disqualified if:
a. His campaign strategies are based on religious or ethnic affiliation.
b. Found guilty by ethnic a duly constituted committee or by a court of competent jurisdiction.
c. Receive money or other forms of grants from the university authorities or from external bodies for the purpose of his campaign.
d. Attempts to use physical violence to intimidate his opponents.
e. Violate any of the electoral procedure(s) provided by the electoral committee and or provision(s) of this constitution.
f. Nothing in this section shall preclude the electoral committee from stipulating additional conditions for disqualification of a candidate, as they are deemed necessary for the orderly conduct of the election.
32. (1) Any vacancy in Exco occasional by resignation, expulsion etc. of any member(s) shall be filled by a bye-election to be conducted by the electoral committee within seven (7) days from the date of such resignation or expulsion, etc. provided such office(s) does not become vacant within the last month of the dissolution of the Exco.
(2) Any Exco member(s) who wants to resign shall give notice in writing to the congress via the secretary General stating his reason(s) doe resigning
and of in the case of the secretary General shall give notice to the president of the law students association.
(3) Once such a letter is received as stipulated by sub-section 2 of this section, the resignee if he is an Exco member shall be called upon to give
satisfactory stewardship of his office to the congress before his resignation is approved.
(4) Once an Exco member resigns he cannot thereafter withdraw his resignation.
(5) No officer of the association shall be eligible to contest a re-election without first resigning his post.
33. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, all hours after election petitions shall be filled within twenty-four (24) hours after election(s) to the secretary, election petition committee.
(2) Copies of the said petition shall be forwarded to the chairman of the electoral committee.
(3) The said petition(s) shall be determined within seven days on receipt by the committee.
(4) Officers elected shall not function until they are sworn in.
ADOPTION CLAUSE
34. (1) The provisions of this constitution shall come into force or commence the day the congress adopts it.
(2) Any amendment to this constitution shall be adopted at the congress meeting called specifically for that purpose.
(3) The adoption of any new constitution of the association shall be by congress members called specifically for that purpose.
(4) The constitution will be said to be adopted by a vote of two third majority of the congras present.
AMENDMENT CLAUSE
35. (1) This constitution can be amended by a resolution supported by two third majority of members of congress.
(2) A motion for amendment of the constitution shall be signed by at least 10 members of each level.
(3) A constitution revision committee or drafting committee can be constituted at any time the congress deems fit to revise the constitution.
(4) Only a duly constituted amendment committee shall have the power to amend a provision(s) of this constitution and they are to effect amendment on the provision(s), which they are requested to by congress.
INTERPRETATION
36. This constitution, unless it is expressly provided for or the context otherwise requires the following:
a. Any Other Functions: include the discretionary power of the president to assign any job to the officer or committee in the interest of the association.
b. Appointment: Means a person chosen for a job or responsible not elected within the Law students association.
c. Bye-election: Means subsequent election after the general election.
d. Competence: Means the ability to discharge the assigned duty well and it include an applicable knowledge of the law.
e. Confirmation: Means assent or approval of the congress
f. Decision: This is determination of ruling of the congress, Exco or duly constituted committee and also includes recommendation of the Exco or
committee.
g. Disqualification: Include the power of the electoral committee to bar any aspirant from contesting an election. Whose conduct, offences and
dispositions are not in consonance with the electoral laws, guidelines and provisions of this constitution.
h. Dress code: Means the complete dress code recommended by the council of legal education and the one stated therein in the disciplinary committee’s functions.
i. Election: Mean the process of choosing a person or group of person for a position especially a political position by voting.
j. Exco: Means the executive arm of the Law students association.
k. Law: Means the law enacted by the congress and also includes Acts, state law and school rules and regulations.
l. Law Student Association: Means an association of all law students to the faculty of law, Nasarawa State University Keffi.
m. Merchandise: includes anything bought or sold that has the inscription of the law students association.
n. Officer: Includes an elected person into various political offices in Law students association.
o. Practice and procedure: means that which pertains the actual conduct of the congress, Exco and committee.
p. Power: Includes function and duties.
q. Proven integrity: Means a person with the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles
r. Quorum: When used in relation to congress meeting shall be two third majority of congress member present and voting.
s. Registered Members: Means any Law students of the faculty who has fulfilled his financial obligation to the law student association.
t. Tenure: means a period of time when an elected person holds an office in the association for the purpose of this constitution is one academic session.
u. Vacant post: include unoccupied office occasioned by reson of
impeachment, death, or expulsion of the officer occupying that position.
