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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
Act 55/1970
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

1
Short title 10 Service of process
1A
Interpretation 11 Subcommittees
2
Council of Social Service 12 Meetings of the Council
3 –
13
Procedure at meetings
4
Objects of the Council 14 Funds of the Council
5 –
15
Financial year and audit
6
Membership 16
Donations and
legacies
7
Executive Committee 17 Exemption from tax and duty
8
Powers of Executive Committee SCHEDULE
9
Documents

1
Short title
This Act may be cited as the Mauritius Council of Social Service Act.

1 A Interpretation In this Act – “Committee” means the Executive Committee of the Council; “Council” mean
s the
Mauritius Council of Social Service.

2 Council of Social Service
The Mauritius Council of Social Service shall be a body corporate.

3 –

4 Objects of the Council
(1) The objects of the Council shall be to –
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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
(a) promote any charitable purposes for the benefit of the community i
n Mauritius
and, in particular, the advancement of social education, the furtherance
of health and
the relief of poverty, distress and sickness;
(b) promote and foster co-operation in the achievement of the purposes
under
paragraph (a) by bringing together representatives of the statutory bo
dies and
voluntary organisations engaged in the furtherance of those purposes;
(c) do anything which is incidental or conducive to the attainment of
those objects.
(2) In particular but without prejudice to the generality of its objec
ts under subsection (1)
the Council shall endeavour to – (a)
give financial or other assistance to any person;
(b)
procure and provide information;
(c) procure to be written, and print, publish, issue and circulate rep
orts, periodicals,
books, leaflets or other documents;
(d) arrange and provide for, or join in arranging and providing for, t
he holding of
exhibitions, meetings, lectures, seminars, forums, group discussions and
classes;
and
(e) promote, encourage or undertake experimental work.

5 –

6 Membership
(1) Any statutory body or other voluntary organisation working towards
the promotion of charity,
the advancement of social education, the furtherance of health or the re
lief of poverty, distress or
sickness may, on being sponsored by 2 member organisations of the Counci
l, apply to the
Committee for membership of the Council.
(2) The Committee may refuse membership to any organisatio
n without assigning any
reason for it.
(3) (a) The Committee may, after giving due notice in wr
iting, and giving the organisation
an opportunity to be heard, expel any member organisation which acts in
any manner that is
prejudicial to the interests of the Council.
(b) The expelled organisation may appeal to a general meeting, annual
or special of the
Council within one month of the notice of expulsion.
(4) (a) Membership fees shall be payable in advance, at
least one month before the
Annual General Meeting, and only paid up member organisations shall be e
ntitled to vote or be
nominated as candidates.
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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
(b) No election or other proceedings shall be nullified by reason of a
ny member organisation
being in arrears with the payment of its subscription.
(5) Any member organisation may resign from the Council by giving the
Secretary notice in
writing of its intention.
(6) Any member organisation which has not paid its subscription fee by
the end of the financial
year shall cease to be a member of the Council.
(7) Any statutory body or other voluntary organisation which is pursui
ng any of the objects of the
Council may be invited by the Council to participate in its work and to
appoint such number of
persons as the Council may determine to be members of the Council.
(8) The Council may invite any person holding a public office to becom
e an ex officio member of
the Council.
(9) The Council may co-opt as members persons having special knowledge
or experience in the
matters specified in the objects of the Council, but the number of those
persons shall not exceed
one fourth of the number of persons appointed under subsection (7).
(10) Notwithstanding this Act, the bodies specified in the Schedule sh
all be the first members of
the Council.
(11) Member organisations may nominate any person to represent them on
the Council and may
nominate alternate or temporary representatives.
(12) The Council may invite any person to attend its meeting as an obs
erver without the right to
vote.
(13) The Council may appoint a Patron, an Honorary President and any n
umber of
Honorary Vice Presidents.

7
Executive Committee
(1) The Council shall be managed and administered by an Executive Comm
ittee which shall
consist of the Chairman of the Council, who shall also be the Chairman o
f the Committee, and of
20 representatives of member organisations to be elected as provided in
this section.
(2) The Committee may further co-opt not more than 5 persons to serve
on the committee.
(3) The Committee shall each year elect from among its number a Deputy
Chairman, a Vice
Chairman and a Treasurer.
(4) The Chairman of the Council shall be the Social Welfare Commission
er or such other person
as the Council may determine.
(5) The Secretary may take part in the deliberations at any meeting of
the Council or of the
Committee, but he shall not have the right to vote.
(6) The Treasurer shall receive all money, keep the accounts and effec
t such payments as he
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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
may be authorised to make by the Chairman or any other person appointed
for that purpose by
the Committee.
(7) (a) The Committee shall employ a Secretary at such r
emuneration and on such terms
and conditions of service as it thinks fit. (b)
The Secretary shall have the custody of all documents relating to the Co
uncil
and shall keep minutes of all the proceedings of the Council and of the
Committee.
(c)
The minutes of proceedings of each meeting shall be signed by the Chairm
an
of the meeting and by the Secretary and extracts duly signed by the Chai
rman of
the Council and the Secretary shall be prima facie evidence of all facts
contained
in them.

(8) (a) Nominations from member organisation
s for candidates to fill the vacant
seats among the elected members of the Committee shall be sent to the Se
cretary at least 14
days before the date of the Annual General Meeting. (b) Where the number of nominations exceeds the number of vacancies, a
n election shall
take place by ballot at the Annual General Meeting.
(9) (a) One third of the elected members of the Committe
e shall retire annually but they
shall be eligible for re-election, the members to retire being those who
have been longest in
office. (b)
As between members who have been in office the same length of time, thos
e
due to retire shall be chosen by lot. (10)
The Committee shall be convened by the Secretary to meet at least 4 time
s a
year.
(11) (a) Any vacancy which may occur on the Committee in
the interval between 2
elections may be filled by the Committee and any person appointed to fil
l the vacancy shall hold
office until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting. (b) Any member of the Committee who fails without sufficient cause to
attend 3
consecutive meetings of the Committee may be removed by a decision of th
e Committee.
(12) The Council may remove or suspend from office any member of the C
ommittee
who – (a) has become insolvent or has assigned his estate for the benefit of
his
creditors or has made an arrangement with his creditors; (b) has committed any misconduct which, in the opinion of the Council,
renders
him unfit to continue to be a member of the Committee; or
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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
(c) is suffering from such physical or mental infirmity as, in the opi
nion of the
Council, renders him unfit to discharge his duties as a member of the Co
mmittee.

8 Powers of Executive Committee
Except as otherwise expressly provided, the Committee shall have and exe
rcise the powers
conferred upon the Council by this Act and may –
(a) do and perform all acts for the due execution, suspension or readm
ission of member
organisations;
(b) appoint and dismiss the paid officers and employees of the Council
, arrange for their terms
and conditions of service, fix their remuneration and gratuities, and en
ter into all contracts to that
effect; and
(c) decide on any fees, allowances or remuneration to be paid to audit
ors and generally for
services rendered.

9 Documents
Every document relating to the Council shall be signed by the Chairman a
nd Treasurer or, where
any of them is unable to do so, by any person or persons designated for
that purpose by the
Council.

10 Service of process
Service of process by or on the Secretary of the Council shall be equiva
lent to service by or on
the Council.

11 Subcommittees
(1) The Committee may appoint a finance subcommittee and such other sp
ecial or standing
subcommittees as it thinks necessary and determine their terms of refere
nce, powers, duration
and composition.
(2) The Secretary shall be an ex officio member of every subcommittee.

12 Meetings of the Council
(1) (a) The annual meeting of the Council shall be held
in each year at such time (not
being more than 15 months after the holding of the preceding annual meet
ing) and place as the
Committee shall determine. (b) At least 21 clear days notice shall be given in writing by the Sec
retary to the
member organisations.
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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
(c) Other meetings of the Council shall be hel
d at such time and place as may be
determined by the Council.
(2) All meetings shall be summoned by post or by notice inserted in at
least 3 of the principal
newspapers at least 21 days before the date of the meeting stating the b
usiness to be
transacted at the meeting.
(3) At the annual meeting the business shall include the election of p
ersons to fill vacancies on
the Committee, the appointment of auditors, and the consideration of an
annual report of the
work done by or under the auspices of the Council and of the audited acc
ounts.
(4) A special meeting of the Council shall be called at 14 days’ notic
e in writing upon the written
request of one fourth of the member organisations or at the request of t
he Committee, and not
less than 14 days’ notice of the meeting shall be given.

13 Procedure at meetings
(1) The quorum at any meeting of the Council shall be 15 and the quoru
m at any meeting of a
Committee shall be 5.
(2) (a) The Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chai
rman or, in their absence, the
Vice-Chairman shall preside all meetings of the Councilor the Committee.
(b) In the absence of those 3 persons, the persons present at any meet
ing shall elect a
person from among those present to preside.
(3) (a) Questions arising at any meeting of the Councilo
r the Committee shall be decided
by a majority of the persons present and voting. (c)
In case of equality in the number of votes, the person presiding shall h
ave a
second or casting vote.
(4) Subject to this section, the Council or the Committee, as the case
may be, shall regulate its
own procedure.
14
Funds of the Council
(1) The Council may raise money by means of membership fees, subscript
ions, donations or
legacies, grants in aid from statutory bodies, loans and other sources.
(2) Every member or member organisation shall pay a fee of 5 rupees pe
r annum or such other
sum as the Council may determine. (3)
(a) Subject to paragraph (b), the income and property of the Council
shall be
applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Council and n
o portion thereof
shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend,
bonus or profit to any
member of the Council.
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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
(b) Nothing in this Act shall prevent the payment in good faith of reasonabl
e and
proper remuneration to any officer or servant of the Council or the rep
ayment of expenses.

15 Financial year and audit
(1) The financial year of the Council shall end on 31 December.
(2) Once at least in every year the accounts of the Council shall be a
udited by one or
more qualified auditors appointed by the Committee.

16 Donations and legacies
Article 910 of the Code Napoleon shall not apply to the Council.

17 Exemption from tax and duty
(1) The Council shall not be liable to any tax leviable by any enactme
nt relating to personal
income.
(2) The Council shall be exempt from payment of duty on all donations
and legacies received by
it and on all documents executed by it.
—————————————-SCHEDULE (section 6)
Action Familiale
Mauritius Child Care Society
Adventist Diocese Welfare Association Mauritius Family P
lanning Association
Ahmadia Muslim Association (Mauritius Branch) Mauritius Gi
rl Guides Association Arya Ravived Pracharini Maha Sabha Mauritius
Maternity and Child Welfare Association
Association des Brancardiers Mauritius Nationa
l Youth Council
de l’lle Maurice
Association of District Councils Maurit
ius Red Cross Society
Association of Urban Authorities Mauritius
Sailors Home Society Blood Donors Association Mauritius Sanathan Dharma
Temple Association
Board of Mutawallis Mauritius Scouts Association
Candos Hospital Welfare Association Mental Health
Association
Cheshire Foundation Homes for the Sick Ministry of
Health
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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970
Chinese Youth Federation Ministry of Social Security
(Probation Division)
Church of Scotland (Scottish Congregation) Ministry of
Social Security (Social Welfare Division)
Church of Scotland Mouvement d’Entente Nationale
(French Speaking Congregation)
Conference of Chairman of Social Welfare
Mouvements Ouvriers Chretiens
Committees Muslim Youth Federation
Cripples Welfare Association National Federation of
Young Farmers Clubs
Curepipe Probation Hostel New Help the Children
Fund
Diocesan Pool Relief Fund Ramakrishna Mission
Discharged Persons’ Aid Committee Rotary Cl
ub (Welfare Branch)
Freedom from Hunger Campaign Committee St John’s Ambulance C
ouncil for Mauritius
Hindu Maha Sabha Semain
e de la Bonté
Hindu Youth Federation Service
Volontaire International
Indo Mauritian Catholic Association Societé
de St Vincent de Paul
Jeune Chambre Economique Society for the Welf
are of the Blind Jeunesse
Internationale Chrétienne Society for th
e Welfare of the Deaf Jeunesse
Internationale Chrétienne Feminine Societé Fraternité
Musulmane Jummah Mosque Port Louis Society for Aid to Children
inoperable in Mauritius
Légion de Marie Sugar Industry Labour Welfare
Fund Committee
Les Amis de Moulin à Poudre Surtee Soonee
Musulman Society
Les Ecoles Ménagères Toc H
Les Oeuvres des Maisons Claires Wome
n’s Associations
Marathi Youth Federation Yoga
Society Mauritius Andhra Maha Sabha Youth Service (Ministry
of Youth and Sports)
Mauritius Arya Sabha

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MAURITIUS COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICE ACT 1970

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