ACT OF ITPSL

WHEREAS an Institute called and known as the Institute of Town Planners, Sri Lanka, has heretofore been established in Sri Lanka for the purpose of effectually carrying out and transacting all objects and matters connected with the said Institute according to the rules agreed to by its members:

AND whereas the said Institute has heretofore successfully carried out and transacted the several objects and matters for which it was established, and has applied to be incorporated, and it will be for the public advantage to grant the application:

BE it therefore enacted by the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as follows:-
[27th August , 1986 ]

1. This Act may be cited as the Institute of Town Planners, Sri Lanka (Incorporation) Act, No. 23 of 1986.

2. From and after the date of commencement of this Act, such and so many persons as now are corporate members of the Institute of Town Planners, Sri Lanka (hereinafter referred to as the Institute), or shall hereafter be admitted corporate members of the Corporation hereby constituted, (so long as they continue to be corporate members) shall be a body corporate (hereinafter referred to as the Corporation) with perpetual succession under the style and name of the Institute of Town Planners, Sri Lanka and by that name may sue and be sued with full power and authority to have and use a common seal and alter the same at its discretion.

3. The general objects for which the Corporation is constituted are hereby declared to be-

(a) to promote and advance the science and art of town planning in all its aspects;

(b) to raise and uphold the dignity and reputation of the town planning profession in Sri Lanka and to extend its usefulness to the advantage of the public;

(c) to serve as liaison between the town planning profession in Sri Lanka and of town planning bodies abroad;

(d) to make available a professional opinion in town planning to the Government and other agencies in Sri Lanka and overseas when such advice is sought;

(e) to protect and promote the interests, status, welfare, rights and privileges of its members, and the interests of the public in relation to the profession of town planning.

(f) to promote and regulate the work of the town planning profession as practiced or likely to be practiced in Sri Lanka;

(g) to assist in the acquisition of the most up-to-date information relating to town planning and to ensure the adoption of the most effective town planning methods, practices and procedure in Sri Lanka;

(h) to further research and all such other activities as many contribute to the advancement of the knowledge and practice of town planning;

(i) to promote the aesthetic, economic, scientific and social development of urban and rural areas in the best interests if the community;

(j) to collaborate with any other Higher Educational institution referred to in the Universities Act, No.16 of 1978 or other recognized educational institution in the furtherance of town planning education;

(k) to increase the confidence of the community in the employment of recognized educational town planners by admitting to the Corporation only such persons who have satisfied the Council of the Corporation that they have acquired adequate knowledge both in the theory and the practice of town planning;

(l) to provide opportunities for the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in respect of town planning and allied subjects, and to establish, regulate and maintain libraries and other appropriate media for the acquisition and dissemination of such knowledge;

(m) to prescribe qualifications and disqualifications for membership of the Corporation, and the standards of professional conduct to be maintained by the members of the Corporation ; and

(n) generally to do all such acts and things as are necessary for, or incidental conducive to the carrying out or the attainment of, the objects of the Corporation.

(1) The membership of the Corporation shall be of the following grades:-

(a) Fellows, and

(b) Members, in this Act referred to as corporate members;

(c) Associates, and

(d) Students, in this Act referred to as non-corporate members.

(2) Corporate members shall be eligible for election or appointment to the Council, any Committee or Board of the Corporation and shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges including voting at meetings.

(3) Corporate members shall be entitled to the exclusive use after their names of the following designations or abbreviated designations appropriate to their grades subject to the condition that such designations or abbreviated designations can only be used so long as their membership is effective in terms of the rules of the corporation.

Fellow of the Institute of Town Planners (Sri Lanka) : F.T.I.P. (Sri Lanka)

Member of the Institute of Town Planners (Sri Lanka) : M.I.T.P. (Sri Lanka),

(4) Non-corporate members shall be entitled to be present at, and participate in, all general meetings of the Corporation, but shall not have the right to vote at such meetings or to requisition or join in requisitioning any special general meeting or to hold office or be appointed to the Council or any Committee or Board of the Corporation.

(1) No person shall be admitted as a member of the Corporation-

(a) if he has been adjudged by a competent court, whether in Sri Lanka or elsewhere, to be of unsound mind; or

(b) if having been adjudged an insolvent or bankrupt by a competent court, whether in Sri Lanka or elsewhere, he has not been granted by such court a certificate to the effect that his insolvency or bankruptcy has arisen wholly or party from unavoidable losses or misfortune; or

(c) if he has been convicted by a competent court, whether in Sri Lanka or elsewhere in Sri Lanka or elsewhere, of any offence involving moral turpitude and punishable with imprisonment or similar punishment.

(2) The Council shall disenrol any member who becomes subject to any of the disqualifications specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of this section:

Provided, however, that the Council may in its discretion re-admit any member disenrolled under the provisions of paragraphs (a) or (b) of subsection (1) if he ceases to be subject to such disqualification, or if in its opinion he ahs redeemed his character and is fit to practise the profession of a town planner.

(3) The Council may disenroll any member who in its opinion has been guilty of professional misconduct:

Provided, however, that the Council may, in lieu of disenrollment, reprimand such member or suspend him from membership for such member or suspend him from membership for such period not exceeding one year as the Council may just and equitable in all the circumstances:

Provided, further that the Council may in its discretion re-admit such person if in its opinion he ahs redeemed his character and is fit to practice the profession of a town planner.

(4) The Council shall not disenroll, suspend from membership, or reprimand any member under the preceding provisions of this section, unless a disciplinary Committee appointed by the Council has, after inquiry, made report to the Council that such member has become subject to any of the aforesaid disqualifications or ahs been guilty of professional misconduct.

6. Subject to the provisions of this Act and any other written law, the Corporation shall have the power to-

(a) acquire, hold, take or give on lease or hire, mortgage, pledge, sell and exchange, or otherwise dispose of, any immovable or movable property for the purposes of the Corporation;

(b) enter into and perform or carry out, whether directly or through any officer or agent authorized in that behalf by the corporation, all such contracts or agreements as may be necessary for the attainment of the objects or the exercise of the powers of the Corporation;

(c) invest its funds, and to maintain current, deposit and savings accounts in any banks approved by the Council of the Corporation;

(d) advance or lend, and to borrow money for the purposes of the Corporation, in such manner and upon such security as the Corporation may think fit;

(e) prescribe fees, in respect of membership, admission to membership, and admission to courses and examinations conducted by the Corporation;

(f) prescribe with the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Local Government, the terms and conditions for the admission of persons desiring to qualify as town planners.

(g) appoint, employ, transfer, dismiss and take other disciplinary action against officers and servants and to prescribe their terms and conditions of service; and

(h) generally, do all such acts and things as are necessary for, or incidental or conducive to the carrying out or the attainment of, the objects of the Corporation.

(1) The administration and management of the affairs of the Corporation shall, subject to the rules of the Corporation, be vested in a Council which shall perform the functions and duties and may exercise the powers of the Corporation under the Act.

(2) The Council of the Corporation shall consist of the office-bearers and such other persons as may be elected or appointed in accordance with the rules of the Corporation.

(3) The first Council of the Corporation shall be the Council of the Institute holding office at the time of the commencement of this Act.

(1) The Council may at any general meeting and by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the corporate members present and voting make rules in respect of any matter required by this Act to be prescribed or in respect of which rules are authorized or required by this Act to be made. Such rules when made may at a like meeting and in like manner be altered, added to amended or rescinded.

(2) Without prejudice to the generally of the powers conferred by the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Council may make rules not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act and any other written law, in respect of

(a) the admission, resignation and expulsion of members; the qualifications and disqualifications for membership; the form and issue of certificates of membership; the maintenance of a register of members; the waiver or reduction and the effect of non-payment of membership fees and the rights, privileges and duties of members;

(b) the term of office of the Council, eligibility for and the mode of election or appointment thereto, the resignation or vacation of office and the filling of casual vacancies of members thereof, the delegation of the powers and functions of the Council and the appointment of Committees and Boards of the Corporation the Annual Report of the Council;

(c) the summoning and holding of meetings of the Council, the Annual General Meeting, other General Meetings and Special General Meetings of the members of the Corporation, notice and agenda of such meetings, the quorum thereof and the conduct of business thereof;

(d) the management of the property of the Corporation and the custody of its funds;

(e) the formulation of a Code of Professional Conduct;

(f) the Procedure of disciplinary inquiries, including the appointment of disciplinary Committees and the provision of legal assistance thereto form of complaints, the framing of charges, the furnishing of explanations in reply, the issue of notices, the summoning of any person to give evidence, the production of documents, the rights of parties to legal representations, the rules of evidence applicable thereto, the maintenance of the record of the proceedings thereat, and the form and content of the reports of Disciplinary Committees.

(3) the members of the Corporation shall be subject to the rules for the time being of the Corporation.

(1) No person shall take or use any designation or abbreviated designation referred to in subsection (3) of section 4 and which under that subsection only a member enrolled in any grade of the class of corporate members may take or use, unless such person is for the time being enrolled as a member in that grade.

(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction after before a Magistrate, be liable to imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or to both such imprisonment and fine.

(3) No prosecution for an offence under this section shall be instituted except by a member of the council authorized so to do in writing for the purpose by the Council.

10. All debts and liabilities of the Institute existing t the time of the commencement of this Act shall be paid or discharged by the Corporation hereby constituted, and all debts due to and subscriptions, contributions and fees payable to the Institute shall be paid to the Corporation for the purposes of this Act.

11. The seal of the Corporation shall not be affixed to any instrument whatsoever except by the authority of a resolution of the Council and in the presence of two person as the Council shall authorize for the purpose, who shall sing their names to the instrument in token of their presence, and such signing shall be independent of the signing of any person as witness.

12. Nothing in this Act contained shall prejudice or affect the rights of the Republic or of any body politic or corporate, or of any other persons, except such as are mentioned in this Act and those claiming by, from or under them.