The Board of Directors is currently considering the following proposed changes to Corpora and invites commentary from the membership and participants. You’ll find an explanation for the suggested update to each section right after the marked up paragraph. New text is included in italics, with removed text struck out.
I.C7: General—Role of the Board—Communications with the Board of Directors of the SCA, Inc.
c. Any written communication with the Board is considered public, subject to any confidentiality provisions of Corpora, Corporate Policy, and approved Officer Handbooks, unless the author stipulates at the time of writing that the document is to be considered confidential. Any communications regarding sanctions and/or Board/Officer work-product are deemed confidential communications. Confidential documents will not be distributed outside the corporate staff unless the author’s permission has been obtained.
The Board reserves the right to declare any communication confidential subject to the author’s right to republish the communication. Reasonable requests for copies of other communications must be made in writing to the corporate office, and all such requests are automatically considered public documents.
[Explanation: Confidentiality is an important topic in the Society, and it can sometimes be confusing. The rules about confidentiality are mentioned in a lot of different places, and over time, the wording in those places has changed a bit, which has caused some confusion about how the Society should handle confidential information. This update is meant to make everything clearer and more consistent, so it’s easier to understand what is considered confidential, and what the limits or exceptions to that confidentiality are.]
II. B. Requirements for Participants at Society Events
Anyone may attend Society events provided they wear an attempt at pre-17th century clothing, conform to the rules of the Society provisions in Corpora, and comply with any other requirements (including but not limited to site fees or waivers) which may be imposed. At business meetings and informal classes, the requirement to wear pre-17th century dress may be waived. All participants are expected to behave in an appropriate and respectful manner.
[Explanation: Corpora is not the only document where rules that SCA participants are expected to follow may be found. These rules may also be found in the By-laws, Corporate Policies, and various Society officer policies approved by the Board and contained in officer manuals. The proposed language makes clear that the SCA has rules which participants are expected to follow.]
VI.A.2: Society Officers—General Requirements and Benefits
d. No Society or Corporate Officer may serve as Crown or Coronet during their tenure in office. In order to fight or be fought for in a Crown or Coronet Lists, the officer must have served a minimum of one year in that office and must have an appointed deputy, approved by the Board, who is ready and willing to accept all responsibilities for that office. Committing to become a Crown or Coronet Victory in a Royal List will be considered a resignation from office, effective no later than their Investiture.
[Explanation: This change spells out current practice and defines the exact circumstances under which a Society or Corporate Officer will be expected to resign that office.]
VIII.E.2: Personal Awards and Titles—Reservations to the Board—Revocation of Awards and Grants of Arms
As with Peerages, the Board specifically reserves the right to revoke any Award or Grant of Arms. Kingdom law may make provision for offering such a recommendation to the Board. Unless stipulated otherwise by the Board, the Board’s decision in such a case applies only to the matter at hand. Nothing prohibits a person who has had any award or recognition revoked from being bestowed the award or recognition at a later date, should the Crown determine that the person in question now meets the requirements of the award or recognition being bestowed.
X.B.4.d: Grievances and Sanctions—Sanctions—Reservations to the Board—Revocation of Awards and Grants of Arms
As with Peerages, the Board specifically reserves the right to revoke any Award of Arms or Grant of Arms. Kingdom law may make provisions for offering such a recommendation to the Board. Unless stipulated otherwise by the Board, the Board’s decision in such a case applies only to the matter at hand. Nothing prohibits a person who has had any award or recognition revoked from being bestowed the award or recognition at a later date, should the Crown determine that the person in question now meets the requirements of the award or recognition being bestowed.
[Explanation: The proposed added language already exists in Corpora VIII.E.1 and X.B.4.c., which discuss the reservation to the Board of the right to degrade a person from the Peerage and the ability of a Crown to bestow such an award at a later date should they determine it is deserved. This change is proposed to apply the same language to Board removal of an award or grant of arms.]
X.B.1: Grievances and Sanctions—Sanctions—Royal Sanctions
The Crown of a Kingdom may sanction subjects, residents, and visitors within the borders of the Crown’s Kingdom for just and stated cause. Royal Sanctions take effect from the moment of proclamation but must be announced in court and also be published in the next available issue of the kingdom newsletter if the sanction is to remain in effect. Within 15 business days of the imposition of the sanction, the specific cause and occasion of the sanction must be explained in writing to the sanctioned individual unless it is impossible to do so, in which case it should be done as soon as possible.
[Explanation: If the Corporate office or the Kingdom do not have a valid current means of contacting the sanctioned individual, it is not possible to fulfill this requirement unconditionally. The proposed change acknowledges the possibility that a correct means of notification may not be known at the time of the sanction.]
X.B.2: Administrative Sanctions
Officers may impose Administrative Sanctions within their areas of authority, for just and stated cause, only in accordance with the rules defined in their office handbooks or specifically granted to their offices by the Governing Documents of the SCA. Only the Society Seneschal or the Board may impose an Administrative Sanction that precludes the holding of any office including that of Crown.
[Explanation: This proposed change acknowledges that either the Society Seneschal or the Board of Directors has the authority to impose an Administrative Sanction that bars an individual from holding multiple offices. The Board already has ultimate authority over the rules of the SCA and over sanctions, as established in the By-laws, Section VI.A and Corpora I.C.1, so this simply adds language acknowledging that authority.]
Corpora, including the By-Laws, can be found in its entirety can be found here: https://www.sca.org/resources/document-library/govdocs/
Please email all commentary to [email protected] and use the title “Clarifying Corpora” in the subject line.
Commentary regarding this proposed Corpora change must be received by the Board no later than December 31, 2024.
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