The Students' Association is governed by two main documents: the Constitution and the Laws.

The Constitution is the main document which establishes the existence of the Association, sets out its origins and its charitable goals, and designates the basic structure of the organisation - that there shall be Sabbaticals, an Association Board, the Students' Representative Council, and the Student Services Committee. The Constitution was originally written in the early 1980s, when the Students' Representative Council - founded January 1885 - merged with the Students' Union, founded 1892 (but tracing back much further). Amendments to the Constitution must be agreed by Association Board, University Court, Fife Constabulary and OSCR (Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator), as with all charitable constitutions.

The real details of the Association, however, are found in the Laws. Currently 22 chapters and over one hundred pages long, the Laws set out the building blocks of the Association - the membership of the SRC and SSC, the workings of subcommittees such as Debates and Postgraduate Society, the membership of the Association, our discipline procedures, and much more. Amendments to the Laws must be approved by the appropriate one of either the SRC or SSC, and then Association Board.

The Constitution was extensively reviewed in 2010-11 culminating in its ratification by University Court in February 2011.

The Laws were also reviewed, to bring them up to date with current practice and standardise their terminology. This process is almost finished - at the time of typing, chapters 13 (Mermaids) and 15 (Postgraduates) were undergoing final tweaks.

It's important to note that while the Constitution & Laws are the bedrock upon which the Association's activities are based, they are designed with one purpose: to enable and assist the Association in providing the best possible social, academic and recreational experience for students. The 10/11 review of the Constitution & Laws aimed to streamline the documents, to reduce the bureaucratic and procedural burden of decades of amendments, to better enable the various parts of the Association to organise their activity. If you have any questions regarding the Constitution & Laws, please contact Patrick O'Hare, Association President, who is responsible for their upkeep, at pres@.

Constitution - updated Feb2011

Laws - not yet updated (as of Jul 2011)