Peter has asked the following question:
How do minutes become confirmed if the persons present at the meeting when a decision was adopted are no longer in attendance?
This is a really common question and the answer sounds weird, but it is nevertheless the answer!
The scenario is that at meeting1 certain people are in attendance and the minutes are written.
At meeting 2, some (or possibly all) of the people who were at meeting 1, are absent.
The minutes of meeting1 are to be confirmed at meeting 2. Anyone can in fact move or second the confirmation motion and everyone present at meeting 2 can vote.
The issue is this Does meeting 2 accept that the minutes as presented are an accurate record?
The key word is accept
The question is not – Does meeting 2 know with certainty that the minutes are an accurate record?
So the confirmation of the minutes is really saying that in the opinion of the people at meeting 2, the minutes of meeting 1 are accurate.
By the way, just because a set of minutes is confirmed, that does mean they are set in stone. If at a later point an error or inaccuracy comes to light you can go back and amend any set of minutes but only with the approval of a meeting.
It all really comes down the faith the people have in the minute taker so always choose a good one!
I know it sounds weird but that;’s the answer folks!
Please Note: The author accepts no responsibility for anything which occurs directly or indirectly as a result of using any of the suggestions or procedures detailed in this blog. All suggestions and procedures are provided in good faith as general guidelines only and should be used in conjunction with relevant legislation, constitutions, rules, laws, by-laws, and with reasonable judgement.
3 thoughts on “Confirming minutes when the people are no longer around”
Question
What are the consequences of not confirming minutes?
can a person who was absent at a previous meeting confirm or second those minutes at which he was absent at the next subsequent meeting
Absolutely.
The question (or motion) is not that that particular person agrees with the minutes, but that the meeting agrees that they are accurate.
Sounds silly I know, but a very common question.