1. Under the chairmanship of the Master or vicar of the Order, or of their vicar, the general council is composed of the socii to the Master of the Order and of the procurator general; their consent or advice is required according to our laws and common law (cf. appendicem n. 14-bis).
2. The Master of the Order may convoke the councillors to seek their advice and opinion whenever it seems beneficial to him even if this is not required by law.

1. A most general chapter shall not be convened unless the majority of the provinces request it, and it shall be announced two years beforehand unless the need for it is urgent.
2. The same prescriptions shall be observed for its convocation, preparation, and celebration as for general chapters.

The two diffinitors of a most general chapter:

1. must be elected for this purpose, either in a provincial chapter or in an extraordinary elective chapter;
2. they should have the same qualifications as diffinitors of a general chapter, except that those who served as diffinitors in the immediately preceding general chapter may be elected.

A most general chapter (see n. 276, § II) is composed of the Master of the Order, ex-Masters of the Order, priors provincial, and two diffinitors from each province, elected by a provincial chapter.

The Master of the Order may not change the acts and decrees of a chapter but he, and indeed he alone, may dispense from them and declare their meaning.

1. It is strictly forbidden for priors provincial by their decisions to generate prejudice against diffinitors and it is likewise strictly forbidden for diffinitors by their decisions to generate prejudice against priors provincial. And if they attempt to do so, it shall be null and void.
2. The secrecy of the chapter must be observed by all the participants concerning those matters which could cause harm or prejudice to the Order or to the brothers. The president, however, may determine if anything else must be kept secret.

This is the sequence of chapters: the elective chapter, the chapter of diffinitors, the chapter of priors provincial, and so on. A new series of chapters in the aforesaid order begins with the elective chapter even if the election of a Master has to be held before the completion of the nine-year period.

1. A general chapter shall be held:
   1. every three years;
   2. whenever the office of Master of the Order falls vacant.
2. A chapter may, if it judges it opportune, call the next chapter within a shorter period of time.

1. Some of the socii of the Master of the Order designated by him are to be present, and so too is the bursar of the Order; they have the right to speak without, however, having a vote.
2. A delegate from each convent permanently under the immediate jurisdiction of the Master of the Order, as well as experts designated by the Master may be summoned and heard without, however, having a vote.

For the election of delegates attending a general chapter of diffinitors or priors provincial, all the brothers of the convents under the immediate jurisdiction of the Master of the Order are to be grouped together by the general council to constitute elective colleges (according to whether one or two delegates for each chapter have to be elected). Each of these colleges should have at least twenty-five voters. The general council shall lay down how this election is to be conducted.