The Law of Ukraine “On Associations of Bodies of Local Government”
Date of entry into force: June 2, 2009
The present Law shall stipulate that associations of bodies of local government and their voluntary unions (hereinafter referred to as the associations) shall be voluntary non-profit associations set up by bodies of local government for the purpose of more effectively exercising their powers, coordinating actions of bodies of local government related to the protection of rights and interests of territorial communities and facilitating local and regional development.
According to Article 3 of the present Law, associations shall be set up with the All-Ukrainian and local status. All-Ukrainian associations shall be associations that unite more than fifty percent of bodies of local government at the relevant territorial levels. All-Ukrainian associations shall have to submit information about the number of their members to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on the annual basis before December 31. A local association may be set up at least by three bodies of local government.
Members of associations may be village, settlement, town, city, district, regional, and oblast councils. At the same time, a body of local government may be a member of only one All-Ukrainian association. A local association may participation in the activities of an AllUkrainian association as a collective member (Article 4 of the present Law).
Article 5 of the present Law shall include provisions related to the contents of and the procedure for associations to use their names and symbols.
According to Article 6 of the present Law, associations may, on a voluntary basis, set up unions by way of concluding between and among them agreements for cooperation and mutual assistance.
It shall be specified that associations in their activities shall be independent from government bodies, shall not be accountable to or controlled by them. It shall be prohibited for government bodies, their officials and functionaries to interfere with chartered activities of associations and their unions. In addition, it shall be prohibited for associations to interfere with activities of government bodies (Article 7 of the present Law).
According to Article 8 of the present Law, the decision to initiate the establishment of an association shall be made by a village, settlement, town, city, district, regional, or oblast council. The decision to set up an association shall be made at the constituent assembly (conference, convention) of the relevant association. The constituent assembly (conference, convention) of the relevant association shall approve the charter of the association and elect its management bodies. The constituent assembly (conference, convention) of the relevant association shall identify authorized individuals to carry out state registration of the association and to tackle other issues related to setting up the association.
Requirements to the charter of an association shall be written into Article 9 of the present Law.
Article 10 of the present Law shall establish that an association shall be subject to mandatory state registration. State registration of AllUkrainian associations shall be carried out by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and state registration of local associations shall be carried out by territorial bodies of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the registration body) at the location of the relevant association. The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine shall keep the Register of Associations of Bodies of Local Government. It shall also be stipulated that an association shall gain a legal status from the moment of its state registration. The relevant amendments shall also be introduced to Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Private Individuals – Entrepreneurs”.
Article 11 of the present Law shall specify that the registration body shall make the decision to refuse state registration to an association in the instance: · when there are reasons envisaged by the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Private Individuals – Entrepreneurs”; · when the charter of an association does not meet the legislation; · when an inaccuracy or a mistake in the documents submitted for registration of an association was not corrected within the established deadline of ten days.
The procedure for state registration of amendments and changes introduced into the charter of an association shall be determined by Article 12 of the present Law.
Article 13 of the present Law shall envisage that an association shall be terminated by way of its reorganization or liquidation. Reorganization of an association shall be carried out by a decision of the general meeting. Liquidation of an association shall be carried out in the instance written into its charter or by a court decision.
According to Article 14 of the present Law, for the purpose of fulfilling its chartered objectives, an association shall exercise, in particular the following powers: · consolidate efforts of bodies of local government regarding the protection of rights and legal interests of the relevant territorial communities, the solution of problems common for territorial communities, exchange of experience, and the creation of conditions for more effective exercise of powers of local government; · develop and submit to bodies of local government proposals for the development of local government that shall be subject to mandatory examination; · provide methods, legal and informational assistance to bodies of local government in the exercise of their powers; · summarize and disseminate the experience of activities of bodies of local government in issues of social and economic and cultural development; · help bodies of local government prepare drafts of their acts, programs of social and economic and cultural development of territorial communities; · set up the mass media and carry out publishing activities; · prepare proposals regarding the structure and personnel of executive bodies of village, settlement, town, city, district, regional, and oblast councils, as well as the terms and conditions for labor remuneration of employees and so on.
Management bodies of an association shall be the general meeting (conference, convention) of authorized representatives of bodies of local government that shall be members of the relevant association, an executive body and other bodies written into the charter. The general meeting (conference, convention) shall make decisions on any issues related to activities of the relevant association (Article 15 of the present Law).
The main principles of cooperation between associations and government bodies shall be specified in Chapter IV of the present Law. In particular, it shall be envisaged that associations shall cooperate with government bodies in the development and implementation of government policies in the area of local and regional development for the purpose of agreeing national, regional and local interests. The main forms of cooperation between associations and government bodies shall be: · participation in consultations of All-Ukrainian associations with the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and central bodies of executive power; · participation in consultations of local associations and regional branches of All-Ukrainian associations with local bodies of executive power; · the provision of conclusions made by associations on draft regulatory and legislative documents dealing with issues related to local and regional development: by All-Ukrainian associations – to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, and central bodies of executive power; by local and regional branches of All-Ukrainian associations – to local bodies of executive power.
Article 21 of the present Law shall stipulate that sources for forming assets of an association shall be entrance and membership fees, as well as other sources allowed by the legislation. Assets and resources shall be used by an association to fulfill its chartered objectives and may not be used for other purposes. For the purpose of fulfilling its chartered objectives, an association shall have the right to set up enterprises, to establish facilities, institutions or organizations, if this is written into its charter.
The present Law shall introduce amendments to part 1 of Article 38 of the Budget Code of Ukraine. According to these amendments, the protocol on the results of consultations carried out by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine with All-Ukrainian associations of bodies of local government shall also be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine along with the draft law on the State Budget of Ukraine approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Membership fees to an association of bodies of local government and their voluntary unions shall belong to expenditures of local budgets that shall not be taken into consideration at the time of identifying the volume of interbudgetary transfers (amendments to Article 91 of the Budget Code of Ukraine).
By way of introducing amendments to sub-item 7.11.1 of item 7.11 of Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine “On Enterprise Profit Tax”, it shall be set forth that associations and other voluntary unions of bodies of local government shall be non-profit institutions and organizations.