The Academy of Applied Pre School

Theaching and Health Studies

Seminary

ENGLISH

ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS

Ćuprija, 2023.

CONTENT
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................3

1. Citizen Association........................................................................................................4

1.1. Association members.............................................................................................5

1.2. Founder's Act and Association Statute................................................................6

1.3. The purpose of association....................................................................................7

1.4. Organiyational unity.............................................................................................8

CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................9

LITERATURE...................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION

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 In our country, associations such as Doctors and Parents for Science and Ethics are
present whose goal is to fight for the basic human right, the right to choose. They fight for
vaccination to not be compulsory, because compulsory vaccination violates the basic
human right to choose, constitutional law, and ethics regarding freedom of choice.

I would also like to mention the Association of Midwives of the Republic of Serbia,
where I participated in the congress in 2019 with the theme of Waterbirth. The congresses
organized by these associations serve the purpose of health workers sharing specific
knowledge and experience with each other. I am the only certified midwife for waterbirth
by Waterbirth International, and I myself gave birth in water, and then performed 30 home
water births in Slovenia, which was presented as knowledge and experience gained at the
third congress of the Association of Midwives of Serbia.

The Health Professionals of Serbia association organized a congress in Vrnjačka Banja

in 2020, where I participated with the theme of Pain-free Natural Birth.

The Association of Parents, Breastfeeding Counseling, deals with promoting

breastfeeding and is the only association in the territory of RS that deals with this. I had
cooperation with them this year when they invited me to give a talk on Natural Birth at
their breastfeeding festival.

The Balkan Association of Midwives elected me as the vice-president of the

association in 2019. Our goal was to legalize home birth in the Balkans and to raise
awareness of the risks and benefits of the same, for mother and baby. We had cooperation
with other European organizations that protect health. I left that position in 2020, a year
later, due to being overwhelmed with responsibilities and duties that come with the
position.

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 1. Citizen Association

The Association represents a voluntary, non-governmental and non-profit organization

established on the freedom of association of several physical or legal entities that is
established to achieve and improve a certain common goal or general goal and interest that
are not prohibited by the Constitution and the Law. One of the freedoms guaranteed by the
Constitution is the freedom of association. This freedom is a legal guarantee of the
connection of several entities that result in the establishment of an association. The
recognition of this freedom by the Constitution is determined by socio-economic reasons in
the broadest sense of the word. Every freedom, including the freedom of association,
enables the achievement of certain goals. In this case, it is a matter of common goals, goals
that exceed the possibilities of the individual. Only by the association of several
individuals does the basis for the desired results arise. Only the association leads to the
creation of a certain organization, which rises and separates from its founders, and which
acts through its organs in the direction of realizing a certain goal. The goal of the
association is always of a non-profit nature, as if profit was declared as a goal, then it
would not be a matter of an association, but a commercial society. There are different types
of associations depending on the proclaimed goals (association: writers, lawyers,
economists, builders, singers, cyclists, hairdressers, wine makers, etc.).

At this point, we will approach the consideration of the essential elements of the
association in order to present it in its main outlines.

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 1.1. Association members

Associations can be founded by legal entities, individuals or both legal and physical
entities. The law explicitly states that at least three founders can establish an association,
with at least one of the founders having residency or headquarters in the territory of the
Republic of Serbia. Founders can be domestic and foreign legal and physical entities. The
rule is that the founders must have legal and business capacity. If a minor is listed as a
founder, then the consent of his legal representative is also required. The founder cannot be
a state organ, as it is the bearer of power. By nature, the founders of the association also
become its members. In addition to them, any other person can become a member of the
association, provided they meet the conditions in accordance with the association's statute.
The association maintains a record of its members. Members make up the personal
substrate of the association and they are in the forefront, because they associate and use the
association's property to achieve a common goal. Hence, associations are called universitas
personarum in contrast to institutions where people serve the property of the institution to
achieve the goals for which the property is intended. Access to the association is free.
Similarly, each member is free to leave the association, of course, respecting the rules of
voluntary exit.

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 1.2. Founder's Act and Association Statute

The law explicitly regulates the existence of the founding act and the statute as
necessary elements for the establishment and existence of an association. The founding act
and the first statute are adopted at the so-called founding assembly. The founding act has
the function of establishing the association, and upon registration of the association with
the competent authority, that function is exhausted. From the moment of registration, the
basic act becomes the statute, which regulates relationships within the association and/or
the association towards the outside.

The founding act of the association must contain: the personal names or names of the
founders and their residences or headquarters; the name and headquarters and address of
the association; the field of achieving the goals of the association; the goals of the
association; the personal name and residence and address of the person authorized to
represent the association; the signatures of the founders and their unique ID numbers for
citizens, or passport numbers and issuing country for foreign citizens, or the name,
registration number, and tax identification number for legal entities, and the date of
adoption of the founding act.

The statute must regulate: the name and headquarters of the association; the field of
achieving the goals, the goals for which it is established; the internal organization, bodies,
their powers, composition, method of election and dismissal, duration of mandates, and
decision-making method; the procedure for amending and supplementing the statute and
the procedure for adopting and changing other general acts of the association;
representation of the association; achieving public visibility of the work; conditions and
method of membership and termination of membership; rights, obligations and
responsibility of members; the method of acquiring funds for achieving the goals and
managing funds, including provisions on economic or other activity for profit-making, if
the association engages in such; the method of deciding on status changes and termination
of work; the handling of the association's property in case of the termination of the
association; the procedure for adopting financial and other reports; the appearance and
contents of the seal; other issues determined by law. The statute may regulate other issues
of significance for the operation of the association. The statute is the basic general act of
the association. Other general acts, if adopted by the association, must be in accordance

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with the statute. Provisions of another general act of the association that are contrary to the
statute are null and void.

1.3. The purpose of association

The purpose of forming an association implies the existence of the will of each
founder to establish the association for the purpose of achieving a common non-profit goal.
This will is expressed through the founding act, while for members who later join the
association, it is expressed through the act of joining. The association of several persons
does not necessarily lead to the creation of an association, but can be the basis for the
creation of another form, such as a commercial company, where the goal is aimed at profit.
In the case of an association, the purpose of founding must always be of a non-profit
nature. There is no exhaustive list, but any goal that does not have the objective of earning
a profit is suitable to be declared as a reason for the establishment of the association (e.g.
association of lawyers, association of writers, association of animal lovers, etc.). However,
guaranteed freedom of association is not unlimited, and there are limits to it. The law
explicitly states that the goals and activities of the association cannot be directed towards
the violent overthrow of the constitutional order and the disruption of the territorial
integrity of the Republic of Serbia, the violation of guaranteed human or minority rights or
the inciting and promoting of inequality, hatred and intolerance based on racial, national,
religious or other affiliation or orientation, as well as gender, sex, physical, mental or other
characteristics and abilities.

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 1.4. Organizational unity

Association is a form that allows individuals to unite and pool resources to achieve a
common goal. As such, the association constitutes the organizational unity of several
elements, primarily its members, assets, and specific objective of action. As a special type
of collective, the legal system recognizes the association's legal subjectivity, or legal,
business and delictual capacity. Legal subjectivity is a very important element of the
association, as it allows it to participate in legal transactions (acquires rights and
obligations) that are above the socio-economic transactions (exchange of goods and
services), which further means enabling the achievement of the association's function,
which is action in the context of achieving a non-profit common goal. However,
associations that do not have the status of a legal entity are subject to the rules of civil
partnership, unless the Law on Associations specifies otherwise.

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 CONCLUSION

The association is a voluntary, non-government, and non-profit organization based on

the freedom of association of multiple physical or legal entities, established to achieve and
improve a certain common goal or general goal and interests that are not prohibited by the
Constitution and the Law.

The freedom of association serves the achievement of certain goals. These are
common goals, goals that surpass the abilities of an individual. Only by joining,
individuals gain the ability to achieve them. Only association leads to the establishment of
a certain organization, which rises and separates from its founders, and which acts through
its organs towards the realization of the proclaimed goal. The goal of the association is
always non-profit in nature, because if profit were declared as the goal, then there would
not be an association, but a business entity.

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 LITERATURE

1. Law on Associations (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 51/2009 dated
July 14, 2009);
2. Regulation on Content, Method of Entry and Management of the Register of
Associations (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 80/09 dated September
29, 2009);
3. Dragoljub Stojanović, Introduction to Civil Law, Belgrade, 1999;
4. Andrija Gams, Introduction to Civil Law, Belgrade, 1994.

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