Voluntary association

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary

organization, common-interest association,[1]:266 association, or
society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement,
usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to accomplish
a purpose.[2] Common examples include trade associations, trade
unions, learned societies, professional associations, and
environmental groups.

Membership is not necessarily voluntary: in order for particular

associations to function correctly they might need to be mandatory Annual General Meeting of a
or at least strongly encouraged, as is common with many teachers typical very small volunteer non-
unions in the US. Because of this, some people use the term profit organisation (the Monaro
common-interest association to describe groups which form out of a Folk Society) Office bearers sitting
common interest, although this term is not widely used or are president, secretary and public
understood.[1] officer.

Voluntary associations may be incorporated or unincorporated; for

example, in the US, unions gained additional powers by incorporating.[3] In the UK, the terms Voluntary
Association or Voluntary Organisation cover every type of group from a small local Residents' Association
to large Associations (often Registered Charities) with multimillion-pound turnover that run large-scale
business operations (often providing some kind of public service as subcontractors to government
departments or local authorities).

Contents
1 Differences by jurisdictions
2 History
3 Legal status
4 Common law
4.1 England and Wales
4.2 Scotland
4.3 United States
4.4 Australia
4.5 Canada
5 Civil law
5.1 France
5.2 Germany
6 Freedom of association
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
Differences by jurisdictions
In many jurisdictions no formalities are necessary to start an association. In some jurisdictions, there is a
minimum for the number of persons starting an association.

Some jurisdictions require that the association register with the police or other official body to inform the
public of the association's existence. This could be a tool of political control or intimidation, and also a
way of protecting the economy from fraud.

In many such jurisdictions, only a registered association (or in the UK an incorporated body) is a juristic
person whose members are not responsible for the financial acts of the association. Any group of persons
may, of course, work as an informal association, but in such cases, each person making a transaction in
the name of the association takes responsibility for that transaction, just as if it were that individual's
personal transaction.[4]

There are many countries where the formation of truly independent Voluntary Associations is effectively
proscribed by law or where they are theoretically legally permitted, but in practice are persecuted; for
example, where membership brings unwelcome attention from police or other state agencies.

History
Voluntary groups are a broad and original form of nonprofit
organizations, and have existed since ancient history. In Ancient
Greece, for example, there were various organizations ranging from
elite clubs of wealthy men (hetaireiai)[5] to private religious or
professional associations.[6]

In preindustrial societies, governmental administrative duties were

often handled by voluntary associations such as guilds. In medieval
Europe, guilds often controlled towns.[7] Merchant guilds enforced
contracts through embargoes and sanctions on their members, and Civil lecture at Budapest Brainbar
also adjudicated disputes.[8] However, by the 1800s, merchant guilds
had largely disappeared.[9] Economic historians have debated the precise role that merchant guilds played
in premodern society and economic growth.[10]

In the United Kingdom, craft guilds were more successful than merchant guilds[11] and formed livery
companies which exerted significant influence on society.[12]

Legal status
A standard definition of an unincorporated association was given by Lord Justice Lawton in the English
trust law case Conservative and Unionist Central Office v Burrell (1981):[13]

"unincorporated association" [means] two or more persons bound together for one or more
common purposes, not being business purposes, by mutual undertakings, each having mutual
duties and obligations, in an organisation which has rules which identify in whom control of it
 and its funds rests and upon what terms and which can be joined or left at will.[14]

In most countries, an unincorporated association does not have separate legal personality, and few
members of the association usually enjoy limited liability.[15] However, in some countries they are treated
as having separate legal personality for tax purposes.[16] However, because of their lack of legal
personality, legacies to unincorporated associations are sometimes subject to general common law
prohibitions against purpose trusts.

Associations that are organized for profit or financial gain are usually called partnerships.[17] A special
kind of partnership is a co-operative which is usually founded on one personone vote principle and
distributes its profits according to the amount of goods produced or bought by the members.
Associations may take the form of a non-profit organization or they may be not-for-profit corporations;
this does not mean that the association cannot make benefits from its activity, but all the benefits must
be reinvested. Most associations have some kind of document or documents that regulate the way in
which the body meets and operates. Such an instrument is often called the organization's bylaws,
constitution, regulations, or agreement of association.[18]

Common law
England and Wales

Under English law, an unincorporated association consists of two or more members bound by the rules of
a society which has at some point in time, been founded.[19]

Several theories have been proposed as to the way that such associations hold rights. A transfer may be
considered to have been made to the association's members directly as joint tenants or tenants in
common. Alternatively, the funds transferred may be considered to have been under the terms of a
private purpose trust. Many purpose trusts fail for want of a beneficiary and this may therefore may result
in the gift failing. However, some purpose trusts are valid, and, accordingly, some cases have decided that
the rights associated with unincorporated associations are held on this basis. The dominant theory,
however, is that the rights are transferred to the members or officers absolutely, perhaps on trust for the
members, but are importantly bound by contracts inter se.[20]

Accordingly, on dissolution, the distribution of these rights depends on how they were held. A purpose
trust may by its nature survive the dissolution of the association, or it may not. If it fails as a result of the
dissolution, then the rights will be held on resulting trust for the contributors, unless they can be shown
to have renounced their right to such a trust in their favour. If the rights are held subject to contract, then
they will be divided among the surviving membership upon dissolution, according to the terms of the
contracts inter se or an implied term according to contribution. If, as a result of this contract or statute,
no member can claim, the rights will pass to the Crown as bona vacantia. This conclusion has also been
suggested where the association dissolves because only one member remains, although this has been
doubted by some commentators who believe the last members should be entitled to the rights.[20]

Scotland

Scottish law on unincorporated associations is essentially the same as English law.[21]

United States

Each state sets its own laws as to what constitutes an unincorporated association and how it is to be
treated under the laws. In the United States, voluntary associations which were incorporated were "pre-
eminent" in collective action.[22]

In California, during the 1980s, then Los Angeles district attorney Ira Reiner decided to use
California's unincorporated associations law to attack street gangs and the habit of their members
of tagging graffiti in public spaces, in an attempt to abate vandalism and to recover cleanup costs.
He sued the street gangs by name, with cases titled such as City of Los Angeles v. The Bloods and
City of Los Angeles v. The Crips, which then allowed the city to go after any member of the street
gang, as a member of the unincorporated association being sued, for damages resulting from graffiti
tagging involving that gang's name.
In Texas, state law has statutes concerning unincorporated non-profit associations that allow
unincorporated associations that meet certain criteria to operate as entities independent of their
members, with the right to own property, make contracts, sue and be sued, with limited liability for
their officers and members.[23]
New York state law regarding unincorporated associations actually gives members of the
association more protection against liability than that given to either stockholders of corporations
or members of limited liability companies. This was noted in the case of the Associated Press
organization, because the members of the AP are not liable for damages for the organization's
actions unless the association as a whole approved it.

Australia

In most Australian states and territories, a similar set of laws allows not-for-profit associations to become
legal entities with a limit to the liability of their members. An example of such a law, the Associations
Incorporation Act that is in force in South Australia, allows for the creation of a legal entity able to buy
and sell land and in general, enter into legally binding contracts.[24] Many clubs and societies begin life as
an unincorporated body and seek to attain incorporated status to protect its members from legal liability
and in many cases to seek government financial assistance only available to an incorporated body. Clubs
and societies wishing to incorporate must meet the provisions of the relevant state act and lodge their
constitution with the corresponding state government authority.[25]

Canada

Under the Quebec Civil Code an association is categorized as a type of statutory specific contract set
forth in a constitution. An association can become incorporated with its own legal identity so that it may,
e.g., open a bank account, enter into contracts (rent real estate, hire employees, take out an insurance
policy), or sue or be sued.

Civil law
Certain civil-law systems classify an association as a special form of contractual relationship.

France

In France, all voluntary associations are non-profit. They may count as unincorporated (association non-
In France, all voluntary associations are non-profit. They may count as unincorporated (association non-
dclare) or incorporated (association dclare), public (association d'utilit publique) or private, and are
created in terms of and governed by the Waldeck-Rousseau Act 1901. This is why association loi 1901 is
subjoined to their name, except in Alsace-Moselle which is governed by local law in this regard (the area
was German in 1901) and are therefore called association loi 1908.

Germany
The German Civil Code sets out different rights and rules for an unincorporated association (nicht
eingetragener Verein) with legal identity (Vereine, art. 21-79 BGB) versus an incorporated association
(eingetragener Verein) with full legal personality, which the law treats as partnerships (Gesellschaften, art.
705-740 BGB). Associations can be for-profit (wirtschaftlicher Verein), non-for-profit (Idealverein), or
public (gemeinntziger Verein).

Freedom of association
The freedom of association stands in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[26]

Article 20

(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights also protects the right to freedom of assembly
and association.

Article 11 Freedom of assembly and association

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of

association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the
protection of his interests.
2. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are
prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of
national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the
protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of
others. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the
exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of the
administration of the State.

See also
Active citizenship Wikimedia Commons has
Anarchism media related to
Club Voluntary associations.
Collective
Cooperative
 Eingetragener Verein
Not-for-profit arts organization
Rekisterity yhdistys
Society
Swiss Verein
Unincorporated associations in English law
Voluntaryism
Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Victoria)
Encyclopedia of Associations

Notes
1. Prins HEL et al. (2010). Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge (https://books.google.com/books?id=yP6
TrXRpPdMC). Cengage Learning.
2. association (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/association) Entry at Dictionary.reference.com.
3. Bradburn B. (2009). The Citizenship Revolution: Politics and the Creation of the American Union, 1774-1804 (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=IbqTcM4rrR8C&pg=PA217#v=onepage&q&f=false), p. 217. University of
Virginia Press.
4. Robert, Henry M.; et al. (2011). Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo
Press. p.2. ISBN978-0-306-82020-5.
5. Politics on the Margins: The Athenian "Hetaireiai" in 415 B.C. (http://www.jstor.org/stable/4436529). Historia:
Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte.
6. Ascough, Richard S. "Greco-Roman Philosophic, Religious, and Voluntary Associations (http://www.lastseminar
y.com/the-greco-roman-world/Greco-Roman%20Philosophic%20Religious%20and%20Voluntary%20Associatio
ns.pdf)". In Community Formation in the Early Church and the Church Today. Edited by Richard N. Longenecker,
324. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002
7. Kohn M. (2003). Merchant Associations in Pre-Industrial Europe (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstr
act_id=427763). Ch. 16 in The Origins of Western Economic Success: Commerce, Finance, and Government in
Preindustrial Europe (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~mkohn/origins.html).
8. (1990). The role of institutions in the revival of trade: The law merchant, private judges, and the champagne
fairs. The role of institutions in the revival of trade: The law merchant, private judges, and the champagne fairs
(http://www.researchgate.net/publication/227352676_THE_ROLE_OF_INSTITUTIONS_IN_THE_REVIVAL_OF_
TRADE_THE_LAW_MERCHANT_PRIVATE_JUDGES_AND_THE_CHAMPAGNE_FAIRS/file/d912f50d1d6a7d746
6.pdf). Economics & Politics.
9. [The Rise and Fall of the Merchant Guilds: Re-thinking the Comparative Study of Commercial Institutions in
Premodern Europe. Journal of Interdisciplinary History. Preprint (http://vkc.library.uu.nl/vkc/seh/research/Lists/W
orking%20Papers/Attachments/41/Gelderblom%20and%20Grafe%20on%20Rise%20and%20Fall%20of%20Merc
hant%20Guilds.pdf).
10. Review of Institutions and European Trade: Merchant Guilds, 1000-1800 (http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/printp
df/review/1102) published in Reviews in History.
11. Starr M. (1919). A Worker Looks At History, Ch. 7: The Guilds (http://www.marxists.org/archive/starr-mark/wo
rker-looks-history/ch07.htm). Plebs League. Google Books entry (https://books.google.com/books/about/A_w
orker_looks_at_history.html?id=vX1YAAAAMAAJ).
12. History of London The Guilds and Livery Companies (http://www.history.co.uk/explore-history/history-of-londo
n/the-guilds-and-livery-companies.html). History.co.uk.
13. [1981] EWCA Civ 2 (http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/1981/2.html), [1982] 1 WLR 522
14. The definition was for tax purposes, but was expressed to be of general application.
15. XU, Y. & Ngai, N. P. (2011). "Moral Resources and Political Capital: Theorizing the Relationship Between
Voluntary Service Organizations and the Development of Civil Society in China. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector
Quarterly. 40(2), 247269". Nvs.sagepub.com. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
16. For example, in the United Kingdom an unincorporated association is assessable to corporation tax.
 17. In most common law legal systems, partnership is defined by statute as "the relationship which subsists
between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profit"
18. Robert III, Henry M.; et al. (2011). Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Da
Capo Press. p.85. ISBN978-0-306-82019-9.
19. Pettit, Philip (2009). Equity and the Law of Trusts. Oxford University Press. p.62. ISBN978-0-19956102-5.
20. Pettit, Philip (2009). Equity and the Law of Trusts. Oxford University Press. pp.6265. ISBN978-0-19956102-
5.
21. Report on Unincorporated Associations (Report). Scottish Law Commission. November 2009. SCOT LAW COM
No 217. Retrieved 1 February 2014. "We are not aware of any material differences between the law of
Scotland and the law of England and Wales regarding unincorporated associations."
22. Sacred Companies: Organizational Aspects of Religion and Religious Aspects of Organizations, p108 (https://bo
oks.google.com/books?id=5OBplT1ehtgC&pg=PA107#v=onepage&q&f=false). Oxford University Press.
23. "Nonprofit Organizations". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
24. "Associations Incorporation Act 1985". Government of South Australia, Attorney-General's Department.
Retrieved 17 October 2012.
25. "How to incorporate". The Government of South Australia, Consumer & Business Services. Retrieved
17 October 2012.
26. "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights". The United Nations. Retrieved September 8, 2012.

References
For English law on Unincorporated Associations see:Ashton & Reid on Clubs and Associations,
Jordans, 2nd ed (2011); Stewart, Campbell, Baughen 'The Law of Unincorporated Associations',
OUP (2011), ISBN 978-0199600397.

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