Bylaws

This version of the Bylaws was approved by the Assembly of Wikimedia Serbia on December 6, 2020

На другим језицима: српски / srpski (sr) Pursuant to Articles 12 and 22 of the Law on Associations (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 51/2009 and 99/2011) and Articles 9 of its Bylaws, the Assembly of Wikimedia Serbia, at its session on December 6, 2020 in Belgrade, adopted new Bylaws of Wikimedia Serbia Legal status of the Association The Association Wikimedia Serbia (hereinafter: the Association) is an voluntary, non-government and non-profit legal entity, internationally recognized as a national local chapter, included in the Wikimedia movement. Statement of Purpose Article 1 The Association is a non-governmental, non-party and non-profit association, established for an unlimited period of time, with the goal of developing "free knowledge". The activities of the Association are aimed at finding answers to the question of how knowledge can become completely free and accessible to all human beings. Goals Article 2 The goal of the Association is to promote and support the creation, development and reproduction of free content free of charge explicitly, and the idea of equal access to knowledge and education. The Association defines free content as works or expressions that anyone is free to study, apply, use, reproduce or modify for any purpose. In the process of creation, development and reproduction of free content, the Association promotes the use of a software system "wiki" and the encyclopedia "Wikipedia", which is located on the servers of the Wikimedia Foundation. Article 3 With the aim to achieve its goals, the Association shall particularly: reproduce and support the reproduction of free content in digital or any other formats contributing the development of international Wikimedia's projects; collect, publish and distribute information, and do PR regarding free content; participate in resolving scientific, social, cultural and legal problems related to free content at the local, national and international level; collect and research scientific and expert literature about information technologies, information society, free content, lexicography, encyclopedism, journalism and other fields included in international Wikimedia's projects; organize and co-organize professional gatherings, advisory meetings, seminars and other forms of professional education in the area of free knowledge; publish pro bono publications on free knowledge issues; co-operate with universities, professional associations and other national and international organizations focusing on free knowledge issues. Name and Headquarters Article 4 The name of the Association in Serbian shall be: Викимедија Србије. The name of the Association in English shall be: Wikimedia Serbia. The Association shall be headquartered in Belgrade. The Association shall carry out its activities within the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Membership Article 5 Any individual who accepts the goals and Bylaws of the Association, and fills in the application form can, under equal conditions determined by the Bylaws, become a member of the Association. A person over 14 years of age may be a member of the Association in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Bylaws. The membership application by a minor who is 14 years of age or above shall be accompanied with a written consent of his/her legal representative ratified pursuant to the law. The statement referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article must contain a certificate of signature verification in accordance with the law. Article 6 A person may be admitted to the membership of the Association in the status of a regular or associate member. By submitting the application form, a person acquires the status of a candidate for membership in the Association. The status of an associate member is acquired by a candidate for membership who participates in the work of the Association by spreading the idea of free knowledge, while the status of a regular member is acquired by a candidate for membership who participates in the work of the Association by participating in regular activities. A regular member of the Association may propose that a person who is in the process of admission to membership, or has already been elected to associate membership, be elected to the status of a regular member. The decision on admission to associate or regular membership is made by the Assembly of the Association. Article 7 Termination of the status of a member may occur on the basis of a statement of the will of the member, the death of the member or on the basis of a decision of the Assembly of the Association. Any member may withdraw from membership by submitting a written statement of resignation to the legal representative of the Association, or a person authorized by the legal representative, in which case it is considered that the status of a member ceased on the day of submission of a written statement of resignation. The Assembly may decide to expel from regular or associate membership due to prolonged inactivity of the member, non-compliance with the Bylaws of the Association, damage to the reputation of the Association or due to serious breach of obligations, at the proposal of the Board or regular member of the Association. The Board submits a proposal on expulsion from regular or associate membership to the Assembly of the Association through the President of the Association who is obliged to include the proposal of the Board in the proposed agenda at the first regular or extraordinary session of the Assembly. Membership rights, obligations and responsibilities Article 8 A regular member is entitled to: participate in the achievement of the goals of the Association on an equal footing with other members; directly take part in the Assembly decision making and take part in the decision making via the Association bodies; vote on the appointment of members in the Association bodies and be appointed to the Association bodies; be timely and fully informed on the work and activities of the Association. An associate member is entitled to: participate in the achievement of the goals of the Association on an equal footing with other members; be timely and fully informed on the work and activities of the Association; A member is duty-bound to: actively contribute to the achievement of the goals of the Association; participate in the activities of the Association according his/her interests; perform other duties entrusted to him/her by the Board; accepts all duties and obligations from the normative acts of the Association Bodies Article 9 Bodies of the Association shall be: Assembly President and Vice President Board Temporary Bodies The President of the Association has the status of a legal representative. The Association may have several persons authorized to represent it. The Assembly of the Association may make a decision on the appointment of another authorized person to represent the Association. Other persons authorized to represent have the competencies of the legal representative of the Association in accordance with the decision of the Assembly of the Association. Assembly Article 10 The Assembly is the highest body of the Association. The Assembly of the Association consists of all regular members of the Association. The Assembly meets regularly once a year. The regular and extraordinary session of the Assembly of the Association is convened by the President of the Association, and in case of his absence by the Vice President of the Association, by written notice of the place and time of the Assembly of the Association, as well as the proposed agenda. The session is chaired by the President of the Association, and in case of his absence, the Vice President of the Association, the President of the Board of Directors or the oldest regular member of the Assembly present. An extraordinary session of the Assembly may be scheduled at the reasoned proposal of the Board of Directors, as well as at the initiative of at least seven regular members of the Association. The initiative is submitted to the Board of Directors in writing and must state the issues to be considered. An extraordinary session will be held no later than 30 days from the day of submitting the request or initiative. An invitation for a session of the Assembly can also be sent by e-mail. The date of sending the e-mail is considered the date of the invitation for the session of the Assembly. The Assembly can also be held online, in which case it is considered that the place of the Assembly is the address of the seat of the Association. Article 11 Assembly shall: adopt Bylaws and any amendments to these Bylaws; adopt other general enactments; establish and abolish temporary bodies of the Association; appoint and dismiss the President, Vice President, the Board members and members of the temporary bodies of the Association; appoint and dismiss other authorized persons to represent the Association; decide on admission to membership and expulsion from membership of the Association; consider reports and makes decisions ordering the elimination of irregularities observed in the work of the bodies of the Association; review and adopt at least once a year The Board Practices Report, as well as reports on the work of the temporary bodies of the Association; review and adopt the financial report; take decisions on statutory changes and the dissolution of the Association; take decisions on association in national and foreign federations and other associations; decide on the treatment of property in case of termination of the Association; decide on the conflict of competences of other bodies of the Association; performs other tasks that are placed under the competence of the Assembly by the Law and this Bylaws. The Assembly decides if at least seven regular members are present. If the required number of regular members does not attend the session of the Assembly, the session will be held again within 30 days at the latest. The Assembly shall take a decision by a majority of votes of the present regular members. A two-thirds majority of the votes of the present regular members is required for the adoption of decisions on amendments to the Bylaws, status changes and the dissolution of the Association. The Assembly of the Association, when considering The Board Practices Report, may: adopt The Board Practices Report; requests the completion of The Board Practices Report, in which case an extraordinary session of the Assembly shall be scheduled, which must be held within a month, at which the updated Board Practices Report is considered; does not adopt The Board Practices Report, in which case it votes on the trust of the Board. President and Vice President Article 12 The President shall: represent the Association, preside over the Assembly, compile and propose the agenda of the Assembly of the Association, execute the decisions of the Assembly, certifie application forms, conduct the verification procedure of regular members at the session of the Assembly or authorize the person who conducts the verification procedure, perform other tasks within its scope determined by law, this Bylaws and other general acts of the Association. The Vice President of the Association assists in the work of the President of the Association and performs other tasks entrusted to him by the Assembly. The term of office of the President and Vice President of the Association is two years and they can be re-elected to the same position. The function of the President and Vice-President of the Association terminates upon the expiration of the mandate, resignation, dismissal, loss of legal capacity or death. If the term of office of the President of the Association ends prematurely, due to resignation, loss of legal capacity or death, an extraordinary session of the Assembly must be convened without delay in order to elect a new President of the Association. Board Article 13 The Board shall be the executive body of the Association and shall be charged with the implementation of the statutory goals of the Association. Any regular member of the Association can run for a member of the Board. Each regular member of the Association may nominate another regular member of the Association for a member of the Board, with his consent. The President, Vice President or legal representative of the Association may be a member of the Board at the same time. The Board has a minimum of four and a maximum of nine members. The Board, from among its members, elects the President of the Board. The term of office of the Board members is two years and they can be re-elected to the same position. Article 14 The Board shall: co-ordinate the work of the Association between Assembly sessions and adopt decisions for implementing the goals of the Association; decide on rights, obligations and responsibilities from employment; adopt financial decisions; decides on the amount of membership fee; inform members and the public about the work and activities of the Association; submit an annual Board Practices Report to the Assembly of the Association; decides on other issues for which other bodies of the Association are not authorized, by law or by the Bylaws. The Board of Directors works in sessions attended by more than half of the members, and decides by a majority vote of all members. Board Meetings can also be held online. In that case, the vote is valid if confirmed by e-mail. The President of the Board chairs the meetings of the Board. The President of the Board signs the decisions of the Board. The President of the Board submits all decisions of the Board to the President of the Association, or another authorized person who is obliged to keep records of decisions of the Board. Temporary Bodies Article 15 The decision on the formation of a temporary body is made by the Assembly of the Association. When making the decision from the previous paragraph of this article, the Assembly of the Association determines by the same decision: competencies of temporary bodies, way of working and decision making, manner of submitting work reports. Temporary bodies may be formed for a definite or indefinite period of time and shall be abolished by a decision of the Assembly. The rules of Article 13 of the Bylaws relating to the appointment and capacity of members of the Board shall apply accordingly to the appointment and capacity of members of the temporary bodies of the Association, unless otherwise decided by the Assembly. Transparency Article 16 The work of the Association shall be transparent. The Board shall be charged with regularity notifying the membership and public about the work and activities of the Association, directly or via e-mail, website of the Association wikimedia.rs, public statements or any other adequate manner. The financial reports and other reports of the activity of the Association shall be addressed to the Assembly. Article 17 In order to achieve its goals, the Association establishes contacts and cooperates with other associations, organizations and individuals in the country and abroad. The Association may become a member of other national and international free content associations. Funding Article 18 The Association shall obtain funds from membership fees, grants, donations and by applying for financial support of its projects. All the financial resources of the Association shall be used to achieve and promote its statutory goals including coverage of the costs of the everyday work in accordance with the normative acts of the Association. Dissolution of the Association Article 19 The Association shall be dissolute by the Assembly decision and in other instances provided by the law. Assets in the Event of Dissolution Article 20 In the event of dissolution, the assets of the Association shall be transferred to the domestic non-profit legal person directed on the same or similar goals which shall be identified by the Assembly in the decision on dissolution. Seal Article 21 The Association shall have a round seal with the following words inscribed: „Викимедија Србије Београд“ along with the stylized human figure centered. Final Provisions Article 22 These Bylaws shall replace the prior Bylaws of the Association adopted on February 11, 2018. Article 23 The Law on Associations shall directly apply to all issues not regulated by these Bylaws. Article 24 These Bylaws shall take effect on the eighth day from the date of its adoption by the Assembly. President of the Assembly, Miroslav Loci