In conformity with the regulations of the article 6 of the Law on affiliation of citizens with associations, social and political organizations founded in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (“Sluzbeni list SFRJ”, 42/90) and based on article 8 of the Statute, during the meeting which was held on 10 th May 2004 in Belgrade, the Assembly of the Young Lawyers of Serbia passed:

AMMENDMENT TO THE STATUTE OF THE “YOUNG LAWYERS OF SERBIA” ASSOCIATION

CHAPTER

GENERAL REGULATIONS

Article 1
Regulating areas  

The YLS Statute determines aims and tasks, name and head office, representation and advocacy, relations and cooperation with other associations, rights and duties of members, organs, acquisition and disposal of means, amendments to the statute and dissolution of the association.

Article 2
Name

The name of the association is “Young Lawyers of Serbia”.
Abbreviation is “YLS”

Article 3
Head office  

Head office of the YLS is in Belgrade.
Branches are formed on territory of one or more municipalities out of Belgrade.
The association operates on the territory of Serbia and Montenegro.

Article 4
Marks

 Name, emblem and other marks of the YLS can only be used by authorized members, and not without written permission of the Managing Board.

Article 5
Legal person

 The YLS has all the characteristics of legal person with rights, duties and responsibilities determined by the Constitution, Law and this Statute.
The president is legal representative of the association during the legal transactions.

Article 6
Stamp

 The association possesses its own account, symbol and a stamp.

The stamp is round and there is Cyrillic text “Mladi Pravnici Srbije” with abbreviation in center. “ Beograd” is written on the bottom.

Article 7
Membership in international organizations

 In order to accomplish its goals the association contacts and cooperates with other professional, scientific, educational and similar associations and organizations in country and abroad.
The Association may become member of international associations provided that the Managing Board decides so by a two-thirds vote.
Entrance into international organizations is registered by competent federal organ within 30 days, according to the Law.

Article 8
Goals

 The YLS was founded as non-governmental, non-profit and non-partisan association of citizens.

The aim of the YLS is education and professional training of young lawyers, modernization and reform of judiciary based on experiences and technical solutions of EU, creation of new judiciary image, improvement of democracy and establishment of legal and civil country. There is continual tendency of approaching the Rule of Law ideal, experience exchange and solving issues of interest for future decision makers.

In order to achieve its goals the Association:

Article 9
Apolitical disposition of the organization and membership

 The young lawyers of Serbia are to restrain from enrolling in any kind of political party, religious communities, sects, or any other organization which aims at spreading of religious, racial, sexual, or any other discrimination. Members of the Association are to restrain from intermingling their own activities with those of the Association so as to avoid public impression of the association being politically, religiously and in any other manner oriented.

MEMBERSHIP  

Article 10
Members

 To become member of the YLS one must be citizen of Serbia and Montenegro, and of legal age. A member is also required to be Bachelor of Laws, opt for goals of the Statute and the Association and determined to contribute to the achievement of these goals. Members must be formally accepted into the Association, in accordance with required procedure.

Managing Board can decide on admission of membership for law school students and persons who are not lawyers, provided they appear instrumental for the Association.

Managing Board can also decide on nominating lawyers and friends of the Association into honorary members. The honorary members have the right to participate the assembly but they have no vote. Their number is not included into quorum of the assembly. Conditions stated in art.10 par.1 are not related to them and they are not obliged to pay the membership fee.

Article 11
Rights and duties of members

 Application for entrance into YLS is submitted in written form to the Secretary General or presidents of the branches.

Application must be accompanied by:

Managing Board decides on membership admission, while members of branches are also required opinion of branch president.

Members who had become members upon the former statute keep their membership.

Article 12
Rights and duties of members

Each member has the right to:

A member is obliged to:

Article 13
Membership termination

Membership is suspended in case of:

A member may resign from the YLS writing the resignation statement.

Membership is terminated in case of permanent inactivity of a member.

Decision on membership termination is made by Managing Board, in conformity with regulations.

BRANCHES

Article 14
Branches of the Association

 For the territory of one or more municipalities out of Belgrade, the Association may form branches.

Each branch organizes meetings and activities locally.

A branch has no competence of legal person. Provided the Managing Board permits it, branch may make its own stamp and open its account within the account of the Association.

If necessary, a branch may be formed, provided there are at least 15 members of the YLS.

Each branch is required to:

In case there are less then 15 members in a branch, or if there is no justified need for forming a branch, members enter the nearest branch in region.

Article 15
Branch admission procedure

Written application form for admission must be submitted to the Secretary General.

Application must be accompanied by:

Each application for the admission into the YLS which meets the requirements will be approved provided the Managing Board determines it justified.

Foundation of each branch is confirmed at the next Assembly.

Branches founded before the enforcement of this statute keep their membership.

Article 16
Compulsory branch organs

Compulsory branch organs are:

-President of the branch

-Vice president of the branch

-Board

Apart from the president and vice president, the Board is consisted of Project Coordinator, Public Relations and relations with the head office Coordinator and Financial Coordinator.

Branch members are to attend meetings, which are at least held once in a month.

Representatives for the assembly are elected at meetings.

Work of department is directed by department president who is elected by the members of that department.

Article 17
Membership resignation

Each branch may temporary resign from the YLS having submitted notification by the president and paying off all the debts to the YLS.

Article 17a

In case that a number of members is less than minimum required, the president of a branch is obliged to report on that to the secretary general and attempt to increase the number of members within the period of 6 months until it required number is reached. In case of failure the Managing Board decides on dissolution of that branch.

Article 18
Disqualification

Provided two-thirds of the Managing Board members determine that a branch is no longer qualified for the membership, since it does not meet requirements of the admission to the YLS, that branch shall be suspended until the final decision of two-thirds of the Assembly is made.

 THE YLS ORGANS

Article 19
The YLS organs

The YLS organs are:

THE YLS ASSEMBLY

Article 20
Supreme authority

The Assembly is the YLS organ of supreme authority. It accomplishes tasks of the YLS and has a right to perform all the tasks and rights, interests and privileges which are not under the jurisdiction of the Managing Board, president or any other functionary of the YLS.

Article 21
Jurisdiction

Assembly of the YLS has jurisdiction to:

-Appoint and recall organs of the YLS;

-Certify the nomination of all functionaries of the Managing Board, which are directly elected by it;

-Decide on membership admission and termination of the branches, in conformity with proposals of the Managing Board;

-Approve action and strategic plan of the YLS;

-Pass the annual budget, annual and account and report about operation of other organs;

-Approve plans and reports of the Managing Board;

-Pass amendments to the Statute of the YLS;

-Pass the Operating procedure.

The assembly acts in accordance with reports and references of the Managing Board or single members of the MB.

Article 22
Organization

The Assembly is composed of the MB members, member representatives and branch representatives. Number of the Assembly members is dependant upon the total number of the YLS members and they are elected at the meeting in Belgrade.

Branch representatives are elected at the meeting of branches and their number depends upon the total number of the YLS members. In case that the president of the board cannot attend the General Assembly, he shall inform the Secretary General about the board representatives at the meeting of the branches.

Article 23
Vote

Number of the representatives depends upon the total number of members, and is in conformity with the following regulation:

Number of members Number of representatives

Up to 15 1

16-25 2

26-35 3

36-45 4

46-59 5

60-75 6

76-96 7

97-119 8

120-145 9

146-170 10

On next 25 members one more vote is added.

Boards cannot represent nor vote for one another.

In case of equal number of votes the President makes decision.

Article 24
Quorum and decision making

Provided at least half of the elected representatives are present quorum is formed at the Assembly. The assembly makes decision by majority vote. Majority of two-thirds of the representatives present is required for decisions concerning the amendments of the Statute.

Article 25
Meetings

Meetings of the assembly are held at least annually. Extraordinary meetings may be convened by the President, Managing Board, or by the board presidents whose number of votes at the Assembly is larger than one-fourth.

Activities of the Assembly are recorded as well as decisions and conclusions made at the Assembly of the Association.

Records are certified by the President of the Association or by a person in charge assigned by the Assembly.

Activities of the Assemble are regulated by Rules of order of the YLS Assembly.

Convening of the Assembly is announced at the Web page.

Managing Board

Article 26
Composition and duties

Managing Board is consisted of the President and Executive Director according to their functions, and 5 members who are vice presidents of the YLS and they are in charge of the following committees:

Managing Board disposes of the property and funds of the Association and consequently represents the executive organ of the YLS.

MB decides on the expulsion of the YLS functionaries, except for those elected by the General Assembly.

Secretary General attends meetings of the MB but he does not have a vote.

Article 27
MB duties

It is duty of the MB to:

Article 28
MB meetings

MB meetings are held at least 6 times a year at a time and place determined by the Executive Director.

Managing Board is convened when the majority decides so.

In extraordinary cases the President may initiate meeting of the MB.

Article 29
Quorum

At every meeting quorum consists of 51% of total number of the MB members.

Article 30
Vote

Each member has one vote.

Voting is accomplished by a show of hands, unless the president or the majority of two-thirds decides contrary.

Authorizing another member to vote is not permitted.

Decisions are made by majority of votes, unless this statute or the MB decides that majority of two-thirds is required.

Functionaries

Article 31
Elected functionaries

Elected functionaries of the YLS are:

-President

-Executive director

-Vice presidents

Article 32
Appointed functionaries

Secretary General is appointed functionary of the YLS.

Article 33
Duties

Functionaries are to accomplish tasks entrusted to them by the President, Executive Director or the Statute.

Article 34
Election

Each functionary is to be elected by the majority of votes at the General Assembly.

Article 35
Confirmation of the appointment

Appointment of the functionaries must be confirmed by the majority of vote at the General Assembly after it has been proposed by the President or long-distance vote. In case of long-distance vote, elections are directed by the Secretary General on behalf of the President.

Article 36
Mandate of the functionaries

Functionaries are to serve two years, beginning with the day of their appointment, and they can be re-elected for the same position.

If there is a cancellation of the annual assembly the functionaries may remain at their position after the time limit, until elections are held.

Article37
Vacant position

Vacant positions, apart from those of the President and Executive Director can be filled by president’s appointment and approval of the General Assembly.

If the president is not capable of accomplishing his duties properly, with the approval of the General assembly, the presidency is given to the Executive Director until the end of mandate.

Article 38
Conflict of duties

Functionaries of the YLS cannot discharge any duty within the branches, unless the President proposes so and the General Assembly confirms.

Article 39
Nomination procedure

Each nomination for electoral functions must be submitted in precisely determined form to the Secretary General or via the branches, within the period of 15 days prior to the opening of the Electoral Assembly.

Within the period of 7 days, after the termination of the previous time limit, the Secretary General forwards the list of nominees with their CVs to both the head office in Belgrade and the branches.

Each nomination must have written support from a candidate’s branch. In case a nominee is the president of a branch nomination is signed by functionary who is next in importance to the president.

Article 40
Nomination Committee

With the approval of MB, the president appoints the Nomination Committee. It is duty of this committee to examine qualifications and competences of the nominees for certain position. The committee reports to the General Assembly.

Article 41
Nomination conditions

Each nominee must be under 35 years of age. If a nominee for the electoral or appointed function belongs to a branch, that branch must pay off all the YLS membership fees before the election or nomination.

Each nominee must be registered and present at the Electoral Assembly. Exceptionally, the President may decide contrary when there are justified reasons to act so.

Candidate for the position of president or executive director must have at least one year experience in electoral function of the YLS.

Article 42
Continuity of the membership

All the functionaries must maintain membership in their branches during the period of their mandate.

Otherwise, they are automatically removed from their position, except when they become members of other branch.

Article 43
Oath

Each functionary must take an oath at the annual assembly or immediately after the nomination.

Article 44
Compensation

All the functionaries accomplish their tasks with no compensation for their work.

Exceptionally, as a permanent employee, Secretary General may be paid a salary.

Duties of the functionaries

Article 45
The YLS President

The President of the Association is elected by the Assembly with the mandate of two years. In extraordinary cases the president is substituted by the Executive Director.

It is duty of the President to:

The president may devolve his authority to the MB members.

Article 46
The YLS Executive Director

Executive Director of the Association:

Article 47
Vice-presidents of the YLS

Vice-presidents of the YLS are obliged to:

Article 48
Secretary General of the YLS

Secretary General:

Program of activities

Article 49
Scope of activities

In order to achieve the goals of the YLS program of activities will be administered by five committees which will be directed by vice-presidents:

Prepares and proposes annual budget of the YLS, ensures that it is implemented in appropriate manner, initiates improvement of the YLS financial condition, annually and quarterly reports on finances to the Managing Board and branches, notifies of duties account according to membership fees, and is obliged to collect them, keeps financial books of the Association, disposes of the finances of the Association, directed by the MB of the YLS.

Expresses its opinion about proposed projects, contributes to their accomplishment and contacts the donors.

Contacts and cooperates with branches, and especially:

-Promotes goals of the YLS;

-Directs and assists the work of functionaries aiming at development of branches;

-Organizes management training and training program;

-Promotes and gives instructions about accomplishment of planned activities;

-Ensures that communication between the YLS and branches is efficient.

Through image creation, contacts with the media and making membership motivating program, PR and Marketing Committee tends to improve the image of the YLS in media. It also proposes programs which will contribute to the improvement of the Association’s finances.

Contacts the kindred organizations in the region, Europe and all over the world, proposes better means of connection, is being informed about projects of international organizations, communicates with similar non-governmental organizations and proposes cooperating means, liaisons with institutions and organizations in country and abroad.

Article 50
Awards

Managing Board shall make Award Program in order to give recognition and award extraordinary devotion to achievement of the YLS goals.

Finances

Article 51
The fiscal years begins and ends with Calendar year.

Article 52
Accountancy

All the accounts shall be kept by the Financial Committee and supervised by the Managing Board.

Article 53
Budget

Financial Committee submits proposal of the budget for the following year to the Managing Board for confirmation.

Together with the recommendations proposed budget is then forwarded to the General Assembly to approve it.

Financial duties

Article 54
Resources

Financial resources of necessity for achievement of its goals and tasks the Association provides from:

Income and outgoings of the Association are sorted and classified depending upon their purposes, in conformity with goals, tasks and schedule of the following year, and in accordance with competences stated in this Statute.

Article 55
Financial duties

All the branches pay annual fee to the head office of the Association on the following principle: Half of the fee is intended to cover the expenses of the head office and the Association, while the other half is kept by the branches.

Article 56
Membership suspension

Branches with delay in meeting financial duties toward the YLS greater than three months will be suspended from membership and shall not have the vote until their duties are paid.

Suspension is decided by the two-thirds majority of the vote in the Managing Board.

Article 57
Exclusion

Branch failing to meet financial duties toward the YLS for more than12 months will be excluded from the Association.

Membership expulsion is proposed by the Managing Board and decided by the two-thirds majority of the vote in the General Assembly.

Openness to the public

Article 58
Openness to the public

The work of the YLS is open to the public.

The YLS informs the public about its work and disposal of means via the mass media, conferences, professional and other meetings.

Openness to the public is achieved by the mass media invitations to the sessions and significant meetings.

The Association keeps its right to publish internal bulletin in order to inform the members about the YLS future actions and activities in general.

Amendments to the statute

Article 59
Amendments to the statute

Amendments to the statute may be initiated by the Managing Board or by 10% of the YLS members.

Draft amendments to the Statute or new statute is determined by the Managing Board and put forth for discussion.

Managing Board considers objections and suggestions and determines draft statute.

Voting for amendments to the Statute is held in conformity with the regulations of this Statute.

Regulations of the Statute are interpreted by the Managing Board.

Article 60
Coming into effect

The Statute comes into effect at the day of its enactment; it is signed by the president and is being applied starting from the day of its proclamation in the YLS office.

Once the new Statute has come into effect, the regulations of the old one are no longer valid. Persons, who became members upon the regulations of the old statute, and in opposition to regulations of this Statute, are excluded from membership.

Any alteration of articles of this statute will come into effect within the period of seven days, beginning with the convening of the General Assembly, when the amendments to the articles were enacted.

Dissolution

Article 61
Dissolution

The YLS is dissolved if:

Article 62
Notification of the competent organ

The President of the Association is obliged to notify the competent organ of the dissolution of the Association within the period of fifteen days in order to remove the Association from the registry.

Article 63
Disposal of remaining funds after the dissolution

Having met all the duties, property and finances of the Association are given to law student organizations at the universities of Serbia.