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A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as
volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
, to form a body (or
organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...
) to accomplish a purpose. Common examples include trade associations,
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
s, learned societies,
professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and t ...
s, and environmental groups. All such associations reflect
freedom of association Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline mem ...
in ultimate terms (members may choose whether to join or leave), although membership is not necessarily voluntary in the sense that one's employment may effectively require it via occupational closure. For example, in order for particular associations to function effectively, they might need to be mandatory or at least strongly encouraged, as is true of
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
s. Because of this, some people prefer the term common-interest association to describe groups which form out of a common interest, although this term is not widely used or understood. Voluntary associations may be incorporated or unincorporated; for example, in the US, unions gained additional powers by incorporating. 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 A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
as subcontractors to government departments or local authorities). Voluntary association is also used to refer to political reforms, especially in the context of urbanization, granting individuals greater freedoms to associate in civil society as they wished, or not at all.


Differences by jurisdictions

In many
jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...
s 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 (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. 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 Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...
, for example, there were various organizations ranging from elite clubs of wealthy men (''hetaireiai'') to private religious or professional associations. In preindustrial societies, governmental administrative duties were often handled by voluntary associations such as
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...
s. In medieval Europe, guilds often controlled towns.Kohn M. (2003)
Merchant Associations in Pre-Industrial Europe
Ch. 16 i

.
Merchant guilds enforced contracts through embargoes and sanctions on their members, and also adjudicated disputes. However, by the 1800s, merchant guilds had largely disappeared. Economic historians have debated the precise role that merchant guilds played in premodern society and economic growth. In the United Kingdom, craft guilds were more successful than merchant guilds Starr M. (1919)
A Worker Looks At History, Ch. 7: The Guilds
Plebs League

and formed livery companies which exerted significant influence on society.


Legal status

A standard definition of an unincorporated association was given by
Lord Justice Lawton Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...
in the English trust law case '' Conservative and Unionist Central Office v Burrell'' (1981): In most countries, an unincorporated association does not have
separate legal personality In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason for ...
, and few members of the association usually enjoy
limited liability Limited liability is a legal status in which a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company or partnership. If a company that provides limited liability to it ...
. However, in some countries they are treated as having separate
legal personality Legal capacity is a quality denoting either the legal aptitude of a person to have rights and liabilities (in this sense also called transaction capacity), or altogether the personhood itself in regard to an entity other than a natural pers ...
for tax purposes: for example, in the United Kingdom an unincorporated association is assessable to corporation tax. 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
partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
s. A special kind of partnership is a co-operative which is usually founded on one person-one 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 A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
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.


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. 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''. 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.


Scotland

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


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. * In
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, during the 1980s, then Los Angeles County district attorney
Ira Reiner Ira Kenneth Reiner (born February 15, 1936) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Los Angeles City Attorney from 1981 to 1984 and Los Angeles County District Attorney from 1984 to 1992. The McMartin preschool trial occurred dur ...
decided to use California's unincorporated associations law to attack street gangs and the habit of their members of tagging
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
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 Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, 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. * New York state law regarding unincorporated associations actually gives members of the association more protection against liability than that given to either stockholders of
corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...
s or members of limited liability companies. This was noted in the case of ''
International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.
vs
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
'', 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 states and territories in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, 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 1985'' that is in force in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
, allows for the creation of a legal entity able to buy and sell land and in general, enter into legally binding contracts. 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.


Israel

In
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, many non-profit organizations (NPOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are established as registered nonprofit associations (Hebrew '','' plural ) (some are established as public benefit companies (Hebrew ) not to be confused with public benefit corporations). ' are regulated by the Associations Law, 1980. An ' is a body corporate, though not a company. The ' is successor to the Ottoman Association which predated the State of Israel, and was established by the now-superseded 1909 Ottoman Law on Associations, based on the French law of 1901. An ' must register with the ''Rasham Ha’amutot'' ('Registrar of Amutot'), under the purview of the ''Rashut Hata’agidim'' ('Corporations Authority') of the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...
.


Civil law

Certain civil-law systems classify an association as a special form of
contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
ual relationship.


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.


France

In
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, all voluntary associations are non-profit. They may count as unincorporated () or incorporated (') and are created in terms of and governed by the
Waldeck-Rousseau Pierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau (; 2 December 184610 August 1904) was a French Republican politician who served as the Prime Minister of France. Early life Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Brittany. His father, René Wa ...
Act 1901. This is why '' association loi (de) 1901'' is subjoined to their name, except in the
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
- Moselle area, which is governed by local law in this regard (the area was German in 1901), and are therefore called '' association loi (de) 1908''.. If the association responding to defined criteria, like social or medical help, for example, they can be declared "public utility association" () by French authorities. Associations created under the 1901 act have a significant amount of freedom in their internal operation, such as management or authorized members.


Germany

The German Civil Code sets out different rights and rules for an unincorporated association () with legal identity (''Vereine'', art. 21–79 BGB) versus an incorporated association () with full
legal person In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason f ...
ality, which the law treats as partnerships (''Gesellschaften'', art. 705–740 BGB). Associations can be for-profit () or non-for-profit ('). Associations which pursue a public purpose can apply for tax exemptions ().


Freedom of association

The freedom of association stands in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...
: Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights also protects the right to
freedom of assembly Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...
and association.


See also

* Active citizenship *
Anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
*
Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Victoria) Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Victoria) is the act of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia to make provision for the incorporation of certain associations, for the regulation of these incorporated associations. It was assented to on ...
* Associations of the faithful (canon law) * Collective *
Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
* Encyclopedia of Associations * Not-for-profit arts organization *
Registered association (Finland) In Finland a (Finnish for registered association) or (Swedish) is a registered, non-profit organization. The abbreviations (Finnish) or (Swedish) are used as a suffix ending of the association's name, added when the association is officially ...
* Swiss association
SMILE Society ( India)
* Unincorporated association * Voluntaryism


Notes


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), . {{DEFAULTSORT:Voluntary Association Non-profit organizations Legal entities Legal terminology Civil society Types of organization Volunteering