An association is a form of free and voluntary organization of several natural or legal persons for the purpose of promoting, protecting or exercising certain rights, goals or beliefs (cultural, sports, humanitarian, educational, etc.), without the intention of gaining profit. If you have decided to achieve your ideas through an association, below are some guidelines that can help you.
The procedure of founding and registering of an association begins with a founding assembly of an association. But, before the founding assembly, it is necessary to determine the founders of the association and basic information of an association
1. Founders
The association can be founded by at least 3 people, physical or legal persons. The Law on Associations stipulates that the founder also may be a minor with the age of 14 and an adult deprived of legal capacity in the part of concluding legal affairs, but both with the prior consent of the legal representative or guardian.
2. Basic information of an association
Basic information of an association are determined in the statute of an association. Each association must have a statute as its basic general act. Before the founding assembly it is necessary to draft a proposal of the statute so that it could be discussed on the founding assembly, and so that the decision on adopting of the statute could be made. The mandatory part of the content of the statute is prescribed by Article 13, paragraph 3 of the Law on Associations, and paragraph 4 of the same article prescribes what other provisions the statute may contain (optional part of the content). When drafting a proposal of the statute, we recommend to study the previous legal provision on content of the statute so that you don’t miss anything important.
3. The founding assembly
After drafting of a proposal of the statute and all the information about the association are determined, the founding assembly can be held. The minutes of the founding assembly must be made, on which daily agenda is determined. The daily agenda should cover a few main points, such as:
4. Registering in the register of associations
The person authorized to represent the association submits to the competent administrative body, on whose territory is the headquarters of an association, an application for registering in the Register of Associations. The application for registering in the register of associations is submitted in two identical copies with all the necessary and prescribed attachments (which are stated on the application itself) and it is necessary to pay an administrative fee in the amount of 35.00 HRK of the state stamps, which should be put on the application.
After considering the application for registration and determining the compliance of the Statute of the Association with the law and the validity of other attachments submitted with the application, the competent body for the registration of associations in the Register of Associations will make a decision on registering in the Register of Associations. The competent administrative authority is obliged to issue a decision on the application for registration within 30 days since submitting of a duly filed application for registering.
5. After registration
Once the registration of an association has been done successfully, it is necessary to make a seal of the association, to register in the Central Bureau of Statistics for classification and determining the registration number, within 30 days from getting a decision on registering in the Register of Associations, and after that it possible to open an account in a selected bank.
Conclusion
Following these steps and instructions, the process of founding and registering an association can be very simple and does not take long. All relevant regulations as well as the forms required for the association’s registration can be found on the web pages of the Ministry of Administration of the Republic of Croatia.
If you can’t manage to form an association yourself, an attorney can help you do that through a power of attorney.
Authors:
elena.musak@odvjetnik-bistrovic.hr
mislav.bistrovic@odvjetnik-bistrovic.hr