THE CHARITIES ACT, 1993

The Charities Act, 1993

Constitution

of

Esperanto-Asocio de Britio

General

The name of the Association shall be ‘Esperanto-Asocio de Britio’.

The Association shall be non-profit making, and shall be financed by voluntary subscriptions, donations and sales from the Esperanto bookshop.

The head office of the Association shall be situated in the United Kingdom.

Object and Powers

To advance the education of the public in the international language Esperanto, and in pursuance of that object but not further or otherwise the Association shall have the following powers:-

To provide and distribute information about Esperanto;
To encourage the use of Esperanto by individuals, groups and organisations;
To organise and conduct educational courses, lectures and conferences in and about Esperanto;
To collaborate with examining bodies with regard to examinations in Esperanto, and to conduct its own examinations at various levels;
To appoint delegates or representatives to attend meetings or conferences or to liaise with other national or international organisations, and to use accumulated funds for such purposes where necessary;
To solicit donations either single, annual or under covenant; and
To do all such lawful things as are necessary to the attainment of such object.

Membership

Membership shall be divided into categories:-

‘Full Member/Plena Membro’ membership category (for people of at least eighteen years of age). This membership category confers voting rights.
Other membership categories, that have been approved by the Annual General Meeting. Not all of these other categories will necessarily confer voting rights.

Membership shall be open to any person who supports the object of the Association

Persons belonging to all categories of membership shall be entitled to attend and speak at all General Meetings, but only members in categories with voting rights shall be entitled to vote.

A member with voting rights unable to attend a General Meeting may appoint another member with voting rights as his proxy by giving at least fourteen days’ notice to the Honorary Secretary.

The membership subscription for each category of membership shall be determined annually by the Annual General Meeting. It shall be payable on becoming a member and on each anniversary thereof.

The Association shall keep a register of members at its head office.

Any person may apply for membership of the Association in writing to the Honorary Secretary, such application to be accompanied by the appropriate membership subscription, which shall be returned if membership is not granted.

Membership shall lapse if the membership subscription or any part thereof is more than three months in arrears.

Management

The affairs of the Association shall be conducted by a Management Committee elected by the Annual General Meeting to serve until the end of the next Annual General Meeting.

The Management Committee shall consist of the President, at least one and not more than three Vice-Presidents, the Honorary Secretary and the Honorary Treasurer, together with at least four and not more than nine members of the Association.

The Management Committee shall meet at least four times in every year at such times and in such places as it shall determine.

The Management Committee shall ensure that all donations are separately recorded and are shown as a separate item in the Annual Statement of Accounts of the Association.

The Management Committee shall have power to provide for any property belonging to the Association or to which the Association is entitled to be vested in at least two trustees nominated by the Management Committee.

The Management Committee shall have power to appoint, pay and dismiss employees of the Association.

The Management Committee may create sub-committees from among the members of the Association for specific purposes or procedures. Such sub-committees shall be responsible to the Management Committee for their activities.

In the event of the death or resignation of any member of the Management Committee, the Management Committee shall have power to elect a successor from among the members of the Association to serve until the end of the next Annual General Meeting.

The Management Committee shall be responsible for summoning an Annual General Meeting to take place within fifteen months of the previous Annual General Meeting.

General Meetings

A minimum of twenty members with voting rights shall form a quorum.

The Annual General Meeting shall work from a prepared agenda previously circulated to all members at least twenty-one days before the date of the meeting.

The Annual General Meeting shall:-

receive from the Management Committee the Annual Report, the Annual Statement of Accounts and the Balance Sheet of the Association;
determine the membership subscriptions for the ensuing period;
elect the members of the Management Committee to serve until the end of the next Annual General Meeting;
appoint the Independent Examiner (of the accounts) for the ensuing period;
remit to the Management Committee for consideration or action any comment or suggestion; and
consider and take action on any other business of which due notice has been given.

An Extraordinary General Meeting may be convened by the Management Committee, and shall be so convened at the request in writing to the Honorary Secretary of at least twenty members of the Association with voting rights.

An Extraordinary General Meeting shall work from a prepared agenda previously circulated to all members at least twenty-one days before the date of the meeting

An Extraordinary General Meeting shall not consider or take action on matters which do not appear on its previously circulated agenda.

Amendment and Dissolution

The members in General Meeting may add to or repeal any of the above provisions by a two-thirds’ majority after at least twenty-one days’ notice of the proposed amendment has been given to all members,
provided that no amendment may be made which would cause the Association to cease to be a charity in law.

In the event of the dissolution of the Association, the assets remaining after satisfaction of the debts and other liabilities shall not be paid to the members, but shall be paid to some other charitable organisation or organisations having objects similar to that of the Association.

The Association was founded on 13th March 1976. It is registered with the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales pursuant to Section 4 of the Charities Act 1993, under registration number 272676.
Update to the
Constitution of
Esperanto-Asocio de Britio:
This edition of the constitution was updated in 1996, to reflect the following changes:

The Charities Act of 1993, which supersedes the charities act of 1960.

The replacement of the word ‘Britujo’ by ‘Britio’ in the Association’s title.
This decision was passed at the 1992 AGM in Sheffield.

Following the merger of BEA and EAB Ltd (agreed at the 1995 AGM in York),
the inclusion of funding by ‘sales from the Esperanto bookshop’.

The creation of a range of membership categories, to offer more convenient and affordable options to potential members.
This decision was passed at the 1995 AGM in York.

(Because there are now several membership categories that confer voting rights)
the replacement of the term ‘full member’ by ‘member with voting rights’ or ‘member’ as appropriate in the above text.

On advice from the charity commission, appointment of ‘the Auditor’ has been replaced by appointment of ‘the Independent Examiner (of the accounts)’.

These changes were approved by the membership at the Annual General Meeting of the Esperanto-Asocio de Britio on 4th May 1997 in Perth, Scotland.

W. G. T. Walker,
Protokola Sekretario de EAB.