The Statute
CHARTER OF THE
ARTISTS UNITED FOR ANIMALS
ASSOCIATION
1. CONSTITUTION AND AIMS
1. The non-profit, non-political, and socially beneficial Association entitled Artists United for Animals has been founded by Rosalba Nattero and Giancarlo Barbadoro in order to bring animal-loving artists together, whether they be musicians, writers, actors, poets, film directors, painters, photographers, or professionals working in other forms of art, so as to organize initiatives and events that promote an antispeciesist philosophy and animal rights.
2. The Association’s organizers intend to launch an appeal to all artists who are aware of the problems affecting animals?who are exploited in every possible way, including the most bizarre, by society at large because they are considered to be “objects” and consequently considered unworthy of respect or dignity?in the hope that their art could become a peaceful form of protest that may spread a message in favor of animal liberation.
3. The Association advocates the concept of animals as sentient beings that have the same rights as humans, as they too, like Mankind, are children of Mother Earth. We believe that non-human animals share the same destiny with Mankind, inhabiting the same planet that generated man and other living species. We believe that animals are people with their own intelligence, awareness, and culture. Therefore all children of Mother Earth should have a recognized right to life, freedom, happiness, and spirituality.
4. The Association’s principles are based on the book “Tutti Figli di Madre Terra”
(All Children of Mother Earth), by Rosalba Nattero and Giancarlo Barbadoro.
5. The Association is inspired by the principles of ecospirituality that are stated in the Ecospirituality Manifesto of the Ecospirituality Foundation non-profit organization (Associazione Fondazione per l’Ecospiritualità), an NGO in Consultative Status with the United Nations, based in Turin.
6. The Association can work with any national and/or international institution in order to pursue its aims
.
2. HEADQUARTERS AND OFFICIAL SYMBOL
1. The Association’s headquarters are in Turin (Italy), Piazza Statuto no. 15.
2. The Association uses the design shown below as its official symbol:
3. ACTIVITIES
1. The Association organizes cultural activities and performances such as concerts, conferences, events, conventions, exhibitions, and lectures.
2. The Association organizes initiatives designed to promote an antispeciesist philosophy.
3. The Association carries out work supporting and cooperating with organizations and associations that share its aims.
4. The Association has no party-political, religious, or profit-making aims and only pursues socially useful goals, carrying out its work in a pluralistic, voluntary, and democratic manner.
5. The Association organizes public events of all kinds and produces printed matter, multimedia content, and IT content in order to publicize its activities, offering members of the public free access to such activities.
4. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
1. An organizational structure featuring specific bodies has been set up to ensure the smooth running of the Association. These bodies are the following:
a. The Board of Directors
The Board of Directors, made up of no more than ten people, is the body that collectively manages the Association and comprises of Founding Members.
It is the Chairperson’s inalienable right to appoint members to the Board of Directors, chosen from amongst the Founding Members.
The duties of the Board are the following:
a. to carry out the Assembly’s resolutions;
b. to establish the Association’s program;
c. to draft budgets and financial statements;
d. to consider the admission of new members;
e. to consider the admission of new members to the College of Artists;
f. to stipulate all contracts and deeds relevant to the Association’s work;
g. to manage all the real estate and assets owned by the Association or entrusted to it;
h. to set up working committees;
i. to approve amendments to the Charter;
l. to approve the winding-up and closure of the Association, if necessary, with the subsequent transfer of its assets.
The Board of Directors elects the following from among its members:
a. a Chairperson, who is the Association’s legal representative and is responsible for all its activities as well as all its administrative aspects; who is responsible for daily administration and, in exceptional cases of necessity and/or urgency, may perform emergency administrative duties, once these have been approved by the Board of Directors;
b. a Vice-Chairperson, who supports the Chairperson and may take over the Chairperson’s duties if he or she is impeded from carrying them out;
c. a Treasurer, who manages the Association’s funds through an appropriate bookkeeping system, carrying out checks, and preparing financial statements and budgets.
d. a Secretary who is responsible for drafting the minutes of Board meetings and Assemblies and signs them, along with the Chairperson. The Secretary coordinates the Chairperson’s work in carrying out ordinary and extraordinary management duties and is responsible for keeping documents such as the minutes of Assemblies and the list of members.
The offices elected within the Board of Directors have a five-year term and may be re-elected, and they are elected or re-confirmed by the Board of Directors itself.
Ordinary Board meetings take place every six months, while an extraordinary meeting may be requested by at least three-quarters of its members or by special request of the Chairperson.
b. The College of Artists
This body brings together the artists that have joined the Association in their capacity as members and share the aims and principles stated in this Charter, committing themselves to putting them into action with their work.
In order to become a member of the College of Artists, an artist must be introduced by at least one member of the College itself and hand in his or her artistic Curriculum Vitae.
c. The Assembly
This body brings together all the members of the Association so as to enable them to discuss and approve reports of the association’s activities in general, as well as to allow its members to put forward proposals and suggest new areas of activity for the Association.
An ordinary meeting of the Assembly is called by the Chairperson once a year, while an extraordinary meeting may be called by the Board of Directors and/or the Chairperson in cases of extreme necessity where urgent consultation is required. Meetings must be called using the appropriate ways and means (registered mail, e-mails that need not be certified).
An ordinary meeting of the Assembly discusses the following matters:
a. the approval of budgets and financial statements;
b. the approval of the general course of action of the Association’s program;
c. the proposal of new general courses of action for the Association’s program;
d. the decision concerning where profit from the Association’s work should be allocated and the establishment of funds and reserve funds.
Within each statutory body, voting is valid if three-quarters of the members of each particular body are present or represented. Each member has the right to one vote. Written proxy votes are admissible.
Voting shall be done by show of hands and is valid if three-quarters of the members with voting rights are present or represented by proxy.
Majority decisions should not be clearly detrimental to the interests of the minority and should consider the needs of the latter, in keeping with the spirit and aims of this Charter.
2. Each body envisaged by this Charter may establish new or specific functions for itself and draft its own internal regulations in order to simplify its work and the tasks envisaged for it in this Charter.
5. MEMBERSHIP PROCEDURES
1. All those who wish to contribute to the Association’s statutory aims and support the work and spirit of the Association may join in its activities, whether they be individuals or legal entities, as long as the latter is represented by a properly elected figurehead.
2. A prospective member shall, upon having read this Charter, fill out and hand in an admission form to the Board of Directors, which?possessing the unalienable authority to do so?shall evaluate the suitability of the prospective member, in keeping with the principles of this Charter, and subsequently accept the application.
3. The criteria adopted by the Board of Directors for evaluating the suitability of members are based on precise considerations that ensure the smooth operation of the Association’s activities:
a. the absence of a criminal record;
b. the enjoyment of all civil rights;
c. the ability to respect others in a spirit of social harmony;
d. to have reached the age of 18. Children under 18 require their parents’ permission to participate in the work of the Association as members;
e. that there be no ideological conflict with the principles or the spirit of the Association’s declared intent;
f. that there be no conduct that counters or repudiates the democratic and voluntary principles of the Association;
g. that the purpose of their membership be none other than what is declared and implied in the proposals and spirit of this Charter;
h. that there should be no perceivable intention, either direct or that can be reasonably deduced, to harm the work of the Association and its members.
4. There are three types of membership:
a. Founding Member: this permanent title is bestowed on those who have been appointed by the Chairperson thanks to their clear contribution to the spirit and principles stated in this Charter.
b. Supporting Member: this title is bestowed on those who intend to actively contribute to the Association’s work by participating in its activities.
c. Honorary Member: this title is bestowed on those who have been appointed as such by the Board of Directors in acknowledgement of special merit benefiting the work of the Association or due to their moral allegiance to its statutory principles.
Honorary Members can participate in the Assembly’s work but do not have the right to vote.
The Chairperson has the unalienable right to veto any prospective Honorary Member whom he or she feels does not respect the spirit and rules of this Charter.
5. All members are required to participate in the Association’s work personally, spontaneously, and voluntarily, without seeking to make a profit.
6. All members are bound to observe the provisions of this Charter and to carry out the resolutions promulgated by its statutory bodies in keeping with the spirit and wording of this Charter.
7. Membership is valid for an unlimited period of time. It may, however, be withdrawn under certain conditions:
a. upon a member’s death;
b. should a member decide to cancel his or her membership;
c. should a member fail to observe the provisions of this Charter;
d. should a member fail to fulfill statutory tasks and principles;
e. should a member morally, materially, or financially harm the work of the Association, or give good reason to believe he or she may be likely to morally, materially, or financially harm the Association.
8. All members receive a membership card proving their membership of the Association and their adherence to its rules, together with a copy of this Charter that informs them of the Association’s goals and procedures. The membership card is stamped every year as proof that the membership fee has been paid.
9. The Association requires the annual payment of a single membership fee, whose amount is established by the Board of Directors. Honorary Members are exempt from payment, as well as those who are clearly unable to pay.
10. Any member may stand for election to posts within the Association and put forward new proposals. In both cases, requests should be made directly to the Board of Directors, which will evaluate their feasibility.
6. ASSETS AND INCOME, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, STATUTORY
SAFEGUARDING BODIES, AMENDMENTS TO THE CHARTER,
AND THE WINDING UP OF THE ASSOCIATION
1. The Association’s Assets
a. The Association’s assets consist of its intellectual and financial assets.
b. The Association’s intellectual assets are considered to be anything that is produced by the joint activities carried out by its members. The Board of Directors has the inalienable right to keep, manage, and safeguard these assets. All the bodies officially recognized by the Board and that operate officially in keeping with the provisions of this Charter are permitted to use these assets, following the procedures envisaged by the Board.
c. The Association’s financial assets are considered to be the sum of its membership fees, the movable and immovable property that has been acquired, the donations received, the reserve fund and any income earned from the activities carried out by the Association. It is the inalienable responsibility of the Board of Directors to manage and safeguard these assets, in accordance with the Association’s needs that result from its statutory activities. Any extra funds that remain once the Association’s ordinary needs have been addressed should be allocated to extraordinary expenses, including any philanthropic donations made to those in genuine need, whether they be members of the Association or not.
d. The Association, in pursuance of its own aims, which must necessarily be in keeping with its principles, may undertake any transactions involving movable property, real estate, and finances that it considers appropriate.
e. Members who leave, are expelled, or in any other way cease to belong to the Association have no right to claim reimbursement for the contributions paid in the past, nor do they have any claim to the Association’s assets.
f. The minimum membership fee to be paid upon joining the Association is established annually by the Board of Directors. There are no particular regulations or restrictions concerning any further contributions that members may wish to make during the course of their membership of the Association, as they are considered non-refundable payments.
2. Financial statements
a. Financial statements cover the organization’s financial year as managed by the Board of Directors from January 1st to December 31st of each year. Separate financial statements and, if necessary, budgets shall be drawn up for each financial year.
b. The Board of Directors shall be summoned no later than September 30th each year to draft the budget and shall present it for approval to the Assembly by December 31st when this becomes necessary. The Board of Directors is responsible for drafting the financial statement of the previous year, and should present it for approval to the Assembly no later than April 30th.
c. Financial statements must be kept at the Association’s headquarters for 15 days following their approval, so that they may be made available to anyone who has good reason to consult them.
d. The annual financial statement envisages the allocation of residual profit as follows:
1. allocated to the reserve fund;
2. the use of the remainder for new activities or purchases in line with the aims of the Association, as envisaged in this Charter.
Under no circumstances can the profit or surplus left over after administrative costs are paid be shared amongst the members of the Association.
3. Statutory Safeguarding Bodies
Specially created statutory safeguarding bodies are responsible for protecting the Association’s aims and for supervising the proper application of what is stated in this Charter, for settling disputes amongst members and between members and the Association itself, and for issuing any necessary disciplinary resolutions.
The Chairperson appoints and empowers the members of the Arbitration Panel.
The statutory safeguarding bodies are the following:
a. The ordinary Arbitration Panel, appointed from the members of the Assembly and responsible for supervising the general work of the Association;
b. The Arbitration Panel appointed from the members of the College of Artists, responsible for supervising the body that appointed it;
c. The Chairperson who, as a last resort, has the unalienable right to veto the decisions of each individual Arbitration Panel.
4. Amendments to the Charter
Any decision to amend the Charter shall be taken into consideration following a justified proposal put forward by the Board of Directors and must be passed during an Assembly with at least three-quarters of the members with voting rights present.
5. The Winding-up of the Association
a. The Association has no fixed lifespan. It may be wound up following a justified proposal put forward by the Board of Directors, and passed unanimously by the Assembly with at least three-quarters of the members with voting rights present.
b. Should the Association be wound up, its assets shall be transferred to the Ecospirituality Foundation non-profit organization (Associazione Fondazione per l’Ecospiritualità) – an NGO in Consultative Status with the United Nations.
Any matters unforeseen by this Charter shall be decided by the members of the Assembly in keeping with the Italian Civil Code of current legislation.
Deposited on January 4, 2019 with the Agenzia delle Entrate - Turin