[Chapter-delegates] ISOC Bylaws Working Group (BLWG)

[Grigori Saghyan]

Dear Bernie,

in general, for democratic countries it is not a serious problem. But
for transitional countries, where there is a strong centralized power
structure, governments do not accept any foreign influence, they want to
have everything under their own control.

Red Cross is a good  example how to create an international structure,
but not because the center of Red Cross is in Switzerland. Red Cross
structure is different: each country has its own Red Cross organization,
which has  its own bylaws. In Switzerland there is the Secretariat of
the Association of local Red Cross organizations. Of course, it will be
possible to be a member  of Association only if local bylaws are inline
with the Red Cross Association requirements.  Same structure we can find
in other associations, like FIFA.

In case of ISOC situation is different - each local ISOC Chapter is a
branch of the central ISOC, local ISOC members are (mandatory) members
of ISOC Global. In case, if there will be no any local Chapter  (legal
entity with its own bylaws), just members of Global ISOC - this well be
 acceptable by  any local jurisdiction. Anybody (as a person) have
rights to be member of any organization with open membership. I am ISOC
member for 15 years, and it is legal.

But when we speak about ISOC Chapters  - I do not have any exact
information about the legal status of the Chapter. Is it an independent
NGO? No. Is it a non - formal community? May be yes, but in that case
there is no any legal entity, just a non-formal group without bylaws.
Can say, if you have any non-formal group, it is really impossible to
involve active persons in its activity, they need  certainty in order to
spend their time and efforts.

In case of Armenia we have centralized government, but because we are
some kind of incumbent NGO,  have long term established relations on
formal and non-formal level with  government authorities, we are more or
less acceptable.  But from the formal point of view  - we do not have
rights to be ISOC subsidiary, we have to be an independent organization
according to the local law. In our activity we do not underline
directly, that we are ISOC Chapter, mainly we are positioning our self
as a local NGO - Internet Society of Armenia, ISOC.AM.

For new Chapters in CIS countries (I think, in other developing
countries also) today such semi-independent structure is unacceptable.
Russian ISOC is an example - they will not be a Chapter, it will create
lot of problems for them, like registration as "foreign agent". And
Russian ISOC is an absolutely independent structure from ISOC Global.

I have tried  to rise this problem two years ago, but it is really hard
to describe the problem.

With respect,
Grigori Saghyan
ISOC.AM


On 09.05.2013 16:37, Bernie Hoeneisen wrote:
> Hi Grigori
> 
> Before we established the Switzerland Chapter (ISOC-CH) we also faced
> some challenges with possible conflicts between the jurisdiction of
> District of Columbia (U.S.) and local (Swiss) jurisdiction. Luckily we
> found a work-around.
> 
> I am just wondering whether it would make things easier for you (and
> other chapters), if the main seat of ISOC HQ (and its governing
> jurisdiction) was in a more "neutral" country (as oppposed to in the
> U.S. wrt. politics, legal requirements or bureaucracy not known as being
> particulary easy, at least not to an outsider).
> 
> For example, many renowned international organizations chose to have
> their main seat in Switzerland, among them are: International Committee
> of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Olympic Committee (IOC),
> Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), ISO, and many
> others.
> 
> Could changing the seat of ISOC HQ improve your situation? Or is the
> challenge rather in general incompatibilities between your local
> legislation and other legislations around the world?
> 
> 
> cheers,
>  Bernie (as an individual)
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, 8 May 2013, Grigori Saghyan wrote:
> 
>> OK, this a clear answer - Chapters are ISOC global daughter
>> organizations, and they do not have rights to have their own by laws.
>> In that case it is necessary to describe officially this situation for
>> all existing Chapters and inform new potential Chapters about the
>> situation - they are acting under jurisdiction of District of Columbia.
>> From my side - I have some doubts, that it will facilitate to new
>> Chapter creation, can say more, it will rise lot of questions for
>> existing Chapters.
> 


-- 
Grigori Saghyan
PGP Key ID: 0x48E4D5DC

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