REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA
LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS
22 January 2004 No IX-1969
(As last amended on 5 December 2019 – No XIII-2627)
Vilnius
SECTION ONE
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Purpose of the Law
1. This Law shall regulate the founding, management, operation, specific features of restructuring and termination (reorganisation and liquidation) of legal persons whose legal form is an association.
2. Associations whose activities are regulated by other laws shall be subject to the provisions of this Law in so far as they do not contradict the provisions of other laws.
Article 2. Conception of an association
1. An association shall be a public legal person of limited civil liability who have its own name and whose purpose is to coordinate activities of its members, to represent and defend interests of its members, or to meet other public interests.
2. An association may include one of the following words in its name: 'asociacija' ('association'), 'visuomeninė organizacija' ('public organization'), 'susivienijimas' ('union'), 'konfederacija' ('confederation'), 'sąjunga' ('union'), 'draugija' ('society'), or other.
3. The registered office of an association must be situated in the Republic of Lithuania.
4. An association must have at least one account with a credit institution.
Article 3. Framework for activities of an association
1. An association shall act in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: the 'Constitution'), the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter: the 'Civil Code'), this Law, other laws, resolutions of the Government, and other legal acts. An association shall base its activities on its articles of association.
2. It shall be prohibited to found and operate associations whose purpose or operational arrangements are to forcibly overthrow or change the constitutional order of the Republic of Lithuania or to violate the territorial integrity of the Republic of Lithuania, to advocate war and violence, authoritarian or totalitarian rule, to incite racial, religious, social discord, to violate human rights and freedoms, public order and to carry out acts contrary to laws of the Republic of Lithuania and generally recognised norms of international law, to act in the interests of other states if they are contrary to the interests of the State of Lithuania.
SECTION TWO
FOUNDING AND REGISTRATION OF AN ASSOCIATION
Article 4. Founding of an association
1. Legally capable natural persons who have reached 18 years of age and/or legal persons, having concluded a memorandum of association, may be founders of an association. The minimum number of founders of an association shall be three.
2. A memorandum of association shall be signed by all the founders of an association.
3. All founders of an association shall become its members as of the registration of the association in the Register of Legal Entities.
4. Prior to the registration of an association in the Register of Legal Entities, the founders of the association shall prepare draft articles of association and shall convene a statutory meeting at which the articles of association are adopted and at least one management body is established.
5. A person designated in the memorandum of association of an association or authorised by the statutory meeting shall act on behalf of the association to be founded.
Article 5. A memorandum of association of an association
1. A memorandum of association of an association must state the following:
1) the founders (forenames and surnames, personal numbers and addresses of natural persons, business names and identification codes of legal persons as well as their registered offices, forenames and surnames or business names and personal numbers/identification codes of their representatives;
2) the name of the association to be founded;
3) the date of the conclusion of the memorandum of association;
4) the registered office of the association.
2. The following information may also be specified in a memorandum of association of an association:
1) property and non-pecuniary obligations of the founders, the procedure for and time limits of fulfilments of such obligations;
2) the procedure for compensating for the founding costs;
3) the procedure for settling disputes between the founders;
4) persons who have the right to represent the association to be founded, their rights and powers;
5) the procedure for convening a statutory meeting and the procedure for taking decisions by the statutory meeting;
6) other provisions that do not contradict this Law and other laws.
Article 6. Registration of an association and data of the Register of Legal Entities
1. An association must be registered in the Register of Legal Entities in accordance with the procedure laid down by legal acts.
2. Registration of an association shall be subject to the conclusion of a memorandum of association, the convening of a statutory meeting of the association, the adoption of articles of association and the establishment of at least one management body, as well as the fulfilment of the other obligations laid down in the memorandum of association.
3. For the registration of an association in the Register of Legal Entities, a memorandum of association and other documents referred to in Article 2.64 of the Civil Code shall be lodged with this Register.
4. An association shall be deemed to have been founded from the date of its registration in the Register of Legal Entities.
5. In addition to the data listed in Article 2.66 of the Civil Code, the Register of Legal Entities shall also specify the duration of activities of an association, if it is limited.
SECTION THREE
MANAGEMENT OF AN ASSOCIATION
Article 7. Bodies of an association
1. An association shall acquire civil rights, assume civil duties and fulfil them through its management bodies.
2. An association must have the general meeting of members or any other body (conference, convention, congress, assembly, etc.) possessing all or part of the rights of the general meeting of members.
3. The body of an association (conference, convention, congress, assembly, etc.) possessing all the rights of the general meeting of members shall be subject to the provisions of this Law applicable to the general meeting of members.
4. Where any other body of an association (conference, convention, congress, assembly, etc.) is established possessing only part of the rights of the general meeting of members, the general meeting of members shall be mandatory. The body of the association possessing part of the rights of the general meeting of members shall be subject to the provisions of this Law applicable to the general meeting of members, with the exception of points 1 and 6 of Article 8(1) of this Law, in which the decisions provided for may be taken only by the general meeting of members.
5. An association must have a management body (single-person or/and collegial).
6. Other bodies may be established in an association.
7. The structure of the bodies of an association, their remit and the procedure for convening meetings and taking decisions shall be laid down in its articles of association.
8. Members of the collegial bodies specified in the articles of association of an association which are not management bodies shall not be remunerated for their activities.
9. Minutes shall be taken of the general meetings of members and sittings of the collegial bodies.
Article 8. The general meeting of members
1. The general meeting of members of an association shall:
1) amend the articles of association;
2) appoint /elect and recall members of management bodies, unless otherwise provided in the articles of association;
3) appoint/elect and recall members of other collegial bodies, if such bodies are specified in the articles of association, unless otherwise provided in the articles of association;
4) fix the amount of initial contributions and membership fees of members of the association, the procedure for paying them, if the articles of association do not lay down the procedure of payment;
5) approve, within four months of the close of the financial year, a set of annual financial statements and an annual report;
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 8(1)(5) shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
6) take decisions on restructuring or termination (reorganisation or liquidation) of the association;
7) take decisions on establishment of other legal persons or on participation in other legal persons, unless otherwise provided in the articles of association;
8) take a decision on the audit of the association’s set of annual financial statements and select an auditor or an audit firm.
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 8(1)(8) shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
2. The general meeting of members shall also resolve other issues falling within its remit under this Law and the articles of association, provided that such issues do not fall within the remit of other bodies of an association under this Law and that such issues by their nature do not constitute the functions of the management body.
3. The general meeting of members shall not have the right to assign to other bodies of an association to resolve the issues falling within the remit of the general meeting of members, with the exception of the cases set out in points 2, 3 and 7 of paragraph 1 of this Article.
4. At the general meeting of members, the right of decisive vote shall be granted to all members of an association. Each member shall have one vote at the general meeting of members. If the articles of association provide for another body having all or part of the rights of the general meeting of members (conference, convention, congress, assembly, etc.), when this body takes decisions, each person representing the members of the association shall have a number of votes equal to the number of members of the association he represents, unless otherwise provided in the articles of association. A member shall participate in a body having all or part of the rights of the general meeting of members in person (a natural person or a single-person management body, and in the cases provided for in laws and the instruments of incorporation, members of other bodies and participants (natural persons) acting within the scope of the rights and duties conferred on them by laws and the instruments of incorporation (articles of association, regulations), subject to the exemptions set out by law or by delegating to another person in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, or by an agreement on the transfer of the voting right to another person. A member of the association who is a legal person may be represented at the general meeting of members only by employees, participants or members of the management body of that legal person.
5. Members of the management bodies and other collegial bodies of an association who are not members of the association may participate in the general meeting of members without the voting right.
6. The general meeting of members shall be convened in accordance with the procedure laid down in the articles of association.
7. The general meeting of members may take decisions when more than half of the members of an association attend it, unless otherwise provided in the articles of association. A decision of the general meeting of members, except for the decisions referred to in points 1 and 6 of paragraph 1 of this Article and in cases where members of the collegial bodies are elected, shall be deemed to have been taken if the number of votes in favour, cast by the members participating in the voting, exceeds the number of votes cast against it (those abstaining from the voting are not to be counted, i.e., are to be regarded as having been absent at the time of the voting), unless the articles of association provide for a larger majority. The decisions of the general meeting of members referred to in points 1 and 6 of paragraph 1 of this Article shall require the votes of at least two-thirds of the members of the association attending the meeting. In cases where members of the collegial bodies are appointed/elected, decisions shall be taken in accordance with the procedure laid down in the articles of association.
8. If the quorum is not present at the general meeting of members, a repeat general meeting of members must be convened in accordance with the procedure laid down in the articles of association, where such a meeting is entitled to take decisions on the items on the agenda of the meeting that did not take place, irrespective of the number of members of the association attending that meeting.
9. The general meeting of members of an association may be convened by a court decision if it has not been convened in accordance with the procedure laid down in the articles of association and a member of the association or the management body of the association has appealed to the court to that effect.
Article 9. Management bodies
1. The management body shall act on behalf of an association in its relations with other persons and shall conclude transactions on behalf of the association.
2. In addition to the functions provided for in Article 2.82 of the Civil Code, the management body shall recruit and dismiss employees and conclude employment contracts with them. The management body shall also take decisions on the establishment and closure of branches and representative offices and approve their regulations, unless otherwise provided in the articles of association.
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 9(2) shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
3. The management body shall be responsible for:
1) organisation of accounting in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Accounting;
2) preparation and submission of a set of annual financial statements and an activity report, together with the auditor's report (where the financial statements have been audited), or the preparation and submission of an annual report to the data processor of the Register of Legal Entities and to the general meeting of members;
3) submission of the data referred to in Article 2.66 of the Civil Code to the Register of Legal Entities;
4) publication of the set of annual financial statements, the activity report and the auditor's report (where the financial statements have been audited) or the annual report on the association's website, if the association has one;
5) making the set of annual financial statements, the activity report and the auditor's report (where the financial statements have been audited) or the annual report available to third parties at the association's registered office;
6) publication of public information;
7) organisation of volunteering in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Voluntareering;
8) performance of other duties of the management body provided for in this Law and the articles of association.
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 9(3) shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
4. If an association has several management bodies established, the articles of association must determine the remit of each management body.
5. A member of an association may be remunerated for his activity in the management body.
6. Natural persons who are members of an association as well as natural persons nominated by legal persons who are members of an association may be members of the collegial management body. The articles of association may stipulate additional requirements for a member of the collegial management body.
7. The collegial management body may take decisions when more than half of its members attend its meeting.
Article 10. A set of annual financial statements and an activity report. An annual report
1. Except as provided for in paragraph 6 of this Article, the management body specified in the articles of association of an association shall, at the end of the financial year, prepare and submit to the general meeting of members the following:
1) a set of annual financial statements;
2) an activity report.
2. A set of annual financial statements shall consist of the following financial statements:
1) a financial status report showing the association's total assets, equity capital, financing amounts and liabilities as at the last day of the reporting period;
2) a performance report showing the total income, expenses and results of operations of the association for the reporting period, either surplus/profit or deficit/loss;
3) notes to the financial statements, which detail and explain the amounts disclosed in the association's financial status report and performance report, identify the chief accountant/accountant or the contracted accounting firm, or the independent accountant as well as the period of time for which he maintains/maintained the association's accounts, and provide any additional material information and any other information referred to in this Law.
3. The notes to the financial statements of an association that has received sponsorship during the reporting financial year must also disclose information on the received financial and non-financial sponsorship (including assets which have been received by the right of use and which are attributed to non-financial sponsorship) and their use. Information on providers of sponsorship must separately identify each legal person that has provided sponsorship, the subject and the value of the provided sponsorship. If the value of the sponsorship provided by the provider of sponsorship during the reporting financial year does not exceed two average monthly salaries and does not constitute more than 10 per cent of the association's total sponsorship and/or total funding received during the reporting financial year, the legal person that provided sponsorship may be omitted.
4. An activity report must include the following:
1) the aims, objectives and achievements of an association and the aims, objectives and achievements planned for the coming financial year;
2) the number of members of the association at the end of the financial year and at the end of the preceding financial year, distinguishing separately the number of united legal persons as well as their names, legal form and identification codes. The number, names, legal form and identification codes of the united legal persons must be indicated by associations which are non-governmental organisations.
5. An activity report may also include other information decided by the association's management body or the general meeting of members.
6. The management body specified in the articles of an association which has opted for simplified accounting under the Law on Accounting may, instead of the reports referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, prepare and submit to the general meeting of members an annual report containing the information referred to in points 1 and 2 of paragraph 2 and paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.
7. The procedure for preparing financial statements comprising a set of annual financial statements, an activity report and an annual report shall be laid down and the content of the information referred to in paragraphs 2, 4 and 6 of this Article shall be elaborated by the Government or an institution authorised by it.
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 10 shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
Article 101. Signing, publication and submission of a set of annual financial statements, an activity report and an annual report
1. A set of annual financial statements, an activity report and an annual report shall be signed by a member of the management body of an association as specified in the articles of association. These documents shall state the position, forename and surname of the signatory.
2. A set of annual financial statements, an activity report together with the auditor's report (where the financial statements have been audited) and an annual report shall be public documents. These documents, except for personal data of natural persons that are not made public according to the laws governing the protection of personal data of natural persons, shall be published on the association's website, if the association has one. In addition, third parties must be given access to these documents at the registered office of the association.
3. An activity report of an association must be submitted to the data processor of the Register of Legal Entities together with a set of annual financial statements, and in cases where the financial statements have been audited, the auditor's report must be submitted together with the audited set of annual financial statements. An association which is entitled to prepare an annual report in the case referred to in Article 10(6) of this Law shall submit the annual report to the data processor of the Registry of Legal Entities. The documents submitted to the data processor of the Registry of Legal Entities shall be published free of charge on the website of the data processor of the Registry of Legal Entities within 30 days of their receipt.
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 101 shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
SECTION FOUR
ACTIVITIES OF AN ASSOCIATION
Article 11. Association’s rights and duties
1. An association may have and acquire only the civil rights and duties which are not in contradiction to its objectives stipulated in the Civil Code, this Law and the articles of association.
2. An association shall have the right to engage in economic and commercial activities which are not prohibited by law, which do not contradict the articles of association and the objectives of the association, and which are necessary to achieve these objectives.
Article 12. Articles of association
1. The articles of association of an association shall be a founding document that guides the association in its activities.
2. The articles of association of an association must state the following:
1) the name of the association;
2) the legal form of the association (an association);
3) the procedure for changing the registered office of the association;
4) the objectives of the association which must be defined in a clear and comprehensive manner by specifying the fields and types of activities;
5) rights and duties of members of the association;
6) the procedure for paying initial contributions and membership fees, unless the articles of association provide that this will be confirmed by a separate document;
7) the procedure and conditions of admission of members to and withdrawal and expulsion of members from the association;
8) the remit of the general meeting of members, the procedure for convening it, and the procedure for taking decisions, unless another body (conference, convention, congress, assembly, etc.) with all the rights of the general meeting of members is established;
9) a body (conference, convention, congress, assembly, etc.) having all or part of the rights of the general meeting of members, its remit, the cases and procedure for convening it, the procedure for taking decisions, and the procedure for the participation of members or representation of them in the body, if such a body is established;
10) the management bodies, their remit, the procedure for appointing/electing, expelling members or the chair/president of the collegial management body, if any, the procedure for establishing the collegial management body, and the period of time for which the collegial management body is established;
11) other collegial bodies, if any, their remit, the procedure for appointing/electing, expelling members and the chair/president, the procedure for establishing the collegial bodies, and the period of time for which the collegial bodies are established;
12) the procedure for submitting documents and other information about activities of the association to the members, if the articles of association do not specify that this procedure will be approved by a separate document;
13) the procedure for publishing notices and announcements; whereby public information is published;
14) the procedure for establishing branches and representative offices and for terminating activities thereof;
15) the procedure for changing the articles of association;
16) period of activities, where it is limited;
17) the use of funds and income, as well as the procedure of control of activities of the association.
3. The articles of association of an association may also provide for other provisions of activities of the association that are in compliance with the Constitution, the Civil Code, this Law and other laws.
4. The articles of association of an association to be founded shall be signed by a person designated in its memorandum of association or authorised by its statutory meeting. This person must sign the articles of association no later than within three days after the date of the statutory meeting.
5. The amended articles of association of a founded association shall be signed by the management body or a person authorised by the general meeting of members.
6. The amendments to the articles of association shall come into force as of their registration in the Register of Legal Entities. Together with the amendments of the articles of association, the association must submit to the Register of Legal Entities the whole text of the amended articles of association (new version).
7. The authenticity of the signatures of the natural persons who have signed the articles of association shall not be notarised.
Article 13. Members of an association
1. Membership of an association shall be open to legally capable natural persons over the age of 18, except as provided for in paragraph 2 of this Article, as well as to legal persons. The minimum number of members of an association shall be three. A person may be a member of more than one association.
2. Membership of associations whose activities relate to the needs of children and young people may be open to person below the age of 18.
3. For persons below the age of 14, applications for membership shall be submitted by their parents or guardians to the management body of an association as defined in the articles of the association. Persons below the age of 18 may acquire rights and duties in the association in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Civil Code.
4. A member of an association shall enjoy the following rights:
1) to attend and vote at the general meeting of members of the association;
2) to make use of the services rendered by the association;
3) to get access to the documents of the association and to obtain all the available information about its activities;
4) to withdraw from the association at any time. In the event of withdrawal, the initial contributions and membership fees or funds and assets otherwise transferred into the ownership of the association shall not be returned;
5) other rights established in legal acts and the articles of association.
5. The list of all members of an association must be kept in the registered office of the association, as well as in the registered offices of the branches and representative offices of the association. Each member of the association shall have the right to get access to this list.
6. A member of an association must adhere to its articles of association.
Article 14. Guarantees of activities of an association
State and municipal institutions and officials (in the cases and procedure which are not provided for by law), political parties and political organisations, other organisations and persons shall be prohibited from interfering in activities of an association and in its internal affairs.
Article 15. International relations of an association
An association may, in accordance with the procedure laid down by its articles of association, join international organisations whose purpose and activities are in compliance with the Constitution, this Law and other laws.
Article 16. Restrictions on activities of an association
1. An association shall be permitted to transfer the assets and funds possessed by the right of ownership or any other right, to guarantee the fulfilment of obligations with it or otherwise encumber the possession, use and disposal rights to it only in order to implement the purposes defined in the articles of association (including the purposes of charity and sponsorship which are set out in the articles of association in pursuance of the Law on Charity and Sponsorship).
2. Even for the purposes indicated in paragraph 1 of this Article, an association shall be prohibited:
1) to transfer the assets of the association for use without remuneration to a member of the association, a member of the management and collegial bodies, a person working in the association on the basis of an employment contract or a person related to them, or a third person, except for the purposes of charity and sponsorship which are defined in the articles of association under the Law on Charity and Sponsorship;
2) to make payments to the founder or a member of the association out of a share of the surplus/profit or to transfer a share of the assets of the association under liquidation in excess of the member's initial contribution or membership fee;
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 16(2)(2) shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
3) to divide the assets and funds of the association, including the surplus/profit, in any form, except for charity and sponsorship under the Law on Charity and Sponsorship, among the members of that association and/or its management bodies, persons who work in the association under employment contracts, with the exception of the cases when workpay is being paid, other payments related to legal employment relations and when remuneration is being paid on the basis of copyright agreements, when payment is made for rendered services or sold goods;
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 16(2)(3) shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
4) to grand credits, to pledge the assets of the association (with the exception of the cases when the assets are pledged in order to fulfil the obligations of the association), to guarantee, indemnify or otherwise ensure the fulfilment of obligations of other persons. This provision shall not apply when borrowing from credit institutions and when international agreements of the Republic of Lithuania or the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, or other legal acts adopted on the grounds thereof provide otherwise;
5) to borrow money from a member of the association or a person related to him and to pay interest. This provision shall not apply when borrowing is made from a credit institution;
6) to borrow from other persons, paying unreasonably high interest;
7) to buy goods and services for apparently too high a price, with the exception of the cases where the charity is thus granted to a person who is a recipient of charity under the Law on Charity and Sponsorship;
8) to sell the assets of the association for apparently too small a price, with the exception of the cases where the charity is thus granted to a person who is a recipient of charity under the Law on Charity and Sponsorship;
9) to establish a legal person whose civil liability for the obligations of a legal person is unlimited, or to be a member of such person;
10) to perform public administration functions of the State or municipalities, their institutions or officials and civil servants, unless otherwise provided by other laws;
11) to perform functions of trade unions, religious associations, communities and centres as well as legal persons established according to their canons, statutes or other norms to implement the purposes of the same religion, credit unions and other legal persons whose legal form is different, if pursuant to statutory provisions these functions may be performed only by the legal persons of a specific legal form;
12) to arm its members, to organize military training for them and to establish military troops, with the exception of the cases provided for by law.
3. A person related to a member and referred to in points 1 and 5 of paragraph 2 of this Article shall be:
1) a close relative, spouse/cohabitee, close relative of the spouse/cohabitee of an association's member being a natural person;
2) a legal person who has more than half of the votes in the body of an association's member being a legal person;
3) a legal person in whose body more than half of votes are held by an association's member, a person referred to in points 1 and 2 of this paragraph, or these persons jointly.
4. An association shall use the money received as sponsorship, other money that are not subject to repayment as well as other assets for the purposes indicated by a person who has provided them, where the person has actually indicated such purposes. The association must keep such money in a separate account and draw up an estimate of expenditure, where this has been provided for by legal acts or where the person who has given the funds so requests. The association may not accept money or other assets where the person providing them instructs to use them for the purposes other than the objectives stipulated in its articles of association.
SECTION FIVE
SPECIFIC FEATURES OF RESTRUCTURING AND
TERMINATION OF ASSOCIATIONS
Article 17. Specific features of the restructuring and termination of associations
1. Associations shall be restructured or terminated (reorganized or liquidated) in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Civil Code.
2. An association may not be reorganised and restructured at the same time.
3. If the number of members left in an association is less than three, the association must, within 30 days, notify the Register of Legal Entities about such decrease in accordance with the procedure laid down by the regulations of the Register of Legal Entities.
4. The remaining assets and funds of an association, after all the requirements of the creditors and the requirements of the members of the association regarding the share of the assets of the association, without exceeding the initial contribution of a member or the membership fee are meet in accordance with the procedure laid down by law, shall, prior to the removal of the association from the Register of Legal Persons, be transferred to one or more public legal persons who are designated by the general meeting of members or the court, upon having taken a decision to liquidate the association.
5. In addition to other duties laid down in this Law and the Civil Code, the liquidator of an association must:
1) publicly announce in the daily newspaper indicated in the articles of association about the liquidation of the association and submit to the Register of Legal Entities the documents confirming the decision to liquidate the association as well as his data;
2) make a balance of the beginning of the period of liquidation;
Note from the Register of Legal Acts. The provisions of Article 17(5)(2) shall apply to the preparation of sets of annual financial statements, activity reports and annual reports for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019.
3) transfer the remaining assets of the association in accordance with the procedure laid down by this Law;
4) draw up an act of liquidation of the association. The act of liquidation of the association shall describe the process of liquidation and confirm that all liquidation-related actions have been carried out;
5) transfer the documents for retention in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Archives;
6) submit to the data processor of the Register of Legal Entities the act of liquidation of the association and other documents necessary to remove the association from the Register.
SECTION SIX
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 18. Entry into force and application of the Law
1. The articles of association of associations and public organisations founded prior to the entry into force of this Law shall be valid to the extent that they are in compliance with the Civil Code, this Law and other laws.
2. Associations and public organisations registered prior to the entry into force of this Law shall be considered to be legal persons whose legal form is an association, without separate re-registration.
3. Branches of public organisations founded as legal persons prior to the entry into force of this Law shall, from the entry into force of this Law, be considered to be legal persons whose legal form is an association, without separate re-registration. The articles of association of these associations shall be valid to the extent that they are in compliance with the Civil Code, this Law and other laws. If on the day of the entry into force of this Law the number of members of such association is less than three, the period of time set in point 6 of Article 2.106 of the Civil Code shall be calculated from the day of the entry into force of this Law.
4. Article 16(2)(9) of this Law shall not apply to associations or public organisations which establish a legal person whose civil liability for the obligations of a legal person is unlimited or which became a member of the legal person prior to the entry into force of this Law.
5. Associations and public organisations as well as their data and changes in the data with respect to which applications for registration were presented to the register data processor in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Law on Associations (Official gazette, 1996, No 32-786) or the Law on Public Organisations (Official gazette, 1995, No 18-400) respectively prior to the entry into force of this Law and whose registration procedure has not been completed, shall be registered by the state enterprise Centre of Registers in accordance with the procedure effective prior to the entry into force of this Law.
Article 19. Repealing of the Laws
Upon the entry into force of this Law, the following Laws shall be repealed:
1) the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Organisations (Official gazette, 1995, No 18-400);
2) the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Implementation of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Organisations (Official gazette, 1995, No 18-401);
3) the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Associations (Official gazette, 1996, No 32-786);
4) the Law of the Republic of Lithuania amending Articles 1 and 3 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on the Implementation of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Organisations (Official gazette, 1996, No 53-1251);
5) the Law of the Republic of Lithuania amending Article 17 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Organisations (Official gazette, 1997, No 65-1545);
6) the Law of the Republic of Lithuania amending the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Public Organisations;
7) the Law of the Republic of Lithuania amending and supplementing Article 15 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Associations (Official gazette, 2001, No 52-1815).
I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC ROLANDAS PAKSAS