The main types of public associations and their activities are regulated by a specific system of legislation. Its structural elements are: a law of the same name and laws relating to certain types of data organizations.
For example, some types of public associations are guided in their activities by the law that defines the social protection of persons with disabilities. It is also possible to include the Civil Code in this legislative system, which contains some rather important provisions regarding the functioning of public associations as subjects of civil law.
It should be noted that there are such types of public associations for the activities of which there are no special legislative documents. Therefore, they are guided by the basic law specified first in this article. This document applies to all types of public associations that are created on the initiative of citizens themselves, except for religious societies, as well as other enterprises of a commercial nature and non-profit associations created with their help. Other structures of non-profit foreign non-governmental enterprises and associations that are established on Russian territory may be in his area of competence.
This law gives the basic concept and types of public associations that are formed on the principles of voluntariness, self-government and a non-profit direction created on the initiative of the citizens themselves. They are united on the basis of common interests in the implementation of the same goals, which are indicated in the charter of this organization.
The main forms of public associations are characterized by the following features:
- their education is carried out by legal entities and individuals on a voluntary basis;
- there are no state-power authorities, and these organizations are not subjects of law-making; the source of such authority can only serve as special regulatory documents;
- they are not commercial enterprises for which profit is the main goal.
Public associations are classified according to certain criteria:
- according to the legal form, they distinguish public: organization, movement, fund and institution;
- by the method of their legalization - associations that are registered in accordance with state registration (the status of a legal entity is assigned), and enterprises without it;
- by territorial affiliation (all-Russian, interregional, regional and local associations);
- on the principle of organization - associations that are based on membership and without membership. (So, the members of these organizations have rights and obligations in accordance with their charter. Also, members of an association without membership participate in its activities without proper registration of the conditions for such participation.)