Student List Registered as Association, Statute Published
Student List was registered with APR back on May 21, and its statute is now public. The Managing Board has at least seven members and discretionary power to reject new members.
The citizens’ association Student List was registered with the Serbian Business Registers Agency (APR) on May 21 this year, according to the agency’s own records, yet the students in blockade only announced the registration on August 3, on X. The message was short:
The Student List association has been registered with APR. We are planning. We are organizing. We are working.
The text of the statute also appeared on the APR website that same day. It is the first time the public can see how the movement, which until now existed as an informal network of plenums and working groups, has organized its own internal authority: who decides, who is allowed to join, and where the money comes from.
Under the field describing the association’s purpose, the APR listing states the goal as raising public awareness of the importance of democracy and free and fair elections. A ruling issued by APR on July 14, correcting an error in the registry, set the association’s duration as fixed term, running until May 1, 2028. The statute itself was adopted by the founding assembly on May 11, ten days before the registration was finalized.
Two and a half months passed between the registration and the public announcement. Throughout that period, the movement continued to present itself publicly as a self organized group with no legal status.
Two Bodies, At Least Seven People
The statute defines the association as voluntary, non governmental, non partisan and non profit. Its structure is minimal:
The association’s bodies are the Assembly and the Managing Board.
The Assembly consists of all members and meets once a year as a rule, with an extraordinary session called at the initiative of at least one third of the membership. The Managing Board is the executive body and has at least seven members, elected and recalled by the Assembly, serving two year terms. The Assembly also elects the president of the Managing Board, who represents the association in legal matters and holds the rights and duties of its financial officer. Amending the statute, changing the association’s name or seat, and dissolving it all require a two thirds majority.
Who Can Become a Member?
Not just anyone who wants in. Membership requires a written recommendation from an existing member, acceptance of the association’s goals and statute, and a signed application submitted to the Managing Board. The Managing Board decides on admission and, under the statute, has discretionary power to reject an applicant, provided it gives a reason. For a movement the public came to know through open plenums, that is a meaningful shift: entry into the association is controlled by a body of seven or more people, not by a general assembly.
Membership ends through withdrawal or expulsion, the latter triggered by prolonged inactivity, failure to meet obligations, or conduct that damages the association’s reputation, with expulsion decided by the Assembly through an absolute majority. Members can be individuals, but also organizations established under Serbian law or headquartered in Serbia, provided they designate a person to represent them. That clause legally opens the door to formal collectives as well as individuals.
Where the Money Comes From and What the Association Does
Funds are raised through voluntary contributions, donations and gifts, financial subsidies, and other means allowed by law. Property may be used exclusively to further the association’s goals, and any profit only to carry out and advance the goals set out in the statute. The planned activities include:
- organizing election observation missions
- conducting public opinion research
- producing reports and analyses
- running educational programs
- cooperating with Serbian institutions and international bodies
Reaction From the Ruling Party
Sandra Bozic, deputy speaker of the National Assembly and an official of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), reacted the same day on X:
That’s about the extent of what you’re capable of! From “he’s finished” to “we’re registered with APR,” quite the political journey. Serbia, you can sleep easy. The revolution has a registration number.
No response came from the students, at least not from the account that had posted the news of the registration.
This marks the first time the students in blockade have registered in any official form, following the wave of blockades at most state universities that began after the canopy collapse at the railway station in Novi Sad. When we previously reported on the Green Left Front’s support for Student List, the makeup of the board remained an open question. The statute does not resolve it either, since it names no one, not the president of the Managing Board, nor any of its members. Those names remain unknown, and the deadline the association set for itself in the registry is May 1, 2028.
