BYLAWS OF THE LITHUANIAN ATHLETIC UNION OF NORTH AMERICA
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The Lithuanian Athletic Union of North America (abbreviated as “LAUNA”). In Lithuanian – Šiaurės Amerikos lietuvių fizinio auklėjimo ir sporto sąjunga.
2. The area of operation of LAUNA shall be the United States of America and Canada.
II. OBJECTIVES
1. To organize, unite, and represent Lithuanian sports life.
2. In pursuit of its objectives, the LAUNA undertakes:
a) To encourage Lithuanian youth to take an interest in sports.
b) To organize and coordinate sports organizations.
c) To organize active athletes, sports veterans, staff, and sponsors into sports organizations.
d) To organize competitions between Lithuanian athletes and represent them in international sports events.
e) To revive and preserve the national consciousness and the Lithuanian language among Lithuanian athletes.
f) To disseminate and popularize sports ideas among Lithuanians.
g) To seek to improve the level of sports and the maintenance of sports ethics.
h) To coordinate Lithuanian sports life with other Lithuanian organizations and institutions.
i) To uphold the traditions of amateur sports.
j) To represent Lithuanians in North American and other sports organizations.
k) To foster solidarity in sports life.
III. ORGANIZATION
A) MEMBERS
1. The members of LAUNA shall be:
a) Sports Clubs.
b) Sports clubs, circles, sections, etc., affiliated with other organizations or institutions.
c) Individual athletes, sports coaches and trainers, and sponsors.
d) Honorary members.
2. A member of LAUNA may be:
a) Any Lithuanian, or person of Lithuanian descent, at least one of whose parents is Lithuanian or at least one of whose grandparents is Lithuanian.
b) A non-Lithuanian married to a Lithuanian.
c) A non-Lithuanian adopted by Lithuanian parents.
3. Members shall be accepted by the LAUNA Board of Directors.
4. Members shall pay an annual membership fee as determined by the LAUNA General Assembly.
5. Members shall be bound by the provisions of LAUNA’s By-laws, the resolutions of the General Assembly, the instructions of the Board of Directors, and other executive bodies.
6. Members who violate these requirements or do not comply with the organizational procedures may be expelled or suspended by a 2/3 majority decision of the LAUNA Board of Directors.
7. Members dissatisfied with the decision of the Board of Directors and unable to change it by mutual agreement may appeal the decision to the LAUNA Court of Honor.
(B) A GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF REPRESENTATIVES
1. The General Assembly of LAUNA Representatives shall be the supreme body of the organization.
2. The following shall be full participants of the General Assembly:
a) Representatives of organized sports organizations – one representative from each of the 15 registered LAUNA members. An incomplete number of 15 members shall be counted as complete. Representatives shall be elected at the general meeting of the organizations. An elected representative who is unable to attend the assembly himself may authorize another elected representative or candidate of the organization in writing to represent it.
b) Chairpersons of organized sports units or their representatives.
c) Members and nominees of the Board of Directors.
d) Chairs of Sports Districts and 1 member of the District Committee.
e) Members of the LAUNA Audit Commission.
f) Members of the LAUNA Court of Honor.
g) Chairs of sports branch committees or other subsidiary bodies of the Board of Directors or their representatives.
h) Editorial board and administrator of an official LAUNA sports newspaper, provided such newspaper exists.
j) Persons invited by the Board of Directors – no more than 3.
Note: All representatives of the General Assembly, except Honorary Members, must have completed the annual registration of the LAUNA members.
3. The General Assembly must be convened at least once a year.
4. The General Assembly shall be convened and the agenda shall be provided by the Board of Directors.
5. The General Assembly shall be opened by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, or another member of the Board authorized by the Chairperson, and shall be chaired by the Chairperson until the election of the Presidium.
6. The date, place, and agenda of the General Assembly shall be announced and communicated to the members at least one month before the Assembly.
7. General Assembly:
a) Hears, discusses, accepts, or rejects the reports of the Board of Directors, the Audit Commission, the sports districts, the subsidiary committees, commissions, and other executive bodies.
b) Elects the Board of Directors, the members of the Court of Honor, the Audit Commission and, if necessary, other executive bodies and special committees and commissions.
c) Adopts and amends the LAUNA By-laws, executive regulations, and other rules of operation.
d) Establishes guidelines for the LAUNA activities.
e) Determines or approves the annual activity plan and the calendar and considers all other matters related to sports activities.
8. At the General Assembly, all matters, except for the vote of no confidence in the Executive Bodies or any officer, the expulsion of a member, the amendment of the By-laws, and the revocation or modification of a decision of the Court of Honor, shall be decided by simple majority. In the event of votes divided equally in half, the Chairperson shall have a casting vote.
9. A 2/3 majority of the participants of the Assembly shall be required for a motion of vote of no confidence, amendment of the By-laws, the expulsion of a member, and revocation or amendment of a decision of the Court of Honor.
10. A quorum of one-third of the delegates shall be required for the assembly, but if such quorum is not present within the time limit, another assembly shall be convened after one hour, which shall be deemed to be valid irrespective of the number of delegates present, and only the items on the agenda announced at the time of convening the assembly may be discussed at that assembly.
(C) THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
1. The supreme executive body of LAUNA shall be the Board of Directors, which shall be elected by secret ballot at the General Assembly for a term of three years.
2. At least five persons shall be elected to the LAUNA Board of Directors.
3. The persons elected to the Board of Directors shall elect a Chairperson from among them. The remaining members shall divide among themselves the offices of Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and other offices as required.
4. The LAUNA Board of Directors shall be open to persons from the same or very close localities and shall not be younger than 21 years of age on December 31 of the election year.
5. The Board of Directors may appoint up to 5 persons from other localities.
6. The LAUNA Board of Directors shall:
a) Determine the number of sports constituencies and their boundaries.
b) Maintain the registration of LAUNA organizations and individual members.
c) Appoint its representatives to local regional or other sports units, if necessary.
d) Act as an advisory body to Lithuanian organizations and institutions in matters of physical education and sports.
e) Decide violations of sports discipline by its organizations, sports organizations, and individual athletes.
f) Set up committees for designated sports or other auxiliary committees and appoint their chairs.
g) Prepare and supervise sporting events of a wider scope.
h) Keep a record of the results and achievements of Lithuanian athletes in the Diaspora.
i) Take care of the sports press, its publication, distribution, and administration.
j) Seek to improve the level of sports.
k) Coordinate all sports activities by issuing appropriate regulations, rules, or instructions.
l) Report to the LAUNA General Assembly on its activities and submit a financial statement.
m) Inform LAUNA members and the public about its activities.
7. In the event of the resignation of a member of the Board, a successive candidate shall be invited to take the place of the resigning member. In the absence of candidates, the Board may appoint an individual at its discretion.
(D) AUDIT COMMISSION
1. The Audit Commission shall examine the financial statements of the Board of Directors and other administrative units.
2. The Audit Commission shall be elected by the General Assembly from among three persons for a term of three years. In the event of the resignation of a member, a new member shall be appointed.
3. The Audit Commission shall act independently of the Board of Directors and shall report on its activities to the LAUNA General Assembly.
4. The Audit Commission may request the Board of Directors to convene a General Assembly of LAUNA within two months. If the Board fails to comply with this request, the Audit Commission may convene the General Assembly of LAUNA itself and submit an agenda to it in accordance with the procedure laid down in these By-laws.
(E) COURT OF HONOR
1. The LAUNA Court of Honor shall:
a) Interpret the LAUNA By-laws and Regulations.
b) Adjudicate the legality of decisions and actions of the Board of Directors or other administrative units.
c) Resolve misunderstandings and disputes between LAUNA members.
d) Decide on appeals against decisions of the Board of Directors or other administrative units and sports competition committees.
2. The Court of Honor shall be elected by the General Assembly of LAUNA for a period of three years and shall consist of at least 3 members.
3. Any member of the LAUNA who is not younger than 24 years of age and who does not hold any position in the LAUNA’s main administrative bodies or committees may be elected as a member of the Court of Honor.
4. The Court of Honor may:
a) Annul the determination of any administrative body of LAUNA.
b) Dismiss an elected or appointed official of the executive body of LAUNA.
c) Warn or reprimand.
d) Suspend for a specified period of time the right to participate in LAUNA competitions.
e) Suspend a unit or an individual member.
5. Cases may be brought before the Court of Honor by the executive bodies of LAUNA, by full members of LAUNA, and by individual members.
6. The Court of Honor shall act in accordance with the procedure laid down in LAUNA By-laws.
(F) SPORTS DISTRICTS
1. The area of LAUNA’s operation shall be administratively divided into sports districts.
2. The boundaries of sports districts shall be determined by the Board of Directors.
3. The assembly of a sports district shall be convened at least once a year.
4. The Sports District Assembly shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures and principles laid down by the General Assembly of LAUNA.
5. Sports District Assembly shall:
a) Determine the annual calendar of sports competitions in the District.
b) Elect a District Chair who shall form a Sports District Committee and present it to the LAUNA Board of Directors for approval.
c) Hear a report on the activities of the District Committee.
d) Adopt the annual financial statement of the District.
e) Adopt proposals to the General Assembly of LAUNA.
f) Decide on all other matters concerning the District.
6. In those districts where a chair is not elected, the LAUNA Board of Directors shall appoint the chair and approve the committee he/she will form.
(G) HONORARY MEMBERS
1. A person may be elevated to Honorary Member of LAUNA by the General Assembly of LAUNA for special merit in Lithuanian sports activities, upon presentation by the LAUNA Board of Directors.
2. Honorary Members of LAUNA are not obliged to pay the annual LAUNA membership fee.
(H) RESOLUTION OF ISSUES BY CORRESPONDENCE
1. Important or suddenly arising issues, for the solution of which the LAUNA Board of Directors is not competent and in case of impossibility to convene the General Assembly of LAUNA, may be solved by correspondence.
2. The correspondence method may be used by the LAUNA Board of Directors and the Revision Commission.
IV. FINAL PROVISIONS
1. LAUNA may only be dissolved by a 75% majority of the votes cast at the General Assembly, provided that at least 2/3 of the eligible delegates are present.
2. These By-Laws shall enter into force 30 days after their adoption. The old By-laws shall not be valid from that date.
3. In the event of liquidation, the assets of the LAUNA shall be transferred to the World Lithuanian Community for the purpose of being used for Lithuanian sports affairs.
4. These By-Laws were adopted on October 23, 1979. Amendments were adopted at the General Assembly of the LAUNA on October 28, 1989 (Paragraphs B/2/a and B/2/d).
