How we registered the Don Cossack Army
The Interregional Public Organization Don Cossack Army was registered in July 2024 with the assistance of Tsentralny Okrug Law Firm lawyers. It brought together people who cared about the Don Cossacks' development as well as the revival of the Great Don Army's traditions and way of life.
"The process of registration was not easy," says Irina Minakova, the head of corporate law practice in Tsentralny Okrug Law Firm. "Initially, the task was to locate the organization's address in the Volgograd Region, a subject of the Russian Federation where the Cossack movement originated. However, our understanding of the law's wording differed from that of the Volgograd Ministry of Justice. The organization being formed was intended to unite various regions of Russia."
At the same time, the law requires a structural division of territory within each region. The Volgograd Ministry of Justice assumed that the structural division had to be a legal entity and be recognized as a regional public organization.
As a result, the registration package must include minutes from regional public organizations' general meetings. We did not find mandatory indication in the law that structural divisions must be treated as legal entities. We consulted with the Ministry of Justice offices in Voronezh and Moscow, and they confirmed our position. In this regard, the decision was made to register the organization in the Voronezh region. And after creation, relocate it to Volgograd.
We were also tasked with developing a well-coordinated management system within the organization and determining the procedure for interacting with structural divisions. To achieve this goal, we created a charter as well as internal regulations that outlined the reporting procedure and coordinated the actions of the structural division's management with those of the parent organization. Internal regulations also specified how the structural division would be funded and how its activities would be terminated.
Our lawyers are currently working on the organization's relocation to the Volgograd region. Of course, when relocating, a new version of the charter must be submitted for registration, as the location's name will change in the army. One distinguishing feature of non-profit organizations is that the law prohibits the preparation of charter amendments. That is, if you need to change just a few lines in the charter, the entire text of the constituent document will be sent for registration, and Ministry of Justice employees will check it for legal compliance. Considering that law enforcement practices vary by region, we anticipate that the Volgograd Ministry of Justice will make some changes to the organization's charter. However, we believe that they will be minimal, considering that the Voronezh Ministry of Justice recently read this founding document.
As a result, the organization we founded brought together seven regions of the Russian Federation: Voronezh, Lipetsk, Saratov, Belgorod, Rostov, Volgograd, and the city of Moscow.
However, we have given legal force to more than one Cossack movement. The Voronezh Ministry of Justice recently announced that the Union of Cossacks of the Upper Don Cossack Army will be completely reorganized. This organization has been transformed into a public association to assist the Don Cossack Army in organizing its activities in the Voronezh Region.