369. Amendments to the Model By-Laws of Spiritual Assemblies

369

Amendments to the Model By-Laws of Spiritual Assemblies

18 June 2021

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

369.1 As you were informed in our letter dated 21 April 2021, the Universal House of Justice has been considering amendments to the model documents of Spiritual Assemblies to take into account recent developments, such as the change in the voting age for Bahá’í elections. The House of Justice has asked that we convey to you that it has now approved certain amendments to the model By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly and of the Local Spiritual Assembly. Copies of the amended documents as well as marked-up versions highlighting the amendments are enclosed.

369.2 Review of these documents will reveal changes in Articles II, III, VII, and VIII of the By-Laws of the National Assembly and changes in Articles V, VI, VIII, and XI of the By-Laws of the Local Assembly. No changes have been made to the Declaration of Trust of the National Assembly. You are encouraged to carefully review these amendments to consider their implications for the administration of the Faith in your communities. For example, as a result of an amendment to Article VIII of the By-Laws of the National Assembly, the numerical strength of each electoral unit, for purposes of electing delegates to the National Convention, should be determined by counting the number of believers who are eligible to vote—that is, are aged eighteen and over. You will also observe that Article II of the same document refers to voting or holding elective office upon attaining “such age as is determined by the National Assembly in conformity with the principles of Bahá’í Administration”, and Article VIII refers to the “number of delegates … as decided by the National Assembly in conformity with the principles of Bahá’í Administration.” The purpose of these amendments is to provide for flexibility in the By-Laws should the House of Justice make any decisions in the future related to these matters; they are not intended to introduce changes to current practices beyond what has already been announced by the House of Justice.

369.3 You are requested to take steps, when you deem timely, to integrate the amendments identified into your by-laws and to ask incorporated Local Assemblies to do the same based on the new model By-Laws for that institution. Amendments should be made in consultation with legal counsel, as needed. If in the process of effecting these changes, you decide to consider other changes, kindly seek the approval of the House of Justice before submitting the documents to the government authorities. Once your by-laws have been amended and submitted to the authorities, a copy should be forwarded to the Bahá’í World Centre for its files.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat