The Beginning of Something New...

Community AssembliesCommunity Assemblies are the beginning of something new for us all and although Assemblies have operated and existed for thousands of years, this new way of governing ourselves must and is taking shape.

Assemblies are gatherings called to address issues of importance to participants and operate via direct democracy. Bodies of people who have formed together to deliberate on issues of local or national or international importance.  They aim to reinstall trust by taking direct ownership of decision-making, echoing the traditions of deliberative democracy and popular sovereignty that stretch back to origins in ancient past.

Community Assemblies are based on direct democracy; ordinary men & women, not elected representatives, independently drawing on some of the practices of a trial by jury, and growing rapidly across Great Britain and in Ireland.

What do Community Assemblies do?

  • Provides Lawful Democratic Governance 
  • Provides Structure & Formalities
  • Emphasises Participation & Action
  • Regular Meet Ups
  • Collaborative Campaigning
  • Information Sharing
  • Decision Making
  • Training & [Re]Education
  • Expertise, Advice & Support
  • Build Resilience [food security, healthcare, trade]

Members Only in Trust

Community Assemblies are non-profit unincorporated associations. They do not have a legal personality. This means they are unable, in their own name, to own property, to enter into contracts, or to commit (or defend themselves against) a wrong in tort. 

As Lord Justice Lawton defined in Conservative and Unionist Central Office v Burrell [1981]:

“Two or more persons bound together for one or more common purposes, not being business purposes, by mutual undertakings, each having mutual duties and obligations, in an organisation which has rules which identify in whom control of it and its funds rests and upon what terms and which can be joined or left at will.”

Community Assemblies comprise of two or more people coming together for a common purpose. Members are bound together by contractual rules [i.e. constitution] for a wide range of purposes [social, recreational, altruistic, and to provide personal advantages to its members i.e.. Lawful Observer security benefits].