Did he have the right to record the session?
Did he have the right to record the session?
"Last week I attended a General Meeting of a French-speaking association. One of the participants put a recorder on the chairman's table without warning or asking permission. Did he have the right to do so? One participant objected, and the meeting voted to authorise the recording. Is this legal?
Michel, Troinex
Associations that do not have an economic purpose are governed by art. 60 et seq. of the Civil Code (CC). Every association must have written articles of association containing all the rules on its purpose, resources and organisation. However, if for any reason the articles are not complete, the provisions of the Civil Code apply. In addition, certain provisions of the law are mandatory and the articles of association may not derogate from them.
By law, all decisions to be taken must be included on the agenda and are voted on at the General Meeting, which is the supreme body of the association. Decisions are taken by a majority of votes of the members present. All members have equal voting rights at the General Meeting. It is not possible to vote on matters that are not on the agenda, unless the Articles of Association expressly allow this. You should therefore examine your association's articles of association to find out whether the general meeting could validly debate this registration issue.
That said, article 179ter of the Criminal Code makes it a criminal offence to record a non-public conversation on a sound carrier without the consent of all the other speakers. The person who did not give their consent can therefore lodge a complaint. However, some legal scholars consider that a person who speaks out against the recording tacitly gives such consent, insofar as he or she is not obliged to speak! However, it should be noted that his rights as a member are thereby restricted and therefore violated, which could give rise to a civil action for annulment of the decisions taken at the general meeting.
