charter
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charter
Charter
(ustav), a body of rules regulating the structure, procedures, and activities of a state agency, enterprise, or institution or of a particular field of activity. Charters in the USSR include the Rules of Railroads of the USSR and the Statute on Secondary General-education Schools. Charters also regulate the armed forces of the USSR (see). Most charters are approved by the highest bodies of state authority in the USSR; the charters of some institutions and organizations are approved by the appropriate ministries and departments. Voluntary sports societies, the various artists’ unions, dacha-building and housing-construction cooperatives, and other organizations are also governed by charters.
Most international organizations have charters that outline their goals, organizational structure, and activities, for example, the Charter of the United Nations.