6 GORZELIK AND OTHERS v. POLAND JUDGMENT ... (2) (a) on a reasoned motion by the Board, the Management Committee decides to deprive him of his membership; (b) the relevant motion of the Board may be based on such reasons as the fact that the member in question has not fulfilled the requirements set out in the memorandum of association for becoming a member or has failed to perform the duties of members as specified in paragraph 14.” 22. Paragraph 30 provided: “The Union is an organisation of the Silesian national minority.” 23. Subsequently the Katowice Regional Court, pursuant to section 13(2) of the Law on associations (see paragraph 39 below), served a copy of the applicants' application, together with copies of the relevant enclosures, on the Governor (Wojewoda) of Katowice. 24. On 27 January 1997 the Governor of Katowice, acting through the Department of Civic Affairs (Wydział Obywatelski), submitted his comments on the application to the court. Those comments contained lengthy arguments against allowing the association to be registered, the main thrust of which was as follows: “(i) It cannot be said that there are 'Silesians' [Ślązak], in the sense of representatives of a distinct 'Silesian nationality'. 'Silesian' is a word denoting a representative of a local ethnic group, not a nation. This is confirmed by paragraph 7 (1) of the memorandum of association, which aims merely to 'awaken and strengthen the national consciousness of Silesians'. ... (ii) The social research relied on by the applicants to demonstrate the existence of a 'Silesian nationality' does not accord with numerous other scientific publications. Polish sociology distinguishes between two concepts of 'homeland', namely a 'local homeland' and an 'ideological homeland'. In German, this distinction is expressed by the terms Heimat (local homeland) and Vaterland (ideological homeland). The research relied on by the applicants merely refers to the self-identification of the inhabitants of Silesia, indicating that their local self-identification takes precedence over their national self-identification. ... (iii) Paragraph 10 of the memorandum of association states that any person of Silesian nationality may become an ordinary member of the association, but does not clearly specify the criteria for establishing whether or not a given person fulfils this requirement. This absence of unambiguous criteria is contrary to section 10(1) (i) and (iv) of the Law on associations. Moreover, it renders paragraph 15 (2) (b) of the memorandum unlawful, for that provision allows the Management Committee to deprive a person of his membership in the event of failure to satisfy the conditions set out in the memorandum of association. ... (iv) Paragraph 30 of the memorandum of association, which calls the Union an 'organisation of the Silesian national minority', is misleading and does not correspond to the facts. There is no basis for regarding the Silesians as a national minority. Recognising them as such would be in breach of Articles 67 § 2 and 81 § 1 of the [former] Constitution, which guarantee Polish citizens equal rights. In particular,