AROS is managed by an Executive Council consisting of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Minute Secretary and 9 Members of Council.  The President holds a term spanning 3 years after which he or she retires and the Vice-President takes over the role.  All Members of the Executive Council are elected or re-elected at the Annual General Meeting.

Much of the work done by AROS relates to consultation with the National Records of Scotland (NRS), which is based in Edinburgh.  Every year seems to bring new legislation, some minor but some that is much more significant.  AROS has had the privilege, on more than one occasion, of appearing before the Scottish Parliament to give evidence and opinion on how new legislation will affect the service.  AROS has been, and continues to be, very pro-active in contributing towards a workable and customer friendly registration system.  Generally, at any given time, there is at least one working group meeting to consider legislative changes, new technology or new working practices.  As well as being developed with the assistance of AROS members, new technology is subsequently piloted by them to ensure the system works well in the front line, where it matters most to the professional staff that are the public face of registration.

Over seventy years ago a professional examination was introduced and became another major part of the work of the association although coming under the control of the Examination Board. The Examination Board consists of representatives from AROS, NRS and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). All registration staff members work towards gaining the ‘Certificate of Proficiency in the Law & Practice of Registration in Scotland’. AROS provides a very professional workshop every October for those candidates who intend to sit their examination the following year. The workshop, like AROS itself, is run by a very dedicated band of well-experienced registrars who unstintingly give up their time to assist their colleagues. The examination is held each March and the successful candidates are awarded their certificates at the Annual General Meeting of the Association held in different parts of Scotland each May. 

In 2004, AROS was formally granted membership of the Europäischer Verband der Standesbeamtinnen und Standesbeamten (EVS)*, otherwise known as the European Association of Registrars (EAR).  The EAR holds an annual Congress in one of its Member States and AROS has been represented at several events.  The Member States are Austria, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Scotland, Switzerland, England and Slovenia.   Observers from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Turkey also attend.  The annual congresses are well attended by hundreds of delegates who are eager to learn about the registration systems and legislation from other countries and much of that learning takes place during the social occasions that form part of the congress.  Amongst other things the EAR is very keen to work towards the electronic transfer of information between Member States to assist the citizens of Europe as they work and settle in other areas.

You may also wish to visit the website of the organisation ANUSCA ** (l'Associazione Nazionale Ufficiali di Stato Civile e d'Anagrafe) which is the National Association of State Civil Register Offices. ANUSCA was established in Italy in 1980 for members of the local authorities for almost all of the Italian towns and cities. In 2000, ANUSCA, together with professional associations of Austria, German, Holland and Poland, formed the EVS.

Until now AROS has kept its members informed with regular newsletters.  These newsletters update the members about what the Executive Council of AROS are doing, give information from the Minutes of Council meetings and various other matters affecting registration and AROS members.  As our registration service has moved forward with the times, we felt that it was time for AROS to do the same and the Executive Council agreed a website was the way to do it.  As time passes the website will evolve as we learn more about what our members want it to do.

* To read an English version of the EVS page, please visit http://www.google.com and enter the EVS address as http://www.evs-eu.org/  into the Google search box.  The Search Results will include the EVS website and beside the listing for EVS will be a "translate this page" link.  Visitors should click on that link and the EVS site will load up already translated into English.

** Similarly, to read an English version of the ANUSCA page, please visit http://www.google.com and enter the ANUSCA address as http://www.anusca.it into the Google search box.  The Search Results will include the ANUSCA website and beside the listing for ANUSCA will be a "translate this page" link.  Visitors should click on that link and the ANUSCA site will load up already translated into English.