The Expert Council on NGO Law of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe has published its fifth review of developments in standards, mechanisms and case law affecting NGOs throughout the Council of Europe and beyond in the period running from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2024.
The review considers the work of various bodies of the Council of Europe, the United Nations, the OSCE, the European Union etc. As with past reviews, the situation of NGOs continues to generate considerable activity in terms of standard-setting, the functioning of various supervisory and other mechanisms and in regional courts and tribunals. This can be seen as both an endorsement of the immensely valuable role that non-governmental organisations continue to play but also as a reflection of the growing pressures to which they are subject. Of particular note, in a positive sense, has been the reaffirmation of the commitment to civil society in the Reykjavik Principles for Democracy appended to the Reykjavik and Declaration and the adoption by the Council of the European Union (“the Council”) of its conclusions on The role of the civic space in protecting and promoting fundamental rights in the EU and the tightening up by the FATF of its Recommendation 8 and its Interpretive Note to address the misapplication and misinterpretation of the previous version by many States, as well as efforts by the European Court and the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association to respond to unjustified limits on access by NGOs to funding. On the other hand, many existing standards are not being properly implemented or even ignored as is evident, for example, in the many judgments of the European Court dealing with matters such as registration, membership, activities and dissolution of NGOs, the delayed execution of its earlier judgments, the stigmatisation of NGOs as foreign agents and the misuse of measures dealing with terrorism and extremism, all of which play a big part in the shrinking of the space for civil society.
Opinion on legislation of the Slovak Republic introducing the concept of “Foreign Supported Organisations”
The Expert Council on NGO Law has also adopted an opinion highlighting serious procedural and substantive shortcomings in amendments of the Slovak Republic introducing the concept of “Foreign Supported Organisations”, raising concerns over freedom of association, privacy, and the prohibition of discrimination. Specifically, the amendments fail to meet the standards of legitimacy, necessity, and proportionality in imposing additional disclosure and labelling requirements on NGOs receiving foreign funding. The Opinion further emphasises that the need for additional policy measures targeting particular sources of legitimate income of NGOs should only be determined through an inclusive process that follows sound policy development principles and aligns with European standards.
Further information and reports of the Expert Council.
