Legal Obstacles to Civil Society: International Perspectives

1
Legal Obstacles to Civil SocietyInternational
Perspectives

• Catherine Shea
• International Center for
• Not-for-Profit Law

2
2005-2006 International Developments

• Venezuela draft law
• Creates an agency on International Cooperation
  that will have extensive discretion to control
  NGOs engaged in any form of international
  cooperation including the receipt of funds and
• Creates a fund that will consist of all resources
  for international cooperation whether public or
  private agency will have the ability to decide
  how these are allocated

3
2005-2006 International Developments

• Russia
• Enacted law imposing new restrictions on NGOs,
  especially those that receive foreign funds
  
• new requirements
• restrict who may form an organization in Russia,
  
  
• expand the grounds on which registration may be
  denied, and
  
• expand the supervisory powers of the state over
  organizations.

4
2005-2006 International Developments

• Eritrea NGO Administration Proclamation
• imposes taxes on aid,
• restricts the relief and rehabilitation work of
  NGOs,
  
• increases reporting requirements for foreign and
  local organizations and
  
• limits international agencies from directly
  funding local NGOs

5
2005-2006 International Developments

• Sudan -- provisional Presidential Decree on
  Organization of Humanitarian Work
  
• gives the government the right to cancel an
  organization's registration for violating "the
  general policies of the State in connection with
  the voluntary humanitarian work" 
• once an organization's registration is canceled,
  all of its assets and funds can be confiscated by
  the government
  
• No independent organization can receive funds or
  donations from foreign sources without advance
  approval by the government

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2005-2006 International Developments

• Belarus enacted five new laws to restrict the
  NGO sector in advance of last years election
  
• conferences, seminars and public debates
  organized with donor funding must be registered
  with the government
  
• Bans provision of aid for anti-constitutional
  goals
  
• Mandates registration of all civic initiatives
• Allows the authorities to suspend the activity of
  any NGO for up to six months and liquidate an
  organization for a single violation of the law on
  public mass events and illegal use of foreign
  aid.

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Government Tactics

• Refuse to grant the right to associate or form
  organizations
  
• Interference with registration (mandatory
  registration for even the smallest or most
  informal of groups, difficult registration
  process excessive discretion to grant or deny
  registration)
• Restrict foreign funding

8
Government Tactics

• Discretionary right to terminate organizations
• Restrictions on organizations speech
• Stringent oversight and control
• Harassment
• Establishment of parallel NGOs
• Harsh criminal penalties

9
Civil Society Strategies

• Protective alliances and networks
• Raising public awareness
• Popular education
• Rights based education
• Training for activists
• Monitoring and documentation
• Civil Society Watch
• Use of Media
• Use of the Internet

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Civil Society Strategies

• Advocacy campaigns
• Law reform campaigns
• Albania, Slovakia, Russia
• Letter writiing
• Cyber-activism
• Mass mobilization

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Civil Society Strategies

• Direct Public Action
• Law reform campaigns (Russia)
• Strikes (Poland)
• Boycotts (South Africa)
• Engagement
• Direct Support to Victims

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Civil Society Strategies

• International Diplomacy
• Domestic litigation
• National and International Human Rights
  Mechanisms
  
• Ombudspersons
• UN human rights mechanisms
• Regional human rights mechanisms

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Civil Society Strategies

• Legal Triage
• Going Underground
• Solidarity
• Charter 77