Initial comments by the ECNL to draft law on public organizations of Armenia
The European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), a leading European resource and research center in the field of civil society law based in Budapest, provided its initial feedback to 2 specific provisions of the Armenian draft Law on Public Organizations. The comments provided in the document are based on comparative examples of international regulation and good practices. It focused on the right of public organizations to appeal to court and report on organizations’ activity and came up with respective recommendations.
As for the right of public organizations to appeal to court, ECNL recognizes and comments the legislator’s intention to re-emphasize the right of public organizations to represent and defend their own rights and lawful interests (Article 16.1(1)). The draft also comprises a provision, which will allow certain organizations to represent the rights and lawful interest of their participants (members), beneficiaries and volunteers (Article 16.1 (7). However, the fact that the representation of own interest and public interest is not separated in section 1 point 7 and section 2 of Article 16 of the Draft Law results in difficulties in interpretation and, as a result, possible limitation of the right. In that regard ECNL recommended the legislator to clearly separate two points under Article 16.1 on the right of the organization: (1) provision that entitles the organizations to represent and defend its rights and lawful interest front of other organizations, courts, the state and local self-governance bodies; and (2) provision that entitles the organizations to protect public interest. ECNL recommends omitting limitations on the types of public organizations, which can bring a case to court in protection of public interest.
With regard to report on organizations’ activity, according to Article 23, all organizations have to prepare annually a detailed report on the organization’s activity and operation without distinguishing between organizations based on their size or status. Based on the international standards and best practices, ECNL’s preliminary recommendation is to consider the possibility of a differentiated approach to NGO reporting: to identify criteria for organizations exempt from submitting reports; and to provide for a simplified reporting for organizations of lesser annual income.
