Q & A

Proposed amendments to the Law on citizens’ associations and foundations

 
The members of the Civic Platform of Macedonia (29 civil society organizations) and other 26 civil society organizations have addressed an open letter to the members of the Macedonian Parliament. The reasons were the proposed amendments to the Law on citizens’ associations and foundations submitted by the Government to the Parliament in October 2006. What did these 55 civil society organizations ask the members of the Parliament?

 

In an open letter, the civil society organizations conclude that the proposed amendments to the Law submitted by the Government to the Parliament in October 2006 are not technical amendments only for reconciliation with the Law on single-desk system and the Law on violations, but they regulate some essential issues related to CAF management, termination and allotment of property.

The civil society organizations propose the following:

The regulations that refer to essential issues in terms of management (article 1), termination (articles 13 and 14) and allotment of CAF property (paragraph 4 of articles 11 and 12) to be abolished and reviewed later with other amendments of the law;

The Articles that refer to registration (articles 2-10) to be amended in order to keep the resolution of the present law (article 47) by which the registration organ evaluates the reconciliation of the statute and the program with the conditions projected in the Law on citizens’ associations and foundations; and

To be given a concrete deadline when the Law on citizens’ associations and foundations will be amended, in order to introduce a status of an organization of public interest to be accorded with the Law on donations and sponsorships in public activities (which will come into force on 1 January 2007) and to be harmonized with the European regulations and standards.

The proposed amendments, if adopted, according to the civil society organizations, will result in several possible problems in the practice.

 

Articles that are proposed to be abolished

ARTICLE 1- CAF MANAGEMENT

Article 1 projects the employed in CAF not to be able to take part in the CAF executive organs. We consider such regulation to contribute to inconsistent application due to the terminology that the law operates with and due to the possibility CAF to determine various organs by the statute. The international practice forbids the employed to take part in managing and monitoring, not in the organs that execute, because as a rule, the employed are their members.

ARTICLE 13 and 14 – CAF TERMINATION

The proposed articles 13 and 14 give authority to the public prosecutor and each interested person to start a procedure for CAF termination not only when CAF works contrary to articles 3 and 4 of the Law, but also when it works contrary to their statute, without being given an opportunity to accord in their work. This regulation for appreciating the work in accordance with the statute projects a too rigid measure for termination and it is not in accordance with the European practice which requires a certain time to be given for CAF to put into accord its work with the statute, but not its termination.

On the other hand, the proposal-law allows each interested person to start a court procedure, which may result in misuses that the courts and CAF would be responsible for. Therefore it should be amended in order to project that such person could raise an initiative in front of a public prosecutor as it has been projected so far.

ARTCILE 11 and 12 – ALLOTMENT OF PROPERTY AFTER THE CAF TERMINATION

Articles 11 and 12 introduce a new paragraph where the competent court is given an obligation to resolve upon the way of allotting the property of the citizens’ association and foundation after their termination, unlike article 53 of CAF which guarantees the right for the CAF to regulate the property allotment after its termination according to its own statute.

 

Articles that are proposed to be amended

ARTICLE 2-10 – CAF REGISTRATION

With paragraphs 2-10 of the proposed amendments an exceptionally liberal regime for CAF registration is introduced, thus erasing the so far regulations which the registration organ followed to assess the legality and accordance between the statute and the program with the Law on CAF and the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. In this way it will be allowed CAF to be established without assessing whether it meets the conditions proscribed by the law and whether the program and the statute are in accordance with the constitution and the law, which can result in misuses.

 

Additionally to articles 11 and 12 a right is given to the Central register to determine termination of CAF, and not to pass a decision for CAF annulment after submitted by a competent body.

 

Notice: While this issue of the Civic World was being prepared, a parliament dispute was announced for proposed amendments to the Law on citizens’ associations and foundations. The Civic World will further follow the development of events related to this issue and will notify its readers of it.