Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Wed, 12 Jul 1995 22:18:58 -0700 (PDT)
A new Federal law "On Public Associations" was passed by the Russian Duma
and signed by the President on May 19, 1995. The law's seven sections
define:
* general regulations;
* procedures for the creation, reorganization, and dissolution of
public associations;
* associations' rights and responsibilities;
* rules for ownership and management of associations' properties;
* the state's responsibility in the event of its violation of the
law on public associations;
* the rights of Russian associations with respect to international
associations and activities;
* and the law's relationship to previous legislation.
Specifically excluded from this law are religious associations, commercial
organizations, and not-for-profit associations created by commercial
organizations ("kommercheskikh organizatsii i sozdavaemikh imi
nekommercheskikh soyuzov [assotsiatsii]").
The new law reads (Section 1, Article 2): "Citizens have the right to
voluntarily establish public associations without prior permission from
the Federal and local governmental organs, and have the right to enter
such public associations on the conditions of compliance with the rules
of their charters." It also states (Section 5, Article 40) that
representatives of the Federal and local government which "cause damage"
to public associations will be held responsible under criminal, civil and
administrative laws of the Russian Federation.
Public associations are granted the following rights, among others:
- to distribute information about their activities;
- to advocate for their interests to local and federal governments;
- to hold meetings and demonstrations and to picket;
- to publish;
- to "set forth public initiatives on different questions of public life
and submit suggestions to the organs of government."
The new law offers public associations the choice to "register according
to the procedure established by this Federal law, and acquire the rights
of a juridical person, or to function without governmental registration
and the rights of a juridical person" (Section 1, Article 3). An
exception to this rule are political parties, which must register with
the government.
For other associations, the implications of not registering are not clear
from the legislation, except that the law also states that for public
associations, "Government support can be expressed in financing of
specific publicly useful programs requested by the associations
(government grants); the making ofcontracts, including for the
fulfillment of work and offers of services; and issuing a public bid
[sotsial'nyi zakaz] to fulfill different government programs that will be
offered to an unlimited number of associations on a competitive basis"
(Section 1, Article 17). Thus, it appears possible that associations
which do not register, as one consequence, may exclude themselves from
receiving any government grants.
Some elements of the law are unclear or appear contradictory. For
example, the law states that associations which were established before
its enactment can re-register before July 1, 1999, without paying a
registration fee. However, the law also states that, "upon the
expiration of the re-registration period, public associations that have
not re-registered are subject to dissolution by the courts at the request
of the agency responsible for their registration" (Section 7, Article
52). This does not seem to square with Section 1, Article 3, which
allows associations not to register if they so wish. (The registration
agency is the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.)
Public associations are required to submit the following documents for
government registration:
- a registration application signed by representatives of the
association's leadership;
- two copies of the charter of the public association;
- information on the founders of the association;
- the legal address of the association;
- protocols of the "constituent convention," and other documents;
The charter of the registered public associations should stipulate:
1. the name, goals, and organizational-legal form of the association;
2. its structure, including the "supervisory organs," and the territory
on which the association is active;
3. competency requirements, term of office, location and procedure of
formation of the association's "legislative organ" (e.g. executive staff);
4. procedures for amending and adding to the charter;
5. sources of funds and other property;
6. re-organization and dissolution procedures; and others.
The law states that "foreign citizens and people without citizenship have
equal rights with Russian citizens in the area regulated by this law,
except in cases stated by the Federal laws and Russian international
agreements" (Section 1, Article 1).
This is the first in a series of laws that the Duma plans to pass over
the course of the next year or two, regulating various categories of
associations, such as charitable organizations, professional
associations, and foundations.
For the full (Russian) text of the law, see the May 25 issue of
Rossiiskaya Gazeta. Or send a stamped (55 cents), self-addressed
envelope marked "NGO Law" to Center for Civil Society International, 2929
NE Blakeley St., Seattle, WA 98105.
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