Guaranteeing Freedom of Association (MN0051)

Statement of public problem Mongolia is witnessing a number of challenges emerging with regard to the right to freedom of association, civic space and civil society. The possibilities of conducting activities independently from the state are diminishing, and a tendency to repudiate formal and informal voluntary groups is becoming evident. The lack of appropriate policy and legal frameworks conducive to the development of civil society and constructive cooperation between government and civic organizations restricts nonprofit entities from growing to reach their full potential and make the best of their capacity to augment and effectively mobilize social capital for public good.

Commitment definition Formulate and adopt a state and civil society partnership policy which spells out fundamental values and principles of civic space and civil society; and create a regulatory framework for not-for-profit and public benefit activities, that is transparent and consitent with the law

Contribution to addressing public problem An enabling legal and regulatory framework for CSOs will foster the independence and capacity of civil society as an instrument of democracy and create conditions for the expansion of not-for-profit activities as an important development factor benefitting public good.

Relevance to the OGP values Reducing corruption and conflict of interest Transparency The not-for-profit entities registry and information base is strengthened with open data systems. Public participation ● The revised not-for-profit entities legislation strengthens the role and functions of civil society actors as participants in governance and development processes. ● Within the framework of the improved not-for-profit entities legislation, voluntary organizations formed by people enjoying their right to freedom of association, and their independent activities will strengthen people’s voice, knowledge and experience as drivers of the public’s capacity to effectively implement their legally assured rights and duties of participation in policy planning, implementation and monitoring.

Additional information The commitment is coherent with the following laws and policy documents: • Constitution of Mongolia, Chapter Two, Article 16 on Human Rights and Freedoms, Provision 10: “right to form … mass organizations and freedom of association to these organizations on the basis of social and personal interests and opinion. All … other mass organizations shall uphold public order and state security, and abide by the law. Discrimination and persecution of a person for association with or membership in a … mass organization shall be prohibited.” • Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights5, ratified by Mongolia, states “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests”, thus elucidating the centrality of the freedom of association in the enjoyment of other rights6 and in the creation of the opportunity to participate in the country’s development. • Guidelines to Strengthen Mongolia’s Legislation in the Period to 2024, approved by Parliament Resolution 12 of 2021, Provisions 58 and 59, • National Security Concept of Mongolia7, Provision 3.3, “The foundation of internal security shall rest on ensuring human rights and freedoms, adherence to the Constitution, respect for the rule of law, continuity of the Mongolian state governance and national unity, support for political parties, civil society, free press and media, individual liberties as well as safeguarding public order and social stability.”;"Undertake a policy to…delegate economic functions to civil …entities.”8; “Further develop civil society through equal participation and consensus with non-governmental organizations, develop public policies to encourage the exercise of oversight over state. Establish a legal basis to support non-governmental organizations offering services to society and develop creative state and civil society partnership forms” 9.

Target defintion State and civil society partnership policy spelling out fundamental values and principles of civic space and civil society is in place. Legal environment will have been strenthened to ensure conditions for citizens to freely associate in not-for-profit organizations, conduct activities on the basis of transparency, accountability and independence from the state, participate in policy planning, implementation and monitoring, and protect the interests of particular population groups. Follow up actions Public information and communication activities to promote the new legislation

Milestone Start date: End date: Revision and improvement of the legal environment to ensure civic space for freedom of association, freedom of expression and independence of civic initiatives. 2021.10.01 2023.12.25 Development and adoption of a state and civil society partnership policy spelling out fundamental values and principles of civic space and civil society, through an open, transparent and broadly participatory process. 2021.12.01 2023.12.31 Simplification of SCO registration procedures and introduction of a digital registry system. 2022.01.01 2023.01.01 Establishment of an information database system to enable CSO transparency 2022.01.01 2023.01.01

Action Plan Review

Commitment 4. Legislation Protecting Civic Space

For a complete description of the commitment, see Commitment 3 in Mongolia’s 2021–2023 Action Plan.

Context and Objectives:

In November 2021, Mongolia’s Ministry of Justice and Internal Affairs submitted the draft Law on Associations and the draft Law on Foundations to parliament. This legislation reflects the trend of a CSO registration process that has become increasingly restrictive since 1997, according to Steps Without Borders. [28] CSOs were not included in developing the laws and are concerned that they will restrict the rights to assembly and organization. [29] Consistent with the value of civic participation, this commitment plans to include civil society stakeholders in revising these draft laws. It also aims to develop a state and civil society partnership policy, simplify CSO registration procedures, and introduce a digital CSO registry system.

Potential for results: Modest

Through this commitment, CSOs stakeholders reported that they intend to leverage the open government process to incorporate their perspective into the pending draft Law on Associations and draft Law on Foundations. [30] CSOs are committed to withdrawal of these draft laws and development of a new law that responds to civil society needs. However, as written, the commitment does not explicitly refer to the pending bills or specify the particularities of how CSOs plan to influence them. Its relevant milestone broadly plans for “revision and improvement of the legal environment to ensure civic space for freedom of association, freedom of expression and independence of civic initiatives.” Laying out targeted revisions to the draft bills would improve the verifiability of this central initiative.

Given concerns about the draft Law on Associations and draft Law on Foundations, this commitment is a key priority for civil society stakeholders involved in the open government process. [31] The Mongolian Women’s Employment Supporting Federation explains that in their current form, the draft laws could debilitate smaller CSOs. In order to register, CSOs would need to prepare documentation, make trips to the capital, and fulfill requirements like having a local bank account with at least 10 million MNT ($3,450.95 USD). Informal CSOs with little funding would not be able to meet these requirements and the laws could criminalize CSOs unable to register. [32] The risks to CSOs’ operating environment have elicited campaigns for withdrawal of the draft laws, spearheaded by the Democracy Education Center, Amnesty International Mongolia, the Media Council, and the Human Rights Forum, a union of 57 CSOs. [33]

In terms of the commitment’s other milestones, introducing the state and civil society partnership policy would bring a stalled, decade-long policy development process to fruition. This process was first initiated in 2012, but following elections that year, was abandoned until 2019, with progress stalling after 2020. [34] The government added the CSO registry to the commitment, and civil society stakeholders have not expressed concerns. The registry would collect information about CSOs working in Mongolia for monitoring purposes. [35]

Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations during implementation

This commitment is an important opportunity for civil society to participate in developing a new draft law that responds to civil society needs. Beyond safeguarding against restrictive regulations, this process can support CSOs’ self-governance, accountability, finances, and other resources. [36] However, the opportunity for a participatory process depends on engaging the support of champions in parliament, particularly in the Standing Committee on State Structure. In order to achieve this commitment’s objectives, the IRM recommends the following:

Results Report

Commitment 4. Legislation protecting civic space

This commitment aimed to introduce regulation to protect civic space but did not make positive progress. The Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs drafted the Bills on Associations and Foundations and submitted them to parliament in November 2021. By the end of the implementation period, they did not progress beyond a preliminary parliamentary discussion in January 2022. [45] While the government perceived the bills as measures to strengthen civil society, CSOs were concerned by the bills’ lengthy and expensive CSO registration process. They anticipated that these could create barriers for small-scale and under-resourced CSOs to operate legally. [46] As for the commitment’s other milestones, there was no evidence that the CSO registration process was simplified or that an online CSO registry was embedded in the opendata.burtgel.gov.mn portal managed by the General Authority for State Registration. [47] Finally, the policy-making process for the State Policy on Civil Society Partnership ended in a deadlock, despite the prime minister’s public support in April 2023. [48] According to the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs, there was a failure to reach a common understanding of the extent of government oversight of CSOs. [49] Overall, despite the commitment’s promising design, it faced disengagement between government and civil society midway through the implementation process.