Civic Space

Eliminate requirements for CSOs to secure legal registration in order to operate, and remove any restrictions particularly limiting the exercise of associational rights by certain groups.

• Ensure that rules regarding the formation and registration of CSOs are fair, transparent, and evenly applied to allow minority or unpopular viewpoints to be advanced by CSOs and expressed in advocacy.
• This is particularly important for organizations working on sensitive issues, such as anti-corruption, environment and land, human rights, political reform, and rights and access to services for women, especially with groups most at risk of harassment, including LGBTQIA+ individuals, religious minorities, and indigenous people.

Establish and publish laws and regulations governing the process to grant legal status to CSOs, which should include objective, transparent criteria for the approval of non-profit status. Such laws and regulations should limit the scope of official discretion in adjudicating applications for this status to minimize abuse of the process.

Ensure CSOs can register through a simple, established process with clear time limits, which is equally accessible throughout the country.

• Reduce the number of registration documents, registration fees, and the number of agencies an organization must interact with to register.
• Clarify rules and minimize restrictions on foreign organizations in line with all domestic rights and regulations.

Create an appeals process to ensure there is an adequate remedy for appealing denials of legal status to CSOs, including through both administrative and judicial means.

Require minimum governance standards for CSOs, which should be addressed in their internal governing documents. The requirements may be different for membership and non-membership organizations. A CSO should have broad discretion to set and change its governance structure within the limits provided by law, through its founders or highest governing body.

Avoid interfering with the internal governance and management of CSOs, except as required to serve a legitimate purpose under international law. CSOs should generally be free to draft their own rules and regulations, select their own management and representatives, and determine their own objectives and activities, in line with international human rights standards. CSOs should not be subject to more burdensome or restrictive regulations or requirements than other legal entities, such as corporations, private companies, and religious institutions.

Establish a single registry of all non-profit organizations with legal personhood. For example, North Macedonia committed to creating such a register through OGP. This register should be no more burdensome or restrictive than any other register of legal personalities and entities (such as company beneficial ownership registers or open cadastres).

Create and publish narrowly defined guidance to minimize abuse by regulatory authorities. This can reduce the abuse of non-profit organizations by corrupt actors. At the same time, to reduce abuse by regulatory authorities, it is essential to ensure that such rules are applied in a non-discriminatory, legal, and proportionate fashion.

Ensure that public and administration officials are well-trained and sensitized to the varying capacity and formality of CSOs when providing services.

Such approaches must account for rights to free speech, advocacy, and education, while also maintaining adequate protections for the integrity of elections or legislative and regulatory processes.

Promote funding opportunities and mechanisms to ensure organizational sustainability, which helps CSOs and other groups plan for the long term. Examples of this are below.

• Provide tax exemptions to CSOs on most, if not all, categories of income.
• Provide tax benefits and tax incentives to individuals and businesses that donate to CSOs.
• Provide access to international funding without the need for prior government registration or permission, or the use of state-controlled entities as an intermediary.
• Ensure the availability of core and infrastructure funding, as well as longer-term funding (three years or more), where state funding is essential. As appropriate, establish or strengthen a transparent, rule-based, dedicated state-run fund(s) to support CSO activities and institutional development in priority areas.
• Ensure legal ability to carry out independent, public fundraising activities in accordance with the law and to access foreign funding.

Ensure that reporting regulations follow international standards, such as those related to privacy and minimal state interference, to limit restrictions on CSOs and other association groups.

Limit government-imposed audit requirements for CSOs to situations where these associations receive public funding. In those circumstances, adopt and implement transparent audit procedures for government auditing agencies to follow, including conditions triggering an audit, advance notice, procedures for random audits, restrictions on the use of audits for personal information or harassment, and reporting on the use of public funds.

Standardize data reporting of public funds provided to CSOs and projects supported by such funds in an open data format, such as through the International Aid Transparency Initiative.