Via Iuris Lambasts New Amending Proposal to NGO Act

Bratislava, March 28 (TASR) - The Via Iuris organisation has criticised proposed legislative changes concerning NGOs, objecting to an amending proposal sponsored by MP Adam Lucansky (Slovak National Party/SNS), as it believes that, if passed, the bill will lead to NGOs being stigmatised and their activities restricted, TASR learnt from Via Iuris on Friday. The organisation pointed out that the proposed amendment wasn't preceded by any debate and claimed that the legislation flies in the face of the Slovak Constitution and European law. Via Iuris ordered the drafting of an analysis, which demonstrates the bill's adverse effects. "Lucansky's amending proposal, which substantially alters the original bill, was submitted to Parliament without any expert-informed debate with civil society. Furthermore, it introduces elements that are not only unconstitutional, but also in discord with EU law as well as the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms," stated a Via Iuris spokesperson. Via Iuris warned that the definition of NGO lobbying, which the bill is supposed to regulate, is extremely vague. "If the law is not formulated clearly and it's not apparent what constitutes lobbying, then it will be very easy to violate it. For instance, if an organisation believes that giving a statement to the media is not lobbying, but authorities subsequently assess it otherwise because the statement might directly or indirectly influence decision-making by politicians, the organisation might be fined in that case," added the spokesperson. Via Iuris also pointed to potential discord with the Constitution, as the law is discriminatory by regulating only the lobbying of NGOs, but ignores the largest lobbyists such as businesses, financial groups and unions. In addition, the plan to make it mandatory for NGOs to publish the private data of donors constitutes a violation of the right to privacy. "When assessing the Hungarian law against NGOs, which introduced a similar obligation, the EU's Court of Justice ruled that, aside from violating the right to privacy, the bill might discourage potential donors from supporting organisations specialising in the protection of human rights or minorities," added Via Iuris. Another problem might be a new obligation for NGOs to provide information to the public under the Free Access to Information Act. "If someone decides to inundate NGOs with senseless mass requests for information, this will have disastrous impacts for state bodies and local or regional authorities, which will need to attend to these requests," stated the NGO. mf/df