Ombudsman Dobrovodsky Challenges NGO Act in Constitutional Court

Bratislava, 15 August (TASR) - Ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky has turned to the Constitutional Court over the amendment to the NGO Act, TASR has learnt during the ombudsman's press conference held on Friday. Dobrovodsky says that some of its provisions violate the principle of freedom, while at the same time hampering civil society's participation in public life and enabling the state to undertake disproportionate activities aimed at "spying on" NGOs. The ombudsman believes the Constitutional Court will uphold his motion, thus keeping intact the high standard of the right to freedom of association. Albeit appreciating the concessions made by Parliament with regard to his suggestions proposed during the legislative process, he said the state should neither be interfering with the functioning of NGOs, nor creating unreasonable obstacles. The ombudsman presented five areas where he sees problems, such as publishing lists of contributors including their identification data, or restrictions applicable to the free movement of capital in that the legislation will also apply to donors from EU and non-EU countries. Dobrovodsky also criticised the fact that applicability of the Freedom of Information Act will be extended to the non-governmental sector, thus creating excessive paperwork. He argued that the purpose of this piece of legislation is to keep an eye on the government, not the private sector. There are also deficiencies in terms of personal data protection, because the purpose and scope of personal data processing is not sufficiently specified in the amendment. This creates room for potential misuse of such data and violations of the fundamental right to personal data protection. Dobrovodsky also criticised excessive obligations associated with the accumulation of statutory representative's income which may deter the members of statutory bodies from holding a position in another NGO. The amendment to the NGO Act came into force in June, introducing, for instance, a requirement for NGOs to draw up a transparency report and to make available the information on how the public funds are managed. jrg/mcs/am