Constitutional Court to Deal with NGO Act, Combining Ombudsman's Motion with MPs

Kosice, 10 September (TASR) - At its non-public session on Wednesday, the Constitutional Court decided to accept for further proceedings ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky's motion regarding the constitutionality of the amendment to the NGO Act, placing it in a single set of proceedings with a motion filed by a group of opposition MPS who had already challenged the amendment. In the ombudsman's opinion, some of the law's 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. Dobrovodsky said this to the media in August. He believes that the Constitutional Court will uphold his motion, thus keeping intact the high standard of the right to freedom of association. The ombudsman presented five areas in which he sees problems, such as publishing lists of contributors and 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 the applicability of the Freedom of Information Act will be extended to the non-governmental sector, thus creating excessive paperwork. There are also deficiencies in terms of personal data protection. Dobrovodsky also criticised excessive obligations associated with the accumulation of a statutory representative's income which may deter members of statutory bodies from holding a post 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 information on how public funds are managed. The Constitutional Court accepted a motion filed by a group of opposition MPs regarding the amendment for further proceedings in May, but it didn't grant their request to suspend its effect. The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party opines that the amendment threatens basic democratic principles and human rights. ko/df