Venice Commission adopts opinion to law on NGOs of Azerbaijan

  13 December 2014    Read: 1041
Venice Commission adopts opinion to law on NGOs of Azerbaijan
The Venice Commission of Council of Europe adopted an opinion to the Law on NGOs of Azerbaijan at the plenary session on December 12
Council of Europe media officer Tatiana Baeva told that the opinion declares that, recent amendments to this Law and several acts (Law on Registration, Law on Grants and Code of Administrative Offences) have caused positive changes.

“The opinion says that a period provided for NGOs to rectify their alleged violations is up to 30 days. The right of NGOs to appeal to administrative bodies or to a court was defined by law. Despite positive changes, the law hasn’t covered some recommendations contained in the 2011 Opinion of the Venice Commission, the procedure of registration of NGOs has not been simplified. The issue on branches and representative offices of foreign NGOs remains as a concern,” said Tatiana.

The Venice Commission recommended Azerbaijan to reconsider the issues on registration of NGOs representative offices of international NGOs, create conditions suitable for their activities. VC experts also recommended reconsidering restrictions on foreign-funded NGOs.

The Venice Commission stated that it is ready to assist the Azerbaijani authorities in several fields.

Baeva said that final text of the opinion will be posted on official website of the Commission on December 15.

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