CE's Venice Commission is positive on Azerbaijani amendments to NGO legislation

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (CE) has issued a positive opinion on the amendments passed in Azerbaijan to the law "On Non-Governmental Organizations", said Tatiana Baeva, the spokesperson for the commission. At the same time, according to her story, the authorities would not listen to recommendations on simplification of NGO registration.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 17 the Azerbaijani Parliament amended the legislation on NGOs; in particular, now foreign donors may provide grants to country's NGOs only upon permission of the government.

"The above opinion notes that the term provided to NGO heads for eliminating violations was increased to 30 days. The right of NGOs to address administrative authorities or the courts in respect of any liability measure as defined by the law" the APA quotes Ms Baeva as saying.

However, the opinion also notes that the amendments have failed to cover a number of other recommendations of the Venice Commission of 2011.

According to Baeva, the Venice Commission had recommended that the Azerbaijani authorities reconsider the rules of registration of local and international NGOs, as well as the limitations imposed on funding NGOs from foreign funds.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.