New finalised draft of NGO Law, redrafted by the Ministry Of Interior. Re-submitted to the Council of Ministers on 15-6-98.
Unofficial translation
This law has an objective to determine provisions for regulating the associations or non-governmental organizations.
This law shall not be applicable for:
There are two categories of non-governmental organisations:
Associations and local non-governmental organizations are legal entities which have legal capacities in accordance with the terms and conditions for the registration in conformity with the provisions as set forth under this law. The associations and local non-governmental organizations may have necessary properties for the performance of their functions.
Every citizen has rights to establish an association, however, he/she shall respect and implement this law.
Any person who intends to establish an association shall submit an application for registration to the Ministry of Interior, by enclosing the following documents:
The Ministry of Interior shall issue a receipt of application immediately upon the reception of the application.
The Minister of Interior shall respond to the application within a period of 90 days. If the filed document is incomplete or insufficient the Minister of Interior shall notify the applicant within a period of 15 days, so that the latter comes to fill up the insufficient document.
If the applicant fails to fill up the insufficient document within a period of 15 days from the date of the reception of the notification from the Ministry of Interior, shall be considered as such applicant has abandoned his/her project and therefore shall not be registered in the association register.
If upon an evaluation by the Minister of Interior that an association cannot be registered for legal- reasons, the Minister oil Interior may then reject that application by indicating the legal reasons. In this case, the applicant may file a complaint to the court at any time.
In case where the Minister of Interior does not respond within a period of 90 days, from the date of submission of the application or filling the insufficient document, the association shall then be considered as legitimate and also regarded as having been already registered at the Ministry of Interior.
An association shall have at least 2 members.
There are 3 types of memberships of associations
An association shall have its organization which consists of at least: a President, a Board of Directors, a General Assembly, and a Treasurer.
The General Assembly is convened under the chairmanship of a member selected in every meeting among the board of Directors. The Ordinary Session of the General Assembly shall meet once every year. The Ordinary Session of the General Assembly shall meet according to the agenda, determined at the initiative and convened by the Board of Directors.
The Treasurer shall be appointed by the Board of Directors. The Treasurer ensures the management of the account books and resources of the association under supervision of the President.
The President represents the association and files complaint to the court on his/her own behalf. The President is the budget authoriser of the expenses and implementation of decisions of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly.
The Board of Directors is the body which decides on the activities to be implemented, in conformity with the voting rules, by a majority and as determined by the Statutes of the association. These activities shall be consistent with the purpose as stated in the Statutes of the association.
The General Assembly gives approval on decisions raised by the President and (donne quittus) on the financial management plan made by the President and the Treasurer
The General Assembly decides on the modification of the Statutes of the association, at the request of the Board of Directors.
The funding sources of the association shall consist of:
- Contribution from the members.
- Assistance from the public authority of Cambodia, except for the foreign assistance.
- Gifts and will gifts from the private individuals.
The Rules on management and on the control/inspection of the management of the funding sources, shall be determined by the Statutes of the association.
Minister of Interior shall examine on the, consistency of the Statutes with the provisions of this law, when it is enclosed with the application which is primarily submitted or when in case of later modifications on a Statutes by an association.
The Statutes shall consist of, at least, the important points as follows:
The Statutes of the association shall be signed by the President.
Dissolution of an association may result from
- Decision to dissolve by itself.
- Decision to dissolve by the administration
- Decision to dissolve by the court.
The self dissolution shall be decided by the General Assembly at the request, of the Board of Directors in conformity with the rules as determined in the Statutes of the association.
The dissolution by the administration shall be made at the request of the Ministry of Interior, in case where the association carries out an activity in violation of the law or causes affects to the public order or national security or good tradition of the Khmer society. In case of dissolution by the administration, the president of the association shall have rights to file complaint to the court within the period of 15 days.
The dissolution by the administration shall take effect immediately, after the declaration of the dissolution of the association by the Minister of Interior is coming into force.
The dissolution by the court following a complaint made by a person whose interests is affected. In case of dissolution by the court the association shall comply with the judgement of the court or of the higher court.
Properties of dissolved association shall be given first priority to repayment of legitimate debts of the concerned association, and after this, the remaining properties may be transferred to any association which has the same purpose.
The association shall be under the responsibility of the President of the concerned association who shall send annual reports of its activities to the Ministry of Interior, before the 15 November of each year.
Shall be considered as foreign associations under provisions of the Chapter III of this law, those associations which:
A local association may receive qualifications as a foreign association, only if it is conducting activities within the framework of "he criteria as determined above. In this case the Minister of Interior shall require this association to comply with the applicable provisions as determined in the Chapter III under this law.
Any organisation which has qualifications as a foreign association, shall be regulated by the common rules under this law.
Foreign association nay be established, only after there is an authorization before hand, from the Ministry of, Interior.
A foreign association may have an objective of mutual assistance for the interests of the members of the concerned association or any foreign association, according to what determined by the Statutes (By-laws) of the concerned association.
Foreign associations may, in no case, intervene in the international relations of
Cambodia, and cause any trouble to the politics of the Royal Government of Cambodia.
Resources of the foreign Associations, shall be solely obtained from contributions by their own members or fixed-levy donation from the local and foreign charities.
Foreign associations may not receive assistance either from any government or any private or public organization.
Apart from cases as determined in the article 13 of this law, a foreign association may be dissolved by the Ministry of Interior, if the latter caused harm to the national security.
In case if a foreign association is dissolved by itself, its properties shall be transferred to another association which has the same purposes, according to the Statutes (By-laws) of that concerned association.
In case then a foreign association is dissolved by the administration or by the judge, properties of the dissolved association, shall be transferred to the Cambodian Red-Cross (C.R.C).
Local non-governmental organizations shall be regulated by the rules under the General Provisions as stated in the Chapter 2 of this law, and which will also be added according to what determined by the articles 21, 22 and 23 of this law.
Before filing an application for registration with the Ministry of Interior, local non-governmental organizations shall be required have an approval in advance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operations.
Local non-governmental organizations may carry out any service activities in the fields such as election, health, education, culture, arts, environment, social aid, public authority aid and human rights. Their activities shall absolutely be aiming at assisting the people spiritually/morally and materially.
Local non-governmental organizations may not represents any type/group?? of citizens.
Local non-governmental organizations may neither carry out political activities nor replace any legitimate public authority in the fulfillment of their duties.
The Minister of Interior may declare to dissolve any local non-governmental organization which do not comply with what determined in the para. (2) or para. (3) of the article 22 under this law.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International co-operation shall inform of the dissolution by the Minister of Interior, to the concerned local non-governmental organization.
Local non-governmental organizations may carry out their activities only within the limit of their own program. Local Non-governmental organizations shall not receive any prerogative from the public authority including tax privilege or any other thing.
The programs/projects?? of the non-governmental organizations are funded by the outside country sources. For carrying out its activities, a non-governmental organization is required to have an amount of foreign fund of at least ........dollars, and when applying for registration at the Ministry of Interior, this above organization shall indicate the origin of the funding sources which it received.
Once every year, non-governmental organizations shall indicate/report?? very clearly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International co-operation and Ministry of Interior, of the use of the funds which they received from the outside and of the situation which led to the achievement of the scheduled programs/projects?? and the original sources which led to the creation of the programs/projects.
Any association or non-governmental organization which disrespects any provisions under this law, shall be subject to an administrative sanction as stated in the article 26 under this law.
Apart from the above punishment, the responsible natural person shall additionally be liable for a criminal punishment.
Apart from the punishment termes as determined in the articles 13-19 and 27 under this law, shall be subject to, animposition of administrative fine of 500,000 riels, by the Minister of Interior for any association or non-governmental organization which disrespects its obligation in sending annual reports as determined in the article 15 of this law.
If after the reception of a fine imposition letter, that the association or non-governmental organization still does not provide a report within a period of 2 months, the Minister of Interior may then declare to dissolve it.
The Minister of Interior may also declare a dissolution of any association or international organization which does not comply with the rules as determined in the Statutes of the concerned association or non-governmental organization.
Association or non-governmental organizations which violated the article 22 or 27 of this law, may also be declared to dissolved by the Ministry of Interior.
Shall be punished to imprisonment from 1 month to 6 months, for any person who has created an association or non-governmental organization and who did not get it registered at the Ministry of Interior.
Shall be punished to imprisonment from 1 year to 3 years, for any person who transferred the fund of the association or non-governmental organization, or who abusively used of properties of the association for non-governmental organization.
Shall be punished to imprisonment from 6 months to 1 year, for any government servant who obstructs to the registration of the association or non-governmental organization.
After this law enters into force, all the associations or non-governmental organizations which are operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia, shall prepare a formality and file documents to apply for registration as determined in the article 6 of this law to the Ministry of Interior, within a period of 90 days.
If over this above specified period, shall be deemed as that association or on-governmental organization has abandoned the registration.
Source: This copy has been received from Licadho, Cambodia
A new draft Law on NGOs and Associations has been resubmitted to the Council of Ministers and will most probably be discussed by it shortly after the elections.
Hereunder are a few general comments on the new draft law, which was compared to the latest version (May 1996) which the Ministry of Interior and the NGO community, the latter supported by our Office, had agreed upon. The May 1996 version was returned by the Council of Ministers to the Legislation Department of the Ministry of Interior in November 1997 for re-drafting. A copy of the new draft, that is already with the Council of Ministers, was informally provided to us two weeks ago.
1. The new draft makes a distinction between associations, local NGOs and international NGOs for which different regulations are now spelled out, whereas the provisions contained in the 1996 draft were applicable to all associations -including NGOs.
The distinctions made between these three categories of associations contained in article 3 of the draft are unclear and do not appear to have any legal basis. It is to be feared that this draft will create great confusion amongst associations regarding the status they will fall under.
A Protocol of Agreement, into which international NGOs will have to enter with the government and which regulates their activities, is at a draft stage with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This Protocol requires that international NGOs register with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the new draft Law on NGOs and Associations also requires their registration with the Ministry of Interior. The new draft also sets double registration requirements for local NGOs. Double registration requirements for local and international NGOs will make it more difficult for them to operate in Cambodia and will increase government control. If different ministries are entrusted with the recognition of NGOs, it is also to be expected that inconsistent standards may be set, resulting in confusion and possibly inter-ministerial conflicts.
2. Under the new draft, there is one additional requirement in the registration process, being that NGOs and Associations are to disclose their sources of funding.
3. The new draft attempts to control the sources of funding of associations and local NGOs, excluding foreign assistance. Funding sources should solely consist of members' contributions, donations from public authorities I Cambodia, and private donations (article 11).
If this requirement were to be implemented, the majority of associations and local NGOs in Cambodia would have to close down.
The insertion of this clause should be strongly opposed.
4. The new draft states that sources of funding of foreign associations shall only be derived from membership fees or from donations of national or foreign humanitarian donors. Foreign associations are not entitled to receive funds from any government or from public or private organisations (article 18).
This clause, if implemented, will in effect prevent the majority of international NGOs from operating in Cambodia (HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL, MSF, etc..., are all government funded).
The insertion of this clause should be strongly opposed.
5. The new draft makes it mandatory that all associations and NGOs function on the basis of membership and organise in assemblies. Each organisation shall have at least a President, an Executive Committee, a General Assembly and a Treasurer. There will be founding members, new members and honorary members. The 1996 draft made the above structure and organisation optional.
There should be no legal requirement that an association or NGO have members and organise in assemblies. Many small and middle-sized NGOs do not at present have members, and do not organise in assemblies. Moreover, international NGOs usually already have an existing statutory basis when they come to operate in Cambodia.
6. While the 1996 draft foresees that the Ministry of Interior may de-register an association or NGO that commits serious violations of the law or does no longer meet the definition of an association or NGO, de-registration is no longer an option in the new draft. Only the severe penalty of dissolution upon request of the Ministry of Interior, - which did not exist in the 1996 draft- is currently foreseen.
While in the 1996 draft, an association or NGO could vote to dissolve itself or could be dissolved by a court judgement, dissolution resulting from government sanction is presently a third form of dissolution, in the event the association violates the law, causes harm to the public interest or the national security, degrades Khmer social values, fails to submit its annual report, or fails to operate in compliance with its own statutes. While a notice period of 30 days was mandatory for the Ministry in the deregistration process under the 1996 draft, dissolution by government sanction becomes effective upon declaration by the Ministry of Interior.
Dissolution by government sanction is a very severe penalty, open to all forms of arbitrary on the part of the Ministry of Interior. Grounds for dissolution remain vague and undefined (who will define what is in the public interest?, what affects national security ?, what exactly are Khmer social values?).
This form of dissolution should be strongly opposed, in view of the illimited power it confers to the Ministry of Interior.
7. While the 1996 draft contained a provision that NGOs or associations engaged in direct or indirect support activities to political parties or candidates in an election, or in financial support thereto, were to be deregistered by the Ministry of Interior, the new draft contains a similar provision solely applicable to international NGOs. The provision forbids that foreign associations intervene in Cambodia's international relations, as well as interfere or cause disturbance to the politics of the Royal Government (article 18). Although it is not explicitly stated in the article, this could form a grounds for dissolution by the government.
This provision does not clearly define what it means to intervene in Cambodia's international relations, nor what it means to interfere or cause disturbance to the politics of Cambodia. A number of organisations work on a nonpartisan basis in the field of politics, and will fear the possibility of being shut down at some stage.
It is to be feared that this article will open the way for arbitrary enforcement.
8. Whereas the 1996 draft established the principle of a tax deduction for donations to associations or NGOs to support their public benefit activities, that provision - which is a standard provision in almost all NGO laws- is not included in the new draft.
Likewise, while the 1996 draft included a provision granting tax exemption to associations and NGOs, the new draft remains silent on that issue. If NG0s and associations do not receive the incentive of tax exemption -which is also a provision included in the NGO laws of most countries, in recognition of the public benefit activities of NGOs and associations-, many will not be able to carry out their activities.
9. While the 1996 draft required that NGOs and associations annually submit a report to the Ministry of Interior containing a summary of their activities, a financial balance sheet showing incomes and expenses for the year by categories, and a list of donors with amounts donated, the new draft limits the reporting activities to the presentation of an annual activity report.
10. The new draft foresees a prison sentence of one month to six months for any individual creating an association or an NGO without registration with the Ministry of Interior. This provision was not included in the 1996 draft, which nonetheless stipulated that an association or NGO is not to be considered as legitimate, unless it, registered itself beforehand with the Ministry of Interior.
It should be objected to both the old and the new draft that the purpose of registration is to confer legal personality to NGOs or association, resulting in benefits and obligations. The freedom to establish associations, as enshrined in article 42 of the Constitution, does not entail an obligation to register. Groups of individuals who associate for informal activities may not wish to register. They may not wish to form legal entitles, but still have the right to operate. The use of the term "legitimate" in the 1996 draft did not reflect that principle, nor did the provision, that NGOs and associations which failed to register could be temporarily suspended by the Ministry of Interior; The currant introduction of prison sentences for NGOs and associations which fail to register a fortiori affects the principle of freedom of association.
(This text is a copy of the original UN-document made by the Licadhostaff 1999-01-19)