In addition to procedures of the United Nations Organization on opening of branches and accreditation the Council of Europe has developed similar procedures for accreditation of nongovernmental organizations. Thus a step forward on development of the international agreement on standards for definition of international nongovernmental organizations was made.

In the Council of Europe there is a contract, which is of special interest for nongovernmental organizations. It is called "The European Convention on Recognition of International Nongovernmental Organizations as Subjects of Law" (further - the Convention). What are the content, purposes and restrictions of this contract?

The Convention on international nongovernmental organizations is also called the Contract of the Council of Europe (©124), which was made up by experts of the committee authorized by the European Committee of the Council of Europe on legal cooperation (further - the comment to the Convention).

This contract took effect on January 1, 1991, when it was ratified with necessary minority of the countries of the Council of Europe. Nowadays seven of them have recognized this contract: Austria, Belgium, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland and Great Britain. It is supposed that soon the Convention will be signed by other states too: France, for example, is expected to ratify it. Experts are of opinion that the reason why other countries still have not ratified this document is they do not see advantage of it for development of the civil society. Recent stimulation of such understanding should result to signing of the Convention by the greater number of countries.

The purpose of the Convention is to promote the activity of international nongovernmental associations in Europe by development of rules concerning conditions of recognition of these organizations as juridical persons. It is clear that such a contract is necessary because of the increasing number of nongovernmental organizations working as transnational ones in the several countries.

Though the contract under discussion is applicable to the activity only of those international nongovernmental organizations, which belong to the countries that have ratified the Convention, it is useful to know about it in Russia too.

For international nongovernmental organizations of the countries, which have not signed the contract, there will be shown the opportunity of recognition under the same standards, by the analogy. It is also necessary to explain all the advantage of ratification of the Convention to the government. It would give the legal position to the Russian international nongovernmental organizations working in Europe and the European international nongovernmental organizations operating in Russia. This contract may be of use to different national nongovernmental organizations too. Nowadays there is no international document, which defines the status of national nongovernmental organizations. Experts of the Council of Europe say about some attempts to develop such standards. Until they are determined, the basic regulations contained in the Convention on the international nongovernmental organizations can be used by analogy for the national nongovernmental organizations.

This Convention, being a rather short contract consisting of 11 articles only, is published in French and English. There are the most important items of the Convention for consideration.

In the preamble of the Convention it is admitted that the international nongovernmental organizations are especially valuable to work in "scientific, cultural, charitable, philanthropic, public health and educational fields and they can contribute to achievement of goals and tasks designated in the Charter of the United Nations Organization and the Charter of the Council of Europe".

Article 1

In this article there are the necessary conditions to specify an organization as an international nongovernmental organization.

The regulations of the Convention should be applied to "associations, funds and other private establishments". In the article there are four basic conditions that are listed. In the commentary given by the expert committee, which have written the Convention, such a definition is given to the associations: "It is a group of persons incorporated for a definite goal, which after creation of the juridical person is also identified for legal actions, purchases of property, signing of contracts, etc". A fund is understood as "the identified property handed for a definite goal". "Other private establishments" are intended for integration of separate juridical persons, such as religious organizations, trade unions, which may be similar to associations in some countries, but legally they are not qualified as associations.

In article 1 it is specified that associations, funds and other establishments must be "private". It means that the organization does not possess any state (local, national or international) powers.

Item 1.a: organization must have the purpose of non-commercial activity of international value.

A nongovernmental organization must not purpose any commercial aims to distinguish it from a commercial organization. In the expert commentary it is said that the goal of a commercial organization is the distribution of material benefits among its members. Further, it affirms that a nongovernmental organization may have profit, for example, on selling of publications but such a kind of activity should serve the non-commercial purpose.

A nongovernmental organization must have the international value, i.e. goals of its activity must be directed for the welfare of all the international community and not only its country. Concerning the point what may be considered to be useful (see the preamble), it is explained that an organization should promote achievement of the goals and tasks of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, which include scientific, cultural, charitable, philanthropic, public health, educational and human rights questions, etc. In the expert commentary to the Convention it is said that the concept of "international value" of organizations helps to define the concept of non-commercial activity.

Item 1.b: an organization must be founded according to the mechanism controlled by the internal legislation of a country that signed the Convention. It means that this organization is founded according to the international agreement. If the organization is created by the international agreement it is managed by the international law and will not be recognized by internal laws to which the given Convention addresses itself.

Item 1.c: an international nongovernmental organization must be engaged in productive activity at least in two states confirming the fact that the organization is the international one. There is no requirement that both states are the members of the Council of Europe.

Item 1.d contains two conditions: the first one - an international nongovernmental organization must have a legally created office in the territory of a country, which is a member of the Convention; the second condition - an organization's general managing and supervising body must be situated in the territory of a given country or other state, which is a member of the Convention.

The first condition is stated in item 2, which is considered to be the basic article of the Convention. According to the expert commentary to the Convention the second condition is included for "protection of concerns of persons who, conclude contracts with nongovernmental organizations by the way of insurance, thus insuring some part of property of an organization situated in the territory of a state that concludes the contract".

Article 2

This article 2 is considered to be the basic one for the Convention, because it establishes the rules for definition and recognition of organizations.

Item 2.1 runs that any juridical person and opportunities that it has in the country, which has signed the Convention and where a legally created office is situated, must be recognized in other countries too. It means that there are no special procedures for recognition of an organization. If a nongovernmental organization became the juridical person in a country, which is a member of the contract, it is legislatively admitted in all other countries, which are the members of the Convention.

The key rule is that the laws, which operate the subject of law of a nongovernmental organization and its opportunities, are the legislation of the country, where the given organization has a legally registered office as it is specified in constituent documents such as charters. However, the given right is not the absolute, as we will see in article 2, item 2.

Item 2.2 establishes that because of significant public interest the restrictions or other procedures on realization of the rights and legal opportunities, given by the legislation of a member-country of the Convention, in which a nongovernmental organization is already recognized, must also be applicable to nongovernmental organizations founded in other member-countries of the Convention. Sometimes, as it is determined by the legislation, some restrictions, which are not applicable in the country, may be imposed on a nongovernmental organization. There is such an example in the expert commentary as a procedure of reception of a sanction to purchase of real estate in a number of states. Such a restriction or requirement of special procedures for local organizations may be applied to a foreign international nongovernmental organization in case of special public interest.

In the expert commentary it is also noted that if there are some general restrictions for all foreigners in the country, the nongovernmental organization, possessing the juridical person in other state, may be limited according to these requirements too, though all discrimination restrictions for all the countries of the Council of Europe should be withdrawn on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Article 3

This article narrates how a nongovernmental organization produces evidences of the juridical person registration to the state bodies of a country, where it intends to be recognized.

In item 3.1 it is stipulated that it must be made as a result of presentation of a nongovernmental organization's memorandum and articles of association or other basic constitutional regulations. Other presented documents must contain official administrative powers, documentary acknowledgement of registration in a member-country of the Convention, which has granted the sanction to create the juridical person.

If in the given country there is no procedure of public announcement of foundation of an organization the document on creation of a nongovernmental organization must be legalized with the purpose of international recognition. The right to name the body, which is authorized to certificate, is given to the Council of Europe by a member-country of the Convention of international nongovernmental humanitarian organizations.

In item 3.2 it is offered to develop a system of public notification for countries, which have no such systems, in order to facilitate for nongovernmental humanitarian organizations the proof offer procedure of the juridical person registration.

Article 4

It contains one more restriction concerning recognition of the juridical person. According to the Convention it denies recognition of those nongovernmental humanitarian organizations, purposes, tasks and activity of which are mentioned below (items 4.1 and 4.2).

According to item 4.1 it is stipulated that recognition may be denied to those nongovernmental humanitarian organization that destroy national or public safety or do not promote prevention of a disorder and crime, damages to protection of health and morals, protection of rights and liberties of others.

Other articles of the Convention include procedural items, including ratification and denunciation of membership.