The Government approved the Draft Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Armenia on Non-Governmental Organizations”. Elaboration of the draft is due to the exclusion of misinterpretations during the implementation of the law, clarification of the existing wording, and ensuring public accountability.

The draft amendment requires a mandatory requirement for all NGOs to publish a report. Under current regulation, the Organization is required to publish a report on its activities annually if the source of acquiring the property of the organization were public funds (sources of state or local government bodies and other public funds or legal entities).

Organizations that have not used the source of public funds for acquiring property have no obligation to publish a report and as a result there is an absence of public accountability. There is also disagreement as to whether the report should only contain information about the programs carried out at the expense of public funds or the whole activity of the organization.

The new wording of Article 24 of the Law provides for a requirement for all NGOs to publish activity reports.

Pursuant to Article 24, Part 3, Paragraph 5 of the Law, the organization reports on the number of members and volunteers as of 1 January of the reporting year, and as a result, information that is at least one year old is provided and loses relevance. The draft is intended to present this information as of the last day of the reporting year.

According to Article 24, paragraph 5, the report includes the number of members as well as volunteers (as of January 1 of the reporting year). The draft provides for a requirement to publish information on the number of volunteers if the volunteer work time exceeds 20 hours per week and the organization concludes a volunteer contract with the volunteers.

Pursuant to Article 18, Part 1, Paragraph 4 of the Law, the State Revenue Committee under the Government of the Republic of Armenia is considered as the Authorized Body. According to Article 4, Part 2, Paragraph 4 of the “RA Law on Public Administration System Bodies”, the State Revenue Committee is considered to be a body subject to the Government, and according to Article 9, Part 3, Paragraph 1, the State Revenue Committee under the Government of the Republic of Armenia acts as the State Revenue Committee. With the proposed amendment the name of the authorized body mentioned in the RA Law on Non-Governmental Organizations corresponds to the name defined by the RA Law on Public Administration System Bodies.

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