The main tenets of the Greek legal framework on the NGO Registry of the Ministry of Migration and Asylum were declared unconstitutional by the Plenary of the Greek Council of State, in a crucial development in the legal battle led by RSA and other organisations for fair treatment of civil society in the country.
Based on an announcement published yesterday, the Council of State ruled that the provisions allowing the Ministry of Migration and Asylum to deny registration of organisations on the NGO Registry at its discretion, requiring organisations to publish details of their funders, and imposing a two-year ban on re-registration of organisations deleted from the Registry, are unconstitutional and contrary to the right to freedom of association.
The Court also referred preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the compatibility with freedom of association and data protection of Greek legislative provisions that prohibit registration of organisations in case of criminal charges against their management and/or representatives for any felony and of a final conviction for slanderous defamation.
The Council of State also found that the legal basis for the establishment of the NGO Members Registry by way of secondary legislation was unconstitutional since the law does not lay down the substantive conditions for registration of individual members, staff and partners of organisations.
The ruling marks an important victory and vindication for the civil society organisations that have led persistent efforts to defend rights and the rule of law – as early as 2020 concerning the NGO Registry. The Court has set necessary constraints on the arbitrary, sustained efforts to shrink democratic space and to target solidarity.
