The Polish government elaborated draft amendments to the Law on Foundations. The proposed amendments increase State control over foundations to such an extent that a question arises whether following the approval of the act in this form foundations, which are non-governmental organizations, will still remain non-governmental? (26-AUG-06)
Written by Marta Lempicka/HRH Warsaw
The draft introduces an obligation to submit to the Ministry the resolutions made by the management boards of foundations within 30 days of their issue. If the Minister competent for foundations judges that a resolution made by a foundation’s board is inconsistent with the law, mission or statutory objectives of the foundation, then he can turn the case over to a court, so that it can repeal this resolution. Moreover, if a foundation delays the introduction of changes, following a court ruling stating discrepancies between the foundation’s activities and its statutory objectives, the Minister may impose a fine in an amount between 500 PLN (120 €) and 5000 PLN (1200 €). In the event that the foundation’s authorities persistently continue to conduct activities contrary to its charter, the Minister will be obligated to make a motion to remove the current foundation authorities and appoint compulsory administration.
In accordance with the currently binding act, foundations submit annual activity reports (the boards’ resolutions are appended to the reports) to the Minister competent for the scope of their activity. Moreover, the Minister may hold a foundation responsible for activity contrary to its charter, however the act leaves the decision whether and when to do so in the hands of the minister, but at the same time it does not force him to intervene.
The draft act stirred up protests from the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR), the Stefan Batory Foundation and the Donors’ Forum (Forum Darczyñcow – a federation assembling large Polish grant foundations). The HFHR sent a letter to the Chief of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, in which it expressed its concern regarding the direction of the amendments. In the letter we read:
(…) this is a draft that is particularly dangerous for all non-governmental sector institutions in Poland, which operate in the form of foundations. These are mainly institutions that monitor public authorities, centers for independent thinking, research and studies on subjects that are often sensitive from the point of view of the interests of the ruling political option. In the opinion of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights the draft constitutes another initiative that is aimed at increasing State control over civil society institutions.”
The manner of informing parties, to which the act applies, is also objectionable, as the draft was only sent to the National Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations (OFOP), which associates around 140 organizations (around 6,500 are registered in Poland). It was not however submitted for consultation to the Public Benefit Works Council (RDPP) – a statutory agency appointed inter alia to perform such tasks.
