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SOME GUARANTEES REGARDING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS APPLICABLE …
not use or promote violence or have clear connections with criminality, and 4) has
a formal existence enjoying legal personality under national law with a statute and
a representative structure.14 Lloyd H. Mayer, in his research regarding involvement
of NGOs in proceedings before international human rights bodies, clarified
the definition of “NGO” as a unit with the three following features: 1) formally
established, 2) organizationally independent from the government, 3) non-profit.15
In his research titled “What is a Non-Governmental Organization?”, Professor Peter
Willetts gives a “negative” description of the term: “An NGO will not be constituted
as a political party; it will be non-profit-making and it will not be a criminal group,
in particular it will be non-violent.”16 As we see, most of the authors agree on the
point that an NGO is an entity that does not pursue a purpose of receiving profit.
Nevertheless, if we have a look at the definition given in the international treaties or
used by international organizations, the definitions are different.
It can be said that each international body has elaborated its own definition for its
own special purposes. For example, on the web sites of the United Nations Department
of Public Information for NGOs17 and the Executive Committee of Non-Governmental
Organizations Associated with the United Nations18 the following definition of the
term “NGO“ is given: “A non-governmental organization (NGO) is any non-profit,
voluntary citizens’ group which is organized on a local, national or international
level.”19 For the needs of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of
North America (CEC) the abbreviation “NGO” is defined in Article 45(1) of the
North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation: “…any scientific,
professional, business, non-profit, or public interest organization or association which
is neither affiliated with, nor under the direction of, a government…”20 The European
Convention does not contain any exact definition of NGOs. It only states in Article
34 that the Court may receive applications from “any persons, non-governmental
organizations and groups of individuals”. The term “NGO” can be defined on the
basis of the case law of the Court.
14 Lindblom, A. K. Non-Governmental Organizations in International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2005, p. 52.
15 Mayer, L.H. NGO standing and influence in regional Human Rights Courts and Commissions,
Brooklyn Journal of International Law, Vol. 36, 2011, p. 911.
16 Willetts, P. What is a Non-Governmental Organization? Output from the Research Project on
Civil Society Networks in Global Governance. Available at
NTWKS/NGO-ART.HTM.
17 See .
18 See
19 The Executive Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with The United Nations
Department of Public Information web page. Available at
20 Guidelines for Submissions on Enforcement Matters under Articles 14 and 15 of the North American
Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Available at
Bringing%20the%20Facts_en.pdf.