CYIL Vol. 4, 2013

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 NGOs 17 and the Executive Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with the United Nations 18 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 http://www.staff.city.ac.uk/p.willetts/CS- NTWKS/NGO-ART.HTM. 17 See http://outreach.un.org/ngorelations/about-us/. 18 See http://www.ngo.org. 19 The Executive Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with The United Nations Department of Public Information web page. Available at http://www.ngo.org/ngoinfo/define.html. 20 Guidelines for Submissions on Enforcement Matters under Articles 14 and 15 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Available at http://www.cec.org/Storage/41/3331_ Bringing%20the%20Facts_en.pdf.