ICCL submission to the public consultation on establishing an Electoral Commission

15 March 2019

ICCL has made a submission to the Department of Housing and Local Government’s public consultation on the establishment of an Electoral Commission.

ICCL supports the establishment of an Electoral Commission because we believe it can strengthen the cohesiveness and transparency of electoral regulation. We call for this body to be entirely independent of government, and that this should be guaranteed through primary legislation and direct funding from the exchequer.

We also believe the establishment of an Electoral Commission would present an important opportunity to amend problematic legislation on international funding for civil society.

ICCL publishes latest edition of Rights News!

Cartoon of two speech bubbles, one choked by rosary beads, the other free.

Cartoonist Harry Burton responds to victory in the blasphemy referendum

From victory for free speech in the blasphemy referendum, to the Guard Our Rights campaign for police reform, mass protests and mass surveillance, it’s been another busy semester for ICCL!

Read all about it in Rights News for Autumn Winter 2018/9: Rights News AW18-9

Open letter to An Taoiseach calling for Electoral Act reform

20 December 2018

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

Dept of An Taoiseach

Government Buildings

Merrion St Upper

Dublin 2

20 December 2018

Taoiseach,

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are essential for our democracy to function. However in Ireland we are facing increasing restrictions that limit our ability to engage in democratic activities and to raise funds.

The Electoral Act limits the size of Irish donations for ‘political’ purposes and bans donations from international donors. The initial purpose of the law was to prevent foreign interference in elections and referendums – something we all agree with.

However, by defining ‘political’ so broadly as to cover any comment on any issue of public policy, the law is now being used to effectively silence the work of civil society organisations and urgently needs to be amended.

The gagging effect of the Electoral Act means many important voices are not being heard by decision makers and politicians. There’s a risk that increasingly only the wealthy and those who do not need to seek donations to make their views known will get to have their voices heard.

Ireland has been a proud advocate for the role civil society plays defending and promoting democracy and human rights on the international stage. We respectfully call on you to address the problems with the Electoral Act so that civil society in Ireland is free to carry out its own work in defending human rights, deepening democracy and advocating for social justice and equality.

Please find here: a) a link to a petition signed by 1226 individual signatories to this letter and b) link to a list of 60 organisations which support Electoral Act reform. Please also find a statement from the Coalition for Civil Society Freedom on why reform is necessary.

Liam Herrick

Executive Director, Irish Council for Civil Liberties

Open letter Varadkar PDF

Protecting civil society while regulating political advertising

Our democracy depends on voters being able to present and receive correct information about politics. The State should protect that. The State should also protect people when they work together for the common good. Government should facilitate the participation of community and voluntary organisations in political life, including when they fundraise and including when they lobby politicians.

While ICCL welcomes the government initiative to regulate online political advertising, we caution against defining the political so broadly that it impinges on the ability of people who are organised together to advocate for social change. Our democracy depends on voters being able to speak to politicians openly even (in fact especially) when they are organised and working in association.

Read our submission to the government’s Public Consultation on the Regulation of Online Political Advertising here:

ICCL Submission – Public Consultation on Regulation of Online Political Advertising in Ireland

Sign up to the People’s Voice campaign for Electoral Act reform

The Coalition for Civil Society Freedom has been actively and loudly campaigning for Electoral Act reform. We will be bringing the People’s Voice campaign to government next. There is an open letter to the Taoiseach which you, as an individual or organisation can sign here. We hope to present this letter to government officials at an expert seminar on 28 November.

We are also inviting organisations to join the People’s Voice campaign platform. The more of us who call for Electoral Act reform, the more likely we are to be heard. You can sign up to the platform here. Please do so before Friday 23 November.

Sign up to the campaign for Electoral Act reform here

Here are just some of the reasons why we are campaigning:

Education Equality were forced to return €5,500 seed funding they received from the Humanist Association. SIPOC threatened them with legal action under the Act, simply for engaging in their normal advocacy work.
EQUATE were put under so much pressure following a campaign of complaints against them to SIPOC (who also informed their funder) that it contributed to their decision to wind down.

At “The People’s Voice” event we held recently, we heard from other civil society organisations who had similar frightening stories to tell. We heard from Amnesty International on the real and long story behind the case that hit the headlines during the abortion referendum. We ourselves spoke of difficulties we faced when individuals contacted our funders, spuriously claiming we were operating illegally under the Electoral Act. Many more organisations spoke, under condition of anonymity, about their experiences of being threatened with legal action or of reconsidering donations and advocacy work because of the law.

The bottom line is: the Electoral Act prohibits civil society from fundraising for our everyday advocacy work. The way in which it is applied is haphazard, but it can be abused by individuals who take issue with some of the more radical work we are engaged in. Organisations working on rights have been particularly targetted up to now, but who knows who it might be in the future?

Electoral Act stifling NGOs says EU Rights Agency

Dublin, 11 October 2018

The Irish Electoral Act has been strongly criticised by a broad coalition of NGOs and the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. The coalition of NGOs has published a policy paper with proposed amendments to the law and will send an open letter to the Taoiseach.

Speaking in Dublin this afternoon, Waltraud Heller of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) said the Act potentially constituted a “blanket ban on foreign funding”, something which is incompatible with international human rights law. The international NGO CIVICUS also addressed the conference and presented comparative research into how “political” activity by NGOs is regulated in Ireland and three other EU countries.

Three NGOs who have felt the stifling effect of the Act are EQUATE, Amnesty International Ireland and Education Equality.

Michael Barron of EQUATE said:

“Documents released to us under a Freedom of Information request make clear that both the application of the law, as well as the procedures followed by the Standards in Public Office Commission towards us, were disproportionate and deeply unfair.In early 2017, EQUATE spent a lot of time and energy in responding to SIPOC’s queries – this included taking legal advice. Our (Irish) funder was also contacted directly and had to seek independent legal advice. These circumstances were obviously a source of stress and, as a small organisation, had a significant impact on our capacity to carry out our everyday work. They were a huge factor in our eventual decision to wind down. What is shocking about the documents is that you can clearly see that the complaints were examained and that SIPOC were satisfied with EQUATE’s response until a more intense campaign of complaints began. These complaints came from a person, prominent in a religious organisation, who was opposed to EQUATE’s work.”

The Electoral Act forbids anyone engaging in “political” work from accepting any donations from abroad, anonymous donations above €100, or domestic donations of more than €2,500 from any one source. Its definition of “political” is so wide that it includes the general advocacy work of many organisations. In recent years, this is how the body which enforces the Act (Standards in Public Office Commission – SIPOC) has been interpreting this term, with its investigations often originating in complaints by third-parties who disagree with the organisation’s work. It has also been targetting donations from Irish donors under the Act.

Above: Val Heller of the EU FRA (centre) with Michael Barron and April Duff.

The conference was organised by the Coalition for Civil Society Freedom, which is led by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and is comprised of The Wheel, Uplift, Amnesty International Ireland, Front Line Defenders, Transparency International Ireland and ICCL. They say that the Electoral Act is violating numerous basic civil and political rights, including the right to freedom of association and the right to freedom of expression, and that they are “gravely concerned that Ireland’s democratic values are compromised”. They will send an open letter to An Taoiseach calling for Electoral Act reform.

ENDS

For comment:

Michael Barron, former executive director of EQUATE (contact through Sinéad Nolan, below)

April Duff, legal officer for Education Equality (contact through Sinéad Nolan, below)

Ivan Cooper, Director of Public Policy with the Wheel (contact through Sinéad Nolan, below)

Waltraud Heller of EU FRA (contact through Sinéad Nolan, below)

Cathal Gilbert of CIVICUS (contact through Sinéad Nolan, below)

Fiona Crowley. Research and Legal Manager for Amnesty International Ireland (contact through Sinéad Nolan, below)

Liam Herrick: liam.herrick@iccl.ie 087 2351374

For media queries and advance copies of any of the papers to be presented:

Sinéad Nolan: sinead.nolan@iccl.ie 087 4157162

Coalition for Civil Society Freedom event

Keeping The People’s Voice in Power

An event supporting the campaign for Electoral Act reform

WHAT:

The Coalition for Civil Society Freedom invites all to attend a public meeting on Thursday, 11 October from 2pm – 5pm at Woodquay Venue, Dublin. The purpose of this meeting is to raise issues and inspire discussion relating to the methods currently available to people in Ireland when it comes to engaging with the political system. Representatives from the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (EU FRA) and Civicus (the World Alliance for Citizen Participation) will speak from 2pm until 3pm and the public meeting will follow.

WHY:

Your vote shouldn’t be the only way that you can engage with the political system.

If you’re concerned about an issue, you should be able to start a voluntary or not-for-profit group. Your group should also be able to fundraise and engage in advocacy, ie speak to your local TD, start an awareness campaign, or organise a protest. In short, you should be able to make your voice heard.

However, in Ireland right now, if your organisation engages in both fundraising and advocacy you risk falling foul of the Electoral Act and the body which oversees its enforcement – the Standards in Public Offices Commission (SIPOC).Your organisation may be forced to close down, and you yourself could be threatened with legal action.

That’s why the Coalition for Civil Society Freedom is campaigning for reform of the Electoral Act. We’re campaigning to keep #thePeoplesVoice in power.

Join us from 2pm to discuss what FRA described in January as “a blanket ban on foreign funding” in Ireland. Afterwards we will host a discussion on real-life stories of the impact the Electoral Act is having on community and voluntary organisations. We will encourage people to share their stories. We’ve already seen Education Equality have to dissolve and transfer to a limited company which can’t accept donations of over €100. Amnesty have had to battle SIPOC in court, and risked losing credibility with the public, over legitimate international funding for a human rights campaign. Organisations have been threatened with legal action and some have had to close down altogether. Both Amnesty and Education Equality will speak at the public meeting. We hope you can join us for this event.

If you can’t join us, why not add your voice to the campaign for reform here

Ivan Cooper: the Electoral Act is “muzzling” civil society

Ivan Cooper is Director of Public Policy with the Wheel. He gave this address calling for reform of the Electoral Act on 6 July 2018.

As anyone paying attention to current affairs will be aware, there are very good reasons why we should all be concerned about the issue of outside parties seeking to improperly influence the democratic election processes that we hold dear.

However, it is increasingly clear to the coalition of organisations here today (the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, The Wheel, Transparency International Ireland, Front Line Defenders, and Uplift), that the Electoral Act as amended in 2001, designed to prevent improper foreign and political influence over elections in Ireland, is having the effect of muzzling legitimate and important voices in civil society, such as community organisations, non-profits, charities and international NGOs among others.

Speakers at today's press conference (L-R) Sr. Stanislaus, Focus Ireland, Liam Herrick, Executive Director - Irish Council for Civil Liberties, (centre), April Duff, Legal Officer, Education Equality, Ivan Cooper, Director of Advocacy with The Wheel and Steve Lawson, Humanist Association of Ireland. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.

Ivan Cooper (second from right) with Sr. Stanislaus (Focus Ireland), Liam Herrick (ICCL), April Duff (Education Equality) and Steve Lawson (Humanist Association of Ireland)

We have seen how Education Equality were ordered by the Standards in Public Offices Commission (SIPO) – who apply the provisions of the Electoral Acts – to return part of a €10,000 seed funding donated by the Humanist Association of Ireland, where the funding was neither “foreign” nor “political”.

The members of the coalition do not believe that the Oireachtas intended to choke civil society when it amended the Electoral Act in 2001 the inadvertent effect of which has been to prohibit community organisations, non-profits, charities and international NGOs from accepting, for extremely loosely defined “political purposes” :

Donations from foreign sources
Anonymous donations of more than €100
Cash donations of more than €200
Donations of more than €2,500 from one source

In response to the growing problem, the coalition of civil society organisations are today calling on the Irish Government to ensure that our international commitments to upholding and protecting civil society voice are reflected in our own domestic laws. In line with this we are calling on Government to remove the donation restrictions in the Electoral Acts on civil society organisations engaging in advocacy outside of elections and referendums to ensure that are no restrictions on funding for civil society actors which undermine the right to freedom of association and civil society voice. We believe that an amendment of the relevant sections of the Electoral Act could be effected by a simple amending bill, or as a part of a wider reforming Bill.

We 5 organisations are committed to engaging with Government, and if necessary the Oireachtas, to bring forward amending legislation. We will be contacting relevant Government ministers again on this over coming months.

We are also seeking the support of other civil society organisations and individuals and would encourage people to sign the Defend Civil Society petition hosted by Uplift which we are launching today: https://action.uplift.ie/campaigns/284

We will be hosting events, seminars and roundtables with civil society over the coming months to build awareness of the need for change in this vital area.

In conclusion, we are optimistic that the strong DFAT position and the positive signs we have received from Government and parties mean that an agreed solution can be found.

*The Coalition for Civil Society Freedom will host a conference with the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and Civicus on 11 October.

Outcome of Amnesty case highlights flaws in Electoral Act

This op-ed by Liam Herrick appeared in the Irish Times on 31 July 2018

For community and voluntary organisations across Ireland, yesterday’s settlement of the court proceedings between Amnesty International Ireland and the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPOC) brought great relief.

At the High Court, SIPOC withdrew its demand for Amnesty to hand back a grant received in 2015 from the Open Society Foundations, conceded that it had treated Amnesty unfairly, and agreed to close its investigation into Amnesty’s human rights work.

This outcome is a vindication for Amnesty but the case does provide a clear indication that certain provisions of the Electoral Act are deeply flawed, and raise serious concerns about how the law is applied to civil society by the statutory regulator.

Here at ICCL we are aware of cases other than Amnesty’s, where SIPOC’s enforcement of the Electoral Act has shut down civil society advocacy, and where the groups were too small to fight back.

At a press conference we held earlier this month, Education Equality, a voluntary group working to reform education policy, told the story of that organisation’s experiences with SIPOC.

Having received a starter grant of €10,000 from the Humanist Association of Ireland, Education Equality was informed by SIPOC that its aim of ending of the ‘baptism barrier’ to entry to primary schools was deemed “political” under the Electoral Act. As a result it was forced by SIPOC to return funds received.

These are two voluntary organisations trying to contribute to public policy in an open and transparent manner, who were threatened with prosecution for activities that had nothing to do with any election or referendum campaign.

The original purpose of the Electoral Act was to prevent inappropriate corporate or foreign funding of candidates and parties. However, the law was poorly drafted and contains an overly broad definition of ‘political purposes’ and the types of activities to be covered by the funding rules. The definition includes not just electoral campaigning but also all efforts at “promoting or procuring a particular outcome in relation to a policy or policies or functions of the Government or any public authority”.

In plain language, that means that the rules apply to any effort to take part in public debate, whether you are a community organisation campaiging for better local amenities, or a national charity calling for better provision of health care or housing. Ironically, a law introduced to clean up politics is now being used to shut down organisations that hold politics to account on behalf of the public.

SIPOC has many questions to answer arising from this case, particularly on how it deals with civil society organisations that are not political parties, and how it processes complaints from the public. In yesterday’s settlement SIPOC accepted that its enforcement attempts against Amnesty’s ordinary human rights work did not follow basic fair procedures. As a statutory body regulating an essential area of our public life, these cases should prompt a comprehensive review of how it interprets and applies the law in this area.

There is also a glaring issue of contradiction between Ireland’s international position on this issue and the situation under domestic law. Globally, Ireland takes a lead on the issue of protecting civil society space, with our diplomats at the UN recently driving a Human Rights Council resolution on the issue and Irish Aid actively providing ‘foreign’ funding to civil society organisations in other countries. At the same time, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency has criticised Ireland for operating funding rules that are similar to those used by repressive governments in other European countries to shut down human rights organisations.

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency has criticised Ireland for operating funding rules that are similar to those used by repressive governments in other European countries to shut down human rights organisations.

Over the past year, we have raised the issue with both the Department of Housing and Local Government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and we have had positve and constructive engagement with both Departments. In fact, we were assured by the Tanaiste Simon Coveney that “A key priority for Ireland is to ensure coherence between the promotion and protection of human rights in our foreign policy and our domestic implementation of our international human rights obligations.”

We firmly believe that Ireland’s international position is a true reflection of the values of the Irish people and of the parties in the Oireachtas. We have a vibrant community and voluntary sector and Government should support the widest possible involvement of these groups in public policy making. We believe it is possible to provide an encouraging environment for such groups while retaining the integrity of our electoral system. Hopefully yesterday’s settlement will act as a catalyst for change.

Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy on the importance of charities’ ability to advocate for change

Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy is the founder of Focus Ireland. She spoke at a press conference organised by ICCL on 6 July 2018.

This is a very important debate in Ireland today. I want to speak about the area known as charities.

Focus Ireland is regarded as a charity, but Focus Ireland is much more than about providing services. It’s fundamentally about challenging the political choices that can lead to homelessness, that can enable people and indeed make people fall into homelessness. The other organisation that I’m also involved with is the Immigrant Council of Ireland. That’s a human rights organisation and a law centre, and while it does work with immigrants it does a lot of work in trying to reform the immigration system.

We look back at the history of Ireland and practically everything that’s happened – education, health, youth services – you’ll find they all have their roots in the voluntary sector. They weren’t just providing services, they were also lobbying for changing the system that was causing the problems they were trying to resolve. Richard Titmuss, a leading thinker on social policy, said: the way a society organises itself can diminish or increase the altruism of that society. He wasn’t just talking about services. It was very clear he was talking about the role of civil society in enriching democracy.

Take housing: all the changes that have taken place in housing – all the reforms – have been the result of a concerted campaigning for change. The first Housing Act was in 1988 and that for the first time defined homelessness. And that was a very important thing because up to that point there was no thought given to it – but the Act didn’t only define it in terms of people who were actually homeless, but also people who were at risk of homelessness, and that gave rise to further change. It was the result of prolonged political campaigning by Brendan Ryan, supported by the organisations at the time – Simon, Focus and Threshold. That was really a breakthrough because it defined homelessness, but it also addressed the responsibility of the state to do something about homelessness: to provide housing. Up to that the only thing that existed was shelters, hostels and dinner centres. As a result of that Act, funding was made available for housing for homelessness, and the first housing was provided in 1991 by Focus Ireland in Stanhope Green. That Act came about because of campaigning and since has been the basis of the further campaigning that has been going on.

We can look at the Children’s Act. That ended widespread street homelessness among children and young people. Again it came about as a result of consistent campaigning and lobbying by child care services and people involved in homelessness. The various amendments were also as a result of campaigning. Look at aftercare of children in the state – there was no provision for aftercare. Young people left care at 18 with no services whatsoever. As a result of 15 years of consistent campaigning by Focus Ireland the changes took place, and for the first time the state had legal responsibility for people leaving care.

If we look at the Immigrant Council of Ireland: a number of changes have taken place as a result of its work. One has to do with victims of domestic violence. Women victims of domestic violence – many of them had no status except they were dependent on the status of their spouse. This meant they couldn’t leave the house – it would have been illegal and they could have been deported. ICI lobbied for change and they were enabled to apply for independent immigration status, which gave them much more authority and more opportunity to have their cases heard.

Similarly in more recent times there was a coalition of voluntary bodies – a large coalition spearheaded by ICI about the protection of victims of prostitution. That took 6 years and the result was the Sexual Offences Act came into law last year.

Many if not most of the reforms which modernised Ireland and made it better and more humane have been as a result of action by civil society organisations. But much more needs to be achieved. If civil society is prevented from being a wellspring of vision for a better society and a force for transformation, where will change come from? I think it won’t come. And society will stagnate, and the injustice will increase and there will be no effort to tackle injustice or inequality, and the powerful groups will predominate.
In saying this I’m very clear about the importance of the regulation of charities – trust and transparency. But many charities have taken a lead in this, long before it was legally adopted. And now they’re in the forefront in calling for mandatory legal regulation. I’m also aware of the importance of protecting the integrity of the electoral system and how trust was eroded so much by the donation system. But in clearing up the electoral system, this should not prevent a vibrant, active civil society flourishing and taking an active part in democratic debate. Scandals such as corruption, which so corrupted the planning system and left a legacy of poor quality overpriced and inadequate housing. But it would be an extraordinary and bitter irony if attempts to learn the lessons of this corruption silenced the organisations which are the voice of the people who are experiencing that legacy, of the injustice of poor quality, overpriced and inadequate housing.