civil society freedom Archives - Irish Council for Civil Liberties

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

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.

EU Rights Agency Highlights Difficulties Facing Civil Society in Member States, including Ireland

Dublin, 18 January 2018

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) today released a report detailing the increasing difficulties for civil society organisations (CSOs) operating within the EU. In a highly critical report, the agency details the hostile environment for CSOs in countries such as Hungary and Poland but also outlines challenges for the Irish government in ensuring anti-corruption and transparency laws do not violate fundamental rights such as freedom of association and freedom of expression.

Severe difficulties in advocating for human rights

In a statement, Liam Herrick of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) welcomed the report as an important contribution to the current debate about how Ireland can provide an enabling environment for civil society, saying:

“This report clearly demonstrates that we are at a crucial moment for European democracy. Restrictions on civil society and public discourse are a growing problem across Europe and our colleagues in several member States are experiencing severe difficulties in advocating for human rights in the face of repressive governments. Ireland has a strong record in supporting civil society internationally and it is important that the Irish Government show leadership in defending human rights and democratic values at this time.”

He continued, “In that regard, Ireland must get its own house in order. In this report, the EU FRA recognises that laws introduced in Ireland for legitimate reasons are now having unintended effects in stifling the legitimate role of civil society. Specifically with regard to Ireland’s Electoral Act, the Fundamental Rights Agency expresses concerns that the definition of ‘political purposes’ under the Act is so broad that it could be interpreted as curtailing legitimate human rights advocacy. ”

The report sets out the human rights principles which member States are obliged to respect with regard to the regulation of CSOs. It recognises that transparency, electoral and lobbying laws are legitimate and important, but warns that these can sometimes unwittingly have a chilling effect on the work of CSOs and specifically mentions “transparency laws that require entities involved in political campaigns to register as third party campaigners”.

A blanket ban on foreign funding

The EU FRA refers to the current application of the law in Ireland as a “blanket ban on foreign funding” and states that this is particularly problematic in Ireland where “most independent funding of human rights work comes from trusts and foundations based outside of Ireland”.

The report is explicit in its analysis that Ireland’s political funding laws are having a negative impact on civil society, and underlines that CSOs in every European country have the right to receive overseas funding for their work.

Mary Lawlor, board member of the ICCL and founder of Front Line Defenders, an Irish-based NGO which works to protect human rights activists at risk, said

“the EU FRA report is unequivocal in stating that NGOs have the right to receive funding from overseas, and refers to three pieces of international law to make that point, including the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which enshrines the right to ‘solicit, receive and utilise resources’.

Ms. Lawlor continued,

“Ireland is a world leader when it comes to the protection of human rights defenders, and actually drove the drafting and subsequent implementation of the EU Guidelines on HRDs, so it’s very important that the government would be able to stand over what’s happening at home too.”

Mr. Herrick said that

“The challenge facing Ireland is to get the balance right between necessary regulation in areas such as political financing and anti-corruption measures while also ensuring that a healthy and vibrant civil society can operate in Ireland – just as we continue to champion the role of civil society in other countries. ICCL calls on the Irish Government, and the relevant regulatory bodies, to lead by example in the EU, by engaging in an open consultation with all strands of Irish civil society to make sure we get that balance right.”

Read the full report here: http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2018/challenges-facing-civil-society-orgs-human-rights-eu