Public associations, types, structure, registration. What is the meaning of the activities of public organizations for forest conservation
22. Public associations: concept, organizational and legal
forms.
Organizational and legal forms of public associations, types, forms of public organizations
A public association is understood as a voluntary, self-governing, non-profit formation created at the initiative of citizens who have united on the basis of a community of interests for the implementation of common goals specified in the charter of the public association.
There are the following types of public associations:
Public organization;
Public fund;
Public institution;
The organ of public amateur performance;
Political Party.
Public organization
A public organization is a membership-based public association formed on the basis of joint activities to protect common interests and achieve the statutory goals of the united citizens.
Individuals and legal entities - public associations can be members of a public organization in accordance with its charter. The highest governing body of a public organization is a congress (conference) or general meeting... The permanent governing body of a public organization is an elected collegial body accountable to the convention or general meeting.
The essence of membership is the documentary registration of participation in the organization (applications, membership cards, etc.), the presence of certain rights (to elect and be elected to the governing bodies), obligations (to pay dues, etc.) and responsibility for non-compliance with the charter of the organization up to exclusion from its ranks. This is how civic organizations and parties differ from other types of participatory civic associations.
Participants are individuals and legal entities (public associations) expressing support for the goals of the association or its specific actions, participating in its activities without the obligatory registration of the conditions for their participation. political and other public benefit goals.
Public fund
A public fund is one of the types of non-profit foundations, it is a non-membership public association, the purpose of which is to form property on the basis of voluntary contributions, other income not prohibited by law, and the use of this property for socially useful purposes. The founders and managers of the property of the public fund are not entitled to use the said property in their own interests.
Public institution
A public institution is a non-membership public association that aims to provide a specific type of service.
Public amateur organ
An amateur public activity body is a non-membership public association, the purpose of which is to jointly solve various social problems that arise among citizens at the place of residence, work or study, aimed at meeting the needs of an unlimited number of people.
Political Party
A political party is a public association created for the purpose of citizen participation Russian Federation in the political life of society through the formation and expression of their political will, participation in public and political actions, in elections and referendums, as well as in order to represent the interests of citizens in government bodies and local self-government bodies.
23. Political parties: concept, order of creation, rights and
responsibilities.
POLITICAL SYSTEM (PS) RF: PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONAL REGULATION. LEGAL STATUS OF THE POLITICAL PARTY
Subjects of PS- citizens with political rights, public associations (primarily political parties), the state.
Constitutionally enshrined such principles of PS regulation as ideological diversity (parts 1 and 2 of article 13 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation), political pluralism (part 3 of article 13 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation), equality of public associations before the law (part 4 of article 13 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation ), a ban on the creation and operation of public associations dangerous for society and the state (part 5 of article 13 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).
In more detail, the legal status of political parties is determined by the Federal Law "On Political Parties".
Separately, among public associations, political parties are distinguished, created for the purpose of participation of citizens of the Russian Federation in the political life of society through the formation and expression of their political will, participation in public and political actions, elections and referendums, representation of citizens' interests in government and local government bodies. Basic requirements for a political party: regional offices in more than half of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation; at least 50 thousand members. The ban on the creation of regional parties and the limitation of the minimum number of party members were recognized as consistent with the Constitution of the Russian Federation by the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of February 1, 2005 No.
The activities of political parties are based on the principles of voluntariness, equality, self-government, legality and transparency.
A political party is created freely and is subject to state registration as a legal entity (public association). In addition to the charter, a political party must have a program that defines the principles of the political party's activities, its goals and objectives, methods of achieving goals and solving problems.
Only capable citizens of the Russian Federation who have reached the age of 18 can be members of a political party.
In case of a successful performance of a political party in the elections (they won at least 3% in the elections of deputies to the State Duma in the federal electoral district, or at least 12 deputies were elected in single-mandate constituencies to the State Duma, or a candidate for President of the Russian Federation nominated by the party won at least 3% of the votes ) a political party has the right to receive state financial support (from the federal budget).
Only a political party (from all types of public associations) has the right to independently nominate candidates (lists of candidates) for deputies and for other elective positions in government bodies (this rule came into force in the summer of 2003).
A political party can be liquidated by the decision of the highest governing body or (in some cases) by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The idea of creating a civil society originated in ancient times. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427-347) wrote about the principles of a harmonious structure of society, Aristotle (384-322) about the status of man and citizen, about the role of property for maintaining the stability of social and state institutions, Cicero (106-43) about the state as a common cause of the people , on the role of civic obligations and the law.
It has been a long time since the first public organizations were established, and it is important to note that their activities and influence have since grown to a global scale. Today, in world practice, they play a huge role in solving social and other issues of a planetary scale. They are the link between the state and individual citizens. They are actively involved in the formation and self-organization of civil society.
The activities of public organizations are usually attributed to the so-called "third sector", since it is assumed that democratic societies are divided into three sectors:
- state;
- market;
- non-commercial.
"Civil Society": Basic Concepts
There are many definitions of the concept of "civil society". There are four main ideological and political doctrines of civil society:
- the doctrine of "state-bureaucratic socialism" - civil society is understood as an integral part of the system (as an example, we can cite the position of trade unions in the USSR);
- the doctrine of "state capitalism" - civil society is viewed as a sphere of private business, family and kinship and other non-state relations, which together form the socio-economic base of the capitalist state; in this case, civil society is not actually a subject of politics;
- the doctrine of "liberal democracy" - civil society is presented, first of all, as an "economic society" in which the state is limited in its ability to regulate economic life and is controlled by public associations and movements;
- the doctrine of "democratic socialism" - here civil society is a set of social and political organizations and institutions, which, along with a democratic state, form the basis of social (economic, political, etc.) democracy.
Destructive public organizations: "non-civil society"
Destructive social formations arise in the life of any society. So, for example, for the political community these are illegal, terrorist organizations; for the economic - the mafia and criminal groups; for the NGO community - totalitarian religious sects, etc.
Destructive public organizations as a type are not commercial organizations can be attributed to the "non-civil society". A non-civil society is understood as a set of associations of people who do not respect and do not comply with the laws of the state.
As noted by the expert of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia Y. Tom, “at one time, on the initiative of the West, in the post-Soviet space and in Russia itself, a sufficient efficient system non-governmental structures. According to the former US Secretary of State M. Albright, there are about 37 thousand public and political organizations, information and analytical structures. Today, their tasks are to contribute to the destruction of the cultural and historical identity and self-identification of the country's population, to oppose the formation and development of Russian statehood, to prevent the strengthening of Russia's influence in the regions of the near abroad. "
Therefore, the existence of a reliable social organization of Russian civil society is impossible without pro-Russian, active and viable public associations.
Public associations: terminology
The term "public association", which is used by Russian constitutional law, corresponds to the concept of "association" in the constitutional law of foreign states.
In the Western world, public associations are referred to as non-governmental organizations, which are abbreviated there as NGOs (NGOs) - non-governmental organizations. In Russia, the term non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is not widely used and has not entered legislative practice. Basically, this term is used by public associations of Western origin, dealing with human rights and the environment. In the domestic lexicon, it is customary to call voluntary unions of citizens public or non-profit organizations (NPO).
Constitutional foundations of the activities of public associations in the Russian Federation
The legal basis for the formation and activities of public associations is the right to association guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, including the right to form trade unions to protect their interests (Article 30). The Constitution establishes the basic principles of the formation and activities of public associations: voluntariness - no one can be forced to join any association or stay in it; freedom of activity; equality of public associations before the law (Articles 13, 30).
The Constitution prohibits the creation and operation of public associations, the goals and actions of which are aimed at forcibly changing the foundations of the constitutional order and violating the integrity of the Russian Federation, undermining the security of the state, creating armed formations, inciting social, racial, national and religious hatred (Article 13, Part 5).
All public associations are equal before the law. They are free to define their internal structure, goals, forms and methods of their activities. This activity must be publicized. Interference in it by government bodies and officials is not allowed, as well as interference by public associations in the activities of government bodies.
At the same time, as the encyclopedic dictionary “The Constitution of the Russian Federation” notes, “it is hardly justified to unite in one legislative concept and give a similar legal status to such different public associations as parties (actively participating in the political process and the struggle for power), on the one hand, and various sports, technical and other similar public associations - on the other. "
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: LEGISLATIVE REGULATION AND PRACTICE
The emergence of Russian public associations as a form of the emerging civil society was accompanied by the process of changing the political structure of the country. The beginning of the 90s was marked by the rapid growth of public organizations in Russia. Citizens began to create sports, cultural, social, educational, trade union and other public organizations. Thus, by the beginning of 2002, about 200 thousand public organizations had already been registered in Russia. Thanks to this, in terms of the number of public associations per one million inhabitants, Russia, in comparison with other countries, took far from the last place.
Three basic concepts are used in Russian legislation: “ non-profit organization"," Public association "," non-governmental organization ".
The basic concept is “non-profit organization” (hereinafter - NPO). Legally, non-profit organizations include those organizations that do not have profit-making as the main goal of their activities and do not distribute the received profit among the participants.
A public association is understood as a voluntary, self-governing, non-profit formation created at the initiative of citizens who have united on the basis of a community of interests to achieve common goals.
The concept of "foreign non-profit non-governmental organization" in Russian legislation is used in relation to non-profit organizations created outside Russia in accordance with the laws foreign country the founders (participants) of which are not state bodies. Foreign NPOs can operate in Russia through their structural units(offices, branches, representative offices).
Legislative regulation of NPOs
The activities of non-profit organizations are regulated by a number of federal legal acts. The main ones are:
- Civil Code of the Russian Federation, part one (establishes a general legal regulation the status of all legal entities, including non-profit organizations);
- the law "On public associations";
- the law "On non-profit organizations".
In the sphere of regulation of various organizational and legal forms of NCOs, there are: laws “On autonomous institutions”, “On non-state pension funds”, “On national and cultural autonomy”, “On charitable activities and charitable organizations”; Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation "On approval of the regulation on the procedure for the establishment and conditions of activity of foreign cultural and information centers on the territory of the Russian Federation."
It should also be noted the law "On the procedure for the formation and use of endowment capital of non-profit organizations." The law created the preconditions for the development in Russia of the institution of endowment - a source of non-state funding for NGOs.
Legal restrictions and liability of non-profit organizations
Restrictions, duties and responsibilities of non-profit organizations are related to issues such as registration of NPOs and their reporting, compliance with the activities of NPOs current legislation and stated goals, spending of funds.
Structural subdivisions of foreign NPOs may be refused entry into the register if their goals and objectives pose a threat to sovereignty, political independence, integrity, national unity and identity, cultural heritage and national interests of Russia. The creation and operation of branches of foreign NPOs is not allowed, international organizations on the territory of a closed administrative-territorial entity.
A branch of a foreign NPO may be liquidated in the event of the liquidation of the corresponding foreign NPO; failure to provide information about their programs, receipt and expenditure of funds and property; if its activity does not correspond to the purposes stipulated by the constituent documents.
The foundation can be liquidated if the property of the foundation is insufficient to fulfill its goals; if the objectives of the fund cannot be achieved, and necessary changes the purposes of the foundation cannot be produced; in case of deviation of the foundation in its activities from the statutory goals.
A public association may be refused registration if its charter contradicts the Constitution and legislation of the Russian Federation; if the documents required for registration are not submitted in full, are inappropriate or contain inaccurate information. The organization can appeal the refusal to register in court or re-apply for registration after the documents have been revised.
According to the law "On Counteracting Extremist Activity," the activity of public and religious associations, NGOs, whose activities are recognized as extremist, are prohibited.
Public associations are obliged to: publish a report on the use of their property annually; inform the registration authority about the continuation of its activities or changes in the statutory goals; submit reports on their activities to the authorized bodies; assist the representatives of the registration authority in getting acquainted with the activities of the association.
Also, public associations are obliged to inform the state registration authority about the amount of funds received from abroad, the purpose of their use and actual spending. Repeated violation of this requirement serves as the basis for the registration body to apply to the court with an application to recognize the public association as having ceased its activities and to exclude it from the unified state register of legal entities.
The registration authorities have the right to check the compliance of the activities of a public association with its statutory goals (no more than once a year). And in case of violations, to issue a written warning to the governing bodies of the association, indicating the time limit for eliminating the violation. Failure to eliminate the violation in due time serves as the basis for the suspension of the activities of the public association.
Discussions and changes in the legislation on NGOs in recent years
In the framework of the strategy of “global soft governance of the world”, control over NPOs occupies an important place along with the impact on national government structures and directly on decision-makers.
The most acute issue of the improper activities of some NGOs was raised in the Address of the President of Russia V.V. Putin to the Federal Assembly in 2004: “Thousands of civic associations and unions exist and work constructively in our country. But not all of them are focused on defending the real interests of people. For some of these organizations, the priority task was to obtain funding from influential foreign foundations, for others - to serve dubious group and commercial interests, while the acute problems of the country and its citizens remain unnoticed. "
In May 2005, at the "Government Hour" in the State Duma, FSB Director N.P. Patrushev proposed to strengthen the legal regulation of the activities of NGOs: “Imperfection legislative framework and effective government control mechanisms create the basis for conducting intelligence campaigns under the guise of charitable and other activities. " The need to legislatively streamline the activities of NPOs was also justified by: non-transparency of funding NPOs and spending the funds received by them; using NPOs to legalize income and avoid taxation; attempts to influence foreign policy on the internal situation in Russia through non-profit organizations; their role in the “color revolutions” in the CIS countries; the fight against extremism and terrorism.
In 2005-2006, a number of amendments were made to the legislation on non-profit organizations (laws “On non-profit organizations”, “On public associations”, “On a closed administrative-territorial entity”). The main changes are presented in the comparative table.
| BEFORE CHANGES | AFTER CHANGES |
| NCO REGISTRATION | |
| 5 grounds for refusal to register a public association have been identified. | 6 grounds for refusal to register a public association have been identified. |
| The law “On Non-Commercial Organizations” did not stipulate that it determines the activities of branches of foreign NPOs. | The Law "On Non-Commercial Organizations" defines the activities of branches of foreign NPOs. |
| The requirements for registration of a branch of a foreign NPO were not described in detail. | The requirements for registration of a branch of a foreign NPO, the grounds for refusing to register it have been clarified. |
| Requirements for founders of public associations have been established. | Restrictions for founders of public associations, including foreign citizens, have been expanded. |
| The concept of “foreign non-governmental non-profit organization” has not been defined. | The definitions of a foreign non-governmental non-profit organization and its structural unit are given. |
| RESTRICTIONS ON NPO ACTIVITIES AND GROUNDS FOR THEIR LIQUIDATION | |
| The creation and operation of branches of foreign NPOs on the territory of ZATO is not prohibited. | The creation and operation of branches of foreign non-profit organizations in the territory of the Closed Administrative Territory is prohibited. |
| There are no restrictions on the spending of NPO funds. | - the authorized body may prohibit a foreign NPO from sending funds to certain recipients on the territory of Russia; - Legislation may establish restrictions for NPOs on donations to political parties and their branches, to electoral funds and referendum funds. |
| 5 grounds for the liquidation of a public association have been identified. | The number of grounds for the liquidation of a public association has been expanded, including for failure to eliminate in time the violations that served as the basis for the suspension of the activities of the association. |
| REPORTING OF NCO | |
| Registration authorities, checking the compliance of the NPO's activities with the stated goals, can request administrative documents, send their representatives to participate in the activities of the NPO. | The powers of registration authorities have been expanded. They can conduct audits of spending finances, request information from other supervisory and control bodies. |
| The procedure for providing financial statements by public associations is not defined; the activity report is provided to the registration authorities upon their request. | It has been established that public associations must submit reports on their activities, on sources of funding and on the expenditure of funds, on the use of property. |
| Failure to provide information on changes in the position of an NPO, entailing changes in its statutory documents, is the basis for the liquidation of an NPO by a court decision. | The list of information to be submitted by the NPO has been expanded. |
Also in December 2006, amendments were made to the Law "On Political Parties" prohibiting NPOs from sponsoring parties from funds received from such Russian legal entities whose share of state, municipal or foreign participation in the authorized (pooled) capital exceeds 30%. day of transfer of funds.
The main complaints from international institutions and public figures to the legislation and practice of NGOs in Russia
Changes in Russian legislation on NPOs in 2005-2006 caused a number of complaints from the Council of Europe, PACE, the European Parliament, and the US Congress. The following complaints were voiced: problems with registration of NPOs and preparation of reports; high probability of abuse by supervisory authorities; restrictions for foreign NPOs in comparison with Russian ones.
NGO representatives identify 5 most common problems:
- insufficiently substantiated refusal to register an NPO, subjective interpretation of the law and its selective application. A stricter registration procedure requires the involvement of lawyers specializing in the field of NPO legislation in the preparation of the package of documents. The financial costs for the registration of NPOs have increased (state duty, payment for the services of specialists);
- protracted bureaucratic procedures when registering changes in the statutory documents of an NPO;
- the issuance of unfounded warnings to NPOs by the structures of the Federal Registration Service on grounds that were previously interpreted as technical errors and did not entail sanctions. This often entails inspections of NPOs by authorized state bodies (up to 30 days), including unscheduled ones, which hinder the work of NPOs;
- new reporting requirements that a significant number of NPOs (especially small ones that do not have their own lawyers, accountants) find it difficult to fulfill;
- exclusion of NPOs from the register of legal entities.
Several resonant cases can be noted when NPOs (including structural subdivisions of foreign and international organizations) found themselves in conflict situations.
On July 4, 2007, the Educated Media Foundation announced its self-liquidation. General manager Fund M. Aslamazyan in January 2007 was detained while importing into Russia an undeclared amount in the amount of 9.5 thousand euros. The Educated Media Foundation was the legal successor of the Internews organization, which was a member of the international association Internews International.
In January 2006, the Federal Registration Service filed a lawsuit to terminate the activities of the Russian public organization Union of Soldiers' Mothers Committees (the organization did not provide timely reports on its activities). The lawsuit was subsequently withdrawn.
In 2006, Rosregistration issued a warning to the Memorial International Society about violation of the law (inconsistency of the organization's activities with the statutory goals). Subsequently, the warning was declared unfounded by the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow.
In December 2007, Rosregistratsia filed a lawsuit to liquidate the Samara regional branch of the Golos Voter Rights Association. The pretext was a violation of the reporting rules by the organization. Based on the results of inspections of the statutory activities of the Samara branch of the NGO "Golos", its work was suspended. The Samara Regional Court denied Rosregistratsi the liquidation of the branch of the NPO, this decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
In December 2007, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the suspension from January 1, 2008 of the activities of the regional offices of the British Council, with the exception of the Moscow office. The reason for the termination of the activities of the branches of the British Council was the lack of the necessary regulatory framework for the organization to work in Russia.
It should be borne in mind that after the amendments were made to the basic laws on NPOs in 2006, most of the large non-profit organizations operating in Russia have successfully re-registered.
As of August 1, 2007, 218,730 non-profit organizations were registered with the Federal Registration Service and its territorial bodies.
For 7 months of 2007, the territorial bodies of Rosregistration adopted 37560 decisions on state registration of non-profit organizations (for 2006 - about 32000), 6845 - on refusal of state registration (15.4% of the total number of decisions on state registration).
The possibility of simplifying the legislation on NGOs was considered by the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the Public Chamber, and the Ministry of Justice. In 2007, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance prepared a bill providing tax incentives for NGOs involved in charity work and providing social services.
Improving the activities of non-profit organizations in Russia
Non-profit organizations are seen as an essential element of civil society. V.V. Putin, while serving as President of the Russian Federation, noted that non-profit organizations "could become good, really irreplaceable partners of the state in solving the most pressing problems, such as the fight against AIDS, drug addiction, homelessness, assistance in the social rehabilitation of disabled people, and the development of territorial self-government."
At the same time, according to a number of estimates, out of more than 300,000 registered non-profit organizations, less than 50,000 are active.
In 2006, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation began its work. There are regional public chambers, the Council under the President of the Russian Federation to promote the development of civil society institutions and human rights. On December 12, 2007, the founding congress of the human rights movement “Man and the Law”, organized with the participation of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, took place. The movement is conceived as an all-Russian network structure with branches in each municipality.
The 2007 federal budget provided for the allocation of state grants to support NGOs participating in the development of civil society institutions in the amount of 1.25 billion rubles. In 2008, 1.5 billion rubles were allocated for these purposes.
The main directions for the allocation of grants are: sociological research and monitoring of the state of civil society (60 million rubles); humanitarian projects in the field of culture, art, education and public diplomacy (270 million rubles); human rights activities (about 136 million rubles); promotion of a healthy lifestyle (150 million rubles); social services for low-income citizens (400 million rubles); support of youth projects (230 million rubles).
In January 2008, branches of the Russian Institute for Democracy and Cooperation, which has the status of a non-profit organization, opened in Paris and New York. Its main task is to study the state of civil society, the electoral process, the situation with human rights and migration in the United States and Europe.
Despite the measures taken, the relevance of improving law enforcement in relation to NPOs, correcting legislation (primarily bylaws), financial and institutional support for NPOs from the state, and tax incentives remains. The possibility of improving the legislation on NGOs was considered by the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the Public Chamber, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry economic development and trade.
WITH THE RIGHT TO PROTECTION
Dmitry Medvedev raised the issue of new legislation in the field of NGOs
Vladimir Kuzmin
Yesterday, President Dmitry Medvedev tried to establish a dialogue between the authorities and non-governmental organizations. Having invited a group of human rights defenders to the Kremlin, the head of state suggested finding common directions for fruitful work.
Meetings of the Council for the Promotion of Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights have always been a difficult event for government officials. No matter how hard the state tries, no matter what signals it gives, representatives of non-governmental organizations have always found and will find negative moments in the life of the country, which, in fact, is part of their responsibilities.
The state would like from human rights defenders not so much complaisance and understanding as help. In any case, it was in this vein that Dmitry Medvedev tried yesterday to build a dialogue with the members of the renewed Council, offering a huge field for joint work. Collaboration the president will now conduct, for example, with such figures as the well-known TV presenter Svetlana Sorokina, who once headed the Yukos-established foundation “ Open Russia»Irina Yasina, liberal political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin, renowned human rights expert Valentin Gefter.
At the same time, the president made it clear that the state does not intend only to ask non-profit organizations, but is ready to give them something in return. Medvedev himself raised the topic of legislation in the field of NGOs, which is criticized in every possible way by human rights activists. “I think you have questions about this legislation,” he said. - It is clearly not perfect, despite the fact that we have spent quite a lot of time perfecting it in recent years. I think that some changes in it are possible, and some are even necessary. "
Dmitry Medvedev also understands how difficult it is for NGOs to work in the light of the barriers that are often set by officials. And they do this, the head of state is sure, only because they see human rights defenders as a threat to their undivided rule.
Meanwhile, the state, in any case, according to the president, sees nongovernmental organizations not as an enemy, but as a partner for itself, but not everyone is ready to consider them as partners. “You need to understand one simple thing - the state itself should be engaged in the protection of rights, the people who want to do this should be engaged in the protection of rights,” Medvedev said. "Thus, as a result of joint activities, it may be possible to achieve better results."
By tradition, it fell to the chairman of the Council, Ella Pamfilova, to set the tone for the further conversation. “We thoroughly prepared this meeting,” she smiled, although the stack of papers she showed to the president looked menacing.
Pamfilova encouraged the president: NGOs are really ready to take on many problems, they are ready to monitor human rights. But human rights defenders seem to have one unanswered question: do they need it in the legal conditions in which they have to exist? The legislation on NGOs, which is constantly criticized by human rights activists, has come under criticism again. “Even the goal set by the legislators — and many were setting the goal of bringing nongovernmental organizations under control — turned out to be unfulfilled," Pamfilova said calmly, although she could have said it with triumph to the delight of her colleagues.
“In Russia, they are saved from bad laws by their failure to comply,” she said. This is bad, but many organizations chose to follow this path - they did not register and work semi-legally. Ultimately, the new legislation created mistrust between human rights defenders and the state.
“We are raising the issue of creating a different legal framework for NGOs, which would be based not on suspicion, but on trust,” concluded Pamfilova.
This was a kind of signal for action, after which the members of the Council began to systematically and easily convey to the President the idea of why it was necessary to correct the strategy of the state in relation to society and non-profit organizations.
After many years, at first, the complete absence of such a strategy, and then the equal dialogue proclaimed in 2001, in 2004, a consistent state line came to replace, to which many human rights defenders did not have a heart. It lasted until 2008. “This is a strategy of domination of the state and embedding of civil society in the socio-political system,” said the president of the Association of Independent Centers economic analysis Alexander Auzan. Two milestones of this strategy are the creation of the Public Chamber as the only channel of communication between the state and society and amendments to the legislation on NGOs in 2006, which Auzan directly called repressive in relation to the non-profit sector.
There is an explanation in the human rights environment why such a policy freely acquired the right to exist. “Practically the foundations were based on an unspoken social contract: the loyalty of the population in exchange for economic benefits for this population,” explained Auzan. This thesis was voiced in the presence of the first deputy head of the presidential administration Vladislav Surkov, who earlier, at one of the meetings with the experts of the Strategy-2020 club, warned that it is not entirely ethical to compare the Russian nation with the most despicable biblical character Esau, who renounced the birthright for lentil stew ...
Today, in the wake of the crisis, Auzan believes, it is time for the state to think about changing its strategy. First of all, because there was an expansion of state functions, however, high efficiency of execution is not observed. In such a situation, self-organized groups of citizens could take on part of the functions and, consequently, responsibility. This is the first of three changes to the state strategy on civil society that Auzan proposed to the president. The authorities must support self-organization in society, which means that it is necessary to correct the mistakes of 2006 with regard to reporting, registration and inspections of NPOs.
The rector of the Higher School of Economics, Yaroslav Kuzminov, undertook to explain the senselessness of the huge paperwork. He insisted that many non-profit organizations are completely insignificant in number, and red tape with reporting only slows down their activities. And Alexander Auzan believes that the state should support the system of public control and monitoring, the procedures of which have been largely created, but require the adoption of regulatory and budgetary decisions. The main thing is that some decisions should be made based on the results of this control. And the third task is the development of civic participation in various spheres of life.
- As a result, it seems to me that in this case we would work not only on the problem of the crisis, but on the future of Russia, because we are talking about value shifts, about the fact that if the state will pay more attention to openness, provide more space for freedom, and the values of solidarity, mutual assistance, justice will be stronger in society, then we have the best conditions for entering modernization, - concluded Alexander Auzan.
Yaroslav Kuzminov supplemented his colleague's strategic reflections with specific legislative proposals to weaken control over NPOs, which would actually equate non-governmental organizations with small businesses. “First, non-profit organizations in their field of activity should receive the same rights and benefits in public procurement and municipal procurement as small businesses,” said the rector of the HSE.
The second proposal concerns the protection of the property rights of NPOs. Over the past 10 years, Kuzminov noted, many regional public organizations have been evicted from rented premises from the city center to the outskirts, which naturally affects their work. Finally, the Council asked the President to create a lightweight regime for small daily charities.
There were many problems voiced by members of the Council to the President, but none of them became news. Many issues are discussed at meetings from time to time. Like, for example, corruption that permeates society from top to bottom and settled in most spheres of life. “This is probably the core on which the arbitrariness and violations of the rights of citizens in any sphere are threaded on the part of the responsible persons - from the environment, egregious facts of violence against children to restrictions on political and civil rights,” said Ella Pamfilova, Chairperson of the Council.
The fight against corruption in conditions of total distrust of everyone and everyone can become effective only with broad civilian control. “Within the framework of this crisis of confidence, a kind of new Byzantium is being created, when real things are replaced with completely new meanings, and those things that we need to really counter corruption, to really establish civil control, such as transparency, accountability, decency, are replaced by some completely other meanings, ”said Elena Panfilova, director of the Center for Anti-Corruption Research and Initiatives at Transparency International - Russia. And citizens do not understand when it comes to civil society and when it comes to civil control. Even in the new anti-corruption legislation, the idea of public and civil control, she noted, is mentioned more than once, but nothing concrete is said about it.
The most interesting thing, Panfilova noted, that all specific examples corruption mostly lies on the surface, you just need to go to the Internet and read the blogs of ordinary people. And in this regard, civilian control as surveillance works quite well for itself. But control as supervision and verification is not. “With accountability - this is exactly what we are talking about when we use the word 'civil control' - it seems to me that we need to very seriously understand and put it on a completely new track,” she said.
Human rights activists are well aware that the main opponents of civilian control were, are and will be corrupt officials, and today many seek to power not to work for the good of the country and society, but to be closer to the sources of illicit enrichment.
“The so-called Russian elite, it’s probably necessary to grow a new one,” Ella Pamfilova sighed resignedly at the beginning of the meeting. If it does exist, the chairman of the Council emphasized, then it should set an example of its focus on success, on the humanization of society, on legal basis the state, on social justice, on the correspondence of words to real deeds.
In this sense, open declarations of income and property of the Russian ruling elite are a step in the right direction, but in the human rights environment it is considered insignificant, because there is no civil control over the reliability of the data provided. “It is also important where this property is located, in the country or abroad,” Pamfilova pointed out. - And what is even more important, where do the children of our elite study and work, and whether they go to serve in the Russian army by analogy with the grandchildren of the Queen of England and are they ready to tie their future with Russia at all, are they going to put down their roots here, or are they in London and elsewhere. "
“These are the key problems, without which it is impossible to create a system of mutual trust between society and people who determine our destiny,” she concluded her emotional speech.
Having accepted Dmitry Medvedev's offer to discuss a wide range of issues, the members of the Council did not let go of the head of state for a long time. Tamara Morshchakova, Advisor to the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, naturally raised the problem of imperfection judicial system... Ida Kuklina, a member of the coordinating council of the Union of Soldiers' Mothers - issues of military reform and the state of the army. The chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alekseeva, complained about the virtual absence of the constitutional right of citizens to meetings, rallies and processions, and Svetlana Sorokina spoke out in defense of children. Irina Yasina chose impromptu to talk in general about humanization Russian society and separately asked for the fate of the spouses Natalya Morar and Ilya Barabanov, who, it seems to her, are separated, including through the fault of our country.
FORMS OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
In accordance with the law "On non-profit organizations", the following organizational and legal forms of non-profit organizations are established.
Branch of a foreign non-profit non-governmental organization (structural unit).
Public and religious organizations (associations)- voluntary associations of citizens, in accordance with the procedure established by law, united on the basis of their community of interests to meet spiritual or other non-material needs. Public associations also include professional and creative associations, chambers of commerce and industry.
Communities of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation- forms of self-organization of persons belonging to the indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation and united on consanguineous or territorially neighboring principles. The purpose of creating a community is to protect the original habitat, preserve and develop the traditional way of life, management, crafts and culture of small peoples.
Fund- a non-profit organization without membership, established by citizens and (or) legal entities on the basis of voluntary property contributions and pursuing social, charitable, cultural, educational or other socially useful purposes.
State corporation - a non-profit organization without membership, established by the Russian Federation on the basis of a property contribution and created for the implementation of social, managerial or other public useful functions.
Non-profit partnership- a membership-based non-profit organization established by citizens and / or legal entities to assist its members in the implementation of activities aimed at achieving socially useful goals.
Institution- a non-profit organization created by an owner (citizen or legal entity) to carry out managerial, socio-cultural or other functions of a non-profit nature (for example, a charitable institution, educational institution). Institutions are subdivided into private and state (municipal), while the latter can be of two types - budgetary and autonomous.
Autonomous institution- a non-profit organization created by the Russian Federation, a constituent entity of the Federation or a municipal formation. Its purpose is to perform work, provide services in order to exercise the powers of state authorities and local self-government in the fields of science, education, health care, culture, social protection, employment, physical culture and sports.
Autonomous non-profit organization- a non-profit non-profit organization established by citizens and (or) legal entities on the basis of voluntary property contributions. Its purpose is to provide services in the field of education, health care, culture, science, law, physical culture (for example, a non-state university, a sports club, a health-improving institution).
Associations of legal entities(associations and unions) - voluntary associations of commercial and non-commercial organizations in order to coordinate their activities, represent and protect common property interests.
ON THE LEGISLATION OF RUSSIA, USA, FRANCE, FINLAND, ISRAEL AND POLAND, REGULATING THE ACTIVITIES
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs)
| Country | Russia | France | USA | Finland | Israel | Poland |
| Question | ||||||
| Mode for NGOs | According to the law “On Non-Commercial Organizations”, foreign NGOs in Russia enjoy a different regime from the national one. A foreign NGO is defined as “an organization that does not have profit making as the main goal of its activities and does not distribute the received profit among the participants, created outside the territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with the legislation of a foreign state, the founders (participants) of which are not state bodies”. | In the United States, there is a single model NGO charter at the federal level. The main body of regulation is contained in the laws of the states. As an example, we can take the New York state law, according to which foreign NGOs are treated differently from the national regime. A foreign NGO is defined as a “corporation” that is formed under laws other than New York State and otherwise qualifies as a national corporation under that state. | Foreign NGOs are granted national treatment. | Foreign NGOs are granted national treatment. | Foreign NGOs are granted national treatment. | |
| Participation of foreign citizens in NGOs | Foreign citizens and stateless persons legally residing in Russia have the right to be founders and participants of NGOs. However, the founders of NGOs cannot be foreign citizens suspected of extremist activities or money laundering, etc. | Foreign citizens, on an equal basis with French citizens, can be founders and participants of NGOs. | New York State law allows foreign citizens to participate in NGOs without any restrictions. Under the US Foreign Agents Act, NGOs run by foreigners that engage in political activities go through a special registration process with the state attorney general. | If the purpose of the NGO is activities related to public affairs, then only Finnish citizens or foreigners permanently residing in Finland can be members. The head of the NGO must reside permanently in Finland. | Israeli legislation does not differ in terms of the possibility of NGO formation by foreign citizens and Israeli citizens. | Foreign citizens, on an equal basis with Polish citizens, can be founders and participants of NGOs. |
| Registration procedure | Permissive order. Provided for the collection of state. duties. | Notification order. Prior authorization is not required to establish an NGO. Registration is carried out without levying a state fee. |
Strict authorization procedure for the activities of foreign NGOs in the state. | Notification procedure for registration. Finnish law does not contain provisions on the collection of state fees. | Notification procedure for registration. Israeli law does not contain provisions on the collection of state. duties. | Notification procedure for registration of foreign NGOs. |
| Documents required for registration | To register a foreign NGO, you need: - a statement signed by an authorized person, indicating his last name, first name, patronymic, place of residence and contact phone numbers; - constituent documents of a non-profit organization in triplicate; - the decision to create a non-profit organization and to approve it constituent documents indicating the composition of the elected bodies in duplicate; - information about the founders in duplicate; - document confirming the payment of the state fee; - the address of the permanent body of the NGO; - when using in the name of a non-profit organization symbols protected by laws on the protection of intellectual property, documents confirming the authority to use them; - an extract from the register of foreign legal entities of the respective country of origin. |
For registration, an application is required, which indicates: - title; - place of stay; - names, professions, citizenship of the founders; No notarization of documents is required. Documents are submitted to the prefecture of the relevant department. |
For national NGOs, the main condition for their activities is to obtain a registration certificate from the state administration, which is issued on the basis of an application. The statement indicates general information on the activities of NGOs (address, name, goals of activity, etc.). You also need to obtain permission from the relevant state. body depending on the field of activity of the NGO (e.g. education, health, etc.). Additional registration conditions have been established for foreign NGOs. In the application for registration, they must indicate: - Name; - place and date of registration; - information that the "corporation" is foreign; - the objectives of the activity, a statement that the activity is permitted; - information on the appointment of the Secretary of State as his agent; - a certificate that the "corporation" really exists; - information about the fulfillment of any conditions required by any state. state body. |
An application is required to register an NGO. The application must contain: - the name of the NGO; - the names of the founders. The charter of the association is attached to the application. No notarization of documents is required. The application is submitted to National Council patents and registrations of Finland. |
The list of documents required for registration of a foreign NGO is reduced to an appeal to the registration authority. The appeal must indicate: - name of company; - address in Israel; - the names of the founders, their addresses and identification numbers... No notarization of registration documents is required. |
“Declaration of will” for registration should contain general information about the NGO. Notarization is required. |
| Grounds for refusal to register | The following grounds for refusal of registration are provided: - contradiction of the constituent documents of NGOs with the Constitution and other laws of Russia; - the presence of another NGO with the same name; - the name of an NGO that offends morality, national and religious feelings of citizens; - if the documents required for registration do not comply with the requirements of the law; - if the founder of the NGO is not such in accordance with the law. State registration of a branch of a foreign NGO may also be denied on the following grounds: - if the goals of creating an NGO branch pose a threat to the sovereignty and political independence of Russia; - if a branch of a foreign NGO previously registered in Russia was liquidated due to gross violation of the Constitution and other laws of Russia. |
Registration may be refused if the organization is founded for illegal purposes. In their meaning, the grounds for refusing registration are similar to the grounds provided for by Russian law. | The grounds for refusing registration are generally similar to those established in Russian law. Registration may be refused if the NGO is founded for criminal purposes or if false documents were provided during registration. | The grounds for refusing to register an NGO in their meaning generally coincide with the grounds provided for by Russian legislation. | The grounds for refusal of registration basically coincide with the grounds for Russian legislation... It also provides for such a basis as the name of the organization, which is detrimental to popular feelings. | The grounds for refusing registration are similar to those under Russian law. |
| Order financial control | The main form of financial control is the provision of financial statements by NGOs to tax and statistical authorities. The authorized body is also entitled to: - to request from the governing bodies of NGOs financial documents; - send their representatives to participate in events held by NGOs; - annually inspect the spending of funds and other property of NGOs; - issue written warnings in cases of violation of the laws of Russia or the commission of an NGO of actions that do not comply with its charter. |
The main form of financial reporting is the submission of an annual financial report to the central authority in the department. NGOs should include in their statutes that they undertake to produce accounts at any request by the Minister of the Interior or a central authority in the department. | Financial control is carried out in general order provided for all legal entities. The state attorney general may require the director and employees of a liquidated "corporation" to testify about the assets of the corporation. Foreign NGOs may be subject to scrutiny by the state attorney general. |
Financial control over the activities of NGOs is carried out on a general basis provided for all legal entities in Finland. No external financial audit is provided. |
Control over the financial activities of NGOs is carried out by external auditors. Financial information can be requested from NGOs at any time. Any financial decision concerning an NGO can be challenged in court. Moreover, the registering authority can carry out inspections financial activities NGOs. | NGOs, including foreign ones, are subject to financial due diligence in connection with receiving subsidies in large amounts (over 16 thousand US dollars) or in cases where their annual income exceeds 1 million US dollars. There is no mandatory external audit. |
| Grounds and order
liquidation |
The court and the registration authority have the right to decide on the liquidation of an NGO. A claim to the judicial authority is filed by the prosecutor in accordance with the law "On the prosecutor's office". The grounds for the compulsory liquidation of a foreign NGO are: - liquidation of the relevant foreign NGO; - refusal to provide information required for financial control over NGOs; - violation of Russian legislation by NGOs; inconsistency of the NGO's activities with its statutory goals. |
Liquidation of NGOs is carried out only on the basis of a court decision. Proceedings in court can begin at the initiative of the person concerned or at the request of the prosecutor. The court may decide to liquidate an NGO if the latter is involved in civil legal relations without notifying the registration authorities about the beginning of its activities. The court decision can be appealed. For failure to comply with a court decision on liquidation, criminal liability is provided (imprisonment for up to 3 years and / or a fine of 45 thousand euros). |
Liquidation of NGOs is carried out by a court decision on the proposal of the Attorney General of the state. The grounds for liquidation are: - creation of an NGO by providing false information; - Conducting activities by deception or violation of the law; - activities that go beyond the statute of the NGO; - violation of state policy. The Attorney General has a fairly wide range of powers in relation to NGOs. In particular, he can initiate a lawsuit in court to dismiss the head of an NGO. |
The liquidation of an NGO is carried out only by a court on the basis of a claim from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor's Office or a member of the NGO. The grounds for the compulsory termination of the organization's activities are generally similar to the grounds provided for by Russian law. | The liquidation of NGOs is carried out only by a court decision on the proposal of the Prosecutor General. Moreover, such a submission to the court can be made only after the NGO ignored the warning issued by the registration authority. The grounds for liquidation are similar in meaning to the Russian ones, however, upon the proposal of the person who conducted the investigation, an NGO can also be liquidated by a court order for debts. | Liquidation of NGOs is carried out by a court decision. The grounds for the liquidation of NGOs under Polish law do not differ materially from the corresponding provisions of Russian laws. |
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS: AWARENESS AND ATTITUDE
The phrase “non-profit organizations” seems to be gradually disappearing from the everyday vocabulary of Russians and from the media. Over the past six years, the share of respondents who heard this phrase for the first time from an interviewer has increased (35% versus 26% in 2001). The share of those who “heard something” about non-profit organizations, on the contrary, decreased during this time (35% versus 42%). Only 20% of Russians are familiar with this phrase today (it was 21%).
The respondents were asked how they understand the expression “non-profit organization”, what they think it means (the question was asked in an open form; 46% of the respondents answered it).
Like six years ago, many associate this concept with state and municipal structures (24%): “an organization subsidized by the local or state budget”; “Not a private, but a state-owned enterprise”; "This is an organization in which 51% of the government shares." They said that this is an organization that does not aim to make a profit or does not engage in commerce, business, trade, - 10% of respondents ("an organization that does not work for commercial gain"; "do not engage in sales, purchases"; "do not produce anything and do not sell "). They assumed that this is not a state, but a private organization, 2% of respondents. Some (2%) said that it is an unregistered or just a criminal organization: “this is an organization that does not have a license and does not pay taxes”; “An underground organization, someone smacking, sells fake vodka, for example”; “Illegal logging is a non-profit organization”.
About 9% of the respondents correlated this phrase with public organizations or named specific examples of such organizations (church, dacha cooperative, trade unions, charitable foundations, parties): “where people work on a voluntary basis”; “Probably the church belongs to this”; "Charitable foundations"; "All sorts of" green "and so on."
Over the past six years, the share of respondents who are confident that non-profit organizations are of great benefit to ordinary citizens has noticeably decreased. Now 11% of the respondents share this opinion (it was 21%). 14% see a small benefit in their activities (it was 18%). About a fifth of the survey participants (19%) said there was no benefit (it was 20%). The majority (56%) found it difficult to say whether or not there is any benefit from the activities of these organizations, and how great it is.
8% of respondents are aware of the work of non-profit organizations in their region (six years ago - 12%). The same number of people “heard something” about it (it was 15%). Of those who do not notice the activities of regional non-profit organizations at all, among the respondents there were two-thirds - 67% (it was 48%). Found it difficult to answer this question 17%.
Those who know or at least heard something about the activities of non-profit organizations in their region were asked to name these organizations. 13% of the respondents answered the question. The organizations that ensure the functioning of the social infrastructure of settlements (hospital, police, social security, post office, kindergartens, social services, etc.) were named by 6% of the respondents. Mentioned manufacturing enterprises, banks, shops, etc. - 2%. Various public organizations (mainly charitable) named 4%: "Memorial"; Doctors Without Borders; Young Family Defense Fund; "School ecological squad"; "A church, probably."
Among the survey participants, 5% were aware of the work of non-profit organizations in other regions of Russia; those who “heard something” about it - 8%. The majority of respondents (70%) said they knew nothing about the activities of such organizations; 17% found it difficult to answer this question.
Do you know, have heard or hear for the first time the expression “non-profit organization”?
How do you understand the expression "non-profit organization", what do you think it means? (An open question. It was asked by those who said that they knew the expression "non-profit organization" - 55% of the respondents.)
| (in% of the number of respondents) | |
| State, municipal institution, institution financed from the federal or local budget, an enterprise under the control of the state | 24 |
| "State"; “It means municipal”; "Which are under the control of the state"; “Exists at the expense of state investments”; "Closest to a government agency"; "Financing organizations from the budget"; "An organization subsidized by a local or state budget"; “Not a private, but a state-owned enterprise”; "This is an organization in which 51% of the government shares." | |
| An organization with no purpose of making a profit, not engaged in business, commerce, trade | 10 |
| "An organization that does not receive income from its activities"; "An organization that does not pursue the goal of obtaining material wealth"; "An organization that does not work for commercial gain"; "The organization is engaged in activities not for the purpose of making a profit"; “They are not profit-oriented”; “Apparently, which lacks any commercial activity"; "They are not engaged in sales, purchases"; “Not related to trade”; "An organization far from commerce"; “This is not a business”; “This is an organization that does not buy and resell”; "They don't produce or sell anything." | |
| A public organization, an organization where they work on a voluntary basis | 5 |
| "Are engaged social work"; "Possibly public organizations"; "Where people work on a voluntary basis"; “Such organizations are designed to protect the public interest, and not seek benefits for themselves”; "Where they volunteer." | |
| Non-state, non-budgetary organization, private enterprise | 2 |
| "Which works for itself"; "This is property"; "Not state"; "Means, private"; "Not a budgetary organization." | |
| Organization helping people, charitable, religious organization | 2 |
| "Charity"; “Is engaged in charity work”; "Spiritual communities, charity"; "Social organizations"; “Probably the church belongs to this”; "Donating money to good deeds." | |
| An organization that exists on donations, contributions, etc. | 1 |
| “Which does not make money itself, but is financed by someone”; “… Exists at the expense of donations”; “They themselves do not work, but they receive money from somewhere”; “Exists on donations”; “Exist on sponsorship fees”; "These are organizations that act on contributions from members." | |
| Political organization | 1 |
| "Everyone's green and so on"; "Organizations, parties"; "Political activity"; "Party organizations". | |
| Business organization | 1 |
| "Associated with the purchase and sale"; "Semi-commercial enterprise"; "Business-based activities"; "Hucksters"; "Resellers". | |
| These are funds | 1 |
| "Various funds"; "Some kind of fund"; "Funds - any"; "heard about non-profit foundations"; "Some funds." | |
| An unregistered organization, an organization that hides its income from the state | 1 |
| "Unlawful"; “This is an organization that does not have a license and does not pay taxes”; "... those who conceal their income"; “Pay in an envelope, not a receipt”; "An organization not registered anywhere"; “Those that are not subject to the Russian tax inspection”; "Underground, illegal". | |
| An organization engaged in deceiving people, stealing | 1 |
| "Deception, they promise more, but if you come, they don't give anything"; "Who are engaged in speculation"; "Scam"; "Some thieves"; "Crooks"; "Designed to deceive people." | |
| Other | 2 |
| “Doesn't apply to anything at all”; "Organizations whose income is open, there is no black cash"; “Illegal logging is a non-profit organization”; "They do not exist, everywhere there are extortions anyway"; "That works honestly"; "With overseas funding." | |
| 54 | |
In your opinion, is there a benefit from non-profit organizations for people like you or not? And if so, is this benefit large or small?
Do you know, have heard something or know nothing about the work of non-profit organizations in your region (oblast, territory, republic)?
What non-profit organizations work in your region (oblast, territory, republic) do you know or have heard something about? (An open question. It was asked to those who said that they know about the work of non-profit organizations in the region - 17% of the respondents.)
| (in% of the number of respondents) | ||
| State and municipal organizations | 6 | |
| "Hospitals, clinics"; "Social security, post office, kindergarten, school"; "ZhEK, heating system, water utility"; "Social services"; "Social security"; "Pension Fund"; "Police"; "public sector entity"; "Municipal buses"; "Gorgaz" "; "ZAGS, ZhEK"; "Agrarian technical school". | ||
| Public organizations | 4 | |
| Charitable organizations and groups involved in social assistance, protection of human rights, environmental issues | 3 | |
| "The City without Drugs Foundation, Committee of Soldiers' Mothers"; “Chernobyl victims, Afghans, veterans of the Great Patriotic War”; “Green, environmentalists, but they do not work well”; “Charitable, protecting”; "consumer rights Protection"; “Protection of the rights of different groups”; “They are engaged in charity work”; "Funds for the protection of animals, nature, for the homeless of the hotel"; "Non-state funds"; ""Memorial""; Doctors Without Borders; Young Family Protection Fund; "School ecological squad". | ||
| Religious organizations, trade unions, political parties, etc. | 1 | |
| "Unions, foundations, societies in different directions"; "unions"; "Professional associations and societies"; “The church, spiritual education leads”; "Religious, political"; "The church, probably"; "Parties". | ||
| Industrial enterprises, financial, commercial organizations | 2 | |
| Luga Abrasive Plant; " farms"; "Kopeyka - shop"; "On the market, private taxi drivers"; "Banks"; "<…>KamAZ, KamGES<…>"; "Aircraft plant"; "Plant named after Khrunichev"; Zvezda Plant; "Trading enterprises". | ||
| Other | 1 | |
| “All organizations, a little bit, non-profit”; “We don’t have such, even KamAZ is already LLC”; "None"; “Nonprofit Organization Associated with Geography Teachers”; "gardening". | ||
| Difficult to answer, no answer | 4 | |
Do you know, have heard something or know nothing about the work of non-profit organizations in other regions of Russia?
Public organizations occupy a very important place both in the political system of the country and in ensuring the independence of its inhabitants. Every person in Russia has the right to found a public association of any kind, and a trade union for the protection of interests is no exception.
This right is established in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, article 30. Russia is a country with a democratic state regime, therefore the freedom of public organizations and unions is guaranteed. No one has the right to force a person to join an organization, this happens solely at the will of the citizen himself.
When creating public organizations, people may not wait for the consent of state authorities. Such organizations can be registered, in which case they will receive the status of a legal entity. However, the state registration process is not required, associations can exist without it.
Allocate different kinds public organizations: sports associations, mass movements, trade unions, political parties, scientific associations, unions of youth and disabled people, creative associations, etc. First, you need to understand the concept of "public organization".
What is a public association?
This term means a voluntary non-profit formation founded by the initiative of people who have come together to achieve common goals. At the moment, the activities of such organizations are coordinated by the Federal Law "On Public Associations" of May 19, 1995.
In other words, a public organization is a union of people created on the basis of their interests and on the principle of voluntary membership. This kind of organization has its limitations:
- you cannot organize armed associations;
- it is necessary to comply with the legislation of the Russian Federation;
- not to violate the territorial unity of the state.
The signs of associations include voluntariness, action strictly in accordance with the charter, and non-commercial nature. V modern conditions gained great popularity such an alliance as a public organization. very interesting to historians and politicians.
Organizational and legal forms of public associations
According to one of the articles of the Federal Law "On Public Associations", there are the following types of organizations that can be founded according to legal forms:
- social movement - an association founded to achieve political and social goals. Members of a social movement have no membership;
- a public foundation is one of the types of non-profit associations whose members do not have membership. The main goal of this association is to create property based on voluntary contributions and other receipts that do not contradict the laws of the country;
- public institution - a union that also does not have membership, its main purpose is to provide certain services;
- body of public initiative - an association whose members do not have membership. The main purpose of the body is to solve certain kinds of problems that people have at the place of residence and study;
- a political party is a public organization that participates in the formation of government bodies and expresses the political will of its members.
Classification of public associations
Apart from alliances that differ legal form, there are also other features of their classification. The main types of public organizations were indicated above. Now we will consider other types and forms of such organizations. Types of public organizations, associations in accordance with the degree of participation in the struggle for power:
- having a non-political orientation, that is, they do not set the goal of being a participant in the struggle for power and do not try to make changes in the country;
- having a political orientation, that is, those associations that are active participants in the struggle for power and use certain means for this.
In accordance with the relationship of the associations to the present order:
- conservative;
- reformist;
- revolutionary;
- counter-revolutionary.
Types of public organizations of the Russian Federation by methods of action:
- legal;
- illegal;
- formal;
- informal.
And, finally, in terms of the scale of activity, the following associations are distinguished:
- international;
- regional;
- local character.
Responsibilities and functions of public organizations
What should public organizations do? The types and functions of these associations, despite their apparent simplicity, have repeatedly raised doubts and disputes. Responsibilities and functions are slightly different concepts. First, you need to consider the responsibilities of public organizations:
- the main one is adherence to the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as generally recognized norms and principles of international law;
- annually submit to the publication a report on the property or provide access to it;
- inform state bodies every year about their intention to continue their activities, here it is necessary to indicate the founders of the association, as well as the address of permanent residence;
- provide the authorities with the right to familiarize themselves with the charter of the organization;
- report the receipt and use of funds from foreign organizations.
Now we need to move on to considering the functions of public organizations:
- orientation of a person to specific goals, that is, socialization and mobilization;
- the inclusion of people in the system of politics through cooperation or conflict;
- the creation of new non-traditional political structures;
- representation of social interests.
The main activities of a public organization
As already noted, people enter a public association on a voluntary basis, and, based on this fact, we can conclude that the activities of organizations are aimed at their improvement and prosperity. The governing bodies are established here through elections. The activities of a public organization can be useful not only for its members, but also for other people who are not members of the organization.
The types of public organizations play a major role in setting the objectives of associations. There are several types of tasks that determine the focus of an organization. Public associations can serve the interests of entrepreneurs and commercial organizations, workers and employees, as well as promote the ideas of religious, political and other organizations.
The types of activities of public organizations are distinguished depending on the type of association. The activities of business and professional organizations include work to promote the interests of both members of commercial associations and ordinary employees.
The types of activities of trade unions include:
- activities to protect the interests of employees and members of the association;
- activities of organizations whose members are interested in protecting their interests on issues wages and working conditions;
- other actions of trade unions of various organizations, which are created on a sectoral or structural basis.
The activities of other associations include the actions of all organizations (other than business and trade unions) that protect the interests of the participants. The types of activities of public organizations included in such a group are presented below:
- activity of religious associations, which consists in the dissemination of faith and its joint confession;
- actions of political parties, movements, associations, the main purpose of which is to form people's opinions through the dissemination of information;
- the activities of non-political organizations that also shape people's opinions, but with the help of educational activities, fundraising, etc .;
- activities of creative groups, for example, book clubs, history circles, music and art associations;
- activities of various unions of motorists, consumers, acquaintances;
- activity of patriotic associations, unions for the protection of social groups.
Non-profit organizations
This kind of association can be created to solve the problems of education, health care, science and culture. A non-profit organization is an association whose members do not have membership, based on voluntary contributions from citizens and legal entities. There are a huge number of various types of such organizations, the most basic ones will be considered here. Types of non-profit public organizations:
- Fund. This is the most common form of non-profit association. Its purpose is to solve social, cultural or other problems by collecting property contributions. The foundation has its own characteristics that distinguish it from other organizations of this type. There is no membership here, which means that the members of this organization cannot manage the fund. This association is the owner of its property, and its governing bodies are not responsible for its debts.
- Charitable foundation. This is an organization created with the purpose of collecting property contributions for the implementation of charity. This kind of foundation has a charter that regulates its activities. Usually, charitable foundation finds a sponsor, and he becomes its founder. It can be either a state or an enterprise, or any individual. If there is no such sponsor, the fund itself makes money in various ways.
- Union is a non-profit organization founded by combining several legal entities. According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, the union excludes the simultaneous presence of commercial and non-commercial organizations. Associations are created to represent the interests of companies and to coordinate their activities.
- Consumer cooperative. It is an association of citizens and / or legal entities on a voluntary basis, the main purpose of which is to meet the various needs of its shareholders. Shareholders are people who have made and are members of the association. As shareholders consumer cooperative both ordinary citizens and legal entities can act.
- an alliance of people, which was founded for the purpose of joint confession and its spread. To the signs religious association include the teaching of their followers, the performance of worship, religion. Only individuals can be members of such a union.
Public association of labor
This cooperation is a union of people who come together to obtain the necessary product of production through joint efforts. Most often, the social organization of labor has two directions: legal and technical. The law is designed to regulate social relations in the labor process. The technical direction consists of the rules for working on the required product.
At present, there are almost no different types of such an organization in its pure form, since all types of labor associations are related to history. Types of social organization of labor:
- primitive communal;
- slave-owning;
- feudal;
- capitalist;
- socialist.
As already noted, all these types are formal and practically do not occur in the modern world.
Physical culture and sports organizations
These associations can be classified as both non-profit organizations and commercial ones. These organizations are called upon to develop physical culture and sports among various groups of people, to create all the necessary conditions to improve the health of persons participating in sports competitions, provide the accessories that are necessary for training.
Due to the deteriorating health of citizens, physical culture and sports organizations have become very popular recently. They will be able to raise the level of physical culture of people, and with it their health.
Commercial associations of this type single out profit-making as the main goal and can be created in partnerships, unitary enterprises etc.
Nonprofits do not aim to teach profit. First of all, they are designed to meet the needs of citizens. The income that such an organization has is not distributed among its members, but is used to perform the necessary tasks.
Types of public sports organizations quite varied. Among them:
- sports clubs that operate on an independent basis in various institutions;
- children's sports schools run by government agencies;
- scientific associations in the field of physical culture and sports;
- all-Russian physical culture and sports organizations;
- Olympic Committee of the country.
Social and political organizations
The peculiarity of such associations is that they do not belong to state organizations, but to one degree or another belong to the country's political system. These can be both organizations that have a direct impact on political decisions in the country, and associations that do not have a strict organization and structure.
The main goal of such associations is to influence the government, however, as a rule, the socio-political organization of power, as such, does not achieve. The basic principles of a social and political association are voluntariness and solidarity of members. There is a huge classification of such associations. Here we will consider the main types of social and political organizations.
In accordance with the attitude to the existing system:
- conservative;
- liberal;
- revolutionary.
By the degree of organization:
- poorly organized;
- highly organized;
- natural;
- scattered.
In terms of scale of action:
- international;
- regional;
- republican;
- local.
State public organizations
Such associations are not the most popular and exist in small numbers. The types of state public organizations are presented below.
An organization that has no membership and is created by the Russian Federation on the basis of a property contribution. The goal is to perform socially useful functions. The state corporation is created in accordance with the Federal Law, and all property is in its ownership. This organization uses its property for good purposes, determined by law.
A budgetary institution is an organization founded by public authorities to achieve socio-cultural, scientific, technical and other goals. The activities of this organization are financed from the corresponding budget.
Conclusion
The types of public organizations include a huge number of different associations, and each of them has its own peculiarities, advantages and disadvantages. But all organizations have the same principles of creation, among which they are distinguished: voluntariness, equality before the law, legality, general availability of information, publicity of activities, self-government.
Created on the basis of joint activities to protect common interests and achieve the statutory goals of the united citizens ”.
Individuals and legal entities - public associations may be members of a public organization in accordance with its charter, unless otherwise established by this Federal Law and laws on certain types of public associations.
The presence of membership of a public organization differs from a public movement in which membership is not required.
The highest governing body of a public organization is a congress (conference) or general meeting. The permanent governing body of a public organization is an elected collegial body accountable to the congress (conference) or general meeting.
In the case of state registration of a public organization, its permanent governing body exercises the rights of a legal entity on behalf of the public organization and performs its duties in accordance with the charter.
International public organization- a non-governmental / non-governmental association, whose members (on the basis of joint activities to protect common interests and achieve statutory goals) are subjects from different countries and registered in a state, the legislation of which allows foreign individuals or legal entities (without any discrimination based on ethnicity) create public organizations and be elected to the governing body of such an organization. In Latvia, for example, according to the law on public organizations, half of the members of the board of an organization must consist exclusively of citizens of the Republic of Latvia, which excludes the possibility of electing an international composition of the board and allows the functioning of public organizations only on a national basis. Bypassing such a nationalist barrier allows the registration of an organization in a more democratic country (for example, in Austria) and the establishment in Latvia of a representative office of the organization: since the INGO is outside the jurisdiction of Latvia, the Latvian court is no longer competent to decide on the liquidation of the organization - such a decision can only be made by a state court in whose jurisdiction the organization is located. The choice of such a form of activity - when an organization is registered in one country, but operates in other countries, allows a public organization to retain its legal personality even in the event of a possible conflict with the national authorities of a particular state. The space (territory) of INGO activities is determined by the Charter of the organization. International public organizations are endowed with international legal personality to the extent that such legal personality is defined by one or another international treaty, for example, the right to appeal violations of the norms of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, or, for example, the right to appeal violations of the norms of the European Social Charter.
see also
Notes (edit)
Links
- All-Russian classifier of organizational and legal forms (OK 028-99 (as amended by amendments N 1/99))
- Ferris Elizabeth Religious and secular humanitarian organizations // International Journal of the Red Cross, Volume 87 No. 858 June 2005 - pp. 100-119.
- Dennis Deiksel, Marcus Mocke. Information strategy of international humanitarian organizations // International Journal of the Red Cross, Volume 87 № 860 December 2005 - pp. 93-119.
- Gulyaikhin V.N., Galkin A.P., Vasilieva E.N. Youth and children's associations as subjects of secondary socialization: the experience of regional research // SotsIs... - 2012. - No. 6. - S. 127-132.
- Tishkov V.A. Anthropology of NGOs // "Emergency Reserve". - 2005. - No. 1 (39)
| Legal entities | |
|---|---|
| Commercial | Business partnerships and companies (Full On Faith) Limited Liability Company Additional Liability Company Joint Stock Company (Open Closed) Production Cooperative Unitary Enterprise |
| Non-profit | Consumer cooperative Public association ( Organization Movement Foundation Institution Amateur body Political party) Religious organization Foundation Institution |
| State registration | State registration Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs (USRIP) |
| Other | Insolvency Association (union) Individual entrepreneur Limited liability Founder |
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See what "Public organization" is in other dictionaries:
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Public organization- a voluntary association of citizens, which arose on their initiative for the realization of their interests. Political Science: Dictionary Handbook. comp. Prof. Paul of Sciences Sanzharevsky I.I .. 2010 ... Political science. Dictionary.
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The public nature conservation movement originated in Russia more than a century ago, but until now, for the majority of the country's citizens, it remains something obscure and alien. Very often people perceive public organizations, including environmental protection organizations, as a kind of addition to state structures, and expect from public organizations about the same actions and results as from public ones.
When it turns out that in fact public organizations are engaged in something completely different, this causes resentment and disappointment. Citizens' grievances and disappointments, no matter how fair and justified, do not add popularity to the public environmental movement and make it weaker. For the development of the public nature conservation movement, it is extremely important that the majority of people correctly understand the goals and raison d'être of this movement, place justified and fair hopes on it and do not place unreasonable and unfair ones, and, in the end, are not disappointed in the results of the actions of non-governmental environmental organizations and activists.
About public organizations
Public organizations in the broad sense of this word are voluntary, self-governing, non-profit associations of citizens existing in the form of legal entities, whose activities are aimed at protecting the common interests of members of the organization and achieving statutory goals. Legally precise definitions of public organizations and other public associations are given in federal law of May 19, 1995 № 82-FZ "On public associations", but in this case we will use the concept of "public organization" in the collective, classical sense. In accordance with the legislation, a public organization should consist of members (founders). A public organization may have staff members recruited in accordance with labor legislation, and volunteers (volunteers) who provide assistance to this organization free of charge. A public organization can exist at the expense of various sources of funding - in the case of Greenpeace, such a source is contributions (donations) of individuals or grants from funds fully formed on donations from individuals. In addition to public organizations proper, there is a fair amount of various "public dummies" - organizations created by the government or business for various political and commercial purposes: obtaining formal "public approval" for certain actions, spending budget funds, and so on. We are not going to consider "public dummies" now, although in practice people far from nature protection often confuse public organizations proper with their dummies.
In the development of most large environmental public organizations in Russia, including Greenpeace and WWF, the main role was played by people from the Movement of Nature Conservation Militias, which was formed in the USSR in the 60s of the last century and reached its peak in the 80s. Thanks to this, the Russian public environmental movement is closely connected with universities and the scientific community, and has mostly highly qualified personnel. Public environmental organizations tend to have very low staff turnover, especially when compared to the public sector. This has both pluses and minuses: on the one hand, it provides great experience and a high professional level of employees, on the other hand, fatigue accumulates, and sometimes a narrowly professional view of the surrounding reality is formed.
In the largest Russian non-governmental environmental organizations - WWF and Greenpeace - the number of full-time employees is, respectively, about one hundred and fifty and about sixty people. The forestry department of Greenpeace Russia currently employs ten people (in terms of full-time employment - eight). In the overwhelming majority of other non-governmental environmental organizations, the number of staff members is several people, of which one or two people are usually engaged in forest-related issues.
Here are some examples from the life of the forestry department of Greenpeace Russia, showing what public organizations can and cannot (at least those that are close to Greenpeace in their structure and mode of activity), where they are strong, and where, on the contrary, are weak, and what is the meaning of their existence.
What Public Organizations Can't Do
Public organizations, including environmental organizations, have absolutely no authority whatsoever. Accordingly, they by themselves cannot force anyone to stop activities that damage nature, or, conversely, force them to do something for the benefit of nature (in the USSR and in the 90s, social activists could have separate inspection powers, but now this is not allowed by law). Public organizations cannot create specially protected natural areas, approve normative legal acts, appoint or dismiss officials responsible for nature conservation or its use. Public organizations cannot directly influence the activities of state authorities and local self-government bodies. In this respect, public organizations have the same rights as ordinary citizens of the Russian Federation (and in some ways even less than citizens: for example, the right of citizens to receive answers to their appeals to power is protected by a special law, but the right of public organizations is not ).
Public organizations, as a rule, cannot provide any significant assistance government bodies and organizations in performing their routine work simply due to the incomparability of the forces and resources of the state and public organizations. For example, even now, after several years of destructive reforms, about forty thousand people work in the system of forest management bodies in Russia (federal and regional). Obviously, if ten employees of the forestry department of Greenpeace Russia were to undertake to help government agencies in their daily work, this assistance on a national scale would be completely imperceptible.
Another example: the Federal Firefighting Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (220 thousand staff units), contractual units of the fire service (36 thousand units), units of fire protection of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local authorities, forest fire and forestry organizations, reserves and national parks and other state structures - a total of up to half a million people. If two Greenpeace Russia staff members working on wildfires and a few dozen specially trained volunteers were to simply help government agencies in their day-to-day firefighting work, the effect would be very small.
The third example: despite the devastation in forestry, the area on which artificial reforestation and afforestation is carried out annually is almost two hundred thousand hectares (although, if we subtract all possible additions, the real area is likely to be no more than one hundred thousand). Up to several tens of thousands of people are involved in planting forest crops during the season. If two Greenpeace staff members, whose work is related to afforestation, even with all possible volunteers, had undertaken to simply help government and commercial organizations in planting forest crops, this assistance would also be very small on a national scale.
There are a great many such examples. Their essence is that even our half-life and extremely ineffective state possesses incommensurably greater resources necessary to carry out ordinary daily work related to environmental protection than all public environmental organizations taken together. If the main activities of public environmental organizations are aimed at assisting government agencies in their daily work, one way or another related to nature conservation (or commercial organizations that carry out relevant government orders), their contribution to the common cause will be small, and even almost imperceptible. Such activities of public organizations, at least in modern conditions, will practically not affect the situation with forests and nature protection in general.
Many Russian citizens turn to public organizations, including Greenpeace, with requests for help in protecting their rights violated by the use of forests and other natural areas. These citizens have the same or even more rights as public organizations; moreover, in many cases, if the rights of a specific person or residents of a specific settlement are violated, it is impossible to legally do anything to protect their rights without the initiative on the part of this person or these residents. Many people expect that after they call a public organization (for example, Greenpeace), the problem they are concerned about will magically be solved by itself - in such situations, as a rule, it is simply impossible to do anything. But there are many of them, and every year there are more and more of them, who are ready to defend their rights themselves, and who only need qualified help from experienced people. Unfortunately, public organizations cannot help everyone either, since each such case, as a rule, drags on for a long time, requires detailed investigation and abundant communication with officials, and the number of citizens looking for defenders of their violated environmental rights in public organizations is in the thousands. In this regard, provide direct assistance to all citizens in need, whose rights to a favorable environment were violated by the authorities or business, public environmental organizations also cannot - in most cases they can only help with advice, give standard, tested on their own experience, instructions on how to act in a given situation.
The above examples show that public environmental organizations cannot effectively substitute their activities for the daily work of state structures in the field of nature protection, including forests, and the provision of environmental services to citizens.
What can community organizations do
Public organizations have a number of opportunities that neither government agencies and their employees, nor businesses, nor individuals have. The main one is the ability to tell the truth about the situation in the country, in nature conservation or in forestry, without fearing too much for the consequences. Formally, anyone can tell the truth: according to Article 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, everyone is guaranteed freedom of thought and speech, everyone has the right to freely seek, receive, transmit, produce and distribute information to anyone in a legal way... But in reality, freedom of speech and media in our country is very limited. Civil servants are bound by legislation on public service, employees of state, municipal and commercial organizations - fears of reprisals from the authorities, single citizens - fears for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. As a result, everyone knows that something is wrong with the country, nature conservation and forestry, that dangerous decisions are constantly made by the authorities and business, or actions are being taken that threaten the country and nature with a catastrophe - but many are silent for various reasons.
Public organizations, especially large ones, are much less dependent on government and business than civil servants, state employees, employees of commercial structures or individual citizens. The status of employees of well-known public organizations, especially international ones, protects well against threats and attempts: state and large commercial structures are afraid of reputational damage, and petty crooks are usually afraid to get involved with active public figures. It is much easier for public organizations to break into the media than it is for individuals, simply because of the well-established system of working with journalists. Finally, the majority of employees of public organizations have nothing to lose: they have neither an important position, which is terrible to lose, nor any significant material assets - the only thing that remains is that the right to tell the truth, without looking back at the opinion of numerous bosses.
Sometimes with the truth told in time, with the information disseminated in time, you can achieve a lot. For example, in 2004, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation developed a draft of a new Forest Code of the Russian Federation, which provided for the possibility of privatizing the bulk of the country's forests (about 90%), almost complete liquidation of state forestry, the actual elimination of protective forests, and many other surprises. The developers of the code did not consider it necessary even to simply inform the professional community about their creation, intending to "push" it through all legislative instances within a few months - until the end of 2004. Having learned about this, Greenpeace, within two weeks, prepared and published a brochure with a draft code and a short explanatory note to it, and sent this brochure to regional authorities, forest management bodies, forestry enterprises, nature reserves, national parks and other forest organizations, as well as many famous scientists and public figures... Largely thanks to this brochure, information about the new code quickly spread throughout the country, became the property of the general public (in 2004, forestry was covered by the Internet to a relatively small extent). In the future, information about the process of developing the code was also disseminated primarily by public organizations, including through the Greenpeace Forest Forum on the Internet, and through the distribution of special printed publications. As a result, the government did not succeed in adopting the code quickly - the process dragged on for almost three years, the government was forced to abandon the idea of mass privatization of forests, restrictions on the withdrawal and use of protective forests were retained, and forestry still managed to avoid an absolute defeat.
Another example: forest and peat fires. It can be said without exaggeration that until the summer of 2010 the situation with forest and peat bog fires was shrouded in lies and legends from all sides: that fires in forests are being heroically extinguished by the Emergencies Ministry, which has created huge groupings of forces and, in general, "everything is under control"; that there is enough money, manpower and means to extinguish forest fires in the country, etc. When the catastrophic fires in the Middle Lane were just beginning (in the first half of May 2010), the authorities carefully concealed these fires, then arguing that nothing was burning at all, then - that the forest floor was burning on a meager area, then - that was burning, but everything was already extinguished. Greenpeace and other public organizations tried to warn the authorities, journalists, society about the growing catastrophe - but until the villages began to burn and the smoke reached Moscow and the Kremlin, most people believed more in the reassuring statement of the Emergencies Ministry and other authorities. When the catastrophe happened, they extinguished it with the whole world. In some places, especially in specially protected natural areas, without the help of volunteers and public organizations, including Greenpeace, fires might not have been able to cope - although in general, of course, the role of state structures with hundreds of thousands of employees and involved people, and a huge amount of special equipment was decisive. But on the other hand, thanks to public organizations and volunteers, residents of the country (mass spectators, listeners and readers of the media) learned that the new Forest Code destroyed the system of state forest management, that almost all forest fires are extinguished by foresters, not the Ministry of Emergency Situations, that firefighters, especially in villages, use antediluvian technology and are not provided with even the most necessary equipment, etc. As a result, the situation began to change, at least to the extent that it could have changed in our half-dead state: an attempt was made to amend the Forest Code, funding for forestry was increased, subsidies were allocated to the regions for the purchase of new forest fire equipment. It was not possible to fundamentally improve the situation, but if it were not for the close attention of public organizations and volunteers to the topic of forest fires, the fire disaster of 2010 would almost certainly have been completely attributed to the remaining forest workers, and it would have ended, most likely, with the final defeat of the remnants of forestry ...
Third example: information about the state of forests. State structures have a huge amount of very different information about the state of forests - tens of thousands of people are engaged in collecting it throughout the country, and not only in forest management bodies, but also in many other state structures. However, for various reasons, this information does not add up to a publicly available, understandable and reflecting the real state of affairs picture. Moreover, the state does not even consider it necessary to produce publicly available survey products characterizing the state of forests (the last official map of forests was published during the Soviet era; the last state registration of the forest fund was made as of January 1, 2003; both were published in insignificant editions and few people were available). Public organizations, even with limited information at their disposal, can release publicly available products that reflect the real situation in the forests - albeit not very detailed, but understandable to almost everyone. Such a visual product released by Greenpeace is, for example, the "Forests of Russia" map, which was originally conceived only as tutorial for schools and school forestries, and in fact has become the most common now printed map of forests in our country. This map, released in 2004, caused quite a powerful discussion, including in the Federal Forestry Agency, about the real state of forests - echoes of this discussion continue to this day. Gradually, this discussion, fueled by more and more information materials, including from public organizations, leads the citizens of the country to realize the degree of forest devastation - and, accordingly, the need for urgent measures to restore order in forestry.
Fourth example: the impact on the forest business through the consumers of its products. Until the end of the 90s of the last century, forests that were preserved in some places in an almost wild, untouched state were rarely perceived by our authorities or representatives of the forest business as a value - most often such forests were viewed only as a natural deposit of firewood. Attempts by experts in the field of nature conservation to convince the authorities of the value of such forests and the need to preserve them have rarely been successful; the forest business simply nodded to the authorities and continued cutting. Non-governmental organizations, including Greenpeace, in countries where the ideas of environmental protection in society are strong and popular, have reached out to the consumers of forest products of several large Scandinavian companies and their German partners with a request to refrain from buying those products for the production of which old wild forests... This had an effect: Scandinavian companies began to abandon timber from the last tracts of wild forests, followed by some Russian loggers, and the process of excluding the most valuable tracts of primary taiga forests, at least so far in European Russia, began to gain momentum. Now in most regions of the European North of Russia, the last tracts of primary taiga forests ("intact forest areas") are no longer perceived by anyone as just waste lands. Acceptable solutions for their preservation have not yet been found everywhere, their felling, unfortunately, continues, but the situation with them is far from as hopeless as it seemed fifteen years ago.
The above examples show that public environmental organizations can, by their activities, draw the attention of society and the authorities to important environmental problems, cause anxiety for the authorities, seek action to solve certain problems (or refrain from actions that create problems) - and thereby contribute to more effective work. the state in the field of nature protection.
Conclusion
Public environmental organizations in Russia still have relatively modest resources, incomparably small in comparison with the resources of gigantic state structures. Public organizations do not have the power and authority to compel anyone to comply with environmental standards and requirements, or to compel them to take specific actions for the benefit of nature. But public organizations can bring various environmental problems to the court of society, tell the truth about what is happening, catalyze with their activities certain changes necessary to improve the situation in the field of environmental protection.
The activities of public environmental organizations related to the protection of forests bring, among other things, results that are tangible and understandable for most people living today - for example, planted forest areas, or extinguished fires, or won lawsuits against invaders of forest areas, or positive actions of specific officials committed under public pressure. Unfortunately, there cannot be many such tangible and immediately understandable results on a national scale simply due to the relatively low popularity of the environmental movement and the small number of people involved in it.
But it would be extremely dangerous, including from the point of view of the further development of the environmental movement, if the activities of public environmental organizations were assessed primarily on the basis of measurable, tangible and understandable results right now - by the number of trees planted, fires extinguished, ships won or forced to immediate private actions of officials. No matter how quickly the public nature conservation movement develops, it has no chances in the foreseeable future to compare in scale with state structures, with the country's needs in everyday applied environmental protection activities - even if we consider this goal of development of public organizations to be correct.
In our real conditions when the state is chaotic and selfish, and society is fragmented and disoriented, when the country does not have not only clear guidelines in the field of environmental protection, but also development guidelines in general - the most important task of the environmental movement is to make such guidelines appear. This is a very difficult task, and hardly anyone in the world knows exactly how it is being solved. But there are actions that, with a high probability, can sooner or later lead to its solution: tell people the truth, educate them, provide them with the most accurate and objective information about what is happening, show by example how you can act in certain difficult situations... The results of this are very difficult to measure, and in any case they cannot be felt in real time. But only an enlightened society is able to work out the correct strategy for its development, including in the part related to nature protection. The main task of public environmental organizations is precisely that we have such an enlightened society as soon as possible.
A.Yu. Yaroshenko
Head of Forestry Department, Greenpeace Russia
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