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Activity of NGOs may be terminated by means of their reorganization or liquidation.
Reorganization of public associations shall be carried out on the decision of their supreme bodies. Registration of public associations created after reorganization shall be carried out in accordance with general procedure.
Public associations can be liquidated:
The procedure of liquidation of public associations is the same as the procedure of liquidation of other legal entities, and the liquidation shall be conducted in compliance with general rules of civil law.
Voluntary liquidation
In case of voluntary liquidation, the body of the public association responsible for the adoption of the decision on liquidation, appoints the liquidation commission and sets forth the procedure and deadline of liquidation in accordance with law. After the liquidation commission is appointed, it takes over the authority over the administration of the association.
Liquidation commission shall publish an announcement on liquidation of an association and on the procedure and deadlines for stating the claims of creditors. The deadline cannot be earlier than in two months after the publication. Liquidation commission takes all possible measures to find creditors and obtain debts receivable, it also sends written notice about the liquidation to creditors. After the deadline for claims of creditors, the liquidation commission draws up an interim balance with the information about property of the association under liquidation, a list of creditors' claims and results of consideration of these claims. The interim balance shall be approved by the body, which adopted the decision on liquidation of the association. If the association under liquidation does not posess enough financial resourses for satisfaction of creditors’ claims, liquidation commission shall organize public sale of association’s property in accordance with procedure set for implementation of court decisions.
After the accounts with creditors are settled, the liquidation commission draws up the liquidation balance, which shall be approved by the body that adopted the decision on the liquidation.
After approval of the liquidation balance, the liquidation commission shall in 10-days period: 1) close checking (current) and foreign currency banking accounts; 2) hand over seal and stamps into the agencies of internal affairs; 3) deposit archive documentation of permanent and long-term keeping; 4) return labor books and their enclosures, which were not used by the association, and other forms of strict accountability to the agencies where they were obtained; 5) inform registrering and financial agencies about the liquidation. On the basis of decision of supreme body of public association or by the decision of the court, the relevant registration agency excludes the liquidated public association from the register of public associations, and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus excludes the liquidated association form the State Register of Public Associations.
When dismissing employers in the result of the liquidation of a public association, it is necessary to inform employment agencies at place of legal address of public a association two months before the dismissal.
The Law of the Republic of Belarus "On public associations" does not regulate the issue on spending financial resources and property of the association under liquidation. The Law provides only that financial resources and property of the liquidated associations shall be redirected for purposed provided in their statutes after the satisfaction of property claims.
Compulsory liquidation
Liquidation of international and republican public associations on the territory of the Republic of Belarus shall be carried out by the decision of the Supreme Court on the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic.
Liquidation of local public associations shall be carried out by the decision of regional courts and Minsk city courts in place of location of the directing bodies of the association under liquidation on the recommendation of justice departments of executive committees of oblast and Minsk city councils.
A public association shall be liquidated by the court decision in the following cases:
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for activities aimed at overthrowing or forcible change of the constitutional system, breach of integrity and security of the State, propaganda of war, violence, incite of national, religious and racial hatred and for activities which can have a negative influence on physical and mental health of citizens (Art.3 para.1, Art.29 of the Law "On public associations");
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if the activities punished by a written warning were committed repeatedly within a year (Art.29 para.2 of the Law "On public associations");
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if in the process of registration of a public association the founders violated the laws (Art.29 para.3 of the Law "On public associations");
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for a single violation of the legislation on public events (para.1.5 of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No.11 "On certain measures for the improvement of the procedure of holding assemblies, rallies, street processions, demonstrations, other public events and picketing in the Republic of Belarus", adopted on 07.05.2001);
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for a single violation of the requirements provided in paras. 1-3 point 4 of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No.24 "On obtainment and use of gratuitous aid", adopted on 28.11.2003 (in accordance with para.3 point 5.1 of the Decree).
It is worth to pay attention at heterogeneity of grounds for compulsory liquidation in the view of proportionality of violation and punishment. The general principle of imposing punishment requires differentiation and relevancy of punishment (penalty) for violations that differ in the extend of peril, hence it is possible to suppose that a public organization shall be liquidated only for a "flagrant" violation dangerous for the State.
At the same time legal practice of justice agencies shows that they formally impose penalties of up till liquidation in breach of the principle of bringing to responsibility, and they do not divide punishments into “flagrant” and insignificant that shall be solved under general procedure.
Liquidation for a single violation of legislation
Another disputable point in national legal practice concerns forced liquidation of public associations on the basis of the Art.57 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus.
Analysis of court practice on cases concerning liquidation of public associations shows that recently (over the last half a year) registering bodies have filed the court claims for the liquidation of the associations on the basis on this very article.
In accordance with para.3 point 2/2 of this article, legal entity can be liquidated by the court decision in case if it acts without legal authorization (license), or conducts activity forbidden by the legislation or it has committed repeated or flagrant breaches of law, or if it conducts systematic activities discordant with the statute goals of the legal entity, or if the court recognizes registration of the legal entity invalid due to violation of the legislation in the process of establishment of the association, and in other cases provided by law.
This wording seems to be rather vague. The reason can be that Art.57 of the Civil Code is a rule of general legislation and it contains provisions on liquidation common for all legal entities. But the particularities of legal status of a legal entity shall be determined by the special legislation and shall derive from the organizational legal form of a legal entity. This is the principle of legal practice which is stated in Art.117 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus. This article states that particularities of legal status of public associations in civil relations shall be determined by legislation. In other words, in legal affairs with public associations as participants, special legislation shall be applied in the first turn – and it is the legislation on public associations. Only in cases when legal relations are not regulated by special laws, the rules of general legislation shall be applied, but only in the part, which is not regulated.
Hence it is fallacious to apply Art.57 of the Civil Code as a ground for liquidation of a public association, this also contradicts to the principles of legal practice and proportionality of offence and punishment. Application of the cited article along with Art.29 para.2 of the Law "On public associations" (which prescribes compulsory liquidation of a public association in case if it has repeatedly committed activities which were previously punished by a written warning within a year after the warning was issued) creates a negative precedent when a non-adequate penalty may be imposed on a public association for a minor violation. For example, repeated breach of rules of record-keeping may lead to the liquidation of the whole organization, and the practice shows that many public associations have been compulsory liquidated for insignificant, in legal view, deviation from the established standards.
The liquidation statistics can serve as an illustrative example for this statement. According to the official data published by V.G.Golovanov, the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus, at the board session of the Ministry of Justice dedicated to the results of work of justice departments in 2003 (National Internet-portal of the Republic of Belarus with the reference to BELTA, January 2004), the courts have adopted decisions to liquidate 51 public associations based on materials referred by justice departments. As for today, not a single public association succeeded in defending its right for further official existence in the court. (For comparison: in 2003, only 94 organizations were registered, mainly those conducting sports activity).
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