NGOs under European Convention on Human Rights / Tymofeyeva

2.13 Some remarks relating to Protocol No. 7 and Article 34 NGOs 1234 For the purpose of lodging complaints with the Court, non-governmental organisation in the sense of Article 34 of the Convention are not required to have formal existence, as already described. Therefore, not all Article 34 NGOs are legal persons, but the study of the Court’s case-law on the subject shows that the majority of the applicant organisations are registered in a state in accordance with legal requirements. For this reason, it is important to say a few words on corporate criminal liability and the status of legal persons-applicants under Protocol No. 7 to the Convention. Criminal liability is the responsibility for acts which harm society and which are prosecuted by the state authorities. The traditional theory of criminal law recognized only the culpability of natural persons. However, gradually the situation in Europe changed and now legislation in most countries foresees the possibility of corporate criminal liability. 1235 The situation has also been amended in other countries in the world, and, we may conclude that corporate criminal liability has become an everyday reality. It is not unique anymore. 1236 Before making an analysis of the rights of Article 34 NGOs under Articles 2, 3 and 4 of Protocol No. 7 to the Convention, let us have a look at the international regulation of the subject in the CoE states. As it was described in the section concerning Article 7 of the Convention (the right not to be punished without law), a number of the CoE legal instruments concerning the issue of the criminal liability of legal persons exist. First of all, these are the Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, 1237 the previously-mentioned Convention No. 173 1238 (on Corruption) and Convention No. 198 (on Financing of Terrorism). 1239 In addition, the CoE issued a few recommendations on different types of crimes, namely Resolution (77) 28 on the contribution of criminal law to the protection of the environment, 1240 Recommendation No. R (81) 12 on economic crime, 1241 and Recommendation No. R (82) 15 on the role of criminal law in consumer protection. 1242 The most detailed as to the issue of the criminal liability of legal persons is the Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation 1234 This section of the paper to a significant extent reflects the information provided in TYMOFEYEVA, A. Some guarantees …, cited above, p. 153-169. 1235 SUN BEALE, S. A Response To the Critics of Corporate Criminal Liability. American Criminal Law Review. Vol. 46, p. 1481. 1236 SUN BEALE, S. Is Corporate Criminal Liability Unique? American Criminal Law Review. Vol. 44, p. 1534. 1237 Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, cited above. 1238 Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, cited above. 1239 Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism, cited above. 1240 Resolution (77) 28, On the contribution of criminal law to the protection of the environment, adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 28 September 1977. 1241 Recommendation No. R (81) 12, On economic crime adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 25 June 1981. 1242 Recommendation No. R (82) 15, On the role of criminal law in consumer protection adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 24 September 1982.

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