CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 14 juin 2022

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text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s2F81A130 { width:4.44pt; display:inline-block } .sFA550501 { width:6.3pt; font:7pt 'Times New Roman'; display:inline-block } .sA1D3DA2E { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify }   THIRD SECTION CASE OF ECODEFENCE AND OTHERS v.   RUSSIA (Applications nos.   9988/13 and 60 others – see appended list)   JUDGMENT   Art 11 (read in light of Art 10) • Freedom of association • Application of Foreign Agents Act to applicant NGOs and their directors neither prescribed by law nor necessary in a democratic society • Concepts of “political activity” and “foreign funding” insufficiently foreseeable and lacking sufficient safeguards against abuse • No relevant and sufficient reasons for creating special status of “foreign agents”, imposing additional requirements or restrictions on organisations registered as such and punishing breaches in unforeseeable and disproportionate manner • Legal regime placing significant chilling effect on choice to seek or accept any amount of foreign funding, especially in respect of sensitive or domestically unpopular topics Art 34 • Hinder exercise of right of individual application • Enforcement of dissolution order against NGO constituted non-compliance with interim measure indicated by the Court   STRASBOURG 14   June 2022   FINAL   10/10/2022   This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Ecodefence and Others v.   Russia, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Georges Ravarani, President ,   Georgios A. Serghides,   Darian Pavli,   Anja Seibert-Fohr,   Peeter Roosma,   Andreas Zünd,   Frédéric Krenc, judges , and Milan Blaško, Section Registrar , Having regard to: the sixty-one applications against the Russian Federation lodged with the Court under Article   34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by seventy-three Russian non-governmental organisations and their directors (“the applicants”), on the dates indicated in the appendix hereto; the decision to give notice to the Russian Government (“the Government”) of the complaints concerning restrictions on the applicants’ rights to freedom of expression and association and the protection against discrimination and undue pressure, and to declare the remainder of the applications inadmissible; the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicants; the comments submitted by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (“the Commissioner”) (Article   36   §   3 of the Convention); the comments submitted by the following third-party interveners who were granted leave to intervene by the President of the Section (Article   36 §   2 of the Convention): the Institute for Law and Public Policy (ILPP); the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (“the Special Rapporteur”); the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR); the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ); Amnesty International; a group of Hungarian non-governmental organisations, including the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary, Atlatszo.hu and the Eötvös Károly Policy Institute (“the Hungarian NGOs”); the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland); and the Media Legal Defence Initiative; the decision of the President of the Chamber to appoint Judge Serghides to sit as an ad hoc judge (Rule   29 §   2   (b) of the Rules of Court), Mr   Mikhail Lobov, the judge elected in respect of Russia, having withdrawn from sitting in the case (Rule   28 §   3), and none of three persons designated by the Government as eligible to serve as ad hoc judges making themselves available to the Court (Rule   29 §§   1   (c) and 5); Having deliberated in private on 17   May 2022, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: INTRODUCTION 1.     The present cases concern restrictions on the freedom of expression and association of Russian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which have been categorised as “foreign agents” funded by “foreign sources” and engaging in “political activity”. THE FACTS 2.     The applicants are Russian NGOs and, in some cases, their directors. The names of the applicants and their representatives are given in the appendix hereto. 3.     The Government were initially represented by Mr   A. Fedorov and Mr   M. Galperin, former Representatives of the Russian Federation at the European Court of Human Rights, and later by their successor in this office, Mr   M. Vinogradov. 4.     The applicant NGOs had operated for a long time under the same legal regime as any other Russian NGOs. They were active in civil society issues, human rights, the protection of the environment and cultural heritage, education, social security and migration. 5.     In 2012 the new Foreign Agents Act was enacted (for details, see the following section). It required Russian NGOs which were deemed to engage in “political activity” and to have been in receipt of “foreign funding” to seek registration as “foreign agents”, under the threat of administrative and criminal sanctions. They were also required to label their publications as originating from a “foreign agent” organisation, to post information on their activities on the Internet, and to submit to more extensive accounting and reporting requirements. 6.     Since 2012 the Foreign Agents Act has been updated several times. In June 2014 the Ministry of Justice was given the power to put organisations on the register of foreign agents at its own discretion. In 2016 the Foreign Agents Act was updated with a new definition of “political activity”. 7.     After the Foreign Agents Act came into force, prosecutor’s offices and local justice departments required the applicant organisations and their directors to submit documents for an audit. They examined the documents and concluded that the applicant organisations fell within the definition of “foreign agent”. The Ministry of Justice put most of the applicant organisations on the register of foreign agents. The facts specific to each case are set out in the appendix hereto. 8.     The applicants unsuccessfully challenged the decisions of the justice departments and prosecutor’s offices in the domestic courts. 9.     The application of the Foreign Agents Act has resulted in the imposition of administrative fines, financial expenditure, restrictions on the applicant organisations’ activities and the institution of criminal proceedings against the director of one organisation. Many applicant organisations were liquidated for violating the requirements applicable to “foreign agents”, or had to take decisions on self-liquidation because they were unable to pay the fines or in order to avoid new sanctions. 10 .     On 28 and 29   December 2021 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the Moscow City Court, respectively, granted the prosecutor’s applications for the liquidation of the applicant organisations International Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Centre and their field offices. The courts considered it established that the organisations – which the Ministry of Justice had put on the register of “foreign agents” – had committed “gross and repetitive” violations of “foreign agent” legislation by failing to label their Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and other online publications as originating from a “foreign agent” organisation. The courts held that, by “concealing [their] foreign-agent status”, the organisations failed to ensure “transparency of [their] activities”, prevented “proper public scrutiny of [their activities]”, and violated “the right of citizens to receive reliable information about [their] activities”, in flagrant violation of Russian law. 11 .     On 29   December 2021 the Court indicated to the Government, under Rule   39 of the Rules of Court, that, in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings before it, the enforcement of the decisions to dissolve the two applicant organisations should be suspended for a period that would be necessary for the Court to consider the present case. 12 .     On 28   February and 5   April 2022 the Appeals Panel of the Supreme Court and the First Court of Appeals, respectively, dismissed the two organisations’ appeals against the dissolution orders. 13.     International Memorial applied to the Supreme Court for a stay of execution of the liquidation decision, as directed by the interim measure. On 22   March 2022 the Supreme Court refused the application, ruling that the enforcement of the liquidation decision did not “prevent the organisation from exercising its rights under Article   34 of the Convention”, did not “create a risk of loss of life, health or irreparable harm to the organisation or its members” and did not “violate the constitutional right to freedom of association”. 14 .     On 5   April 2022 the liquidation decision was enforced and International Memorial was removed from the State Register of Legal Entities. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND MATERIAL THE FOREIGN AGENTS ACT Enactment of the Foreign Agents Act Definitions 15 .     In 2012 the Russian authorities adopted a series of amendments to the legislation on NGOs, which are collectively known as the Foreign Agents Act (Law no.   121-FZ of 13   July 2012). The Act introduced the notion of “foreign agent” in section   2(6) of the Non-Commercial Organisations Act, Law no.   7-FZ of 12   January 1996 (“the NCO Act”), defining such an agent as: “... a Russian non-commercial organisation receiving funds and other property from foreign States, their governmental bodies, international and foreign organisations, foreign nationals, stateless persons or persons authorised by [any of the above], or Russian legal entities receiving funds and other property from the above-mentioned sources ... (‘foreign sources’) and which engages in political activity, including political activity carried out in the interests of foreign providers of funds, in the territory of the Russian Federation.” 16.     The concept of “political activity” was defined as follows: “A non-commercial organisation, except for a political party, is considered to carry out political activity if, regardless of its statutory goals and purposes, it participates (including financially) in the organisation and implementation of political actions in order to influence State authorities’ decision-making process that affect State policy and public opinion. Activities in the following fields shall be excluded from the scope of ‘political activity’: science, culture, the arts, healthcare, the prevention of diseases and the protection of health, social security, the protection of motherhood and childhood, the social support of disabled persons, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, physical well-being and sports, the protection of flora and fauna, charitable activities, and the assistance of charities and voluntary organisations.” Additional requirements applicable to “foreign agents” (a)    Registration requirement 17 .     All organisations deemed to fit the definition of “foreign agent” were required to file an application with the Ministry of Justice to be included on the register of foreign agents (section   32(7) of the NCO Act and section   29 of the Public Associations Act, Federal Law no.   82-FZ of 19   May 1995). (b)    Unscheduled inspections 18 .     “Foreign agents” were liable to have routine inspections by the Ministry of Justice, which were to be carried out at least once a year, and also to have unscheduled inspections in the circumstances listed in section   32(4.2) of the NCO Act, in particular if the Ministry of Justice received information from an individual, organisation or State authority indicating that an NGO was engaged in political activity and was financed from abroad but had failed to register as a “foreign agent”, and if a “foreign agent” organisation had asked to be deleted from the register of foreign agents. (c)    Labelling requirement 19 .     “Foreign agents” were required to label all the publications which they issued or distributed with a statement to the effect that those publications originated from an organisation which was listed as a “foreign agent” (section   24 of the NCO Act). (d)    Accounting and auditing requirements 20 .     The Foreign Agents Act also introduced new accounting and auditing requirements. The financial reports of non-commercial organisations exercising the functions of a “foreign agent” were made subject to compulsory audits. The organisations were required to keep a separate statement of income or expenses obtained from foreign sources (section   32(1) of the NCO Act): “3.     ... non-commercial organisations exercising the functions of a foreign agent shall submit an audit statement together with the above-mentioned documents. Moreover, the documents submitted by non-commercial organisations exercising the functions of a foreign agent shall contain information on the spending of funds and the use of other property received from foreign sources, and on their actual expenditure and use of property ... Non-commercial organisations exercising the functions of a foreign agent shall submit to a competent body [the Ministry of Justice] a report on their activities and the members of their management bodies every six months; every three months they shall submit documents containing information on the spending of funds and the use of other property, including funds and property received from foreign sources, and an audit statement shall be submitted every year.” (e)    Reporting requirements 21 .     “Foreign agents” were required to publish biannual and annual reports: “3.2.     ... once a year, non-commercial organisations exercising the functions of a foreign agent shall publish on the Internet a report about their activities containing the same information as that submitted to a competent body [the Ministry of Justice] or its local department; and every six months the organisations will provide such a report for publication in the mass media.” 22 .     Government Regulation no.   212 of 15   April 2006 on the implementation of certain provisions of federal laws relating to non ‑ governmental organisations prescribes that Russian NGOs are required to submit reports on their activities and the composition of their management bodies, and documents concerning their expenses and property every year (paragraph   2 (a)). Criminal and administrative liability 23 .     The Foreign Agents Act also created a new criminal offence of maliciously avoiding the obligation to submit documents required for registering an organisation as a “foreign agent” which is punishable by fines of up to 300,000 Russian roubles (RUB) or up to two years’ deprivation of liberty (Article   330.1 of the Criminal Code). On 30   December 2020 the maximum penalty under this provision was extended to five years’ imprisonment (Law no.   525-FZ). 24 .     On 12   November 2012 sanctions for a violation of the Foreign Agents Act were added to the Code of Administrative Offences (“the CAO”). The new Article   19.7.5-2 established a fine of between RUB   100,000 and RUB   300,000 (2,490 to 7,470 euros (EUR) at the exchange rate on the date of enactment) which could be imposed in relation to a “foreign agent” organisation that submitted incomplete, incorrect or belated information to the State authorities. The new Article   19.34 punished non-commercial organisations for carrying out activities without being registered on the register of “foreign agents” (paragraph   1) or for failing to label publications as originating from a “foreign agent” organisation (paragraph   2). The minimum fine for those offences was set at RUB   300,000, and the maximum fine at RUB   500,000 (EUR   12,450). 25 .     On 31   December 2014 the CAO was amended in line with a decision of the Constitutional Court (see paragraph 40 below). In particular, in accordance with the amended Article   4.1(2.2) and (3.2) of the CAO, by way of exception, where the nature and effects of an offender’s administrative offence, personality or financial situation so require, the amount of the fine may be fixed below the minimum amount in the relevant provisions of the CAO, where the minimum amount of the fine amounts to at least RUB   10,000 for individuals, RUB   50,000 for officials, and RUB   100,000 for organisations. The amount of the fine may not be less than half of the minimum amount of the fine provided for by the relevant provisions of the CAO. On 3   November 2015 the statute of limitations for non-compliance with the “foreign agent” legislation was extended from three months to one   year (Law no.   304-FZ). Delegating to the Ministry of Justice the authority to add organisations to the list 26.     On 4   June 2014 the NCO Act was amended to give the Ministry of Justice the power to add non-commercial organisations to the register of foreign agents if it considered that an organisation met the criteria set out in the Act (section   32(7)). Procedure for removing an organisation from the list 27.     On 8   March 2015 a procedure for removing an organisation from the register of foreign agents was added to the NCO Act (section   32(7.1)). An organisation may be deleted from the list if, in particular, it has been liquidated or reorganised, or an extraordinary inspection has established that the organisation has not received foreign funding or engaged in political activity in Russia for a period of one year before filing the request for deletion. Updated definition of “political activity” 28 .     On 2   June 2016 the definition of political activity was updated to read: “A non-commercial organisation, except for a political party, is considered to carry out a political activity in Russian territory if, regardless of its statutory goals and purposes, it engages in activities in the fields of statehood, the protection of the Russian constitutional system, federalism, the protection of the Russian Federation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the rule of law, public security, national security and defence, external policy, the Russian Federation’s social, economic and national development, the development of the political system, the structure of State and local authorities, [or] human rights, for the purpose of influencing State policy, the structure of State and local authorities, or their decisions and actions. The above activity may be carried out in the following ways: organising and holding public events such as meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches or pickets, or any combination of them, and organising and holding public debates, discussions, or speeches; attempting to obtain specific outcomes in elections or referenda, acting as an election or referendum observer, establishing election or referendum commissions, engaging in the activities of political parties; submitting public petitions to State and local authorities and officials, and performing other actions affecting [such public authorities and officials], including actions encouraging the adoption, amendment or repeal of laws or other legal acts; disseminating, including via information networks, views on State authorities’ decisions and policy; shaping opinion on social and political issues by, in particular, organising public opinion polls and publishing the results, or conducting sociological research; involving citizens, including minors, in the above activities; financing the above activities. The activities in the following fields shall be excluded from the scope of ‘political activity’: science, culture, the arts, healthcare, the prevention of disease and the protection of health, social security, the protection of motherhood and childhood, the social support of disabled persons, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, physical well ‑ being and sports, the protection of flora and fauna, charity work.” Restrictions applicable to “foreign agent” organisations 29 .     On 4   November 2014 Law no.   344-FZ established a simplified form of book-keeping which may be used by all non-commercial organisations with the exception of “foreign agent” organisations (sections   6(4)(2) and   6(5)(12) of the Accounting Act, Law no.   402-FZ of 6   December 2011). 30 .     On 24   November 2014 Law no.   355-FZ amended the Political Parties Act (Law no.   95-FZ of 11   July 2001) to prohibit political parties from receiving donations from, or entering into transactions with, Russian “foreign agent” organisations (sections   30(3) and 31(4.1)). 31 .     It also amended the Elections and Referenda Act (Law no.   67-FZ of 12   June 2002) to establish that Russian NGOs which had been categorised as “foreign agents” could not take part in electoral campaigning or referenda in any form, along with foreign entities and individuals. It specifically prohibited such organisations from promoting or opposing candidates or lists of candidates in an election, initiating a referendum or campaigning for a referendum, working towards a specific outcome in an election or participating in the monitoring of an election or referendum, except in the capacity of a “foreign (international) observer” (section   3.6). “Foreign agent” Russian organisations were also prohibited, alongside foreign individuals and entities, from making contributions to the electoral fund of a candidate in an election or the fund of a referendum. 32 .     The State Duma Election Act (Law no.   20-FZ of 22   February 2014) and the Presidential Election Act (Law no.   19-FZ of 10   January 2003) were brought into line with the Elections and Referenda Act to prevent Russian “foreign agent” organisations from in any way taking part in the preparation of an election, electoral campaigning or the financing of an election. 33 .     On 3   July 2016 Law no.   287-FZ created a new category of non ‑ commercial organisations which were “providers of socially useful services”. Such non-commercial organisations were eligible for priority funding at federal and regional levels (section   31.1 of the NCO Act). Section   2(2.2) of the NCO Act explicitly provided that “foreign agent” organisations could not be recognised as “providers of socially useful services”. 34 .     Law no.   203-FZ of 19   July 2018 amended section   10(3) of the Public Monitoring Boards (Penal Facilities) Act (Law no.   76-FZ of 10   June 2008) to prohibit “foreign agent” organisations from nominating candidates to public monitoring boards. 35 .     Law no.   362-FZ of 11   October 2018 added section   5(1.1) to the Anti-corruption Assessment Act (Law no.   172-FZ of 17   July 2009), excluding Russian organisations with the status of “foreign agent” from the list of civil society institutions entitled to carry out an independent anti-corruption assessment of draft legislation. Constitutional Court 36.     On 8   April 2014 the Constitutional Court affirmed the constitutional validity of the provisions of the Foreign Agents Act (Ruling no.   10-P) and provided an interpretation of the term “foreign agent”. 37.     Firstly, it set out which circumstances should be considered when determining whether an organisation was financed from abroad: “... There is no risk of arbitrary interpretation and application of the provisions on foreign funding, as it makes no difference for how long, in what amount or in what form foreign funds have been provided. However, it is important to bear in mind that relevant funds and other property should be not only transferred (remitted) to the non ‑ commercial organisation, but also received by it; if it refuses to receive them and returns them to the foreign source, in particular before starting political activity, the organisation is not obliged to file an application for registration as a foreign agent ...” 38 .     It further described what actions constituted political activity: “The forms of political activity can be diverse. In addition to meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets, political actions may include: elections and referendum campaigns; public appeals to State bodies; the dissemination of positions regarding decisions made and the policy pursued by State bodies, including dissemination via information networks; and other activities which cannot be exhaustively listed. When classifying as political actions some activities organised and carried out with the participation of non-commercial organisations ... it is important to determine how they may affect (either directly or by influencing public opinion) the decision-making process of State bodies and State policy, and also to determine whether they will trigger a public reaction and attract the attention of State bodies or civil society. The activities of a non-commercial organisation in such fields as science, culture, the arts, public health, preventive care and healthcare, social support and protection, the protection of motherhood and childhood, the social support of disabled persons, the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, physical exercise and sports, the protection of flora and fauna, charitable activities, and aid to charities and voluntary organisations shall not be considered political activity ... even if the aim of these activities is to influence the decision-making process of State bodies and State policy, provided that this aim stays within the limits of the relevant field ...” 39 .     When defining whether an organisation intends to carry out political activities, it is necessary to consider the following elements: “[I]f [a non-commercial organisation’s members] participate in political activity on their own behalf and on their own initiative, in particular, in breach of instructions provided by this organisation (its management bodies or officials), [the provisions] of the Foreign Agents Act do not apply ... ... The intention to participate in political activity in the territory of the Russian Federation may be confirmed by: the constituent documents, mission statement or other official documents of a non-commercial organisation; public statements by its directors (officials) containing an appeal to adopt, change or annul some decisions by State bodies; notices of assemblies, meetings, demonstrations, marches or pickets sent by a non-commercial organisation to a regional executive or municipal body; the preparation and presentation of legislative initiatives; and other public activities objectively demonstrating that the non-commercial organisation intends to arrange and hold political events in order to influence the decision-making process of State bodies and State policy.” 40 .     The Constitutional Court held that the sanctions in the CAO were compliant with the Constitution, except for the provision establishing the minimum amounts of fines in Article   19.34 of the CAO, in so far as it prevented courts from giving due consideration to the nature of the offence, the extent to which the defendant was liable for the offence, the property and financial status of the defendant, and other elements which were relevant for meting out an individualised punishment: “4.2.     ... It becomes extremely difficult and sometimes impossible to ensure, as the Constitution requires, an individual approach to imposing an administrative fine whose minimum amount is 100,000 roubles for officials and 300,000 roubles for legal entities, especially because no alternative is provided for. ... Thus, the provision ... that establishes the minimum amount of the administrative fine ... does not conform to the Constitution of the Russian Federation ... 5.     [P]ending the relevant amendments ..., the court may reduce the amount of the fine below the minimum amount ...if the amount of the fine as provided for by [the CAO] is not in line with the purpose of administrative punishment and obviously results in the excessive limitation of the offender’s property rights. 6.     The court decisions on the cases of [Public Initiatives Support Centre] and Mr   Zamaryanov ... shall be reviewed if ... they were based on Article   19.34 §   1 of the CAO ... ” LEGAL MATERIAL REFERRED TO BY THE PARTIES 41.     This section contains extracts from legal instruments to which the parties referred in their submissions. Fundamental Principles on the Status of Non-governmental Organisations in Europe (hereinafter “the Fundamental Principles”) and Explanatory Memorandum, Strasbourg, 13   November 2002, and Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)14 of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to member States on the legal status of non-governmental organisations in Europe (10   October 2007 – hereinafter “the Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation”) 42.     NGOs may solicit and receive funding – cash or donations in kind – from another country, multilateral agencies or an institutional or individual donor, subject to generally applicable foreign exchange and customs laws (point 50 of the Fundamental Principles and point 50 of the Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation). The possibility for NGOs to solicit donations in cash or in kind is a fundamental principle, a natural consequence of their non-profit-making nature. Such contributions, along with the proceeds of any economic activity, are an NGO’s vital means of financing the pursuit of its objectives. However, this possibility for NGOs to collect funding is not absolute and may be subject to regulation, with a view to protecting the target audience (point   56 of the Explanatory Memorandum). 43 .     In the spirit of transparency and accountability, NGOs should submit an annual report to their members and directors. Such reports can also be required to be submitted to a designated supervising body, where any taxation privileges or other public support has been granted to the NGOs concerned. In particular, relevant books, records and activities of NGOs may, where specified by law or by contract, be subject to inspection by a supervising agency. NGOs should generally have their accounts audited by an institution or person independent of their management (points 60-65 of the Fundamental Principles and points 62-66 of the Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation). The United States Foreign Agents Registration Act 44 .     The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) of 1938 (52   Stat. 631 ‑ 33), a United States law as amended in 1942 and 1966 (22 U.S.C. §§   611 ‑ 21), was originally adopted to require that agents representing the interests of foreign powers in a “political or quasi-political capacity” disclose their relationship with the foreign government, so that “the government and the American people” could evaluate “the statements and activities of such persons”. In 1966 the Act was amended to target agents actually working with foreign powers who sought economic or political advantage by influencing governmental decision-making. The amendments shifted the focus of the law from propaganda to political lobbying and narrowed the meaning of “foreign agent”. The current text provides: §   611. Definitions “As used in and for the purposes of this subchapter— ... (b)     The term ‘foreign principal’ includes— (1)     a government of a foreign country and a foreign political party; (2)     a person outside of the United States ...; and (3)     a partnership, association, corporation, organisation, or other combination of persons organised under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign country. (c)     Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the term ‘agent of a foreign principal’ means – (1)     any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee, or servant, or any person who acts in any other capacity at the order, request, or under the direction or control, of a foreign principal or of a person any of whose activities are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole or in major part by a foreign principal, and who directly or through any other person – (i)     engages within the United States in political activities for or in the interests of such foreign principal; (ii)     acts within the United States as a public relations counsel, publicity agent, information-service employee or political consultant for or in the interests of such foreign principal; (iii)     within the United States solicits, collects, disburses, or dispenses contributions, loans, money, or other things of value for or in the interest of such foreign principal; or (iv)     within the United States represents the interests of such foreign principal before any agency or official of the Government of the United States; and (2)     any person who agrees, consents, assumes or purports to act as, or who is or holds himself out to be, whether or not pursuant to contractual relationship, an agent of a foreign principal as defined in clause (1) of this subsection. ... (o)     The term ‘political activities’ means any activity that the person engaging in believes will, or that the person intends to, in any way influence any agency or official of the Government of the United States or any section of the public within the United States with reference to formulating, adopting, or changing the domestic or foreign policies of the United States or with reference to the political or public interests, policies, or relations of a government of a foreign country or a foreign political party ...” Hungary’s Transparency Act 45 .     Hungary’s Act no. LXXVI of 2017 on the Transparency of Organisations Financed from Abroad (“the Transparency Act”) required associations and foundations (except for sport and religious associations), political parties and ethnic minority associations to apply to be on a special register if the foreign funding part of their budget exceeded 7,200,000   Hungarian forints (HUF – approximately EUR   22,100) annually, under the threat of fines or dissolution. Organisations financed from abroad were subject to additional labelling and reporting requirements. 46 .     The Act was repealed in April 2021 following a finding by the Court of Justice of the European Union (Grand Chamber) that it was contrary to EU law (see judgment of 18   June 2020 in Commission v. Hungary (Transparency of associations) , C‑78/18, EU:C:2020:476). The Court held in particular that the objective of increasing the transparency of the financing of associations, although legitimate, cannot justify the introduction of legislation based on a presumption – made on principle and applied indiscriminately – that any financial support paid by a non-national natural or legal person, and any civil society organisation receiving such financial support, were intrinsically liable to jeopardise the State’s political and economic interests and the ability of its institutions to operate free from interference (ibid., §   86). As concerns the grounds of public policy or public security, the Court found that the financial thresholds triggering the application of the obligations put in place by the Transparency Act were fixed at amounts which clearly did not appear to correspond with the scenario of a sufficiently serious threat to a fundamental interest of society which those obligations are supposed to prevent (ibid., §   94). 47 .     The Court further considered that the obligations put in place by the Transparency Act constituted limitations on the right to freedom of association, inasmuch as they rendered significantly more difficult the operation of the targeted associations because of the dissuasive effect of such obligations and the penalties attached to any failure to comply with them (ibid., §§   115-16). Second, the systematic obligations imposed on the associations and foundations to register and present themselves under the designation “organisation in receipt of support from abroad” were also liable to have a deterrent effect on the participation of non-national donors in the financing of civil society and thus to hinder the activities of those organisations and the achievement of the aims which they pursue. Those obligations were furthermore of such a nature as to create a generalised climate of mistrust vis-à-vis the associations and foundations at issue, in Hungary, and to stigmatise them (ibid., §§   118-19). The Court referred to its finding above that there was no justification for the introduction of those additional obligations (ibid., §   140). Israel’s Disclosure Act 48.     Israel’s Act on Disclosure Requirements for Recipients of Support from a Foreign State Entity (Statute book 5771-2011, 2   March 2011) establishes that an organisation which has received more than 50% of its funding from a foreign State or inter-State organisation must submit to the Ministry of Justice an online form specifying the identity of the donor, the amount of support received and the designation of the support, and the conditions under which the support was granted, including undertakings given by the recipient of the support to a foreign State entity. Additionally, an NGO that has received a donation from a foreign entity for the purpose of funding a special advertising campaign must publish, as part of its campaign, the fact that it has received the donation. RELEVANT LEGAL MATERIAL 49.     This section sets out legal assessments of the Foreign Agents Act and its effect on Russian NGOs. Intergovernmental organisations and advisory bodies The Venice Commission 50 .     On 27   June 2014 the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) reached the following conclusions concerning the Foreign Agents Act (Opinion on Federal Law no. 121-FZ on non-commercial organisations (“Law on Foreign Agents”), on Federal Laws no.   18-FZ and no. 147-FZ and on Federal Law no. 190-FZ on making amendments to the Criminal Code (“Law on Treason”) of the Russian Federation, CDL-AD(2014)025). “132.     ... The use of the term ‘foreign agent’ is highly controversial. By bringing back the rhetoric used during the communist period, this term stigmatises the NCOs to which it is appli