The Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Political Decision MakingProcessAriane Rodert, Oliver Henman and Tina MichieliI. IntroductionI.i Background

At the meeting of the Council of Europe Forum for the Future of Democracy held inSweden in June 2007, participants called on the INGO Conference of the Council of Europe to prepare a Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation (hereafter “the Code”)which would cover subjects such as mechanisms for NGO participation in decisionmaking processes and civil society involvement.

I.ii Objectives

The principal objective of this Code is to contribute to the creation of an enablingenvironment for NGOs in Council of Europe member States and Belarus by defining atEuropean level, a set of general principles, guidelines, tools and mechanisms for civilparticipation in the political decision-making process. The intent is that the Code will beimplemented at local and national level. The Code is based on actual experiences fromNGOs and civil society organisations across Europe sharing their good practices anduseful methods for engaging with public authorities.An additional objective for the Code is to make sure that it is a relevant and useful toolfor NGOs and civil society organisations from local to international level in their dialoguewith public authorities and government bodies. It aims to be an interactive instrumentand to be action-oriented so that it is useful for NGOs and civil society organisations aswell as public authorities across Europe. As a way of supporting the application of thisCode, there will also be a bank of case studies and an additional set of practical tools.

I.iii Targets

The Code is aimed at national NGOs and civil society organisations including regionaland local organisations in Council of Europe member States and Belarus, as well asorganisations at European and international level. A second target is national publicauthorities, which includes governments, parliaments and local authorities. The target iswide, but it is intended that there will be segments of the Code that can be useful at alllevels of public administration.

II. Value StatementII.i Civil Participation

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are an essential contributor to thedevelopment and realisation of democracy and human rights. The Council of Europe’sdefinition of NGOs can be found in the Committee of Ministers Recommendation (2007)14, it states that ‘NGOs are voluntary self-governing bodies or organisations establishedto pursue the essentially non-profit-making objectives of their founders or members.’ Inrelation to this Code the term is taken to refer to organised civil society includingvoluntary groups, non-profit organisations, associations, charities, as well as geographicor interest-based community and advocacy groups. The core activities of NGOs arefocused on values of social, economic, environmental justice and accountablegovernance.NGOs and voluntary organisations form a crucial component of participation in an open,democratic society through engaging large numbers of individuals. It should not beforgotten that almost all of these many individuals are also

voters

and that there is acomplementary relationship with representative democracy.This text aims to highlight the contribution of organised civil society, ie.

organisations

, inthe democratic process and is not focused on the related question of civic participation,ie.

individuals

. In this case it is understood that the act of developing associations andcommunity organisations constitutes an act of independent social organisation and is notpurely based on individual action. It is understood that organised groups exist to further the needs of their members and for the benefit of wider society, therefore they act as akey channel of participation and mulitplier for the engagement of citizens.NGOs can bring benefits of knowledge and independent expertise to the process of decision-making. This has led governments at all levels, from local and regional tonational, as well as international institutions, to draw on the relevant expertise andcompetence of NGOs to assist in policy development and implementation. NGOs enjoya unique trust from their members and society, to voice concerns and represent their interests, thereby providing crucial input into policy development.

II.ii Conditions for Civil Participation

The conditions required to enable associational life are well documented, in brief theyrequire governments and public bodies at all levels to guarantee the freedom of opinion;of expression; and of assembly, so that citizens may form independent civil societybodies.To ensure that the essential contributions of NGOs are enshrined in the political decisionmaking process without discrimination, an enabling environment is required. Conditionsof an enabling environment include the rule of law, adherence to fundamentaldemocratic principles, political will, favourable legislation, long-term support andresources for a sustainable civil society and shared spaces for dialogue andcooperation. These conditions allow for a constructive relationship between NGOs andpublic authorities built on reciprocal trust and mutual understanding for

participatory democracy

II.iii Role of Public Authorities

Public authorities, including the legislature (parliamentarians) and the executive(governments and officials) should respond to; or work together with NGOs to ensureproductive civil participation in a healthy democracy.This takes place by maintaining certain good practices which include:

•

Enable and support the involvement of civil society in democratic process

•

Transparent legislative process

•

Provision of up-to-date accurate and timely information in an accessible formatthroughout the political process for all interested parties

•

Open and accessible processes of participation, including opportunity to provideinput early in the decision-making cycle

•

Active participation of relevant public authority representatives through bringingexpertise and knowledge for mutual benefit

•

Agreed parameters for participation

•

Open consultation meetings, including invitation to all potential stakeholders

•

Adequate time for response to consultations

•

Follow-up and feed-back to consultation responses

•

Commitment to action on shared outcomes

II.iv Role of NGOs

NGOs are active in making contributions to the public decision-making process throughan extremely diverse set of activities and maintain certain good practicesThese include:

•

Raising awareness of issues, policy development to members, public bodies or wider public

•

Provide expertise, such as on specific user groups or area of research

•

Innovation and development of new methods, policy and services

•

Provision of services

•