Соотношение Конституции Республики Абхазия и международных стандартов в области свободы объединения: значение для гражданского общества

Журнал зарубежного законодательства и сравнительного правоведения. 2019. № 1.

Гезердава С. И.

The article explains the essence of a number of elements of the constitutional status of citizens' associations in the Republic of Abkhazia and their key role in the sustainability of the civil society in Abkhazia.

The urgency of the topic stems from the need to substantiate firm guarantees for the development of civil society institutions, as well as to confirm the capacity of the Constitution of the Republic to serve as the basis for the formation of such legal status of these organizations that corresponds to their role in a democratic state.

The purpose of this article is to substantiate the development of the legal status of civil society institutions (primarily non-profit organizations) in the direction that corresponds to the meaning prescribed by constitutional provisions, as well as international norms recognized by the Republic of Abkhazia unilaterally. The substance of constitutional rights, freedoms, principles and guarantees, as well as their correlation, are still not sufficiently clarified from the point of view of the approach that overcomes state paternalism. As part of this approach, the article attempts to clarify the correlation between these constitutional categories and the essential characteristics of civil society, without which one cannot recognize its sustainability. In the article considerable attention is paid to the concept of the "freedom of activity of citizens' associations" which is not sufficiently explained in literature and which, in our opinion, is no less important for civil society than the right to unite.

The article offers critical examination of the position of various authors on the question of the limits of the state regulatory impact on civil society. The article argues that the content of the constitutional basis of civil society, first of all, the freedom of associations, sets the framework for the autonomy of civil society, and therefore requires the definition of the limits of state intervention and the relevant parameters for non-profit legislation.

Keywords: некоммерческие организации, non-profit organizations, общественные объединения, право на объединение, public associations, the right to association, freedom of activity of citizens' associations, ideological and political pluralism, non-profit legislation, свобода деятельности объединений граждан, идеологический и политический плюрализм, некоммерческое законодательство