Updated July 2025 (originally published March 2023)

The 102nd regular session of the Inter-American Juridical Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, adopted the Declaration of Inter-American Principles on the Legal Framework for the Creation, Operation, Financing, and Dissolution of Non-profit Civil Entities and forwarded it to the Permanent Council for submission to the General Assembly.

The text proposes twelve general principles, each with supporting notes explaining its basis, scope, and justification, illustrating how some specific situations may be addressed. Each principle also has a statement of the international standard on which it is based, whether it was issued by an international body or authority for the protection of human rights at the inter-American or global level, or from another source. These principles are based on current rules and existing domestic practices at the regional and international levels. Lastly, it is important to note the contribution that this study has made to the efforts by other Organization of American States bodies in terms of the participation of organized civil society, as well as in strengthening civic spaces, a vital component of any democratic society.

The principles were updated in March 2024 and 2025 and appear below:

Principle 4

Registration and recognition by an independent and autonomous agency

Member states should guarantee independent and autonomous public registration services or recognition of the legal personality of civil entities and ensure that those bodies provide their services with professionalism, impartiality, and transparency, pursuant to these principles.

Principle 5

Simple and transparent registration procedures

Establishment and registration procedures should be simple, prompt, clear, non-discriminatory, and non-discretionary. The law should establish precisely the requirements and documents to be submitted for obtaining and maintaining recognition of legal personality, as well as the procedures, deadlines, and costs of that process.

Principle 6

Freedom of operation

Nonprofit civil entities may carry out their functions with a broad purpose in areas of public interest and/or for the mutual benefit of their members, with only those constraints that are permitted by international human rights instruments and without unlawful or arbitrary interference.

Principle 7

Freedom to seek, obtain, and use funding

Nonprofit civil entities are free to seek, request, obtain, and use financing for the achievement of their social aims from public and private sources, both domestic and foreign, in accordance with the generally applicable laws on tax, exchange and banking matters. Political parties are subject to a special regime regarding transparency and electoral financing.

Principle 8

Appropriate control of illicit financing

State responsibility to regulate illicit financial activities will be in accordance with the obligations established by international human rights instruments. Restrictions applied to civil nonprofit entities should be proportionate to the risk identified, evidence-based, and implemented without limiting the legitimate work of the sector.

Principle 9

Access to public financing under equal conditions and without discrimination

Civil nonprofit entities may have access to public funds through transparent, equitable and non- discriminatory systems, being subject to the general rules of accountability and responsibility of their legal representatives.

Principle 10

Special tax regime

Nonprofit civil entities should have access to tax benefits in accordance with their nonprofit nature without discrimination.

Principle 11

Proportional penalties and due process

Sanctions imposed by States on nonprofit civil entities should only be applied in limited circumstances established by law in advance in a gradual, necessary and strictly proportional manner; and be applied on reasonable, reasoned and proven grounds within a judicial process, with all the guarantees of due process.

Principle 12

Voluntary and forced dissolution

The dissolution of nonprofit civil entities, their liquidation and the disposal of their assets should follow the provisions contained in their bylaws, as expressed by the will of their members. Members should not distribute the entity’s assets among themselves. Compulsory dissolution, as a legal penalty, should be appropriate only in exceptional circumstances and in the most serious cases that entail the infringement of a legitimate interest recognized by international human rights instruments and where less restrictive measures would not be sufficient to protect such an interest.

You can download the full Declaration in English (via OAS) here or in Spanish (via OAS) here. This includes the rationale for each principle as well as the applicable international standards.