Non-Governmental Organisation Accountability

Citation

Carolei D (2025) Non-Governmental Organisation Accountability. In: Flinders M, Dimova G & Monaghan C (eds.) in Flinders M., Dimova G., Monaghan C. (eds) Understanding accountability: New perspectives on a fractured world, pp. 245-264. https://www.routledge.com/Understanding-Accountability-New-Perspectives-on-a-Fractured-World/Flinders-Dimova-Monaghan/p/book/9781032588483?srsltid=AfmBOoraJSBZg3yGeXKhd0CMpTN4xgWl8djW_sJMVwgygG8d_SJdhp64

Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, it aims to map out the reasons for a regulatory neglect and the motives behind legal scholars’ disengagement with non-governmental organisation (NGO) accountability. Second, it examines recent initiatives and proposals aimed at filling the legal gaps in NGO regulation and accountability, including establishing an international ombuds system and applying new legal frameworks. This chapter outlines the motives behind the regulatory gaps, including the challenge of regulating NGOs under both international and national laws. It also emphasises a normative dimension to the debate about the accountability of NGOs in the sense that the dominant public perception that NGOs are inherently ‘good’ makes them less likely to face scrutiny compared to other non-state actors. Subsequently, this chapter demonstrates how recent normative and empirical developments are expanding the meaning of NGO legal accountability in three main ways: first, across different dimensions of NGO accountability and towards different stakeholders; second, in new areas of law and beyond mere charity law; third, by shifting away from the traditional idea of punitive accountability.