Laws, administrative procedures and requirements governing the operation of NGOs 65. Human rights defenders should be able to form groups or associations without an obligation to register or obtain legal personality in order to pursue their activities. The exercise of the right to freedom of association is not contingent on registration, and human rights defenders must not be criminalized for not registering a group or association. Any offences related to activity on behalf of an unregistered organization, including in relation to funding, should be promptly removed from legislation. 66. Formal registration and procedures to acquire legal personality should be avail- able as an option to empower human rights defenders in carrying out their work in association with others, for example, for the purpose of accessing benefits or other support that may only be available to legal persons. In general, the legislative and administrative framework should be designed to assist human rights defenders in creating organizations or groups and not to stigmatize them for their legitimate activities. 67. Laws and administrative procedures for NGOs to register officially or to obtain legal personality – if they so wish – should be clear and simple and not discriminatory. They should not impose undue and burdensome requirements on the organizations that may obstruct their work or unduly distract resources from their human rights activities. Any administrative and financial reporting requirements must be reasonable and provided for in law. Any inspections of NGO offices and financial records must have a clear legal basis and be fair and transparent. Audits should be specifically regulated by legislation. Such legislation should clearly define in an exhaustive list the grounds for possible inspections and the documents that need to be produced during the inspection. Furthermore, it should provide for a clearly defined and reasonable period of prior warning and maximum duration of inspections. 68. In overseeing compliance with reasonable requirements, authorities shall respect the independence and autonomous decision-making capacity of NGOs. They must not interfere with their internal affairs, management, planning and implementation of activities. They should respect the confidentiality of their internal matters and refrain from interfering by surveillance, infiltration or other means. The oversight and audit of NGOs should not be invasive, intrusive or paralyzing. 69. Where reasonable requirements for the registration or operation of NGOs are not met, the oversight or registration bodies should always give adequate warning so that corrections can be made. Members of human rights organizations must not be punished for non-compliance with unreasonable administrative or other requirements. Sanctions for the failure to comply with legitimate administrative requirements should be proportionate. 14 Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders