criminalize carrying out unregistered human rights work, and thus violate fundamental international human rights guarantees, should be promptly abolished.282 197. W hile registration should not be compulsory, NGOs and other associations have a right to register as legal entities, for example, in order to benefit from additional state support and subsidies that are only available to legal entities. It is up to the NGO or association in question to decide whether they wish to register in order to access such benefits. Where domestic laws provide for different forms of legal entities – such as non-profit organizations, foundations or others – the requirements for registering as a legal entity should provide for sufficient flexibility in choosing the most suitable legal form for the association, and should function so as to empower human rights defenders in carrying out their work in association with others rather than obstruct it. 198. T he UNGA has called upon states “to ensure, where procedures governing reg- istration of civil society organizations exist, that these are transparent, non-discriminatory, expeditious, inexpensive, allow for the possibility to appeal and avoid requiring re-registration […]”.283 199. T he ECtHR has held that significant delays in state registration and repeated fail- ures by the responsible authorities to issue a definitive decision on the registration of an association may amount to a de facto refusal of registration and to an impermissible interference with the exercise of the right to freedom of association.284 Domestic law should afford sufficient protection against such delays. It should contain clear time-limits for the authorities to take a decision, and it should define with sufficient precision the consequences of a failure by the authorities to take action within the statutory time-limits (for example, an automatic registration in the event of a timely decision).285 200. T he registration authority should not interfere with the independence and auton- omy of associations in the course of the registration process. For example, it should not unduly interfere with the freedom of the founders or members to choose the 282  The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association reiterated in his 2012 report that “Individuals involved in unregistered associations should indeed be free to carry out any activities, including the right to hold and participate in peaceful assemblies, and should not be subject to criminal sanctions” (A/HRC/20/27, 21 May 2012, para. 56). 283  A/RES/66/164, 10 April 2012. 284  See the ECtHR judgement in the case of Ramazanova and Others v. Azerbaijan, Application no. 44363/02, 1 February 2007, paras. 56-68. 285  Ibid. paras. 66 and 67. Furthermore, the ECtHR emphasized that it is “the duty of the Contracting State to organise its domestic state-registration system and take necessary remedial measures so as to allow the relevant authorities to comply with the time‑limits imposed by its own law and to avoid any unreasonable delays in this respect”; in other words, a lack of resources is no justification for not complying with time-limits prescribed in the law (para. 65). 92 Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders