A/HRC/20/27 regarding allegations impacting civil society‟s work since the inception of his mandate, and due to the word limit, the present section of the report will primarily focus on this type of association, but will address others when relevant. This will not prevent him from focusing on other forms of associations in his future reports. 2. The right to form and to join an association 53. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the right to form and join an association is an inherent part of the right to freedom of association. It also includes the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of one‟s interests, as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 54. International human rights law stipulates that everyone has the rights to freedom of association. As a result, legislation that does not set any specific limitation on individuals, including children (e.g. national human rights institution of Cote d‟Ivoire) and foreign nationals (e.g. Burkina Faso and the United States of America) complies with international standards. However, under international human rights law, members of the armed forces and of the police may have their right lawfully restricted. Any restrictions must, nevertheless, comply with States‟ international human rights obligations as blanket restrictions shall not be considered lawful. The Special Rapporteur further considers as a best practice the Armenian and Estonian legislation that require no more than two persons to establish an association. A higher number may be required to establish a union or a political party, but this number should not be set at a level that would discourage people from engaging in associations. 55. An important component of the right to freedom of association is that no one may be compelled to belong to an association (e.g. Chile, Guatemala, Portugal and Republic of Moldova). Likewise, associations should be free to choose their members and whether to be open to any membership.32 This aspect is particularly relevant for unions or political parties since a direct interference in their membership may jeopardize their independence.33 56. The Special Rapporteur underlines that the right to freedom of association equally protects associations that are not registered (e.g. Canada, Republic of Moldova, Slovenia and the United States). 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, as the Special Rapporteur regrets is the case in Algeria, Belarus, Cambodia or the Syrian Arab Republic.34 This is particularly important when the procedure to establish an association is burdensome and subject to administrative discretion, as such criminalization could then be used as a means to quell dissenting views or beliefs. 57. The European Court on Human Rights clearly ruled “that citizens should be able to form a legal entity in order to act collectively in a field of mutual interest is one of the most important aspects of the right to freedom of association, without which that right would be deprived of any meaning”.35 The procedure to establish an association as a legal entity varies from one country to another, but it is vital that Government officials act in good faith, in a timely and non-selective manner. The Special Rapporteur considers as best 32 33 34 35 14 Key Guiding Principles of Freedom of Association, para. 28. ILO, Digest of decisions and principles of the Freedom of Association Committee of the Governing Body of the ILO, Fifth (revised) edition (Geneva, 2006), para. 723. See footnote 21. European Court of Human Rights, Sidiropoulos and Others v. Greece, application No. 26695/95, 10 July 1998.