Impermissible donations

1. The use of donations that violate the requirements of this Code for political campaigns shall be prohibited. If such donations are received and a donor is known, the treasurer must, within 15 working days from the receipt of such donation, return the donation to the donor, indicating the reason for refusing to accept the donation. Failing to identify the donor, the treasurer shall transfer the donation to the state budget within 20 working days. The return of the donation to the donor or its transfer to the state budget shall be suspended by the decision of the Central Electoral Commission, if criminal proceedings are initiated or are being conducted for illegal financing of electoral political campaigns or if an investigation of the political organisation’s activities is carried out under the procedure laid down in this Law. The return of the donation to the donor or its transfer to the state budget shall continue by the decision of the Central Electoral Commission in the event of termination of the pre-trial investigation, case, proceedings or the investigation of the political party’s activities, also if the judgment of acquittal comes into force or the judgment of conviction becomes effective, provided but the funds in question have not been confiscated.

2. It shall be prohibited to fund campaigners through third parties. Small donations collected on the basis of the agreement referred to in Article 108(3) and (4) and transferred to an independent participant shall not be considered as financing of independent participant through third parties.

3. Donations in excess of the share of declared annual income and available funds set out in Article 110(5) and (6) shall not be considered impermissible and may be used to fund an electoral political campaign, provided that, according to the data available in the information system of the Central Electoral Commission at the time of the request of the treasurer, the total amount of donations made to an independent participant by the donor, candidate or referendum initiator, including a donation offered to the independent participant, and of membership fees paid to the political organisation does not exceed the specified amount.

4. Persons who are not entitled under this Code to fund campaigners prohibited to support them in any form.

5. If it is established that a campaigner has accepted and used funds or in-kind donations from other sources of financing unspecified in this Code, or donations, the amount of which exceeds the amount of a small donation, that fail to meet the requirements of this Code, the Central Electoral Commission shall oblige the campaigner to transfer the sum of the amount of spent funds or in-kind donations to the state budget within 20 working days, unless the party has been deprived of state budget appropriations due to gross infringements of this Code.