3619 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "The independence of judges and the impartial operation of the public judicial service will be ensured."
- "The independence of the judiciary shall be guaranteed by the State and enshrined in the Constitution or the law of the country. It is the duty of all governmental and other institutions to respect and observe the independence of the judiciary."
- "The executive and legislative powers should ensure that judges are independent and that steps are not taken which could endanger the independence of judges."
- "In the decision-making process judges should be independent and be able to act without any restriction, improper influence, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason. The law should provide for sanctions against persons seeking to influence judges in any such manner."
- "It is necessary to guarantee a judiciary that is totally unconstrained by any partisan influence or control. The following are some of the basic principles of the independence of the judiciary….States are required to provide adequate resource to enable proper functioning of the judiciary."
- "States must ensure, through adoption of national legislation, that in regard to human rights violations, which are matters of public concern, any individual, group of individuals or non-governmental organization is entitled to bring an issue before judicial bodies for determination."
- "The legal framework should clearly state who is permitted file to complaints with election commissions/bodies and/or courts for electoral violations. The legal framework should provide that every voter, candidate, and political party has the right to lodge a complaint with the competent election commission or court when an infringement of electoral rights has occurred."
- "In this connection, everyone is entitled, individually and in association with others, to be protected effectively under national law in reacting against or opposing, through peaceful means, activities and acts, including those by omission, attributable to the States that result in violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as acts of violence perpetrated by groups or individuals that affect the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms."
- "Political parties are not, in any Council of Europe Member State, the creation of public organs. The guideline that can be deduced from this practice is that State bodies should abstain from participating in the establishment of political parties and should not limit the right to establish political parties on a national, regional and local level."
- "Financing of political parties must be fully transparent, which requires political parties, in particular: i. to keep strict accounts of all income and expenditure, which must be submitted, at least once a year, to an independent auditing authority and be made public."
- "The legislation on financing political parties and on electoral campaigns should also apply to entities related to political parties, such as political foundations."
- "As private financing, in particular donations, creates opportunities for influence and corruption, the following rules should apply: a. a ban on donations from state enterprises, enterprises under state control, or firms which provide goods or services to the public administration sector."
- "Member states should adopt measure whereby print media outlets which are owned by public authorities, when covering electoral campaigns, should do so in a fair, balanced and impartial manner, without discriminating against or supporting a specific political authority or influence."
- "States should impose limits on the maximum expenditure permitted during election campaigns, given that in the absence of an upper threshold on expenditure there are no limits to the escalation of costs, which is an incentive for parties to intensify their search for funds."
- "State financial contributions should, on the one hand, be calculated in ratio to the political support which the parties enjoy, evaluated on objective criteria such as the number of votes cast or the number of parliamentary seats won, and on the other hand enable new parties to enter the political arena and to compete under fair conditions with the more well-established parties."
- "State support should not exceed the level strictly necessary to achieve the above objectives, since excessive reliance on state funding can lead to the weakening of links between parties and their electorate."
- "Besides their financial contributions, states may contribute indirectly to financing political parties based on law, for example by covering the costs of postage and of meeting rooms, by supporting party media, youth organisations and research institutes; and also by granting tax incentives."
- "Political parties should receive financial contributions from the state budget in order to prevent dependence on private donors and to guarantee equality of chances between political parties."
- "[The Assembly] invites member states to make this environment genuinely accessible to people with disabilities and to remove any obstacles that prevent them from playing a full part in everyday life and from enjoying their fundamental rights by: 12.2 removing any obstacles in public buildings and indoor and outdoor public areas and by ensuring that no new obstacles are created. Every newly built structure must conform to universal design principles: pavements, for instance, must not be laid without dropped kerbs."
- "Those SADC countries that still use opaque wooden ballot boxes are urged to discard them in favour of transparent ballot boxes."
- "Political parties and candidates should have equitable access to public funds, and the rules regarding public funding should be clearly stated in law."
- "Both journalists and politicians are concerned -- rightly -- with the issue of defamation. Specifically, how far are the media legally liable if they report statements by politicians that are subsequently found to be defamatory? In his 1999 report, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression came down firmly in favour of exempting the media from liability for publishing unlawful statements made by politicians in the context of an election. The type of statements envisaged might include those that were defamatory or incited to hatred. This does not mean that there would be no liability for such statements -- the person who made them would still be liable -- but that the media would be free to reproduce them without, for example, having to review every party election broadcast or advertisement before transmission."
- "International law provides that any person who believes that their rights have been violated shall be entitled to an effective remedy in a national tribunal. In relation to media and elections, this means that there is an expectation that the courts will be able to deal with any unjustified restrictions on media coverage, denial of access to the media, denial of the right of reply, defamatory or inflammatory material, or any other issue where media, parties and candidates, or the electorate feel that their rights have been infringed. Inherent in the notion of a remedy is the idea that it will actually offer the complainant a timely and practical solution. This is especially important in the context of an election. If, for example, defamatory or inaccurate information is broadcast, the remedy required will not be a correction or even monetary compensation at some distant future date. The important thing is that it should be corrected while it is still fresh in the electorate's collective mind (and while it is still relevant to the outcome of the poll). So, while the normal courts will still be the ultimate arbiters of whether rights have been infringed, many countries also have administrative procedures that will be able to deal with complaints more rapidly. These may be regular complaints mechanisms operated by a broadcasting regulator or a media council. Or they may be special procedures that are only in place during election periods."
- "There is a growing weight of decisions by national tribunals on the right of opposition parties to access to the government media. There is a clear trend towards recognizing that governments have an obligation to ensure such access."
- "The obligation on publicly-owned or government-controlled media to publish or broadcast the views of the opposition derives from the prohibition of discrimination in the enjoyment of rights. This is strongly stated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as in other human rights treaties. It means that if the ruling party has an opportunity to exercise its right to freedom of expression through the government media, then the opposition must be given the same opportunity."
- "International tribunals - and increasingly national ones as well - are clear that politicians and governments may be subject to greater criticism and insult than ordinary private individuals and that consequently the law will offer them less protection. This is due to the fact that politicians bear great responsibility for leadership and representation of their constituents and their country, and because they have greater access to remedies than most ordinary people. Of course the situation that has so often prevailed is the opposite: government officials often invoking charges such as criminal defamation against critics. International law also distinguishes between factual allegations and opinions. Political opinions may only be restricted in the most extreme circumstances. They cannot be restricted on the grounds that they are "untrue" since, as the European Court of Human Rights observed, to require someone accused of defamation to prove the truth of an opinion "infringes freedom of opinion itself"...The civil law of defamation can legitimately be used to protect reputations against reckless and malicious allegations. But increasingly, national courts have ruled that the scope of defamation law must be such that it does not prevent the media from carrying out their proper function - or stifle vigorous political debate."
- "It is important to stress that the role of the media is not just as a vehicle for expression in the narrow sense. The media are important also as a means to enable the public to exercise their right to freedom of information."
- "Governments have an important negative obligation not to impede the media in playing these functions. In addition, and at least as importantly, governments have a positive obligation to facilitate media pluralism in order to expose the public to the widest variety of sources of information. Indeed, the obligation contained in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), guaranteeing freedom of expression and freedom of information, applies only to governments and certainly not to individual media organizations."
- "Requests States parties to cooperate closely with each other, consistent with their domestic legal and administrative systems, in order to enhance the effectiveness of law enforcement action to combat the offences covered by the United Nations Convention against Corruption."
- "Urges Member States, consistent with chapter V of the Convention, to ensure that they have adequate laws and mechanisms in place to prosecute those involved in acts of corruption, to detect the illegal acquisition and transfer of assets derived from corruption and to ensure that there are suitable mechanisms in place - conviction- and, where appropriate, non-conviction-based - to recover through confiscation the identified proceeds of corruption, and that such laws and mechanisms are vigorously enforced."
- "Calls upon States parties, where appropriate and in accordance with domestic law, to take proactive measures to ensure that individuals who have been entrusted with prominent public functions, their family members and close associates, cannot hide their illicitly acquired assets, by making relevant enquiries to determine the identity and ownership of illicitly acquired assets, freezing suspected criminal proceeds and undertaking efforts to initiate other national mechanisms of recovery, as consistent with the Convention and under domestic law, when appropriate, and encourages States parties to work with well-established networks of financial intelligence units to identify methodologies for coordinated approaches to such measures."
- "Urges States parties to remove barriers to asset recovery by ensuring that financial institutions and, where applicable, designated non-financial services and professions adopt and implement effective standards to ensure that such entities are not being used to hide stolen assets, which may include such measures as customer due-diligence requirements, the identification and enhanced scrutiny of assets belonging to individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions and to their family members and close associates, and the collection and provision of beneficial ownership information, and by ensuring, in accordance with the Convention and domestic law, through robust regulatory action, that they adequately implement those requirements."
- "Urges States parties to ensure that their anti-corruption authorities or other relevant bodies have sufficient resources to fulfil their mission, have an appropriate level of investigative and prosecutorial independence, are trained sufficiently and on a regular basis, have the requisite authority, legislative and otherwise, to identify, trace, freeze and confiscate corruption proceeds, including in terms of access to the financial and other information necessary to do so, and have the authority to share information, cooperate and coordinate corruption investigations with other domestic agencies and other Governments, when appropriate."
- "Reaffirms that, while the implementation of the Convention is the responsibility of States parties, the promotion of a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability and the prevention of corruption are responsibilities to be shared by all stakeholders and sectors of society, in accordance with articles 7 to 13 of the Convention. "
- "Recognizes the importance of ensuring that anti-corruption bodies have the necessary independence to enable them to carry out their functions effectively and free from any undue influence."
- "Calls upon States parties to devote special attention to strengthening integrity across the entire criminal justice system, including the police, prosecution, defence counsel, judiciary, court administration, prison and probation services, and notes with appreciation the assistance provided by the Secretariat to States parties upon request in the integration of anti-corruption measures in institutions of the criminal justice system."
- "Urges States parties to ensure that their public service is aligned with the principles outlined in the Convention, including, inter alia, efficiency, transparency and objective criteria in recruitment, the promotion of integrity, honesty and responsibility and adherence to codes of conduct for public officials."
- "Requests States parties to promote training and education at all levels of the public sector and, where appropriate, of the private sector in the prevention of corruption and to make such training and education an integral part of national anti-corruption strategies and plans."
- "Calls upon States parties to use the Convention as a framework for the development of specific and tailored anti-corruption safeguards in sectors that may present an increased vulnerability to corruption."
- "Encourages States parties, in accordance with article 8, paragraph 5, of the Convention, to endeavour, where appropriate and in accordance with the fundamental principles of their domestic law, to establish and strengthen asset declaration systems applicable to public officials, aimed at the identification and resolution of conflicts of interest, and requests the Secretariat to continue its support to States parties in this regard."
- "Calls upon States parties to put effective processes in place to promote transparency, competition and objective decision-making in public procurement systems, in line with article 9 of the Convention, and to take into consideration the anti-corruption-related recommendations contained in the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Law on Public Procurement."
- "Urges States parties, in accordance with articles 10 and 13 of the Convention, to continue to take measures to enhance transparency in public administration, including through the introduction of effective measures facilitating access by the public to information, and requests the Secretariat to provide technical assistance upon request to States parties seeking to introduce or enhance measures in this area, in cooperation, where appropriate, with interested donors. "
- "Urges States parties, in accordance with article 13 of the Convention, to continue promoting the participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, in the prevention of and the fight against corruption, and encourages States parties to enhance the capacity of such individuals and groups in this regard. "
- "Reaffirms that States parties should continue to strengthen awareness-raising measures throughout all sectors of society and that special attention should be devoted to work with young people and children as part of a strategy to prevent corruption. "
- "Calls upon States parties to promote the business community's engagement in the prevention of corruption by, inter alia, developing initiatives to promote and implement, where appropriate, anti-corruption measures within public procurement, consistent with article 9 of the Convention, and by working with the business community to address practices that generate vulnerability to corruption in the private sector."
- "Also calls upon States parties to use the Convention as a framework for the development of specific and tailored anti-corruption safeguards in sectors that may present a greater vulnerability to corruption, and requests the Secretariat to assist States parties in doing so, upon request and subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources."
- "Urges States parties to raise public awareness of corruption and laws and regulations against it, including the Convention itself, as well as the existing rights of and possibilities for the general public to obtain information on the organization, functioning and decision-making processes of their public administrations."
- "Also urges States parties, in accordance with article 13 of the Convention, to continue promoting the participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector, such as civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations, in the prevention of and the fight against corruption, and encourages States parties to enhance their capacity in this regard."
- "Calls upon States parties to devote special attention to the creation of opportunities to involve young people as key actors to successfully prevent corruption at the domestic, subregional, regional and international levels, and requests the Secretariat to assist States parties in doing so, upon request and subject to the availability of extrabudgetary resources."
- "Also calls upon States parties, consistent with the fundamental principles of their educational and legal systems, to promote, at various levels of the education system, educational programmes that instil concepts and principles of integrity."