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Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "The judiciary shall decide matters before them impartially, on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter or far any reason."
- "Everyone shall have the right to be tried by ordinary courts or tribunals using established legal procedures. Tribunals that do not use the duly established procedures of the legal process shall not be created to displace the jurisdiction belonging to the ordinary courts or judicial tribunals."
- "it is necessary to guarantee a judiciary that is totally unconstrained by any partisan influence or control."
- "a. Judicial review should be conducted by a tribunal established by law whose independence and impartiality are guaranteed in accordance with the terms of Recommendation No. R (94) 12. b. The tribunal may be an administrative tribunal or part of the ordinary court system."
- "This recommendation is applicable to all persons exercising judicial functions, including those dealing with constitutional, criminal, civil, commercial and administrative law matters... All necessary measures should be taken to respect, protect and promote the independence of judges."
- "A situation where the functions and competencies of the judiciary and the executive are not clearly distinguishable or where the latter is able to control of direct the former is incompatible with the notion of an independent tribunal."
- "The Court has held that the tribunal must be independent of both the executive and the parties."
- "The requirement of independence refers, in particular, to the procedure and qualifications for the appointment of judges, and guarantees relating to their security of tenure until a mandatory retirement ago or the expiry of their term of office, where such exist, the conditions governing promotion, transfer, suspension, and cessation of their functions...In order to safeguard their independence, the status of judges, including their term of office, their independence, security, adequate remuneration, conditions of service, pensions and the age of retirement shall be adequately secured by law."
- "(10) Persons selected for judicial office shall be individuals of integrity and ability with appropriate training or qualification in law. Any method of judicial section shall safeguard against judicial appointments for improper motives...(11) The term of office for judges, their independence, security, adequate remuneration, conditions of service, pensions and the age of retirement shall be adequately secured by law. (12)Judges, whether appointed or elected, shall have guaranteed tenure until a mandatory retirement age or the expiry of their term of office, where such exists. (13) Promotion of judges, wherever such a system exists, should be based on objective factors, in particular ability, integrity and experience."
- "h) The process for appointments to judicial bodies shall be transparent and accountable and the establishment of an independent body for this purpose is encouraged. Any method of judicial selection shall safeguard the independence and impartiality of the judiciary."
- "The independence of judges should be guaranteed pursuant to the provisions of the Convention [ECHR] and constitutional principles, for example by inserting specific provisions in the constitutions or other legislation or incorporating the provisions of this recommendation in internal law. Subject to the legal traditions of each state, such rules may provide, for instance, the following: i. decisions of judges should not be the subject of any revision outside any appeals procedures as provided for by law; ii. the terms of office of judges and their remuneration should be guaranteed by law."
- "Related to the protection to these prerequisite rights is the importance of a fully functioning, independent judiciary. The judiciary is the principal national body charged with the protection of the rule of law, both during and between election periods. Additionally, in order to ensure the existence of effective avenues through which people can express objections and complaints regarding the election process, 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 on the independence of the judiciary: (a) judicial independence must be guaranteed in the Constitution or other law of the country; (b) Judicial impartiality must be guaranteed without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats of interferences, direct or indirect; (c) The judiciary must have exclusive authority to determine competence to adjudicate; (d) Judicial decisions shall not be subject to revision. This principles should be without prejudice to judicial review of lower court decisions and mitigation or commutation by competent authorities of sentences imposed by the judiciary in accordance with the law; (e) The judiciary must be entitled and required to ensure the judicial proceedings are conducted fairly and that the rights of parties are respected; (f) States are required to provide adequate resources to enable a proper functioning of the judiciary."
- "These principles provide a safety mechanism ensuring that the rule of law, rather than any politician or external body, controls the conduct of elections. A judiciary functioning under these principles serves both the important cause of peaceful dispute resolution and that of protecting the process from bias or fraud. The judicial role, of course, complements, and does not replace, the function of independent electoral authorities."
- "The requirement of impartiality has two aspects. First, judges must not allow their judgment to be influenced by personal bias or prejudice, nor harbour preconceptions about the particular case before them, nor act in ways that improperly promote the interests of one of the parties to the detriment of the other. Second, the tribunal must also appear to a reasonable observer to be impartial. For instance, a trial substantially affected by the participation of a judge who, under domestic statutes, should have been disqualified cannot normally be considered to be impartial."
- "A situation where the functions and competencies of the judiciary and executive are not clearly distinguishable or where the latter is able to control or direct the former is incompatible with the notion of an independent tribunal."
- "A judicial body shall base its decision only on objective evidence, arguments and facts presented before it. Judicial officers shall decide matters before them without any restrictions, improper influence, inducements, pressure, threats or interference, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason."
- "In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interests of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice."
- "States should ensure that violations of human rights and complaints relating to the electoral process are determined promptly within the timeframe of the electoral process and effectively by an independent and impartial authority, such as an electoral commission or the courts."
- "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."
- "Every person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a fair and public trial, by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, at which the accused is guaranteed the right to defence. "
- "Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law, in the determination of their rights and obligations in a suit at law and of any criminal charge against them, without prejudice or discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. "
- "There are two possible solutions: - appeals may be heard by the ordinary courts, a special court or the constitutional court; - appeals may be heard by an electoral commission. There is much to be said for this latter system in that the commissions are highly specialised whereas the courts tend to be less experienced with regard to electoral issues. As a precautionary measure, however, it is desirable that there should be some form of judicial supervision in place, making the higher commission the first appeal level and the competent court the second. "
- "It is also vital that the appeal procedure, and especially the powers and responsibilities of the various bodies involved in it, should be clearly regulated by law, so as to avoid any positive or negative conflicts of jurisdiction. Neither the appellants nor the authorities should be able to choose the appeal body. The risk that successive bodies will refuse to give a decision is seriously increased where it is theoretically possible to appeal to either the courts or an electoral commission, or where the powers of different courts – e.g. the ordinary courts and the constitutional court – are not clearly differentiated. "
- "The appeal procedure should be of a judicial nature, in the sense that the right of the appellants to proceedings in which both parties are heard should be safeguarded."
- "The right to stand as a candidate in an election, which is guaranteed by Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 and is inherent in the concept of a truly democratic regime, would be merely illusory if one could be arbitrarily deprived of it at any moment. Consequently, while it is true that States have a wide margin of appreciation when establishing eligibility conditions in the abstract, the principle that rights must be effective requires the finding that this or that candidate has failed to satisfy them to comply with a number of criteria framed to prevent arbitrary decisions. In particular, such a finding must be reached by a body which can provide a minimum of guarantees of its impartiality. Similarly, the discretion enjoyed by the body concerned must not be exorbitantly wide; it must be circumscribed, with sufficient precision, by the provisions of domestic law. Lastly, the procedure for ruling a candidate ineligible must be such as to guarantee a fair and objective decision and prevent any abuse of power on the part of the relevant authority (see Podkolzina, cited above, § 35). "
- "In Podkolzina v. Latvia (no. 46726/99, ECHR 2002-II), the Court reiterated that the right to stand as a candidate in an election, which is guaranteed by Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 and is inherent in the concept of a truly democratic regime, would only be illusory if one could be arbitrarily deprived of it at any moment. Consequently, while it is true that States have a wide margin of appreciation when establishing eligibility conditions in the abstract, the principle that rights must be effective requires the finding that this or that candidate has failed to satisfy them to comply with a number of criteria framed to prevent arbitrary decisions. In particular, such a finding must be reached by a body which can provide a minimum of guarantees of its impartiality. Similarly, the discretion enjoyed by the body concerned must not be exorbitantly wide; it must be circumscribed, with sufficient precision, by the provisions of domestic law. Lastly, the procedure for declaring a candidate ineligible must be such as to ensure a fair and objective decision and prevent any abuse of power on the part of the relevant authority (ibid., § 35). "
- "[Consider] signing and ratifying or acceding to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other core international human rights treaties. "
- "Tak[e] all necessary measures to eliminate laws, regulations and practices that discriminate, directly or indirectly, against citizens in their right to participate in public affairs on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, or on the basis of disability. "
- "Tak[e] proactive measures to eliminate all barriers in law and in practice that prevent or hinder citizens, in particular women, persons belonging to marginalized groups or minorities, persons with disabilities and persons in vulnerable situations, from participating fully in effectively in political and public affairs, including, inter alia, reviewing and repealing measures that unreasonably restrict the right to participate in public affairs, and considering adopting, on the basis of reliable data on participation, temporary special measure, including legislative acts, aimed at increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in all aspects of political and public life; "