633 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "In modern-day democracies, it is also important to ensure that the candidates or parties are accorded sufficiently balanced amounts of airtime and space for political advertising (CDL-AD(2003)023rev, I.2.3). Equal access to the public media should also be given to the supporters and opponents of the proposal in referendums (CDL-INF(2001)010, CDLAD(2005)028). "
- "The regulations concerning equal access to public media differ with regard to, among other things, the types of media and media access, the amounts of time and space, the format and the timing of broadcasting as well as the whole complex of financing political advertising. Due to the wide variety of provisions, it is difficult to discuss the subject on a general level. As for many details, however, there is room for country-specific discussion, for example with regard to criteria for allocating free time. In any case, it is necessary to draw a distinction between public and privately owned media, which is sometimes not done. Private media are usually less regulated. "
- "As for the private media, one issue should be singled out here: While it is commonly agreed that parties and candidates should have direct access to state-owned media, there is, for example, some debate whether also private media can be obliged to include political advertisements of all electoral contestants. The Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters emphasises that, in conformity with freedom of expression, legal provision should be made to ensure that there is a minimum access to privately owned audiovisual media with regard to the election campaign and to advertising for all participants in elections. "
- "Irrespective of the details of regulation, in quite a substantial number of countries, public and private media were found to have breached the rules on equal access, according to observer reports. Moreover, even a fixed amount of free television and radio airtime for contestants might not be sufficient to address strongly unbalanced campaign coverage in regular news programmes. Therefore, media behaviour should be carefully monitored and, if breaches of the law occur, be adequately sanctioned. "
- "Sometimes there also strong demands for a better representation of national minorities in Parliament. In such cases, the electoral systems may facilitate the minority representation, for example, by the use of proportional representation systems in nation-wide or in large multi-member constituencies (without a high threshold of representation). But also PR list systems in small multi-member districts or even plurality/majority systems in single-member constituencies may ensure minority representation if the minorities are territorially concentrated. Also, the candidacy and voting form, among other things, may have an influence on minority representation. In some countries (e.g. Poland and Germany), there are “threshold exemptions” for candidates lists or parties presenting national minorities (see CDL-AD(2005)009, paras 35, 49) "
- "Determining the constituency boundaries is an important step in the electoral process, since they can give rise to marked “structural” inequalities in representation. Three factors may be behind such disparities: demographic change, gerrymandering and “natural gerrymandering”. "
- "Equality of opportunity must be guaranteed for the supporters and opponents of the proposal being voted on. This entails a neutral attitude by administrative authorities, in particular with regard to: i. the referendum campaign; ii. coverage by the media, in particular by the publicly owned media; iii. public funding of campaign and its actors; iv. billposting and advertising; v. the right to demonstrate on public thoroughfares. "
- "In public radio and television broadcasts on the referendum campaign, it is advisable that equality be ensured between the proposal’s supporters and opponents. "
- "Balanced coverage must be guaranteed to the proposal’s supporters and opponents in other public mass media broadcasts, especially news broadcasts. Account may be taken of the number of political parties supporting each option or their election results. "
- "Equality must be ensured in terms of public subsidies and other forms of backing. It is advisable that equality be ensured between the proposal’s supporters and opponents. Such backing may, however, be restricted to supporters and opponents of the proposal who account for a minimum percentage of the electorate. If equality is ensured between political parties, it may be strict or proportional. If it is strict, political parties are treated on an equal footing irrespective of their current parliamentary strength or support among the electorate. If it is proportional, political parties must be treated according to the results achieved in the elections. "
- "Financial or other conditions for radio and television advertising must be the same for the proposal’s supporters and opponents. "
- "Special rules providing for an exception to the normal vote-counting rules, in a proportional way, in the case of a referendum concerning the situation of national minorities do not, in principle, run counter to equal suffrage. "
- "Voters must not find themselves obliged to reveal their membership of a national minority. "
- "Contrary to the case of elections, it is not necessary to prohibit completely intervention by the authorities in support of or against the proposal submitted to a referendum. However, the public authorities (national, regional and local) must not influence the outcome of the vote by excessive, one-sided campaigning. The use of public funds by the authorities for campaigning purposes must be prohibited. "
- "The authorities must provide objective information. This implies that the text submitted to a referendum and an explanatory report or balanced campaign material from the proposal’s supporters and opponents should be made available to electors sufficiently in advance, as follows: i. they must be published in the official gazette sufficiently far in advance of the vote; ii. they must be sent directly to citizens and be received sufficiently far in advance of the vote; iii. the explanatory report must give a balanced presentation not only of the viewpoint of the executive and legislative authorities or persons sharing their viewpoint but also of the opposing one. e. The above information must be available in all the official languages and in the languages of the national minorities." "
- "Apart from rules on technical matters and detail (which may be included in regulations of the executive), rules of referendum law should have at least the rank of a statute. "
- "The fundamental aspects of referendum law should not be open to amendment less than one year before a referendum, or should be written in the Constitution or at a level superior to ordinary law"
- "Apart from rules on technical matters and detail (which may be included in regulations of the executive), rules of referendum law should have at least the rank of a statute. "
- "Fundamental rules include, in particular, those concerning: - the composition of electoral commissions or any other body responsible for organising the referendum; - the franchise and electoral registers; - the procedural and substantive validity of the text put to a referendum; - the effects of the referendum (with the exception of rules concerning matters of detail) - the participation of the proposal’s supporters and opponents to broadcasts of public media. "
- "The bodies appointing members of commissions must not be free to dismiss them at will. "
- "Everyone enjoying political rights is entitled to sign a popular initiative or request for a referendum. "
- "Out-of-country voting guarantees equality between citizens living in the country and expatriates. "
- "The Court points out that Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 does not, like other provisions of the Convention, specify or limit the aims which a restriction must pursue and that a wide range of purposes may therefore be compatible with Article 3. The Government submitted that the measure complained of pursued the legitimate aim of ensuring that only citizens capable of assessing the consequences of their decisions and making conscious and judicious decisions should participate in public affairs. "
- "The Court cannot accept, however, that an absolute bar on voting by any person under partial guardianship, irrespective of his or her actual faculties, falls within an acceptable margin of appreciation. Indeed, while the Court reiterates that this margin of appreciation is wide, it is not all-embracing (Hirst v. the United Kingdom (no. 2) [GC], op. cit., § 82). In addition, if a restriction on fundamental rights applies to a particularly vulnerable group in society, who have suffered considerable discrimination in the past, such as the mentally disabled, then the State's margin of appreciation is substantially narrower and it must have very weighty reasons for the restrictions in question (cf. also the example of those suffering different treatment on the ground of their gender - Abdulaziz, Cabales and Balkandali v. the United Kingdom, 28 May 1985, § 78, Series A no. 94, race - D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic [GC], no. 57325/00, § 182, ECHR 2007-..., or sexual orientation - E.B. v. France [GC], no. 43546/02, § 94, ECHR 2008-...). The reason for this approach, which questions certain classifications per se, is that such groups were historically subject to prejudice with lasting consequences, resulting in their social exclusion. Such prejudice may entail legislative stereotyping which prohibits the individualised evaluation of their capacities and needs (cf. Shtukaturov v. Russia, no. 44009/05, § 95, 27 March 2008). "
- "The Court further considers that the treatment as a single class of those with intellectual or mental disabilities is a questionable classification, and the curtailment of their rights must be subject to strict scrutiny. This approach is reflected in other instruments of international law, referred to above (paragraphs 14-17). The Court therefore concludes that an indiscriminate removal of voting rights, without an individualised judicial evaluation and solely based on a mental disability necessitating partial guardianship, cannot be considered compatible with the legitimate grounds for restricting the right to vote. "
- "State authorities must observe their duty of neutrality. In particular, this concerns: ii. billposting; "
- "In accordance with the principles of international law, the electoral law must guarantee equality for persons belonging to national minorities, which includes prohibiting any discrimination against them. In particular, the national minorities must be allowed to set up political parties. Constituency delimitations and quorum regulations must not be such as to form an obstacle to the presence of persons belonging to minorities in the elected body. "
- "Certain measures taken to ensure minimum representation for minorities either by reserving seats for them or by providing for exceptions to the normal rules on seat distribution, eg by waiving the quorum for the national minorities’ parties do not infringe the principle of equality. It may also be foreseen that people belonging to national minorities have the right to vote for both general and national minority lists. However, neither candidates nor electors must be required to indicate their affiliation with any national minority."
- "Public authorities also have certain positive obligations. They must submit lawfully presented candidatures to the citizens’ votes. The presentation of specific candidatures may be prohibited only in exceptional circumstances, where necessitated by a greater public interest. Public authorities must also give the electorate access to lists and candidates standing for election by means, for instance, of appropriate billposting. The information in question must also be available in the languages of national minorities, at least where they make up a certain percentage of the population. Voters’ freedom to form an opinion may also be infringed by individuals, for example when they attempt to buy votes, a practice which the state is obliged to prevent or punish effectively. "
- "The Court considers that the lack of clarity of the electoral law as regards national minorities and the lack of sufficient guarantees as to the impartiality of the bodies responsible for examining the applicant’s challenges impaired the very essence of the rights guaranteed by Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. "
- "The Court has emphasised that it is important for the authorities in charge of electoral administration to function in a transparent manner and to maintain impartiality and independence from political manipulation (see The Georgian Labour Party v. Georgia, no. 9103/04, § 101, 8 July 2008), that the proceedings conducted by them be accompanied by minimum safeguards against arbitrariness and that their decisions are sufficiently reasoned (see, mutatis mutandis, Namat Aliyev, cited above, §§ 81-90, and Kovach, cited above, §§ 59-60). "
- "Compl[y] fully with their international human rights law obligations and commitments with regard to participation in political and public affairs, including reflecting them in their national legislative framework."
- "[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; "
- "Public service agents shall demonstrate professionalism, transparency and impartiality in the performance of their duties."
- "State Parties shall entrench into their national laws and regulations the principles of equal access and non-discrimination."
- "Public service agents shall on no account use their positions for political or personal gains. In all circumstances, they shall act with impartiality and loyalty."
- "In addition, the police, because of resource or training deficiencies, may be unable to meet to their international due diligence obligations to effectively prevent violence."
- "It is in the interest of political pluralism to condition the provision of direct public financing on attaining a lower threshold of support than the electoral threshold for the allocation of mandates in parliament."
- "We, Ministers and Heads of Delegation of the States and Governments of Countries using French as a common language, (…) 4 - Undertake the following commitments: (…) C. For a peaceful political life (...) 18. To ensure effective respect for freedom of the press and guarantee that all political forces have an equitable access to the public and private media, both printed and audiovisual, under regulations consistent with democratic principles."
- "Every person with disability has the right to barrier free access to the physical environment, transportation, information, including communications technologies and systems, and other facilities and services open or provided to the public. "
- "Every person with a disability has the right to participate in political and public life. "
- "State Parties shall take all appropriate policy, legislative and other measures to ensure this right (to participate in political and public life), on the basis of equality, including through: a) Undertaking or facilitating systematic and comprehensive civic education to encourage full participation of persons with disabilities in democracy and development processes, including by ensuring civic and voter education materials are availed in accessible formats. "
- "State Parties shall take all appropriate policy, legislative and other measures to ensure this right (to participate in political and public life), on the basis of equality, including through: (…) b) Encouraging the effective participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life including as members of political parties, electors and holders of political and public offices in accordance with national laws. "
- "State Parties shall take all appropriate policy, legislative and other measures to ensure this right (to participate in political and public life), on the basis of equality, including through: (…) c) Putting in place reasonable accommodations and other support measures consistent with the secrecy of the ballot, including as appropriate, accessibility of polling stations and facilitating assisted voting, for persons with disabilities to enable their effective participation in political and public life in accordance with national laws. "
- "State Parties shall take all appropriate policy, legislative and other measures to ensure this right (to participate in political and public life), on the basis of equality, including through: (…) e) Repealing or amending laws that on the basis of disability restrict the right of persons with disabilities to vote, stand for or remain in public office. "
- "The human rights model of disability recognizes that disability is a social construct and impairments must not be taken as a legitimate ground for the denial or restriction of human rights."
- "Persons with disabilities have the right to be effectively protected and to positively engage. The law itself shall guarantee the substantive equality of all those within a given jurisdiction. Thus, the recognition that all persons with disabilities are equal under the law means that there should be no laws that allow for specific denial, restriction or limitation of the rights of persons with disabilities, and that disability should be mainstreamed in all legislation and policies."
- "Reasonable accommodation duties are different from accessibility duties. Both aim to guarantee accessibility, but the duty to provide accessibility through universal design or assistive technologies is an ex ante duty, whereas the duty to provide reasonable accommodation is an ex nunc duty."