642 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Public services must be delivered in accordance with national laws, regulations and policies in force."
- "Public service and administration shall make available to users information on procedures and formalities pertaining to public service delivery"
- "State Parties shall adopt procedures for selection and recruitment into the public service and administration that shall be based on principles of competition, merit, equity and transparency."
- "State Parties shall: (…) 3. enact legislation and take other measures that protect the right of older persons to express opinions and participate in social and political life. "
- "The circumstances in which the lethal use of force by security forces is permitted are strictly circumscribed by international human rights law: the force must be necessary and proportionate to the threat posed, and intentional lethal force is only permitted where it is necessary to protect life."
- "The government, with international assistance where appropriate, should undertake an independent review of the events to determine the causes of the violence and necessary reforms. Investigations in such cases should aim to review the individual and structural causes or conditions for the killings in full, including whether the police use of force guidelines comply with the international law on the use of force; whether the police have any and appropriate plans for crowd-control situations; whether police have equipment and weapons appropriate for crowd control; the role of police intelligence; whether there were failures in the police command and control; and what orders were given to police."
- "The country may need to take special steps following security force killings during a protest to ensure that the police responsible are investigated, such as by creating a special task force or requesting the assistance of international investigators. Countering impunity for police abuses is a key step in deterring and reducing future abuses."
- "Insurgent threats, intimidation and violence towards potential voters can result in significant reductions in voter turnout, with grave negative effects on election legitimacy and on the development of democratic processes. In countries or areas where insurgents have called for boycotts and threatened violence against voters, more attention should be devoted to considering how voters can vote while minimizing retaliation. Voting practices that, for example, result in voters having semi-permanent marks on their bodies (e.g., ink stained fingers) allow insurgents to identify voters for punishment, and may be inappropriate in some contexts. "
- "Both before and during the election cycle, governments should make concerted efforts to dismantle private armed groups and prosecute those responsible for participating in or forming them. State forces should also protect citizens from armed groups."
- "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."
- "In countries with a track record of election violence, governments should draw up plans for dealing with such violence in the future in ways that are consistent with their human rights obligations. (...) While some of the details of such contingency planning will need to remain confidential, it is also essential that the authorities release enough detailed information in order to make it clear that serious planning has been undertaken, as well as to discourage those potentially violent forces who might otherwise assume there will be few obstacles to, and no consequences flowing from, their actions."
- "Investigations and prosecutions are essential to reduce future violence."
- "Sanctions should be imposed on electoral contestants who violate campaign finance regulations. Sanctions should eliminate any benefit obtained from failing to comply with the law, punish those who fail to comply and deter future non-compliance."
- "Sanctions must at all times be objective, enforceable, effective and proportionate to their specific purpose. A range of sanctions may be applied, including warnings, administrative fines, partial or total loss of public funds and, in the case of significant violations, criminal prosecution."
- "Where sanctions are imposed, it is essential that the sanctioned parties have the right to appeal and have recourse to a fair hearing by an impartial tribunal that can provide an effective remedy."
- "The oversight body’s mandate and areas of responsibility should be clearly delineated to avoid conflicts of interest or overlapping jurisdiction."
- "Reports should be made publicly available without unnecessary delay, and be easy to understand. It is important that the law establish clear and timely deadlines for oversight bodies to publish reports and ensures that they are easily accessible to the public for an extended period of time. It is an increasingly good practice to publish reports on the Internet in a standardized and searchable format, as well as through newspapers with a high circulation. Electoral contestants may also publish their reports directly as an additional measure of transparency."
- "To ensure the effectiveness of campaign finance rules, it is critical that responsibility for supervision be given to an independent and professional regulatory body, mandated to provide guidance to electoral stakeholders, check campaign finance reports and investigate potential breaches, and that it be endowed with sanctioning power in order to promote the effective implementation of the law and ensure the accountability of all stakeholders."
- "Appointments to the regulator should be independent from political pressure, and should include checks to increase its impartiality, neutrality and financial independence."
- "The designated institution or institutions should be given the necessary financial, human and operational resources to fulfil its mandate, as well as sufficient time to undertake its duties comprehensively and effectively."
- "The more serious sanctions, such as dissolution of a party, should only be a measure of last resort, as determined by a court, in compliance with due process of law and only for the most serious violations."
- "We, Ministers and Heads of Delegation of the States and Governments of Countries using French as a common language, (…) 4 - Undertake the following commitments: (…) B. For the holding of free, fair and transparent elections (...) 7. To strive to strengthen the national capacities of all players and institutions involved in the electoral process, with particular attention to establishing reliable civil registries and voters' lists."
- "We, Ministers and Heads of Delegation of the States and Governments of Countries using French as a common language, (…) 4 - Undertake the following commitments: (…) B. For the holding of free, fair and transparent elections (...) 8. To ensure that the organization of elections, from the preparatory stage through the election campaign to the counting of votes and the proclamation of results, including, where required, the resolution of any disputes, is conducted in full transparency and is handled by credible bodies whose independence is recognized by all."
- "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. "
- "Where sanctions are imposed, it is essential that the sanctioned parties have the right to appeal and have recourse to a fair hearing by an impartial tribunal that can provide an effective remedy."
- "The oversight body’s mandate and areas of responsibility should be clearly delineated to avoid conflicts of interest or overlapping jurisdiction."
- "Reports should be made publicly available without unnecessary delay, and be easy to understand. It is important that the law establish clear and timely deadlines for oversight bodies to publish reports and ensures that they are easily accessible to the public for an extended period of time. It is an increasingly good practice to publish reports on the Internet in a standardized and searchable format, as well as through newspapers with a high circulation. Electoral contestants may also publish their reports directly as an additional measure of transparency."
- "To ensure the effectiveness of campaign finance rules, it is critical that responsibility for supervision be given to an independent and professional regulatory body, mandated to provide guidance to electoral stakeholders, check campaign finance reports and investigate potential breaches, and that it be endowed with sanctioning power in order to promote the effective implementation of the law and ensure the accountability of all stakeholders."
- "Appointments to the regulator should be independent from political pressure, and should include checks to increase its impartiality, neutrality and financial independence."
- "The designated institution or institutions should be given the necessary financial, human and operational resources to fulfil its mandate, as well as sufficient time to undertake its duties comprehensively and effectively."
- "The more serious sanctions, such as dissolution of a party, should only be a measure of last resort, as determined by a court, in compliance with due process of law and only for the most serious violations."
- "We, Ministers and Heads of Delegation of the States and Governments of Countries using French as a common language, (…) 4 - Undertake the following commitments: (…) B. For the holding of free, fair and transparent elections (...) 7. To strive to strengthen the national capacities of all players and institutions involved in the electoral process, with particular attention to establishing reliable civil registries and voters' lists."
- "We, Ministers and Heads of Delegation of the States and Governments of Countries using French as a common language, (…) 4 - Undertake the following commitments: (…) B. For the holding of free, fair and transparent elections (...) 8. To ensure that the organization of elections, from the preparatory stage through the election campaign to the counting of votes and the proclamation of results, including, where required, the resolution of any disputes, is conducted in full transparency and is handled by credible bodies whose independence is recognized by all."
- "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. "
- "The core idea behind transparency, as that term is used in this paper, is that State actors – including actors which are funded or controlled by the State, even if they formally operate at arms length to the three branches of government – should act in an open manner. This includes being transparent about how they operate, about the rules that govern them, about their activities and expenditures, about their operations and about the decisions they take, among other things."
- "The core idea behind accountability is that State actors need to be able to be held responsible for their decisions and actions. Accountability is central to democratic governance and is implicit in the right to political participation, which rests, among other things, on the idea that the government is answerable to the people."
- "Accountability has two dimensions: answerability and enforcement. State bodies and representatives have an obligation to inform citizens about their actions and explain the rationale for their decisions (answerability). At the same time, citizens should have opportunities to hold these bodies and officials accountable for their actions (enforcement)."
- "Open meetings are the logical corollary of providing access to recorded or documentary information. (…) Better practice is to require meetings of governing bodies to be open, albeit subject to closure where this is justified. To achieve this, it is important to define the scope of both governing bodies – normally public decisionmaking bodies such as elected bodies, judicial bodies, planning and zoning boards, educational boards and so on – and meetings – which refers to formal or official meetings convened to conduct public business."
- "During electoral campaigns, a competent impartial electoral management body (EMB) or judicial body should be empowered to require private companies to remove clearly defined third-party content from the internet, based on electoral laws and in line with international standards."
- "During electoral periods, the open internet and net neutrality need to be protected."
- "The Council of Europe has identified two types of cyberthreats to elections. First, threats to electoral democracy, namely “attacks against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of election computers and data”, compromising voter databases or registration systems; tampering with voting machines to manipulate results; interference with the function of systems on election day; and illegal access to computers to steal, modify, disseminate sensitive data. Second, threats to deliberative democracy, i.e. “information operations with violations of rules to ensure free, fair and clean elections” related to data protection, political finances, media coverage of electoral campaigns and broadcasting and political advertising."
- "Concerning international cooperation, as already stressed under the preceding principle it is necessary to create mechanisms to make the exchange of information and the investigation, prosecution and sanction of illegal conducts related to the subject of democracy and new technologies more efficient."
- "Measures such as the adoption of corporate digital ethics codes and of self-regulatory mechanisms to solve conflicts between companies and users would also allow greater regulatory flexibility for the benefit of the interests of users and companies, while depressurising the relationship with the government and promoting co-responsibility of online behaviours."
- "It is a good practice for election-administration bodies to publish their decisions immediately upon delivery and provide regular and timely briefings for the media. "
- "All meetings should be announced in a timely manner, with all relevant documents equally conveyed to all members of the commission in sufficient time to be considered prior to the session."
- "Electronic technologies must function in a manner compatible with the principles enshrined in OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, and offer the same guarantees for transparency, accountability and public confidence as traditional voting methods."
- "Public security providers should operate in accordance with domestic law and international norms, and ensure that any necessary interventions are only required to achieve specific objectives of maintaining order based on a legitimate aim. Any restrictions during an electoral process should be based in law and be proportional to the objectives."
- "Law enforcement agencies and personnel should undertake efforts to ensure the availability of information to the public concerning its activities and cultivate a police-public partnership."
- "The use of force must be considered an exceptional measure, not to be executed arbitrarily. It should be proportionate to the threat, minimizing damage and injury, and used only to the extent required to achieve a legitimate objective. National legislation should clearly establish circumstances justifying its use. This includes providing adequate advance notice and using only the level of force needed to deal with various threats. Authorities should develop a range of responses to enable a differentiated and proportional use of force."
- "Public security providers should avoid the use of force in the event of unlawful though non-violent assemblies or limit its use to a minimum."