642 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Relevant international standards further require that a state of emergency be officially proclaimed before any exceptional measures are put into place."
- "In applying a limitation, a state shall use no more restrictive means than are required for the achievement of the purpose of the limitation."
- "According to article 4, paragraph 1, one of the conditions for the justifiability of any derogation from the Covenant is that the measures taken do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin."
- "The equal enjoyment of human rights by women must be protected during a state of emergency (article 4). States parties which take measures derogating from their obligations under the Covenant in time of public emergency, as provided in article 4, should provide information to the Committee with respect to the impact on the situation of women of such measures and should demonstrate that they are non-discriminatory."
- "No limitation on a right recognized by the Covenant shall discriminate contrary to Article 2, paragraph 1 [ICCPR]."
- "No State party shall, even in time of emergency threatening the life of the nation, derogate from the Covenant's guarantees of the right to life; freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and from medical or scientific experimentation without free consent; freedom from slavery or involuntary servitude; the right not to be imprisoned for contractual debt; the right not to be convicted or sentenced to a heavier penalty by virtue of retroactive criminal legislation; the right to recognition as a person before the law ; and freedom of thought, conscience and religion. These rights are not derogable under any conditions even for the asserted purpose of preserving the life of the nation. (59) States parties to the Covenant, as part of their obligation to ensure the enjoyment of these rights to all persons within their jurisdiction (article 3, paragraph 1), and to adopt measures to secure an effective remedy for violations (article 2, paragraph 3), shall take special precautions in time of public emergency to ensure that neither official nor semi-official groups engage in a practice of arbitrary and extrajudicial killings or involuntary disappearances, that persons in detention are protected against torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and that no persons are convicted or punished under laws or decrees with retroactive effect. (60) The ordinary courts should maintain their jurisdiction, even in a time of public emergency, to adjudicate any complaint that a non-derogable right has been violated."
- "The limitation clauses to the Covenant shall not be interpreted to restrict the exercise of any human rights protected to a greater extent by other international obligations binding upon the state."
- "Derogation from right recognized under international law in order to respond to a threat to the life of the nation is not exercised in a legal vacuum. It is authorized by law and as such it is subject to several legal principles of general application."
- "In a public emergency the rule of law shall still prevail. Derogation is an authorized and limited prerogative in order to respond adequately to a threat to the life of the nation. The derogating state shall burden of justifying its action under law."
- "Every limitation imposed shall be subject to the possibility of challenge to and remedy against its abusive application."
- "The burden of justifying a limitation upon a right guaranteed under the Covenant lies with the State."
- "Adequate safeguards and effective remedies shall be provided by law against illegal or abusive imposition or application of limitations on human rights."
- "The national constitution and laws governing states of emergency shall provide for prompt and periodic independent review by the legislature of the necessity for derogation measures."
- "The electoral system should be entrenched in the Constitution. The Electoral Act should clearly set out the form, content and operation of the electoral system adopted."
- "Inclusion of the basic principles of the election system in the constitution creates a safeguard against frequent changes. Constitutional amendments are often subject to a qualified majority vote or other onerous processes. Thus, it is a recommended practice to include the fundamental guarantees protecting suffrage rights in a country's constitution. This would include provisions regulating the very basis of the electoral system, such as the right to elect and be elected, the institutions subject to democratic elections, and terms of office of elected candidates."
- "The rights and freedoms proclaimed above can best be guaranteed by embodiment in constitutions or other fundamental laws none which should be subject to repeal or alteration by ordinary legislation."
- "Guarantees for the fundamental right of periodic free and fair elections which universal, equal, and non-discriminatory suffrage and secret balloting, and for the right to be elected and to have access to the public service on equal terms should be enshrined in the Constitution or other high organic law of the State."
- "The fundamental elements of electoral law, in particular the electoral system proper, membership of electoral commissions and the drawing of constituency boundaries, should not be open to amendment less than one year before an elections, or should be written in the constitution or at a level higher than ordinary law."
- "1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 2. Where not already provided for by existing legislative or other measures, each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take the necessary steps, in accordance with its constitutional processes and with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such legislative or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights recognized in the present Covenant."
- "The obligations of the Covenant in general and article 2 in particular and binding on every State Party as a whole. All branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial), and other public or governmental authorities, at whatever level - national, regional or local - are in a position to engage the responsibility of the State Party. The executive branch that usually represents the State Party internationally, including before the Committee, may not point to the fact that an action incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant was carried out by another branch of government as a means of seeking to relieve the State Party from responsibility for the action and consequent incompatibility. This understanding flows directly from the principle contained in article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, according to which a State Party 'may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty....In this respect, the Committee reminds States Parties with a federal structure of the terms of article 50, according to which the Covenant's provisions 'shall extend to all parts of federal states without any limitations or exceptions."
- "The participating States will fulfill in good faith their obligations under international law, both those obligations arising from the generally recognized principles and rules of international law and those obligations arising from treaties or other agreements, in conformity with international law, to which they are parties. In exercising their sovereign rights, including the right to determine their laws and regulations, they will conform with their legal obligations under international law."
- "In the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the participating States will act in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They will also fulfill their obligations as set forth in the international declarations and agreements in this field, including inter alia the International Covenants on Human Rights, by which they may be bound."
- "The participating States...recognize the need to make further peaceful efforts concerning human rights, democracy and the rule of law within the context of security and co-operation in Europe, individually and collectively, to make democratic advances irreversible and prevent any falling below the standards laid down in the principles and provisions of the Final Act, the Vienna Concluding Document, the Document of the Copenhagen Meeting, the Charter of Paris for a New Europe and the present document."
- "They reaffirm the particular significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the international Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant international instruments of their joint and separate efforts to stimulate and develop universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; they call on all participating States to act in conformity with those international instruments and on those participating States, which have not yet done so, to consider the possibility of acceding to the covenants."
- "The national legal framework is expected to provide a basis for the conduct of an electoral process that is in accordance with international standards for genuine and democratic elections and should include guarantees for the exercise of fundamental freedoms and political rights associated with elections."
- "Measures derogating from the provisions of the Covenant must be of an exceptional and temporary nature... the situation must amount to a public emergency which threatens the life of the nation, and the State party must have officially proclaimed a state of emergency…When proclaiming a state of emergency with consequences that could entail derogation from any provision of the Covenant, States must act within their constitutional and other provisions of law that govern such proclamation and the exercise of emergency powers."
- "When constituency boundaries are redefined – which they must be in a single member system – it must be done: - impartially; - without detriment to national minorities; - taking account of the opinion of a committee, the majority of whose members are independent; this committee should preferably include a geographer, a sociologist and a balanced representation of the parties and, if necessary, representatives of national minorities."
- "States parties are under an obligation to take all appropriate measures, including the enactment of appropriate legislation that complies with their Constitution, to ensure that organizations such as political parties and trade unions, which may not be subject directly to obligations under the Convention, do not discriminate against women and respect the principles contained in articles 7 and 8."
- "The delimitation process should: be managed by an independent and impartial body that is representative of the society, comprising persons with the appropriate skills…conducted by one body...include all spheres of government, both national and local."
- "It is a trend in developing countries, as well as in certain established democracies for the demarcation body to be independent from government and to be representative and legitimate in composition and structure."
- "In the interest of promoting plural, multi-party democracy and enhancing integrity of the electoral process, the independence and impartiality of the Boundary Delimitation Commission in drawing up constituency boundaries should be reaffirmed in the constitutions of SADC countries. The tenure of office of the Commissioners should be guaranteed in the Constitution. The drawing up of constituency boundaries should be left to the technical competence of the Boundary Delimitation Commission without political interference. The Commission should consult stakeholders in this process."
- "Although the Covenant does not impose any particular electoral system, any system operating in a State party must be compatible with the rights protected by article 25 and must guarantee and give effect to the free expression of the will of the electors. The principle of one person, one vote, must apply, and within the framework of each State’s electoral system, the vote of one elector should be equal to the vote of another."
- "Regional jurisprudence and recent United Nations General Assembly resolutions recognize ‘that there is no single political system or electoral method that is equally suited to all nations and their people and that the efforts of the international community to enhance the effectiveness of the principle of periodic and genuine elections should not call into question each State’s sovereign right, in accordance with the will of its people, freely to choose and develop its political, social, economic and cultural systems, whether or not they conform to the preferences of other States. Moreover, ‘political systems and electoral processes are subject to historical, political, cultural and religious factors’. Whether a State adopts a majoritarian voting system or one other system of proportional representation is thus a class issue falling with the reserved domain of domestic jurisdiction."
- "Periodic and genuine elections conducted on the basis of equal suffrage also means ‘equality of voting power’; in principle, no vote should carry disproportionately more weight than any other, but that does not necessarily require a system of proportional representation. On a complaint by a minority party member in the United Kingdom, the European Commission of Human Rights interpreted Protocol 1, article 3, to mean that different political parties must be given a reasonable opportunity to present their candidates for election, but did not require an electoral system which guaranteed that the total number of votes cast for each candidate or party be reflected in the composition of the legislature."
- "The general and distant objective set by international law—genuine periodic elections guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors, which shall be the basis of the authority of the government—allows considerable room for variation. Whether an electoral system departs from the permissible range is most likely to be answered by reference to other peremptory international law principles, such as non-discrimination. Does the ‘variation’ have the intent or effect of disenfranchising or devaluing the voting power of particular sections of the population for reasons that ought to be irrelevant to the exercise of political rights, such as race, religion, national or social origin, sex, language, political or other opinion, association with a national minority, birth or other status? If so, then to that extent the electoral system is potentially in breach of international law."
- "Each SADC State should adopt an electoral system in accordance with its own political dispensation, history and party system. The electoral system should be entrenched in the Constitution. The Electoral Act should clearly set out the form, content and operation of the electoral system adopted. All stakeholders, particularly the electorate, should understand the type of electoral system in use; how the state determines the allocation of legislative seats; the nature of representation and the political consequences of the chosen system. Electoral systems should promote and protect fundamental human rights as well as the secrecy of the ballot. The following principles must lie at the heart of the electoral system: broad representation of diverse political interests and population groups; inclusiveness and the political participation of key actors; political accountability of Members of Parliament to the voters; a transparent and legitimate election process and outcome."
- "The constitutional and legal framework should: provide a clear statement on the type of electoral system;"
- "The legal framework should reflect universal and regional standards for a democratic and meaningful election process…. The choice of an election system is of course one of the most fundamental decisions for any democracy."
- "The IPU has noted the need, among others, to strike a balance between two essential considerations: that a legislative election above all must make it possible to designate a cohesive government responsible for conducting a national policy; and that the election primarily must guarantee representation at the national level of the country’s political forces, and reproduce in Parliament as faithful an image as possible of their relative strength. The IPU has also stressed the importance of a reasonable link between the electors and the elected, reflecting those elements of proportionality which also characterize the governing principles of international law."
- "State practice confirms the variety of available choices, and no system can be considered, from an international law perspective, to be more valid than any other, provided it bears a reasonable relationship, in law and in practice, to the internationally prescribed objective."
- "The principle of equal suffrage nevertheless applies also to ‘threshold’ requirements, which can be and are used to deny representation to parties that fail to secure a prescribed percentage of the overall vote. Such criteria are commonly used to reduce the numbers of small or sectional interests in the legislature and to enhance the prospects for the formation of a viable government. Unless compensatory steps are taken, however, this technique can effectively disenfranchise substantial minorities. International standards nevertheless constrain and structure the choices available to States. The underlying obligation of result, combined with principles of equality, reasonableness and proportionality, can be used to mediate between the objective and the means chosen, and to show whether the system and its implementation in practice conform to what is required by international law. In short, the State is not free to use the ‘valid’ electoral technique of the threshold requirement in order to bar particular groups from representation in Parliament."
- "There is no "best" electoral system suitable to all and no universally recognized standard. The choice of electoral system needs to be made with desired goals in mind. The effects which different kinds of electoral system can promote are ultimately contextual and depend on the specific cleavages and divisions within any given society. While some electoral system are certainly more likely to produce, say, more proportional electoral results than others, the overall consequences of electoral systems are highly context-specific."
- "A country does have discretion in its choice of an appropriate electoral system. However, this does not mean that any electoral system or practice chosen by a country is acceptable. A country’s discretion in choosing an electoral system is not unlimited and should be exercised consistently with minimum standards."
- "A country’s choice for its electoral system, if it meets the minimum standard for democratic elections, should be respected."
- "United Nations human rights standards relating to elections are broad in nature and thus may be achieved through a wide variety of political systems. United Nations electoral assistance does not seek to impose any given political model. Rather, it is based upon a realization that there is not single political system or electoral methodology which is appropriate for all peoples and States. While comparative examples provide useful guidance for the construction of democratic institutions that both respond to domestic concerns and conform to international human rights norms, the best formulation for each jurisdiction will ultimately be that shaped by the particular needs, aspirations and historical realities of the people involved, taken within the framework of international standards. … United Nations activity in these areas is conducted in conformity with the basic principles of the sovereignty equality of States and respect for their territorial integrity and political independence, as enunciated in the Charter of the United Nations."
- "The method for aggregating results must be predetermined, visible and verifiable."
- "The legal framework must clearly state the electoral formula that will be used to convert votes into mandates. …The legal framework should provide, in clear and objective language, the procedures for transferring the protocol results of counting, ballots and election materials from lower election commissions to intermediate and higher election commissions for tabulation and safekeeping. ... The legal framework should clearly state whether election authorities might announce partial or preliminary results prior to final certification. If results can be announced prior to final certification, then the legal framework should clearly regulate the process for making such announcements. ...The legal framework should clearly specify the dates for final certification of the election results, how the process of final certification is to occur, including public announcement and notification to candidates of their election, and the terms of offices of elected candidates."
- "(iii) Verification and reconciliation of ballots should be done before counting begins and this should be done in the presence of candidates and all their agents. (iv) In the event of a long lapse of time between the completion of voting and the commencement of the counting, the ballot boxes should be sealed and opened in the presence of polling agents. (v) The Electoral Commission should prepare and make available a time-table of the electoral process, including the acquisition of electoral materials, packaging and distribution to polling centres. The time-table, including all stages of electoral events should, by law, be made accessible to all stakeholders."
- "An independent electoral authority should be established to supervise the electoral process and to ensure that it is conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with established laws which are compatible with the Covenant."
- "The bodies responsible for organizing the elections shall be independent or neutral and shall have the confidence of all the political actors. Where necessary, appropriate national consultations shall be organized to determine the nature and the structure of the bodies."