1726 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "The ideal requirements for political finance regulation in post-conflict societies listed below should be viewed as goals for the international community to achieve given the challenging constraints in which they are operating. There are three key requirements in the areas of legal framework, resources for political actors and institutions....3. Effective institutions and processes for enforcement of political finance regulation, including: Penalties and sanctions that are graduated and appropriate to the seriousness of the violation of political finance restrictions, reporting requirements or other regulations."
- "The violation of party finance regulations must be effectively sanctioned."
- "The legal framework for party and candidate financing should include provisions for disclosure, reporting, monitoring and enforcement."
- "To this effect, party financing legislation should include stipulations regulating at least four distinct aspects relating to the transparency of political finance: Enforcement: a legal system of sanctions to ensure that regulations on party financing are not evaded and to impose penalties when the law is breached. The provisions regarding transparency, control and enforcement of party financing should be laid down in public law. Almost every legal framework of party financing will include some provisions for disclosure, reporting, monitoring and enforcement."
- "States should require that any infringement of rules concerning the funding of political parties and election campaigns be subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions."
- "It is important that the law establishes sanctions in proportion to the gravity of the offence and does not penalise a minor violation such as exceeding donation or expenditure limits with a severe penalty such as the loss of civil or political rights. Conversely, serious breaches of the law should not be penalised too lightly."
- "Any irregularity in the financing of a political party shall entail sanctions proportionate to the severity of the offence that may consist of the loss of all or part of public financing for the following year. Any irregularity in the financing of an electoral campaign shall entail, for the party or candidate at fault, sanctions proportionate to the severity of the offence that may consist of the loss or the total or partial reimbursement of the public contribution, the payment of a fine or another financial sanction or the annulment of the election."
- "States should promote the specialisation of the judiciary, police or other personnel in the fight against illegal funding of political parties and electoral campaigns."
- "The information provided to the public needs to be accurate, which means that the enforcement agencies need to have the means to audit the reports and ensure that they give a correct picture of the finances of the party or candidate’s campaign."
- "States should provide for independent monitoring in respect of the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns."
- "The independent monitoring should include supervision over the accounts of political parties and the expenses involved in election campaigns as well as their presentation and publication."
- "Ensure that the financing of political groupings and regional elections is not only subject to traditional parliamentary scrutiny but is also monitored by an independent body such as a court of auditors."
- "States should establish independent auditing bodies endowed with sufficient powers to supervise the accounts of political parties and the expenses linked to electoral campaigns."
- "Electoral campaign accounts will be submitted to the organ charged with supervising election procedures, for example, an election committee, within a reasonable time limit after the elections."
- "The ideal requirements for political finance regulation in post-conflict societies listed below should be viewed as goals for the international community to achieve given the challenging constraints in which they are operating. There are three key requirements in the areas of legal framework, resources for political actors and institutions....3. Effective institutions and processes for enforcement of political finance regulation, including: As noted above, a nonpartisan, independent institution responsible for enforcement of political finance regulations with sufficient authority, training and resources to perform enforcement responsibilities."
- "It is usual that the EMB has responsibility for supervising and enforcing campaign finance regulations."
- "Regulatory agencies must be independent in terms of appointments, security of tenure and funding, and should themselves be independently supervised."
- "To this effect, party financing legislation should include stipulations regulating at least four distinct aspects relating to the transparency of political finance: Monitoring: provisions for an independent body to inspect and control party accounts."
- "Independent monitoring should include supervision over the accounts of political parties regarding their regular sources of income and expenditure, their routine operational costs as well as their election expenses."
- "States should provide for independent monitoring of the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns. Political parties and candidates should be required to present regular accounts to an independent authority."
- "Political parties and candidates should account to the EMB for the use of such [public] resources."
- "The legal framework should require periodic reporting at reasonable intervals of all contributions received and expenditure incurred by an electoral contestant."
- "Campaign costs can include salaries, transportation, office expenses, the purchase of print and electronic media, and the printing and distribution of campaign materials."
- "The legal framework should specifically identify the agency responsible for receiving and maintaining campaign contribution and expenditure reports. The legal framework should clearly specify where and when such reports are available for public inspection."
- "It is a good practice to require both pre- and post-election disclosure of campaign spending."
- "[The Electoral Commission] should be empowered to ensure that proper election expense returns are submitted on time, to inspect party accounts, and for parties to have properly audited and verified accounts."
- "The auditing commission membership should be multiparty and include minority parties and members of the opposition."
- "Commissioners should not be eligible for re-appointment; those holding lifetime or one-term appointments are the least likely to be influenced by partisan interests."
- "Furthermore, there should be no budgetary strings attached which curtail the powers and restrict the scope of activities of the controlling commission should it criticize the government or major political parties. The auditing commission should be free from political pressure in carrying out its activities, and should be free from party intervention when appointing its staff."
- "The regulatory authority must have adequate powers to supervise and investigate accounts and to refer irregularities to the criminal justice authorities."
- "In order to be effective, the regulatory body must also have the autonomous capacity to seek out violations."
- "The regulatory body must respect human rights, particularly the rights to due process and rights to be found in international and regional humans rights conventions."
- "The regulatory body should provide accessible information, produced in a timely manner and published on the Internet."
- "With regard to the monitoring agency, legislation on political finance should determine: the procedure for appointment of its members, including their term of office and safeguards for their independence."
- "With regard to the monitoring agency, legislation on political finance should determine: the definition of their specific powers and activities, such as the interpretation of relevant laws, the checking and publishing of party accounts, the publication of reports, the investigation of suspected violations of the law or the application of sanctions."
- "With regard to the monitoring agency, legislation on political finance should determine: the types of breaches of the law to be sanctioned and the specific sanctions to be applied for different types of violations."
- "The regulatory body itself should be subject to legal accountability, either through administrative law or by other means."
- "With regard to the monitoring agency, legislation on political finance should determine: the procedures for appeals against decisions of the agency."
- "A deadline should be set by the electoral law, after which the validity of candidatures may no longer be challenged...The time-frame for the verification process of the candidatures should be adjusted accordingly."
- "The structures of legal frameworks should be unambiguous, understandable and transparent. They should address all components of the system of party and candidate financing necessary to ensure democratic participation and competition between parties."
- "The ideal requirements for political finance regulation in post-conflict societies listed below should be viewed as goals for the international community to achieve given the challenging constraints in which they are operating. There are three key requirements in the areas of legal framework, resources for political actors and institutions...1. A legal framework for political finance regulation—contained in the electoral law, the political parties law or a separate political finance law—should include: Provisions that are clear, simple and unambiguous and supplemented by implementing regulations issued by the election management body or special body for political finance regulation."
- "Legislation should be stated in clear and unambiguous language."
- "Legislation should avoid conflicting provisions between laws governing the activities of political parties and laws governing their financial activities."
- "Legislation should avoid conflicting provisions between laws governing the financing of national and sub-national parties, and between laws governing the financing of national and sub-national election campaigns."
- "Legislation on party financing should at least cover fundamental issues such as traditional sources of finance, private donations, public subsidies to political parties, the financing of election campaigns and provisions for disclosure, reporting, monitoring and enforcement."
- "Legislation should be published and made readily available for the intended users, including political parties, candidates for public office and the general public."
- "The maintenance and development of genuine democracy require the existence and strengthening of free, independent, pluralistic, and responsible journalism. This requirement is reflected in the need for journalism to: submit the exercise of the various types of powers to continuous and critical examination."
- "Reasonable requirements are usually limited to minimum age, nationality ... The work of the Human Rights Committee provides a good deal of guidance on the limits of reasonable restrictions. In the course of their deliberations, as mandated by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, members of the Committee have noted that the following limitations on voting rights are not permissible: economic requirements, based on receipt of public assistance, ownership of property, or income."
- "Reasonable requirements are usually limited to minimum age, nationality... The work of the Human Rights Committee provides a good deal of guidance on the limits of reasonable restrictions. In the course of their deliberations, as mandated by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, members of the Committee have noted that the following limitations on voting rights are not permissible: (d) language requirements."
- "States parties condemn all propaganda and all organizations which are based on ideas or theories of superiority of one race or group of persons on one color or ethnic origin, or which attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form, and undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination and, to this end, with due regard to the principles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rights expressly set forth in article 5 of this Convention, inter alia: (a) Shall declare an offence punishable by law all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred, incitement to racial discrimination, as well as all acts of violence or incitement to such acts against any race or group of persons of another color or ethnic origin, and also provision of any assistance to racist activities including the financing thereof."