1357 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "In the case of Podkolzina v. Latvia, the Court stated 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 that the eligibility procedure contain sufficient safeguards to prevent arbitrary decisions (see Podkolzina v. Latvia, no. 46726/99, § 35, ECHR 2002-II). Although originally stated in connection with the conditions on eligibility to stand for election, the principle requiring prevention of arbitrariness is equally relevant in other situations where the effectiveness of individual electoral rights is at stake (see, mutatis mutandis, Kovach v. Ukraine, no. 39424/02, § 55, ECHR 2008‑...)."
- "The obligation to pay relates to the amount by which the Constitutional Council has found the ceiling to have been exceeded. This would appear to show that it is in the nature of a payment to the community of the sum of which the candidate in question improperly took advantage to seek the votes of his fellow citizens and that it too forms part of the measures designed to ensure the proper conduct of parliamentary elections and, in particular, equality of the candidates. Furthermore, apart from the fact that the amount payable is neither determined according to a fixed scale nor set in advance, several features differentiate this obligation to pay from criminal fines in the strict sense: no entry is made in the criminal record, the rule that consecutive sentences are not imposed in respect of multiple offences does not apply, and imprisonment is not available to sanction failure to pay. In view of its nature, the obligation to pay the Treasury a sum equal to the amount of the excess cannot be construed as a fine."
- "The Court reiterates, having regard to the parties’ submissions which are summarised above, in paragraphs 60 et seq. and 72 et seq., that “the scope of the Contracting States’ obligations under Article 13 varies depending on the nature of the applicant’s complaint; ... the remedy must be effective in practice as well as in law in the sense either of preventing the alleged violation or remedying the impugned state of affairs, or of providing adequate redress for any violation that has already occurred” (see Petkov and Others v. Bulgaria, nos. 77568/01, 178/02 and 505/02, § 74, 11 June 2009). The Court also reiterates that “although no single remedy may itself entirely satisfy the requirements of Article 13, the aggregate of remedies provided for under domestic law may do so” (see Kudła v. Poland [GC], no. 30210/96, § 157, ECHR 2000‑XI). "
- "The Court is mindful of the stance taken by the Venice Commission that “equality of opportunity” shall be guaranteed to all parties and candidates alike entailing a neutral attitude by state authorities, in particular with regard to the election campaign and coverage by the media (see paragraph 51 above). That being said, the Court observes that Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 was not conceived as a code on electoral matters, designed to regulate all aspects of the electoral process. There are numerous ways of organising and running electoral systems and a wealth of differences, inter alia, in historical development, cultural diversity and political thought within Europe, which it is for each Contracting State to mould into its own democratic vision (see Ždanoka v. Latvia [GC], no. 58278/00, § 103, ECHR 2006‑IV). The States “enjoy considerable latitude to establish rules within their constitutional order governing parliamentary elections and the composition of the parliament, and ... the relevant criteria may vary according to the historical and political factors peculiar to each State” (see Aziz v. Cyprus, no. 69949/01, § 28, ECHR 2004‑V). "
- "While this margin of appreciation is wide, it is certainly not all-embracing: the rules governing the electoral system “should not be such as to exclude some persons or groups of persons from participating in the political life of the country and, in particular, in the choice of the legislature, a right guaranteed by both the Convention and the Constitutions of all Contracting States” (ibid.). It is for the Court to determine in the last resort whether the requirements of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 have been complied with. It has to satisfy itself that the restrictions imposed do not thwart the free expression of the opinion of the people. "
- "According to the presentation on the opinions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding specific situations related to the authenticity of the elections, the purpose is to achieve general conditions so that the electoral process offers every group that participates an equal opportunity. "
- "In its 1986-1987 Annual Report, also referring to Chile and the background analyzed in its 1985 Report, it was pointed out that: Also in light of previous experiences and in accordance with human rights norms, the Commission must point out that the exercise of the right to vote must be included in a context favoring the authenticity of elections in which the free expression of the will of the voters is ensured, as Article 23 of the American Convention on Human Rights states."
- "The Commission considers that the act of ratifying the American Convention presupposes acceptance of the obligation of not only respecting the observance of rights and freedoms recognized in it, but also guaranteeing their existence and the exercise of all of them. It is these elements of political rights presented in item 5 of this document that the State commits itself not only to respect but “guarantee their full and free exercise,” according to Article 1.1 of the Convention. It must be pointed out that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its Decision of July 29, 1988, in the case of Velásquez Rodríguez, has stated that Article 1.1 of the Convention: Article 1 (1) is essential in determining whether a violation of the human rights recognized by the Convention can be imputed to a State Party. In effect, that article charges the States Parties with the fundamental duty to respect and guarantee the rights recognized in the Convention. Any impairment of those rights which can be attributed under the rules of international law to the action or omission of any public authority constitutes an act imputable to the State, which assumes responsibility in the terms provided by the Convention. "
- "According to the Court, “this obligation implies the duty of the State party to organize all the state apparatus and, in general, all the structures through which the exercise of public power is manifested, in such a manner that they are able to legally insure the free and full exercise of human rights.” That is the basis of the obligation stipulated in Article 2 of the Convention for the adoption of measures of internal law to make those rights and liberties effective. Therefore, this carries with it the obligation of the state party to adapt its internal legislation when it suffers defects that prevent or hinder the full observance of the rights recognized by the Convention and, in this specific case, the rights protected by Article 23. "
- "Although the Committee considers that, even if in some circumstances denial of access to State-owned or State-controlled distribution services may amount to an interference with rights protected by article 19, in the present case, the author has not provided sufficient information that would permit the Committee to evaluate the extent of the interference or to determine whether the denial of such access is discriminatory. The Committee further notes that in any event, even if the newspaper in question was not included in the “Belpochta” subscription list and was not delivered to his home address by mail, the author was able to obtain it by other means. "
- "The Court considers that, irrespective of whether or not the request was made outside the legal time frame for the registration of candidacies submitted by political parties, the decision of IFE not to accept the alleged victim’s request constituted, for the effects of this Court’s competence, an act enforcing the law, since this negative was based, first, on the provisions of Article 177 of the COFIPE concerning the legal time frames for the registration of candidacies and, second, on the provisions of Article 175 of COFIPE, concerning candidacies by means of political parties, and this authority had indicated the legal impossibility of accepting Mr. Castañeda Gutman’s request. This decision, based on the constitutional and legal provisions that regulate the matter, issued by the competent administrative authority hat ruled on the legal issue filed before it, with the specific and concrete effect of not allowing the registration of the candidacy, was the act enforcing the law, and was even considered as such by the domestic courts. "
- "Article 25(1) of the Convention establishes, in general terms, the obligation of the States to guarantee an effective judicial remedy against acts that violate fundamental rights. When interpreting the text of Article 25 of the Convention, the Court has stated that the State’s obligation to provide a judicial remedy is not limited to the mere existence of the courts or the formal procedures, or even to the possibility of resorting to the courts, but that the remedies must be effective; in other words, they must provide the person with the real possibility of filing a remedy, in the terms of that provision. The existence of this guarantee “constitutes one of the basic pillars, not only of the American Convention, but also of the rule of law in a democratic society pursuant to the Convention.” Thus, in accordance with Article 25(2)(b) of the Convention, the States undertake to develop the possibilities of the judicial remedy. "
- "The State’s general obligation to adapt its domestic laws to the provisions of the Convention in order to guarantee the rights it embodies, which is established in Article 2, includes issuing norms and developing practices that lead to the effective observance of the rights and freedoms embodied in the Convention, as well as adopting measures to eliminate norms and practices of any nature that entail a violation of the guarantees established therein. "
- "The Court observes that, in order to prove the alleged violation of Article 25 of the Convention, both the Commission and the representatives indicated the lack of a simple, prompt and effective remedy for the alleged victim to claim the protection of his constitutional rights. In this regard, the Court considers, as do the Commission and the State, that the application for amparo filed by the alleged victim was not the appropriate remedy in this case, since it was inadmissible in relation to electoral matters. "
- "The Court finds that it is not inherently incompatible with the Convention that a State limits the application for amparo to specific matters, provided that it offers another remedy of a similar nature and equal scope for those rights that cannot be heard by the courts using the amparo proceeding. This is particularly relevant as regards political rights, which are human rights of such importance that the American Convention prohibits their suspension, and also of the judicial rights that are essential to protect them (infra para. 140). "
- "Despite the above, the Court considers it pertinent to refer to the Inter-American Commission’s argument that, over and above the fact that the application for amparo was not the appropriate remedy, because electoral matters fell outside its sphere of competence, “effectiveness implies that the judicial body has assessed the merits of the complaint.” In this regard, the Court has established that “the competent authority’s examination of a judicial remedy […] cannot be limited to a mere formality, but must examine the reasons invoked by the complainant and specifically express an opinion on them, according to the parameters established by the American Convention. In other words, it is a minimum guarantee for anyone who files a remedy that the grounds for the ruling deciding it are stated; otherwise the ruling will violate the guarantee of due process. "
- "For the Court, the requirement that the decision should be founded is not the same as an analysis of the merits of the matter, since this examination is not essential to determine the effectiveness of the remedy. The existence and application of conditions for the admissibility of a remedy is compatible with the American Convention, and the effectiveness of the remedy implies that, when these conditions are complied with, the judicial organ may assess its merits. "
- "The Court considers that the meaning of the protection granted by Article 25 of the Convention is the real possibility of access to a judicial remedy so that the competent authority, with jurisdiction to issue a binding decision, determines whether there has been a violation of a right claimed by the person filing the action, and that the remedy is useful to restitute to the interested party the enjoyment of his right and to repair it, if it finds there has been a violation. Indeed, it would be unreasonable to establish this judicial guarantee if the plaintiffs were obliged to know beforehand whether the judicial organ would consider that their situation was protected by a specific right. "
- "Based on the above, and irrespective of whether the judicial authority declares the claim of the persons who files a remedy to be unfounded, because it is not covered by the norm invoked or should it find that there has not been a violation of the right alleged to have been violated, the State is obliged to provide effective remedies that allow individuals to challenge those acts of authority which they consider violate their human rights established in the Convention, the Constitution and the law. Indeed, Article 25 of the American Convention establishes the right to the judicial protection of the rights embodied in the Convention, the Constitution or the law, and it can be violated irrespective of whether or not there has been a violation of the right claimed or that the situation on which it was based fell within the sphere of application of the right invoked. This is because, like Article 8, “Article 25 of the Convention also embodies the right of access to justice. "
- "The Convention establishes that a person subject to the jurisdiction of the State must have access “to a simple and prompt recourse, or any other effective recourse to a competent court or tribunal for protection against acts that violate his fundamental rights.” The Court considers that, in the instant case, the dispute between the parties is limited to two of the said characteristics related to the effectiveness of the recourse: (a) whether the alleged victim had access to a recourse, and (b) whether the competent court had the necessary powers to restore the enjoyment of his rights to the alleged victim, if it found that those rights had been violated. The Court will refer to the first of these characteristics as the “accessibility of the recourse” and to the second as the “effectiveness of the recourse. "
- "An effective judicial remedy is one, which can produce the result for which it was conceived; in other words, the remedy must be capable of leading to an analysis by the competent court to establish whether there has been a human rights violation and of providing reparation. "
- "Political rights are human rights of fundamental importance within the inter-American system and they are closely related to other rights embodied in the American Convention, such as freedom of expression, and freedom of association and assembly; together, they make democracy possible. The Court underscores the importance of political rights and recalls that Article 27 of the American Convention prohibits their suspension and establishes the judicial guarantees essential for their protection. "
- "The Court considers that the effective exercise of political rights constitutes an end in itself and also a fundamental means that democratic societies possess to guarantee the other human rights established in the Convention. "
- "Article 23 contains various norms that refer to the rights of the individual as a citizen; that is, as titleholder of the decision-making process in public matters, in his capacity as a voter by means of his vote, or as a public servant; in other words, to be elected by the people or by appointment or designation to occupy a public office. In addition to possessing the particularity of dealing with rights recognized to the citizen, as distinct from almost all the other rights established in the Convention that are recognized to every person, Article 23 of the Convention not only establishes that its titleholders must enjoy rights, but adds the word “opportunities.” The latter implies the obligation to guarantee with positive measures that every person who is formally the titleholder of political rights has the real opportunity to exercise them. As the Court has previously indicated, it is essential that the State create optimum conditions and mechanisms to ensure that political rights can be exercised effectively, respecting the principle of equality and non-discrimination. "
- "Citizens have the right to play an active role in the conduct of public affairs directly through referenda, plebiscites or consultations or through freely elected representatives. The right to vote is an essential element for the existence of a democracy and a way in which citizens freely express their wishes and exercise the right to participate in government. This right implies that citizens can decide directly and elect freely, in conditions of equality, those who will represent them in decision-making in public affairs. "
- "Political participation by exercising the right to be elected supposes that citizens can postulate themselves as candidates in conditions of equality and that they can occupy public office subject to election if they are able to achieve the necessary number of votes. "
- "The right and opportunity to vote and to be elected embodied in Article 23(1)(b) of the American Convention is exercised regularly in genuine periodic elections by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot that guarantees the free expression of the will of the voters. Over and above these characteristics of the electoral process (genuine periodic elections) and of the principles of the suffrage (universal, equal, secret, that reflect the free expression of the will of the people), the American Convention does not establish a specific mechanism or a particular electoral system by which the right to vote and to be elected must be exercised (infra para. 197). The Convention merely establishes certain standards within which the States legitimately may and must regulate political rights, provided that these regulations comply with the requirements of legality, are designed to fulfill a legitimate purpose, and are necessary and proportionate; that is, they are reasonable according to the principles of representative democracy. "
- "Article 23(2) of the American Convention establishes that the law may regulate the exercise and opportunities of such rights only on the basis of “age, nationality, residence, language, education, civil and mental capacity, or sentencing by a competent court in criminal proceedings.” The provision that limits the reasons for which it is possible to restrict the use of the rights of paragraph 1 has only one purpose – in light of the Convention as a whole and of its essential principles – to avoid the possibility of discrimination against individuals in the exercise of their political rights. It is evident that the inclusion of these reasons refers to the enabling conditions that the law can impose to exercise political rights. Restrictions based on these criteria are common in national electoral laws, which provide for the establishment of the minimum age to vote and to be elected, and some connection to the electoral district where the right is exercised, among other regulations. Provided that they are not disproportionate or unreasonable, these are limits that the States may legitimately establish to regulate the exercise and enjoyment of political rights and that, it should be repeated, they refer to certain requirements that the titleholders of political rights must comply with so as to be able to exercise them. "
- "This positive obligation consists in designing a system that allows representatives to be elected to conduct public affairs. Indeed, for political rights to be exercised, the law must establish regulations that go beyond those related to certain State limitations to restrict those rights, established in Article 23(2). The States must organize their electoral systems and establish a complex number of conditions and formalities to make it possible to exercise the right to vote and to be elected. "
- "Consequently, the State not only has the general obligation established in Article 1 to ensure the enjoyment of the rights, but has specific guidelines to comply with its obligation. The electoral system that the States establish in accordance with the American Convention should make it possible to hold genuine periodic elections, by universal and equal suffrage, and by secret ballot that guarantee the free expression of the will of the voters. Hence, this gives the State a specific mandate in relation to the mechanisms that it should choose to comply with its general obligation “to ensure” the enjoyment of the rights established in Article 1 of the Convention, compliance that, as Article 1(1) states in general, should not be discriminatory. "
- "The Court finds it necessary to indicate that, in general, international law does not impose a specific electoral system or a specific means of exercising the rights to vote and to be elected. This is clear from the norms that regulate political rights in both the universal and the regional sphere, and from the authorized interpretations made by their organs of application. "
- "In the sphere of political rights the guarantee obligation is especially relevant and is implemented, among other mechanisms, by the establishment of the organizational and institutional aspects of the electoral processes, and by the enactment of norms and the adoption of different types of measures to implement the rights and opportunities recognized in Article 23 of the Convention. In the absence of this action by the State, the right to vote and to be elected could simply not be exercised. The political and other rights established in the Convention, such as the right to judicial protection, are rights that “cannot be merely by virtue of the provisions that embody them, because they are, by their very nature, ineffectual without a detailed normative regulation, and even without a complex institutional, economic and human apparatus that endows them with the effectiveness they claim, as rights under the Convention[…]; if there were no electoral codes or law, electors’ lists, political parties, propaganda media and mobilization, polling stations, electoral boards, dates and times for exercising the vote, the right could simply not be exercised, due to its very nature; similarly, the right to judicial protection cannot be exercised unless there are courts that grant this right, and procedural norms that discipline it and make it possible. "
- "The Inter-American system also does not impose a specific electoral system or a specific means of exercising the rights to vote and to be elected. The American Convention establishes general guidelines that determine a minimum content of political rights and allows the States to regulate those rights, within the parameters established in the Convention, according to their historical, political, social and cultural needs, which may vary from one country to another and even within one country, at different historical moments. "
- "With the exception of some rights that cannot be restricted in any circumstance, such as the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, human rights are not absolute. As the Court has established previously, the establishment and application of requirements to exercise political rights is not, per se, an undue restriction of political rights. However, the power of the States to regulate or restrict rights is not discretional, but is limited by international law, which requires compliance with certain obligations that, if they are not respected, make the restriction unlawful and contrary to the American Convention. As established in Article 29(a) in fine of this instrument, no provision of the Convention shall be interpreted as restricting them to a greater extent than is provided for therein. "
- "The Court observes that, in comparative electoral law, the regulation of the right to be elected, as regards the registration of the candidacies, may be executed in two ways: by the system of registration of candidates exclusively by the political parties, or by the system of registration of candidacies by the political parties, together with the possibility of registering independent candidacies. In the region, there is a certain balance between the States that have establishes the system of registration exclusively by parties and those that also allow independent candidacies. "
- "Neither of the two systems: exclusive nomination by political parties or the one that allows independent candidacies is, in itself, more or less restrictive than the other in terms of regulating the right to be elected embodied in Article 23 of the Convention. The Court considers that it is not possible to make an abstract assessment of whether the system that allows independent candidacies is a less restrictive alternative for regulating the right to be elected than the other that does not allow them. This will depend on diverse circumstances, especially on how the abovementioned aspects of the independent candidacies are regulated or on the regulation of the candidacies presented by parties. "
- "Independent candidacies can be regulated to facilitate and expand access to the right to be elected, but at times the requirements for registering independent candidacies can be greater than those established for the nomination of a candidate by a political party. The mere fact that independent candidacies are allowed does not mean that this is the least restrictive way to regulate the right to be elected. The essential point is that whichever of the two systems is chosen, it should make accessible and guarantee the right and the opportunity to be elected established in the Convention, under equal conditions. "
- "Regarding whether the measure was adapted to achieving the legitimate objective sought, based on the above the Court finds that, in the instant case, the exclusivity of nomination by political parties to elected office at the federal level is an appropriate measure to produce the legitimate result sought of organizing the electoral processes efficiently in order to hold genuine periodic elections, by universal and equal suffrage and by secret vote that guarantee the free expression of the will of the voters, as established by the American Convention. "
- "Lastly, the Court considers that both systems, one built on the exclusive basis of political parties, and the other that also allows independent candidacies can be compatible with the Convention and, therefore, the decision on which system to choose is subject to the political decision made by the State, in accordance with its constitutional norms. The Court is aware that there is a profound crisis as regards the political parties, the legislatures and those who conduct public affairs in the region, which calls for a thorough and thoughtful debate on political participation and representation, transparency, and the rapprochement of the institutions to the people, in brief, on strengthening and improving democracy. Civil society and the State have the fundamental responsibility, which cannot be waived, to carry out this discussion and make proposals to reverse the situation. In this regard, the States must assess the measures that will strengthen political rights and democracy according to their particular historical and political evolution, and independent candidacies may be one among many of these mechanisms. "
- "The Court has stated that it cannot be considered that every difference in treatment, in itself, violates human dignity. The Court has also distinguished between distinctions and discriminations, so that the former are differences that are compatible with the American Convention because they are reasonable, proportionate and objective, while the latter are arbitrary differences that lead to the detriment of human rights. "
- "The Court finds that local and federal elections cannot be compared, so that it is not possible to conclude that the differences in the way they are organized are discriminatory and violate the right to equality before the law, established in Article 24 of the American Convention. "
- "The “Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters” highlights that the stability of the law is crucial to the credibility of the electoral process (see CDL-AD(2002)023rev, part II.2.d and paras 63-65). Therefore it should be avoided that rules on politically delicate issues – like the composition of election commissions, the electoral system or the drawing of constituency boundaries –, which are regarded as decisive factors in the election results, are changed frequently or just before elections. “In general any reform of electoral legislation to be applied during an election should occur early enough for it to be really applicable to the election” (CDL-AD(2005)043, para. 5). "
- "In order to make electoral laws and election materials accessible for all citizens it is important that these public documents [electoral laws] are published in all officially recognised and protected minority languages. "
- "In states with little experience of organizing democratic elections, the impartiality of the electoral administration vis-à-vis the executive government can not be taken for granted. This is why the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters makes a strong demand for independent electoral commissions in those countries. In fact autonomous electoral commissions which are independent from other government institutions are increasingly viewed as the basis of impartial electoral management in developing or new democracies throughout the world. "
- "It is very important that the duties and responsibilities of each body are clearly determined by the electoral law. Sometimes, however, provisions regarding responsibilities of election commissions are vague, and the relationship between the different level of electoral commissions is not sufficiently specified. "
- "Voter education is an integral, albeit sometimes neglected, part of the election process. It refers to basic information on elections (e.g. date and type of elections) and explanations of electoral procedures (voter registration, voting system, etc.), and usually also addresses the voters’ motivation and preparedness to participate fully in the elections. Voter education is especially important in emerging and new democracies and in situations where new electoral provisions or technologies are being applied for the first time. As far as referendums are concerned, the voters must be objectively and comprehensively informed both about the question submitted to the electorate in the referendum and its consequences. "
- "Universal franchise is a key element of modern democracies. It is important that the right to vote and the process of voter registration are not unreasonably restricted on the basis of race, gender, religion, ethnic origin, past or present political affiliation, language, literacy, property or registration fees. However, the right to vote, may be subject to a number of reasonable conditions, the most usual being age, citizenship and residency. Furthermore, there might be provisions for clauses suspending political rights due to lawful detention, criminal convictions or mental incapacity. "
- "Whilst a citizenship requirement is common for national elections and referendums, there is a growing tendency to grant (long-term) foreign residents the right to vote in local elections. "
- "If external voting rights are granted, attention should be paid to ensure the equality of votes. Though it appears to be acceptable to limit external voting rights to certain types of elections, e.g. for President or the national Parliament, it may be problematic to not let external voters fully participate in those elections. "
- "As with the right to vote, the right to stand for elections is universal, and can not be limited for reasons of e.g. race, gender, language, religion, ethnic origin, political affiliation, or economic status. Internationally accepted restrictions may include a minimum age that is higher than the voting age, citizenship and a residency requirement for a certain period of time before elections. Furthermore, the obligation to collect a specific number of signatures or to pay a small deposit are considered as being generally compatible with the universal right to stand for elections. There might also be provisions for clauses suspending political rights (lawful detention, mental incapacity etc.). "