1079 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "In order to impart justice in a manner that is absolutely faithful to the mandate of the constitution and the law, it is not enough for EDRBs to enjoy structural autonomy and functional independence. It is also necessary that those who judge electoral matters act with absolute independence, impartiality and professionalism in their individual capacity, without recognizing any subordination to any interest or will other than those stated by law."
- "The public’s trust in an EDRB is strengthened when the constitution or statute that established it contains: - transparent mechanisms for selecting and appointing its members, or at least those of its highest-level organ, based on the merits of the candidates and according to gender- or ethnic-based inclusiveness criteria, and ensuring that they will not be bound by debts of gratitude, fidelity, or animosity with respect to any individual or group."
- "The law generally establishes a predetermined term of office for judicial positions which cannot be reduced or prolonged except by provision of law. This consolidates the independence of those who judge electoral matters: they cannot be dismissed or removed for having handed down decisions that do not please, or are considered inconvenient by certain political parties or individuals."
- "Often the requirement to publish extends not only to electoral judicial rulings but also to the proceedings of the sessions in which they are made. Some examples of good practice include those in which EDRBs have agreed to broadcast their public sessions in real time through the Internet, or post their judgements on their website as soon as they are issued, along with the judicial criteria that establish binding precedent where this is applicable."
- "Electoral judicial proceedings should be timely, that is, a decision should be reached promptly and expeditiously within the legally established periods or stages of the electoral process. A decision taken outside this time frame may be unfair, and would make it impossible to correct the damage done to some electoral rights."
- "Reasonable deadlines should be provided for bringing challenges (generally shorter than those for civil litigation and other branches of administrative law). These need to balance the time required by the person alleging harm by a particular electoral act or decision to take stock of its content and scope and to gather the evidence, on the one hand, against the need to obtain a timely resolution, given that electoral processes proceed in stages that cannot be changed or interrupted."
- "The EDRS should guarantee the right to a defence or to a hearing on a challenge both to the complainant and to the person or body complained against. This includes both the opportunity to make their arguments and the obligation on the EDRB to hear and study them."
- "Violence against women in politics, as all forms of gender-based violence, constitutes a violation of human rights and is a form of discrimination against women prohibited under international human rights standards, under which States have due diligence obligations to prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence against women, whether they are perpetrated by State or non-State actors. States, therefore, have a duty to eradicate and prevent acts of violence against women in politics."
- "The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States: (a) Adopt and implement legislation prohibiting and criminalizing violence against women in politics or incorporate adequate provisions into existing laws on eliminating violence against women, consistent with international and regional human rights standards. That includes laws to prohibit sexism, harassment and other forms gender-based violence against women in politics, public life and parliament. Laws must be comprehensive enough to cover new forms of violence, including online or ICT-facilitated violence against women. "
- "The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations to States: (...) (c) Strengthen the legislative basis for gender parity in all branches and at all levels of government to guarantee women’s full participation in political and public life in compliance with international and regional human rights standards, applying, when necessary, temporary special measures, such as quotas and other measures, to accelerate progress towards the equal participation of women in political life."
- "As many incidents of violence against women in politics occur during electoral processes, electoral stakeholders are encouraged to: (a) Electoral management bodies: monitor and report violence against women in elections, analyse voter and candidate registration procedures to prevent the erection of barriers to women’s participation; ensure that voting arrangements guarantee women’s safety in registration centres and polling stations; integrate information about violence against women in politics and elections and respective mitigation measures into training programmes for electoral administrators; and ensure that early warning systems for election violence and electoral security assessment address gender-based forms of violence."
- "States should also promote digital literacy in the use of the Internet and ICT for all, without sex- or gender-based discrimination, and promote gender equality at all levels of education, including online education, from early childhood onwards."
- "Intermediaries should ensure data security and privacy, and ensure that the use of data is in compliance with international human rights law and has the fully informed consent of data providers."
- "In addition, support for initiatives promoting media and information literacy skills for accessing and managing the digital space is essential."
- "Internet intermediaries should ensure that all terms of service agreements and policies specifying the rights of users and all other standards and practices for content moderation and the processing and disclosure of user data are publicly available in clear, plain language and accessible formats."
- "Internet intermediaries should clearly and transparently provide meaningful public information about the operation of automated data processing techniques in the course of their activities, including the operation of algorithms that facilitate searches based on user profiling or the distribution of algorithmically selected and personalised content, such as news. This should include information on which data is being processed, how long the data processing will take, which criteria are used, and for what purpose the processing takes place."
- "Internet intermediaries should respect the rights of users to receive, produce and impart information, opinions and ideas. Any measures taken to restrict access (including blocking or removing content) as a result of a State order or request should be implemented using the least restrictive means."
- "Internet intermediaries should limit the processing of personal user data to what is necessary in the context of a clearly defined purpose, which is explicitly communicated to all users in a proactive manner. The processing, including collection, retention, aggregation, storage, adaptation, alteration, linking or sharing of personal data shall be based on the free, specific, informed and unambiguous consent of the user, with respect to a specific purpose, or on another legitimate basis laid down by law, as prescribed by Convention 108."
- "Users have the right to access their personal data and to obtain correction, deletion and blocking of it. Intermediaries should therefore provide them with relevant information at all stages of processing, using clear and plain language, especially where such information is addressed to children. Moreover, intermediaries should inform users clearly about the conditions under which they may exercise the right to personal data erasure, to object to the processing of data and to withdraw consent provided for the processing of personal data, following which all processing based on the consent of the user should be terminated."
- "Internet service providers should put in place appropriate, clear, open and efficient procedures to respond within reasonable time limits to complaints from Internet users alleging breaches of the principles included in the foregoing provisions. Internet users should have the possibility to refer the matter directly to competent authorities within each member State and be entitled to timely redress."
- "The State provides media and digital literacy programmes for users to foster their ability to make informed decisions and to respect the rights and freedoms of others."
- "Personal data are processed lawfully (with the unambiguous consent of the data subject or on the basis of law) for legitimate purposes and not in excess of such purposes, accurately and securely. These conditions apply also to profiling (personal data automatic processing techniques that collect and use information about an individual in order to identify, analyse or predict his or her personal preferences, behaviour and attitudes)."
- "There are effective processes enabling every individual to obtain, on request, information on the processing of his or her personal data and the reason underlying processing; to object to processing; to obtain, on request, rectification or erasure of the personal data; and to consent to, object to or withdraw consent to personal data processing or profiling. "
- "A supervisory authority, which acts with complete independence and impartiality, ensures compliance with data protection legal frameworks."
- "The Human Rights Council, (…) 4. Affirms that quality education plays a decisive role in development, and therefore calls upon all States to promote digital literacy (…)."
- "The Human Rights Council, (…) 7. Encourages all States to take appropriate measures to promote, with the participation of persons with disabilities, the design, development, production and distribution of information and communications technology and systems, including assistive and adaptive technologies, that are accessible to persons with disabilities."
- "In line with the Convention 108 and according to Recommendation CM/Rec(2012)4 on the protection of human rights with regard to social networking services and Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)5 on Internet freedom, social network services should not process personal data beyond the specified purposes for which they have collected it. Electoral campaigning constitutes in most cases a distinct purpose for which distinct consent is required."
- "Users’ consent to the collection and commercialisation of their personal information must latch on a genuine understanding of the economic and political value of their choice."
- "The Commission encourages Member States to mobilise resources and include in their educational policies digital citizenship, media literacy, the development of critical-thinking skills for the online environment, and awareness-raising activities on disinformation and online amplification techniques."
- "Concerning more specifically the risks posed by disinformation and undue propaganda on the internet and social media for the smooth conduct of the electoral process, the Assembly calls on member States to: (…) 9.6. encourage all stakeholders – including internet intermediaries, media outlets, civil society and academia – to develop participatory initiatives to enable the general public to have a better understanding of the danger of disinformation and undue propaganda on the internet, and to seek together appropriate responses to these phenomena."
- "In addition, member States should: (...) – promote media literacy with regard to the functioning of search engines, in particular on the processes of selecting, ranking and prioritising of search results and on the implications of the use of search engines on users’ right to private life and the protection of their personal data."
- "The Committee of Ministers therefore, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect freedom of expression, access to information and other human rights and fundamental freedoms in relation to search engines in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with search engine providers to carry out the following actions: (...) – enhance transparency in the collection of personal data and the legitimate purposes for which they are being processed; – enable users to access easily, and, where appropriate, to correct or delete their personal data processed by search engine providers; – develop tools to minimise the collection and processing of personal data, including enforcing limited retention periods, adequate irreversible anonymisation, as well as tools for the deletion of data."
- "Member States (through the designated authorities) should enforce compliance with the applicable data protection principles, in particular by engaging with search engine providers to carry out the following actions: – ensure that the collection of personal data by search engine providers is minimised. No user’s IP address should be stored when it is not necessary for the pursuit of a legitimate purpose and when the same results can be achieved by sampling or surveying, or by anonymising personal data. Innovative approaches promoting anonymous searches should also be encouraged; – ensure that retention periods are not longer than strictly necessary for the legitimate and specified purposes of the processing. Search engine providers should be in a position to justify with demonstrable reasons the collection and the retention of personal data. Information in this connection should be made publicly available and easily accessible; – ensure that search engine providers apply the most appropriate security measures to protect personal data against unlawful access by third parties and that appropriate data breach notification schemes are in place. Measures should include “end-to-end” encryption of the communication between the user and the search engine provider; – ensure that individuals are informed with regard to the processing of their personal data and the exercise of their rights, in an intelligible form, using clear and plain language, adapted to the data subject. Search engines should clearly inform users up front of all intended uses of their data (emphasising that the initial purpose of such processing is to better respond to their search requests) and respect the user’s right with regar to their personal data. They should inform individuals if their personal data has been compromised."
- "The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect and promote respect for human rights with regard to social networking services, in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with social networking providers to carry out the following actions: (...) − raise users’ awareness, by means of clear and understandable language, of the possible challenges to their human rights and the ways to avoid having a negative impact on other people’s rights when using these services."
- "The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe, recommends that member States, in consultation with private sector actors and civil society, develop and promote coherent strategies to protect and promote respect for human rights with regard to social networking services, in line with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (...), in particular by engaging with social networking providers to carry out the following actions: (...) − enhance transparency about data processing, and refraining from illegitimate processing of personal data. "
- "In view of the foregoing, the Committee of Ministers: (…) - encourages member States to assume their responsibility to address this threat by (…) e) empowering users by promoting critical digital literacy skills and robustly enhancing public awareness of how many data are generated and processed by personal devices, networks, and platforms through algorithmic processes that are trained for data exploitation. Specifically, public awareness should be enhanced of the fact that algorithmic tools are widely used for commercial purposes and, increasingly, for political reasons, as well as for ambitions of anti- or undemocratic power gain, warfare, or to inflict direct harm."
- "In order to redeem its promise of fostering a culture of informed public debate and active participation in the democratic process, it is of the utmost importance that individuals are empowered to understand this environment and its challenges. (…) To this end, individuals need to develop a wide range of skills for media and information use and an awareness of their rights and responsibilities in relation to the use of digital tools and technologies."
- "Support programmes, projects and activities on media and information literacy, including digital or technological literacy, that encourage people’s critical thinking and critical competencies and promote, among other things (...): 77.1 Competencies to search for, critically evaluate, use and contribute information and media content wisely."
- "Companies that hold large amounts of users’ data should develop robust and meaningfully transparent privacy policies and processes in consultation with civil society and other stakeholders, consistent with their responsibilities to respect human rights."
- "States should make a concerted effort to promote digital media and information literacy, including in relation to elections."
- "Directing targeted political advertising, based on personal data, at individuals through the media should not be allowed, especially during election periods, unless those individuals have consented to the use of their personal data for this purpose."
- "Online intermediaries and digital media should implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and conduct due diligence to ensure that their products, policies and practices, including in the areas of collection of private data and microtargeting of messages, do not interfere with human rights."
- "Digital actors should, as relevant, be transparent about the use and any practical impact of any automated tools they use, albeit not necessarily the specific coding by which those tools operate, including inasmuch as those tools affect data harvesting, targeted advertising, and the sharing, ranking and/or removal of content, especially election-related content."
- "States have a positive duty to facilitate and protect the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. This duty should be reflected in the legislative framework and relevant law enforcement regulations and practices. It includes a duty to facilitate assemblies at the organizer’s preferred location and within ‘sight and sound’ of the intended audience. The duty to protect also involves the protection of assembly organizers and participants from third party individuals or groups who seek to undermine their right to freedom of peaceful assembly."
- "Law enforcement agencies should adopt a human rights-based approach to all aspects of the planning, preparation and policing of assemblies. This means they take into consideration their duty to facilitate and protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly."
- "Those seeking to exercise the right to freedom of peaceful assembly should have recourse to a prompt and effective remedy against decisions disproportionately, arbitrarily or illegally restricting or prohibiting assemblies."
- "Individuals must be free to participate in shaping decisions that will effect them and in policy formation during times of crisis as at other times; public participation is crucial to surmount any crisis, and civil society must be regarded as an essential partner of governments in this endeavor."
- "States have a positive obligation to promote the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. This requires States not merely to refrain from interfering with assemblies, but also to take positive steps to enable individuals to express their views, including through protecting assemblies from attacks by third parties and by otherwise facilitating the ability for the right to freedom of assembly to be exercised."
- "Participants in assemblies must have clear and effective avenues to bring legal action against authorities where their right to freedom of peaceful assembly is infringed, including in cases involving the illegitimate banning or imposing of restrictions on assemblies; violence or retaliations against assembly participants, their family members, journalists or observers; mass surveillance; harassment; and public defamation and smear campaigns."
- "Devote significantly greater attention and resources to media-, information- and digital literacy, over the short- and long-term, to address the particular literacy challenges of the modern digital communications environment."