3619 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Public legislation on disclosure should adopt the following guidelines: Disclosure rules should include both national and local party finances."
- "There are four primary principles underpinning successful regulation on public disclosure. The information provided to the public needs to be: Timely, in the sense that information on election expenditure published long after the elections can neither affect the voters’ choice on election day, nor serve as a good basis for reasonable sanctions."
- "There are four primary principles underpinning successful regulation on public disclosure. The information provided to the public needs to: ...Include the right amount of detail, and not overburden the reader with a level of detail that is not useful. If the reports are to be read by an informed public, they need to be presented in a way and with a level of detail to make them understandable to a non-professional."
- "There are four primary principles underpinning successful regulation on public disclosure. The information provided to the public needs to be: ...Publicly available, not only on public display in a government office in the capital during office hours, but rather published in a way that gives the maximum number of citizens the chance to read the reports. Depending on the country, this may mean publication in main newspapers or on the website of the enforcement agency (EMB or other) or even posting summaries on public notice boards."
- "...[I]n order to be effective disclosed information should be accurate, publicly available and comprehensible to potential users. An essential prerequisite is timely information which attracts the attention of the media and public debate, and has a potential impact on voting behaviour."
- "Disclosure requirements, which in order to be effective must require timely and public disclosure, must have equal application. Enforcement mechanisms should be included that also provide due process protections and safeguards to ensure nondiscriminatory application."
- "Information provided to party members, state agencies and the public must...clearly identify all individual contributions made by donors and parties, including the names of contributors. Information provided to party members, state agencies and the public must be: ...Reliable: State as well as social control heavily relies on having parties and other relevant actors provide the correct information. Given its importance, submitting false data is considered a crime in a number of countries. Timely: Reporting should be done as close to when the transaction was completed as possible since time allows for manipulation. Any information provided in the run-up to elections must be made available immediately to citizens. Intelligible: Information has to be presented in a user-friendly way. Background on different sources as well as searchable databases is necessary to empower individual citizens and the media to understand, interpret and use political finance data. Accessible: Data should not only be available upon request, but disclosed actively through a variety of channels. Modern information technologies allow state agencies to implement automated reporting and online monitoring via searchable datasets."
- "Such information should be presented in a timely fashion, on an annual basis, but particularly before and after elections. It should list donors and the amount of their donations, including in kind contributions and loans, and should also list destinations of expenditure. The information should be made publicly available in a timely manner so that the public can take account of it prior to elections."
- "Reports should be timely. Reports should be public. Reports should be detailed and comprehensive. Reports should be understandable to the public at large."
- "Effective reports should be detailed and comprehensive. They should include accounts of both donations to and expenditure by the party."
- "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: Realistic requirements for financial reporting of electoral activity, including disclosure of private sources of funding for political activity (also with relatively high thresholds for public reporting)."
- "States should require the accounts of a political party to specify all donations received by the party, including the nature and value of each donation."
- "In case of donations over a certain value, donors should be identified in the records."
- "States should require the accounts of political parties and of candidates to specify all donations received by the party, including the nature and value of each donation."
- "States should require political parties and the entities connected with political parties mentioned in Article 6 [entities that are directly or indirectly related to the political party or are otherwise under the control of the political party] to keep proper books and accounts. The accounts of political parties should be consolidated to include, as appropriate, the accounts of the entities mentioned in Article 6."
- "Entities connected with political parties should be required to keep proper books and accounts in order to facilitate public monitoring of the lawfulness of their financial activities."
- "Moreover, for the purpose of openness and transparency, the accounts of political parties should be consolidated to include the accounts of the entities connected with the party."
- "Special records of all direct and indirect expenditure should also be required on electoral campaigns for each political party and each candidate. Reporting on election activities should more or less follow the electoral cycle."
- "The parties should offer access to their programmatic and ideological documents and discussions, to decision-making procedures and to party accounts in order to enhance transparency and to be consistent with sound principles of good governance."
- "Separate reporting requirements should be adopted for operational activities and electoral activities."
- "If public funds are allocated with general regard to an electoral campaign it should be clarified that the funds can be used by the political party for any legitimate party purpose; specific conditions for the use of appropriations should be expressly indicated. If funds are appropriated strictly for campaign purposes and for such purposes only, guidance should be provided how to handle expenditure which cannot be classified as exclusively campaign related – as for example expenditure for (rent of) party premises, which are used both for current party business and for campaign activities, or for party employees who are employed by the party for both current and campaign activities. If applicable, guidance should also be provided as to both the span of time before and after an election during which the use of appropriations is legally acceptable and the time at which expenditure is considered to have occurred."
- "1. States Parties recognize the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly. 2. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of these rights other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (order public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."
- "Everyone will have the right of peaceful assembly and demonstration. Any restrictions which may be placed on the exercise of these rights will be prescribed by law and consistent with international standards."
- "The following conditions should exist in a country holding an election: no unreasonable limitations placed on a citizen's ability to participate in the political process… and respect for the rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly for a period adequate to allow political organizing and campaigning and to inform citizens about the candidates and issues."
- "The rights of freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly must, if not previously secured on a permanent basis, be ensured in sufficient time prior to the election so as to allow political organization and campaigning, securing information to voters on candidates and issues."
- "The right of peaceful assembly is guaranteed by article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights…"
- "States shall respect and ensure the human rights of all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction. In time of elections, the State and its organs should therefore ensure: That freedom of movement, assembly, association and expression are respected, particularly in the context of political rallies and meetings."
- "The right of peaceful assembly shall be recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."
- "In order to merit the protection of ICCPR, art 21, an assembly must be peaceful. As long as an assembly is conducted in a non-violent manner, it may be disrupted only in accordance with the strict limitations citied in the article. …there must be a genuine need in order for a State to avail itself of the permissible restrictions. In addition, the restrictions are allowed only if they are ‘in conformity’ with the law. In other words, no agent of the State may arbitrarily interfere with a peaceful assembly. Rather, he must be authorized by law to do so, and the laws in question must respect the international standards [associated with this obligation]. Any restrictions on the right to assembly may not go beyond the need to protect the public interests listed and the least restrictive means must be employed. Furthermore, it should be noted that State authorities have a duty to protect the demonstrators themselves. The right of assembly must be respected, since public demonstrations and political rallies are an integral part of the election process and provide an effective mechanisms for the public dissemination of political information."
- "The right of peaceful assembly, without arms, is recognized. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of this right other than those imposed in conformity with the law and necessary in a democratic society in the interest of national security, public safety or public order, or to protect public health or morals or the rights and freedom of others."
- "No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order, public health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."
- "Although public order is generally regarded as a justifiable ground for the restriction of [freedom of assembly], the difficulty with the restriction is in its application. The determination of when the ground may be relied on to prohibit a meeting or protest is often left to state functionaries. Unless there is speedy court oversight over these decisions, the freedom may be abrogated in practice."
- "Every individual shall have the right to assemble freely with others. The exercise of this right shall be subject only to necessary restrictions provided for by law in particular those enacted in the interest of national security, the safety, health, ethics and rights and freedoms of others."
- "The use of arms to disperse non-violent meetings or demonstrations shall be forbidden. Whenever a demonstration becomes violent, only the use of minimal and/or proportionate force shall be authorized."
- "The right [freedom of assembly] extends to the right to protest."
- "As a fundamental right, freedom of peaceful assembly should, insofar as possible, be enjoyed without regulation."
- "Freedom of peaceful assembly is to be enjoyed equally by everyone…The freedom to organize and participate in public assemblies must be guaranteed to both individuals and corporate bodies; to members of minority and indigenous groups; to both nationals and non-nationals (including stateless persons, refugees, foreign nationals, asylum seekers, migrants, and tourists); to both women and men; and to persons without full legal capacity, including persons with mental illness."
- "…[F]reedom of peaceful assembly constitutes a form of direct democracy. It facilitates dialogue within civil society, as well as between civil society, political leaders, and government."
- "State Parties shall implement this Charter in accordance with the following principles: 11. Strengthening political pluralism and recognising the role, rights and responsibilities of legally constituted political parties, including opposition political parties, which should be given a status under national law."
- "The right to freedom of association, including the right to form and join organizations and associations concerned with political and public affairs, is an essential adjunct to the rights protected by Article 25 of ICCPR."
- "Respect the right of individuals and groups to establish, in full freedom, their own political parties or other political organizations and provide such political parties and organizations with the necessary legal guarantees to enable them to compete with each other on a basis of equal treatment before the law and by the authorities."
- "Political parties shall be formed and shall have the right to carry out their activities freely, within the limits of the law. Their formation and activities shall not be based on ethnic, religious, regional or racial considerations. They shall participate freely and without hindrance or discrimination in any electoral process. The freedom of the opposition shall be guaranteed."
- "At the beginning of the new century and millennium, we reaffirm our commitment to the promotion of democracy and its core values in our respective countries. In particular, we undertake to work with renewed determination to enforce individual and collective freedoms, including the right to form and join political parties and trade unions, in conformity with the constitution."
- "The legal framework must create the conditions for full engagement of freedom of association by citizens."
- "The legislative framework for elections should provide for the right of all individuals and groups to establish, in full freedom, their own political parties or other political organizations with legal guarantees to enable them to compete with each other on a basis of equitable treatment before the law."
- "In particular, States should: ...Provide for the formation and free functioning of political parties, possibly regulate the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns, ensure the separation of party and State, and establish the conditions for competition in legislative elections on an equitable basis."
- "Any arbitrary or discriminatory application of the law for the purpose of damaging specific political forces, undermines respect for human rights."
- "It [freedom of association] should guarantee not only the right to form political parties but also guarantee the formation of organs of civil society such as non-governmental organizations and cultural organizations that may support or represent national minorities in a society. The concept of freedom of association includes a number of subsidiary rights. They include: The right to form a political party or association; The right to join a political party or association; The right to participate in the lawful activities of a political party or association."
- "In summary, the commitments require states to: respect the right to establish political parties, and ensure that the parties can compete on the basis of equal treatment before the law and by the authorities."
- "All political forces and movements should…be able to nominate candidates on equal terms, and not be limited for reasons of race, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, ethnic or national origin, or economic status."