3619 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "Member States should not impose unnecessary restrictions on the establishment and activities of political unions and associations on regional and local levels."
- "Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties;"
- "Everyone must be free to choose to be a member of a political party or not and to choose which party to join."
- "1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. 2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association."
- "1. Every individual shall have the right to free association provided that he abides by the law. 2. Subject to the obligation of solidarity provided for in 29 no one may be compelled to join an association."
- "The recognition of political organizations as legal entities, with the right to seek elected office or to influence citizen choices on referenda and other ballot initiatives, is fundamental to democratic elections."
- "Legal recognition to political parties must be granted on a non-discriminatory basis and in a timely manner that allows the effective exercise of the right to be elected and all of the related civil and political rights."
- "Ballot qualification provisions often include submission of a specified number of signatures. The requirements must be realistic given the timeframe for collecting signatures and national conditions."
- "Deadlines for the registering authority to approve or reject political party applications for legal recognition and party and candidate ballot qualification requests should be clearly specified."
- "The grounds for rejection must be clearly stated in the law and based on objective criteria. The law should allow for correcting minor deficiencies concerning applications for the legal recognition of political parties and for ballot nominations within a reasonable amount of time after rejection, provide for appeal to a court of law after final rejection of legal recognition or ballot qualification, and clearly specify an expedited process for appeal to enable legal recognition and access to the ballot if registration or ballot qualification was improperly denied."
- "Prohibition or enforced dissolution of political parties may only be justified in the case of parties which advocate the use of violence or use violence as a political means to overthrow the democratic constitutional order, thereby undermining the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution. The fact alone that a party advocates a peaceful change of the Constitution should not be sufficient for its prohibition or dissolution."
- "Unfair incumbency advantages should be addressed and the use of state resources that are not made available to all candidates in the electoral campaign should be prohibited."
- "It [the legal framework] must require that government resources not be used for electoral advantage of any party, candidate or group supporting or opposing referenda or other ballot initiatives."
- "It is the responsibility of the government not to abuse state resources, both human and material (i.e. vehicles, office space and telecommunications), in support of its own candidates."
- "…resources [should be]...distributed in amounts and at times that do not unfairly disadvantage any contestants."
- "Public resources should not be used unfairly."
- "Government office space, vehicles, and telecommunications equipment should not be used for partisan purposes unless equal access is provided to all contestants."
- "In the interest of creating conditions for a level playing field for all political parties and promoting the integrity of the electoral process, parties should not misuse public funds in the electoral process. The electoral law should prohibit the Government to aid or to abet any party gaining unfair advantage."
- "Apart from different forms of funding provided for by law, any party must refrain from receiving assistance, financial or in kind, from any public authorities, particularly those directed by its members."
- "No party may receive clandestine or fraudulently obtained financial aid."
- "Each State Party shall also consider taking appropriate legislative and administrative measures, consistent with the objectives of this Convention and in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, to enhance transparency in the funding of candidatures for elected public office and, where applicable, the funding of political parties."
- "The strengthening of political parties and other political organizations is a priority for democracy. Special attention will be paid to the problems associated with the high cost of election campaigns and the establishment of a balanced and transparent system for their financing."
- "Party funding must comply with the principles of accountability and transparency."
- "The candidates, political parties (coalitions) participating in elections should, with periodicity stipulated by the laws, submit to the electoral bodies and/or other bodies, mentioned in the law, information and reports on receipt of all donations to their election financial funds, on their donors as well as on all their disbursements from those funds on financing of their election campaign. The electoral bodies shall provide for publication of the said information and reports in mass media and means of telecommunications mentioned in the laws."
- "Ensure that the accounts of political parties at regional level are published regularly (annually if possible)."
- "The legal framework should require periodic reporting, related to reasonable time intervals, of all contributions received and expenditures made by an electoral contestant. However, the examiner should be realistic about the reporting requirements for any transition democracy."
- "This requires that parties should submit reports at regular intervals."
- "At a minimum, public employees should strictly separate their roles as public servants from any campaign activities they may be involved in. Public employees should not be required to attend campaign events or be coerced to vote for a particular party or candidate."
- "In order to be operative, restrictions on campaign expenditure should also clearly identify what counts as election expenditure and what does not, and should clearly distinguish between campaign and non-campaign spending."
- "Restrictions should also take into account the question of timing and establish a reasonable demarcation of when the campaigns begin. Even though the campaign for one election may really begin almost immediately after the conclusion of the last election, campaign expenditure regulations should clearly identify a formal campaign period. If this period is too short, the effectiveness of spending limits is seriously undermined."
- "The law should also provide the right to challenge a decision on political party registration."
- "The disqualification of a candidate should be made only on the most serious grounds. Candidates should have an opportunity to rectify technical errors in their nominations and to challenge their disqualification. All complaints relating to candidate registration should be resolved within a reasonable timeframe before election day so that successful candidates have sufficient opportunity to campaign."
- "Party, candidate and ballot measure qualification require remedies that provide ballot access should requirements be met…"
- "Any interference of public authorities with the activities of political parties, such as, for example, denial of registration, loss of the status of a political party if a given party has not succeeded in obtaining representation in the legislative bodies (where applied), should be motivated, and legislation should provide for an opportunity for the party to challenge such decision or action in a court of law."
- "The right of candidates to security with respect to their lives and property shall be recognized and protected."
- "Following their registration, candidates should not be subject to interference, including any pressure, coercion or intimidation, or attempts to force their withdrawal."
- "Candidature, party and campaign rights carry responsibilities to the community. In particular, no candidate or political party shall engage in violence."
- "States should require the infringement of rules concerning the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns to be subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions."
- "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."
- "The enforcement of political finance laws and regulations requires the existence of independent oversight authorities and an effective system of sanctions to end impunity."
- "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."