2308 Results
Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. "
- "Every human being is equal under the law and has a right to equal protection against any form of discrimination and intolerance in any sphere of life, public or private. "
- "Older persons should be able to form movements or associations of older persons. "
- "[States should] ensure transparency of the electoral process, particularly in: 8.2.1. the organisation of elections: they should be organised by independent and impartial bodies, which should lead to the general introduction of central electoral commissions, ensuring that adequate resources are made available for the effective registration of voters and efficient organisation of the ballot. "
- "Each Party shall guarantee the right of everyone, without discrimination on any ground, to have access, on request, to official documents held by public authorities. 2. Each Party shall take the necessary measures in its domestic law to give effect to the provisions for access to official documents set out in this Convention. 3. These measures shall be taken at the latest at the time of entry into force of this Convention in respect of that Party.` "
- "States should foster citizen participation in the electoral process by] facilitating access to nationality as advocated in the European Convention on Nationality (ETS No. 166) and granting legally resident migrants voting rights and/or other possibilities for political participation as proposed in the Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level (ETS No. 144). "
- "The presence of international observers should be facilitated, in line with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and also with the Venice Commission’s Guidelines on an internationally recognised status of election observers. National observers, including from civil society, should be authorised in all member States, in line with the Venice Commission’s Declaration of Global Principles for Non-partisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations and the Code of Conduct for Non-partisan Election Observers and Monitors. "
- "Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions. "
- "Every person has the right to an effective and enforceable remedy, to be determined by a court or other competent authorities, for acts violating the rights granted to that person by the constitution or by law. "
- "[E]ach voter has in principle one vote; where the electoral system provides voters with more than one vote, each voter has the same number of votes."
- "Equal voting power: seats must be evenly distributed between the constituencies.It entails a clear and balanced distribution of seats among constituencies on the basis of one of the following allocation criteria: population, number of resident nationals (including minors), number of registered voters, and possibly the number of people actually voting. An appropriate combination of these criteria may be envisaged."
- "The geographical criterion and administrative, or possibly even historical, boundaries may be taken into consideration. "
- "The permissble departure from the norm [of equal seat distribution] should not be more than 10%, and should certainly not exceed 15% except in special circumstances (protection of a concentrated minority, sparsely populated administrative entity)."
- "Observation of elections a. Both national and international observers should be given the widest possible opportunity to participate in an election observation exercise."
- "Observation of elections b. Observation must not be confined to election day itself, but must include the registration period of candidates and, if necessary, of electors, as well as the electoral campaign. It must make it possible to determine whether irregularities occurred before, during or after the elections. It must always be possible during vote counting. "
- "The appeal body in electoral matters should be either an electoral commission or a court. For elections to Parliament, an appeal to Parliament may be provided for in first instance. In any case, final appeal to a court must be possible."
- "The appeal body must have authority in particular over such matters as the right to vote – including electoral registers – and eligibility, the validity of candidatures, proper observance of election campaign rules and the outcome of the elections. "
- "The appeal body must have authority to annul elections where irregularities may have affected the outcome. It must be possible to annul the entire election or merely the results for one constituency or one polling station. "
- "All candidates and all voters registered in the constituency concerned must be entitled to appeal. A reasonable quorum may be imposed for appeals by voters on the results of elections."
- "[V]oting procedures must be simple"
- "It invites member states to make this environment genuinely accessible to people with disabilities and to remove any obstacles that prevent them from playing a full part in everyday life and from enjoying their fundamental rights by: 12.2 removing any obstacles in public buildings and indoor and outdoor public areas and by ensuring that no new obstacles are created. Every newly built structure must conform to universal design principles: pavements for example must not be laid without dropped kerbs. "
- "Firstly, the Assembly invites member states to guarantee that people with disabilities retain and exercise legal capacity on an equal basis with other members of society by: 7.2 taking the necessary measures to ensure that, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, people placed under guardianship are not deprived of their fundamental rights (not least the rights to own property, to work, to a family life, to marry, to vote, to form and join associations to bring legal proceedings and to draw up a will), and, where they need external assistance so as to exercise those rights, that they are afforded appropriate support, without their wishes or intentions being superseded. "
- "States parties should ensure that public broadcasting services operate in an independent manner. In this regard, States parties should guarantee their independence and editorial freedom. They should provide funding in a manner that does not undermine their independence. "
- "To give effect to the right of access to information, States parties should proactively put in the public domain Government information of public interest. States parties should make every effort to ensure easy, prompt, effective and practical access to such information. States parties should also enact the necessary procedures, whereby one may gain access to information, such as by means of freedom of information legislation. "
- " Requirements for the registration of candidates and political parties which are too strict should be abolished. "
- "[Member states should] ensure that women and men can exercise their individual voting rights and, to this end, take all the necessary measures to eliminate the practice of family voting. "
- "[Member states should] protect and promote the equal civil and political rights of women and men, including running for office and freedom of association. "
- "[Member states should] consider adopting legislative reforms to introduce parity thresholds for candidates in elections at local, regional, national and supra-national levels. Where proportional lists exist, consider the introduction of zipper systems. "
- "Member states may limit the right of access to official documents. Limitations should be set down precisely in law, be necessary in a democratic society and be proportionate to the aim of protecting: i. national security, defence and international relations; ii. public safety; iii. the prevention, investigation and prosecution of criminal activities; iv. privacy and other legitimate private interests; v. commercial and other economic interests, be they private or public; vi. the equality of parties concerning court proceedings; vii. nature; viii. inspection, control and supervision by public authorities; ix. the economic, monetary and exchange rate policies of the state; x. the confidentiality of deliberations within or between public authorities during the internal preparation of a matter. "
- "An applicant for an official document should not be obliged to give reasons for having access to the official document. "
- "An applicant for an official document shall not be obliged to give reasons for having access to the official document. "
- "States should put in place a range of measures, including those highlighted in our Joint Declaration of 12 December 2007, to create an environment in which a pluralistic media sector can flourish. These should include, among others, obligations of transparency of media ownership, licensing of different types of broadcasters to promote diversity, rules to prevent undue concentration of media ownership and measures to promote content diversity among and within media outlets. "
- "Laws that unduly restrict freedom of expression contrary to international and constitutional guarantees should be repealed. Where such laws are still in place during election campaigns, the authorities should apply the constitutional or international guarantees that protect freedom of expression. "
- "All publicly-owned media, including public service broadcasters, should be under the following obligations during an election period: To ensure that the electorate are informed about election matters, including the role of elections in a democracy, how to exercise one’s right to vote, the key electoral issues, and the policy positions of the various parties and candidates contesting the election. This should normally include reporting that involves questions being put to party leaders and candidates, as well as debates between candidates. "
- "All publicly-owned media, including public service broadcasters, should be under the following obligations during an election period: To respect strict rules of impartiality and balance, particularly when reporting on the governing party(ies) and on government decisions and actions during an election period. "
- "All publicly-owned media, including public service broadcasters, should be under the following obligations during an election period: To grant all parties and candidates equitable access to the media to communicate their messages directly with the public, either for free or at subsidised rates. Equitable access means fair and non-discriminatory access allocated according to objective criteria for measuring overall levels of support, and includes factors such as timing of access and any fees. "
- "All publicly-owned media, including public service broadcasters, should be under the following obligations during an election period: To ensure that any reporting of opinion polls and election projections is accompanied by sufficient information to allow the electorate to understand properly their significance. "
- "Every person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a fair and public trial, by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, at which the accused is guaranteed the right to defence. "
- "Every person has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Every person has the right to leave any country including his or her own, and to return to his or her country. "
- "Every person has the right to personal liberty and security. No person shall be subject to arbitrary arrest, search, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty. "
- "The Committee recommends that States parties: Ensure that new constitutions provide for temporary special measures, apply to citizens and non-citizens, and guarantee that women’s human rights are not subject to derogation in states of emergency. "
- "The Committee recommends that States parties: (d) Ensure that electoral reforms incorporate the principle of gender equality, and guarantee women’s equal representation through the adoption of temporary special measures such as quotas, including for disadvantaged groups of women; adopt a proportional representation electoral system; regulate political parties; and mandate electoral management bodies to ensure compliance through sanctions. "
- "The Committee recommends that States parties: (e) Ensure the registration and voting of women voters, such as by allowing postal balloting, where appropriate, and removing all barriers, including by ensuring an adequate and accessible number of polling stations. "
- "Public bodies and relevant private bodies must proactively publish information. "
- "Subject to this Act, every person has an enforceable right to access information from (a) a public body or relevant private body; and (b) a private body, where the information may assist in the exercise or protection of any right. "
- "Subject to subsection (2), an information officer may refuse a request for information if its release would involve the unreasonable disclosure of personal information about a natural third party, including a deceased individual. "
- "An information officer may refuse a request where the release of the information is likely to endanger the life, health or safety of an individual. "
- "An information officer may refuse to grant access to information where to do so would cause substantial prejudice to the security or defence of the state. "
- "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Human beings of all sexual orientations and gender identities are entitled to the full enjoyment of all human rights. "
- "Everyone is entitled to enjoy all human rights without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Everyone is entitled to equality before the law and the equal protection of the law without any such discrimination whether or not the enjoyment of another human right is also affected. The law shall prohibit any such discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against any such discrimination. "