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Quotes
Quotes based on international documents, law, and treaties- "States must take effective measures to ensure that all persons entitled to vote are able to exercise that right."
- "In exercising this right, they will ensure that their laws, regulations, practices and policies conform with their obligations under international law and are brought into harmony with the provisions of the Declaration on Principles and other CSCE commitments."
- "Article 4 of the CEDAW stipulates that ‘temporary special measures aimed at accelerating the de facto equality of men and women shall not be considered discrimination’. This opens the possibility for countries to implement a policy of reserved seats or quotas for women."
- "The requirement under article 2, paragraph 2, to take steps to give effect to the Covenant rights is unqualified and of immediate effect. A failure to comply with this obligation cannot be justified by reference to political, social, cultural or economic considerations within the State."
- "The obligation to ensure to all individuals the rights recognized in the Covenant, established in articles 2 and 3, requires that States parties take all necessary steps to enable every person to enjoy those rights. These steps include the removal of obstacles to the equal enjoyment of such rights, the education of the population and of State officials in human rights, and the adjustment of domestic legislation so as to give effect to the undertakings set forth in the Covenant."
- "Article 2 requires that States Parties adopt legislative, judicial, administrative, educative and other appropriate measures in order to fulfill their legal obligations. The Committee believes that it is important to raise awareness about the Covenant not only among public officials and State agents but also among the population at large."
- "The State has the responsibility to take legislative, administrative or other appropriate measures to promote the understanding by all persons under its jurisdiction of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights."
- "States should review their legislation and practices and take the lead in implementing all measures necessary in order to eliminate discrimination against women, in all fields, for example by prohibiting discrimination by private actors in areas such as employment, education, political activities and the provision of accommodation, goods and services. States parties should report on all these measures and provide information on the remedies available to victims of such discrimination."
- "The State party must ensure that the rights guaranteed in article 12 are protected not only from public but also from private interference. In the case of women, this obligation to protect is particularly pertinent. For example, it is incompatible with article 12, paragraph 1, [freedom of movement] that the right of a woman to move freely and to choose her residence be made subject, by law or practice, to the decision of another person, including a relative."
- "The obligations of the Covenant in general and article 2 in particular are binding on every State Party as a whole. All branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial), and other public or governmental authorities, at whatever level - national, regional or local - are in a position to engage the responsibility of the State Party. The executive branch that usually represents the State Party internationally, including before the Committee, may not point to the fact that an action incompatible with the provisions of the Covenant was carried out by another branch of government as a means of seeking to relieve the State Party from responsibility for the action and consequent incompatibility. This understanding flows directly from the principle contained in article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, according to which a State Party 'may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty....In this respect, the Committee reminds States Parties with a federal structure of the terms of article 50, according to which the Covenant's provisions 'shall extend to all parts of federal states without any limitations or exceptions."
- "State Parties shall implement this Charter in accordance with the following principles: 8. Transparency and fairness in the management of public affairs."
- "Member States shall ensure accountability, professionalism, transparency, and expertise in the public and private sectors."
- "The preparation and conduct of elections and the announcement of results shall be done in a transparent manner."
- "Where not already provided for by existing legislative or other measures, each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take the necessary steps, in accordance with its constitutional processes and with the provisions of the present Covenant, to adopt such laws or other measures as may be necessary to give effect to the rights recognized in the present Covenant."
- "Article 2, paragraph 2 requires that States Parties take the necessary steps to give effect the Covenant rights in the domestic order. It follows that, unless Covenant rights are already protected by their domestic laws or practices, States Parties are required on ratification to make such changes to domestic laws and practices as are necessary to ensure their conformity with the Covenant. Where there are inconsistencies between domestic law and the Covenant, article 2 requires that domestic law or practice be changed to meet the standards imposed by the Covenant's substantive guarantees. Article 2 allows a State Party to pursue this in accordance with its own domestic constitutional structure and accordingly does not require that the Covenant be directly applicable in the courts, by incorporation of the Covenant into national law."
- "Human rights and fundamental freedoms will be guaranteed by law and in accordance with their obligations under international law."
- "Domestic law consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and other international obligations of the State in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms is the juridical framework within which human rights and fundamental freedoms should be implements and enjoyed and within which all activities referred to in the present Declaration for the promotion, protection and effective realization of those rights and freedoms should be conducted."
- "Article 2, paragraph 2, requires that States Parties take the necessary steps to give effect to the Covenant rights in the domestic order. It follows that, unless Covenant rights are already protected by their domestic laws or practices, States Parties are required on ratification to make such changes to domestic laws and practices as are necessary to ensure their conformity with the Covenant. Where there are inconsistencies between domestic law and the Covenant, article 2 requires that the domestic law or practice be changed to meet the standards imposed by the Covenant's substantive guarantees."
- "Domestic law consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and other international obligations of the State in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms is the juridical framework within which human rights and fundamental freedoms should be implemented and enjoyed and within which all activities referred to in the present Declaration for the promotion, protection and effective realization of those rights and freedoms should be conducted."
- "Considering the important contribution of international instruments in the field of human rights to the rule of law at a national level, the participating States reaffirm that they will consider acceding to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other relevant international instruments, if they have not yet done so."
- "Member States recognize that the rule of law involves not only the promulgation of good laws that are in conformity with the provisions on human rights, but also a good judicial system, a good system of administration, and good management of the State apparatus."
- "States should take the necessary legislative steps and other measures, in accordance with their constitutional processes, to guarantee the rights and institutional framework for periodic and genuine, free and fair elections, in accordance with their obligations under international law."
- "Domestic laws regulating freedom of assembly must be consistent with the international instruments ratified by that state, and the legitimacy of domestic laws will be judged accordingly. Domestic laws must also be interpreted and implemented in conformity with the relevant international and regional jurisprudence."
- "The constitutional and legal framework should: guarantee fundamental freedoms and human rights, promote good governance and the values of political stability."
- "Electoral systems should promote and protect fundamental human rights as well as the secrecy of the ballot."
- "1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."
- "However, the positive obligations on States Parties to ensure Covenant rights will only be fully discharged if individuals are protected by the State, not just against violations of Covenant rights by its agents, but also against acts committed by private persons or entities that would impair the enjoyment of Covenant rights..."
- "Article 2, paragraph 3, requires that in addition to effective protection of Covenant rights States Parties must ensure that individuals also have accessible and effective remedies to vindicate those rights…The Committee attaches importance to States Parties' establishing appropriate judicial and administrative mechanisms for addressing claims of rights violations under domestic law."
- "The equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, like all human rights, imposes three levels of obligations on States parties-the obligations to respect, to protect, and to fulfill. The obligations to fulfill further contains duties to provide, promote and facilitate."
- "42. A state party derogating from its obligations under the Covenant shall make an official proclamation of the existence of the public emergency threatening the life of the nation. 43. Procedures under national law for the proclamation of a state of emergency shall be prescribed in advance of the emergency. 44. A state party derogating from its obligations under the Covenant shall immediately notify the other states parties to the Covenant, through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of the provisions from which it has derogated and the reasons by which it was actuated."
- "Relevant international standards further require that a state of emergency be officially proclaimed before any exceptional measures are put into place."
- "In applying a limitation, a state shall use no more restrictive means than are required for the achievement of the purpose of the limitation."
- "According to article 4, paragraph 1, one of the conditions for the justifiability of any derogation from the Covenant is that the measures taken do not involve discrimination solely on the ground of race, colour, sex, language, religion or social origin."
- "The equal enjoyment of human rights by women must be protected during a state of emergency (article 4). States parties which take measures derogating from their obligations under the Covenant in time of public emergency, as provided in article 4, should provide information to the Committee with respect to the impact on the situation of women of such measures and should demonstrate that they are non-discriminatory."
- "No limitation on a right recognized by the Covenant shall discriminate contrary to Article 2, paragraph 1 [ICCPR]."
- "No State party shall, even in time of emergency threatening the life of the nation, derogate from the Covenant's guarantees of the right to life; freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and from medical or scientific experimentation without free consent; freedom from slavery or involuntary servitude; the right not to be imprisoned for contractual debt; the right not to be convicted or sentenced to a heavier penalty by virtue of retroactive criminal legislation; the right to recognition as a person before the law ; and freedom of thought, conscience and religion. These rights are not derogable under any conditions even for the asserted purpose of preserving the life of the nation. (59) States parties to the Covenant, as part of their obligation to ensure the enjoyment of these rights to all persons within their jurisdiction (article 3, paragraph 1), and to adopt measures to secure an effective remedy for violations (article 2, paragraph 3), shall take special precautions in time of public emergency to ensure that neither official nor semi-official groups engage in a practice of arbitrary and extrajudicial killings or involuntary disappearances, that persons in detention are protected against torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and that no persons are convicted or punished under laws or decrees with retroactive effect. (60) The ordinary courts should maintain their jurisdiction, even in a time of public emergency, to adjudicate any complaint that a non-derogable right has been violated."
- "The limitation clauses to the Covenant shall not be interpreted to restrict the exercise of any human rights protected to a greater extent by other international obligations binding upon the state."
- "Derogation from right recognized under international law in order to respond to a threat to the life of the nation is not exercised in a legal vacuum. It is authorized by law and as such it is subject to several legal principles of general application."
- "In a public emergency the rule of law shall still prevail. Derogation is an authorized and limited prerogative in order to respond adequately to a threat to the life of the nation. The derogating state shall burden of justifying its action under law."
- "Every limitation imposed shall be subject to the possibility of challenge to and remedy against its abusive application."
- "The burden of justifying a limitation upon a right guaranteed under the Covenant lies with the State."
- "Adequate safeguards and effective remedies shall be provided by law against illegal or abusive imposition or application of limitations on human rights."
- "The national constitution and laws governing states of emergency shall provide for prompt and periodic independent review by the legislature of the necessity for derogation measures."
- "The electoral system should be entrenched in the Constitution. The Electoral Act should clearly set out the form, content and operation of the electoral system adopted."
- "Inclusion of the basic principles of the election system in the constitution creates a safeguard against frequent changes. Constitutional amendments are often subject to a qualified majority vote or other onerous processes. Thus, it is a recommended practice to include the fundamental guarantees protecting suffrage rights in a country's constitution. This would include provisions regulating the very basis of the electoral system, such as the right to elect and be elected, the institutions subject to democratic elections, and terms of office of elected candidates."
- "The rights and freedoms proclaimed above can best be guaranteed by embodiment in constitutions or other fundamental laws none which should be subject to repeal or alteration by ordinary legislation."
- "Guarantees for the fundamental right of periodic free and fair elections which universal, equal, and non-discriminatory suffrage and secret balloting, and for the right to be elected and to have access to the public service on equal terms should be enshrined in the Constitution or other high organic law of the State."
- "The fundamental elements of electoral law, in particular the electoral system proper, membership of electoral commissions and the drawing of constituency boundaries, should not be open to amendment less than one year before an elections, or should be written in the constitution or at a level higher than ordinary law."
- "State Parties to this Convention undertake to abide by the following principles: 1. Respect for democratic principles and institutions, popular participation, the rule of law and good governance."
- "Cognizant of the fact that the Constitutive Act of the African Union, inter alia, calls for the need to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights, consolidate democratic institutions and foster a culture of democracy and ensure good governance and the rule of law."