Summary
Complainants should be informed of the means by which to file a complaint and the timeframe for its resolution.
Obligations
Election Parts
Quotes
- All the necessary information about the sittings of judicial bodies shall be made available to the public by the judicial body.
- A victim’s right of access to justice includes all available judicial, administrative, or other public processes under existing domestic laws as well as under international law. Obligations arising under international law to secure the individual or collective right to access justice and fair and impartial proceedings should be made available under domestic laws. To that end, States should: (a) Make known, through public and private mechanisms, all available remedies for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.
- Appropriate measures should be taken to inform the public of the location and competence of the courts and the way in which proceedings are commenced or defended before the courts.
- 40. The electoral law should lay down the grounds upon which complaints and appeals are admissible. Any complainant should be duly notified in writing of the decision as to whether his/her petition was considered admissible or not, with reasons given. 41. Grounds for appeal should be strictly defined in the law, preferably for each phase involving an election dispute mechanism, so that courts and electoral bodies are not burdened with irrelevant or frivolous challenges. 42. The parties authorized to bring election-related complaints or appeals before a court or an electoral body should be strictly identified by the electoral law. 43. Time-limits and procedures governing the admissibility of complaints and appeals should be designed so as to preserve the right of aggrieved parties to seek redress.
- An effective, fair and transparent complaints procedure requires that potential complainants be informed of the means by which the complaint should be made, which body it will be considered by and the timeframe for its resolution. In addition, complainants should be aware of the type and amount of evidence needed to sustain their allegations with sufficient factual and legal remedies available.
- Additionally, the law must be clear as to what circumstances require a recount or new election in any or all polling stations. The law must be clear as to who can request a recount or new election, the deadline for the request, all necessary procedures to make the request, the deadline for adjudicating the request, and the date and procedures that will govern a recount or new election.
- The right to appeal to election bodies and courts should be established to enable a clear, understandable, singular and hierarchical complaint process that defines the roles of each level of election commission and each level of the courts. This will avoid the potential for a complainant to appeal to the body considered likely to offer the most favourable consideration of the complaint.
- Standard complaint forms, either physical or online, also offer complainants the guidance on the elements required for filing. Developing filing standards that are clear and accessible to all election stakeholders gative bodies in processing complaints impartially and effectively.
- The right to challenge electoral results and for aggrieved parties to seek redress should be provided by law. The petition process should set out the scope of available review, procedures for its initiation and the powers of the independent judicial body charged with such review.
- The appeal procedure and, in particular, the powers and responsibilities of the various bodies should be clearly regulated by law, so as to avoid conflicts of jurisdiction (whether positive or negative). Neither the appellants nor the authorities should be able to choose the appeal body.