Transition. The defence of Burkina Faso, in regard to this point, is therefore inacceptable. 34. The position adopted by the Court, moreover, rhymes with the view taken by other judicial or quasi-judicial institutions when they had had to handle similar cases. 35. In its General Observation 25, adopted under paragraph 4 of Article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee declared that: “The effective implementation of the right and the opportunity to stand for elective office ensures that persons entitled to vote have a free choice of candidates. Any restrictions on the right to stand for election, such as minimum age, must be justifiable on objective and reasonable criteria. Persons who are otherwise eligible to stand for election should not be excluded by unreasonable or discriminatory requirements such as education, residence or descent, or by reason of political affiliation. No person should suffer discrimination or disadvantage of any kind because of that person's candidacy. States parties should indicate and explain the legislative provisions which exclude any group or category of persons from elective office.” (published on 27 August 1996). 36. The European Court of Human Rights recalls in its Judgment of 6 January 2011 in Case Concerning Paksas v. Lituania, that “In the Court’s view, it is understandable that a State should consider a gross violation of the Constitution or a breach of the constitutional oath to be a particularly serious matter requiring firm action when committed by a person holding that office. (...) However, that is not sufficient to persuade the Court that the applicant’s permanent and irreversible disqualification from standing for election as a result of a general provision constitutes a proportionate response to the requirements of preserving the democratic order.” The Court thus reaffirmed that the free expression of the opinion of the people in choosing their legislative body must at all times be preserved. (§104 and 105, also see ECHR Judgments, 22 September 2004, Case Conserning Aziz v. Cyprus). 13