241. Article 26 of the ICCPR provides that “[a]ll persons are equal before the law and
are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this
respect,
the law shall prohibit any discrimination
and
guarantee
to all persons
equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status.”
242. The
first
issue
independent
for
determination
candidates’
concerns
representative
whether
in the
the
electoral
non-inclusion
bodies
results
of
in
a
violation of Article 13(1) and (2) of the Charter.
243. At the outset, the Court observes that the Applicants have not demonstrated how
the
non-inclusion
of independent
candidates
in the list of entities that may
propose members to the electoral body as established in the impugned law has
affected their right to freely participate in government or have equal access to the
public service of the country.
244. The Court further notes the difficulty in identifying and selecting representatives
of independent candidates before the final lists of candidates for elections are
drawn up.
245. For these
reasons,
the Court finds no violation with regard to right to freely
participate in government nor with regard to the question of equal access to the
public service of the country,
as provided
under Article 13(1) and
(2) of the
Charter.
246. Concerning the second issue related to the alleged unfair advantage for electoral
candidates
originating from the ruling party, the Court is of the view that the
argument
of
the
candidates
is based
composition
of the
Applicants
on
the
on
the
discrimination
assumption
electoral
body.
The
that
there
alleged
towards
is an
independent
imbalance
discrimination
in the
against
the
candidates that do not originate from the ruling party is then supposedly the result
of
the
imbalanced
established
composition.
that the Applicants
However,
have
the
Court
notes
failed to demonstrate
that
the
it already
imbalanced
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