the Applicant’s name from the voter’ register was accompanied by a certificate of no opposition or non-appeal.20 74. The Court therefore considers that the IEC complied with the applicable legal provisions and drew the appropriate conclusions from a pre-existing judicial decision. It follows that its decision cannot therefore be considered to have occasioned the violation of the Applicant’s right to the presumption of innocence. 75. Accordingly, the Court considers, that the Respondent State did not violate the Applicant’s right to defence protected under Article 7(1)(b) of the Charter with regard to the presumption of innocence. C. Alleged violation of the right to freely participate in government 76. The Applicant alleges violation of the right to participate freely in the government of his country, contending that he could be declared ineligible only if his conviction had acquired the force of res judicata. It is his case, however, that the default judgment 29 October 2019 did not meet this criterion, insofar as it was not duly served, and the remedies remained open. 77. The Respondent State did not file any submission. 78. Article 13 of the Charter provides: Every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the government of his country, either directly or through freely chosen representatives, in accordance with the provisions of the law. 20 Under Ivorian law, the certificate of non-opposition or appeal is a registry document issued to establish that no appeal has been lodged within the legal time limits against a court decision. Although it is not mentioned verbatim in an article of law as such, its issuance is based on several legal bases implicit in the Code of Civil, Commercial and Administrative Procedure of Côte d’Ivoire. 17