(3) persons sentenced to custodial prison terms exceeding three (3) months or
to a non-custodial prison term exceeding six (6) months, for offences other
than those enumerated in paragraph 2 above, subject to the provisions of
Article L30;
(4) persons who have not put in any appearance in court;
(5) unredeemed bankrupt persons whose bankruptcy may have been declared
in Senegalese courts, or whose bankruptcy may have been declared
outside Senegal but enforceable in Senegal;
(6) persons whose right to vote may have been banned by a criminal court of
general law;
(7) adult persons suffering from one form of incapacity or the other.”
Now, Karim Meissa Wade had once been sentenced to a custodial prison term
of six (6) months for illicit wealth and to a fine of One Hundred and Thirty-Eight
Billion Two Hundred and Thirty-Nine Million Eighty-Six Thousand Three Hundred
and Ninety-Six CFA Francs (CFA F 138,239,086,396).
In compliance with the text cited above, the Republic of Senegal refused to
register his name on the electoral roll.
It is worthy to recall that in line with its case law, the ECOWAS Court of Justice
has already held in its judgment of 13 July 2015 on CDP v. Burkina Faso, that a
state may impose restrictions on access to suffrage.
Besides, on the international stage, in Pakas v. Lithuania, the Grand Chamber of
the European Court of Human Rights, in its Judgment of 6 January 2011,
declared 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. (Paragraph 104, Application No. 34932/04).
The Court finds that the refusal to put Karim Meissa Wade’s name on the
electoral roll whereas he was aspiring to occupy the highest function in the
State, does constitute a restriction upon his right to vote, but such restriction
was imposed in consonance with the law, notably Articles 34 and 35 of the
Criminal Code and Article L31 of the Electoral Code of Senegal. The law is
intended to repress outrightly certain lines of conduct if they should be
committed by certain persons invested with public authority, entrusted with
Translator: E. Nkansah 11