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European Standards of Electoral Law in Contemporary Constitutionalism

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European Standards of Electoral Law in Contemporary Constitutionalism Sofia, 28-29 May 2004 Science and technique of democracy, No. 39 CDL-STD(2004)039 Or. Engl. EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION) European Standards of Electoral Law in Contemporary Constitutionalism UniDem Seminar organised in Sofia on 28-29 May 2004 in co-operation with the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS Mr Gianni Buquicchio ......................................................................................................... 3 REPORTS International and European legal standards concerning principles of democratic elections Professor Evgeni Tanchev .................................................................................................... 6 The European electoral heritage and the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters Mr Georges Clerfayt ........................................................................................................... 23 Residence and electoral rights of citizens of the Republic of Macedonia Ms Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska ...................................................................................... 29 Electoral systems – European standards: particular aspects and case study Professor Emilia Drumeva ................................................................................................. 37 The reform of the Russian electoral system and the election commissions: new trends and perspective Mr Vladimir Lysenko ......................................................................................................... 62 The powers of the French constitutional council in electoral matters Mr Richard Ghevontian ...................................................................................................... 73 The Spanish system of proportional representation and its limits, according to the constitutional court Mr Ángel J. Sánchez Navarro ............................................................................................ 95 The electoral system and electoral disputes in Switzerland Mr Etienne Grisel ............................................................................................................. 105 Constitutional control of European elections: the scope of judicial review Mr Francis G. Jacobs ........................................................................................................ 116 From the electoral system referendum to constitutional changes in Slovenia (1996-2000) Professor Dr. Ciril Ribičič ................................................................................................ 124 This publication contains the reports presented at the UniDem Seminar organised in Sofia on 28-29 May 2004 by the European Commission for Democracy through Law in co-operation with the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria. This activity is organised within the framework of the Joint Programme between the European Commission and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe “Democracy through Free and Fair Elections”. The European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) is an advisory body on constitutional law, set up within the Council of Europe. It is composed of independent experts from member states of the Council of Europe, as well as from non- member states. At present, more than fifty states participate in the work of the Commission. INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS Mr Gianni BUQUICCHIO Secretary of the Venice Commission Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak at this seminar on European standards of electoral law and contemporary constitutionalism. To begin with, I should like to thank the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria, which has taken the initiative of organising this forum and receiving us in Sofia today. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bulgaria has entered upon a course of integration with European structures and has proclaimed and given proof of its attachment to democratic values such as the rule of law, the protection of human rights, and the participation of all citizens in public life through free elections. Fifteen years later an enormous amount has been achieved but, as in any country, democracy does not stand still: new challenges arise, new tasks emerge and the work of “constitution building” continues. Bulgaria has now become a member of Nato and is preparing to join the European Union. This is a further step towards the country’s integration in Europe, opening up new horizons in the social, legal, economic, political and other fields. It is true that, to this end, further systems of cooperation will be established. However, this cannot lessen the importance of cooperation with other European institutions such as the Council of Europe and the OSCE – of which Bulgaria currently holds the chairmanship – and with other organisations. As you know, I represent an institution which has longstanding relations with the Republic of Bulgaria and especially its Constitutional Court. Our co-operation dates back to 1991, when the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria was being drafted.1 Other Commission opinions prepared at the request of the Bulgarian authorities have concerned, amongst other things, the Popular Consultation Bill (1996),2 the Administrative Court Act (1996),3 and more recently the reform of the judicial system (2003).4 The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria is actively involved in the work of the Joint Council on Constitutional Justice and the Bulletin of Constitutional Case-Law. The Venice Commission hopes that this cooperation will become deeper and more extensive in the future. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, the subject that brings us together round this table today is of cardinal importance for every democratic European state and in the context of extending the European Union to the whole of our continent. Elections reflect the degree of democratic maturity because they affect all citizens. Nowadays it is clearly asserted in all European constitutions that the only legitimate source of power is universal suffrage, inasmuch as sovereignty – that is, the power to determine freely the rules of social existence – belongs neither to one man nor to one party but resides in the people. The five key principles of electoral law − universal, equal, free, direct and secret suffrage − are firmly established in Europe’s constitutional heritage. They are at the root of democracy, which itself is one of the three pillars of the legal culture enshrined in the Statute of the Council of Europe. However, the existence of shared fundamental values does not preclude practical differences in the ways in which they are expressed; national electoral systems vary greatly, and each country chooses the voting system that suits it best. At the same time this diversity must not prevent us from losing sight of the most important thing, as enshrined by the organs of the European Convention on Human Rights and developed by national constitutions: the establishment and protection of democratic institutions founded on popular sovereignty. 1 See the Venice Commission document : Draft Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria (CDL(1991)014). 2 Opinion on the Bulgarian draft law on popular consultation by Mr Ergun Özbudun, Turkey (CDL(1996)002) and by Mr Jacques Robert, France (CDL(1996)004). 3 Opinion on the Bulgarian law on the Administrative Court by Mr Klaus Berchtold, Austria (CDL(1996)008) and by Mr Anti Suviranta, Finland (CDL(1996)010). 4 Opinion on the Constitutional Amendments reforming the Judicial System in Bulgaria adopted by the Venice Commission at its 56th Plenary Session (Venice, 17-18 October 2003) (CDL-AD(2003)016). The Venice Commission attaches particular importance to European electoral law. In 2002, in cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, it set up the Council for Democratic Elections, whose main task is precisely cooperation in the electoral field. One of the first documents to be drawn up by this council was the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, which brings together and codifies the basic European principles for organising free and democratic elections.5 These norms of European electoral heritage are in the first place the standard constitutional principles of electoral law: universal, equal, free, secret and direct suffrage, together with elections at regular intervals. Stated thus, these principles are largely uncontroversial; this not the case, however, when it is a matter of specifically defining their substance. For example, free suffrage comprises two different aspects: voters’ freedom to form an opinion and their freedom to express their wishes. The former aspect, the freedom of voters to form an opinion, is often neglected but requires the neutrality of the public media, for example, which is still far from the case in general. As for the second aspect, the freedom of voters to express their wishes, it requires scrutiny of voting procedures that must be more than just superficial: under which circumstances is postal, proxy and electronic voting allowed? I shall not go into further detail here; I simply wanted to show how something that may seem basic at first sight is often more complicated than we think. Observance of the above-mentioned principles (universal, equal, free, secret and direct suffrage, and regular elections) is necessary for properly conducted elections but not in itself enough: certain basic conditions must be met. One of these is the organisation
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