First instance body dealing with electoral disputes

OSCE/ODIHR Election Assessment Mission Final Report EarlyElections Of The National Assembly Republic Of Slovenia (2011-12-04)

XIV.COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

Electiondispute resolution is primarily regulated by the electoral law. The Act onAdministrative Disputes is also applicable with regard to the Supreme Court asis the Constitutional Court Act with regard to that court. In addition, theVoting Rights Register Act regulates disputes pertaining to voter registration.Overall, the legislation provides for effective and timely legal remedy, andthere is public confidence in the adjudication bodies and procedures.

The electionlaw stipulates that complaints on irregularities in the candidate nominationprocedure may be lodged with the ConECs. As a second instance, the law provides for a judicialreview of the ConEC decisions on candidate registration with the Supreme Court.However, it is not clear whether a complaint may be lodged with the SupremeCourt only against decisions of electoral commissions on candidate registrationor on the legality of any acts adopted by electoral bodies, as specified by theLaw on Administrative Disputes.47

(47 On 12January 2012, the Constitutional Court decided that appeals against ConECs arenot possible given that elections are a fast process and that all issues needto be solved immediately. Decision, Uv1/2012. )

In order to avoid ambiguity anduncertainty, including potential conflict of jurisdiction, legal provisionscould be revised to establish a uniform, hierarchical dispute procedure for alldecisions and acts of electoral commissions.

Elevencomplaints were filed with ConECs by the SPSP on the denial of candidate listregistrations in all eight constituencies, the TRS and the ‘Green Party’ inConstituency 3 and the Stranka Humana Slovenija in Constituency 5. Therejections were appealed to the Supreme and the Constitutional Court, whichupheld the ConECs’ decisions.

TheOSCE/ODIHR EAM was informed of pre-election day complaints filed by voters thatwere not considered significant by ConECs and the NEC and were not addressed.In addition, some 179 complaints were lodged with the MoI Inspectorate onalleged violations of campaign rules, including violations of campaign silence(see Media section).51 The Information Commissioner dealt with seven allegedviolations of the Personal Data Republic of Slovenia Protection Act bypolitical parties or candidates. At the time of this report, investigationswere still ongoing.

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,

http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/87786  as retrieved on2013-11-08.

NationalAssembly Elections Act ( consolidated text  (ZVDZ-UPB1)(2006-09-29)

VI. ELECTORAL BODIES

Article22

Electionsof deputies shall be managed and carried out by electoral commissions andelectoral committees (hereinafter: electoral bodies).

...

Article23

Electoralcommissions are as follows:

1)national electoral commission;

2)constituency electoral commission;

3)district electoral commission.

...

Article37

Thenational electoral commission shall:

1)provide for the legitimacy of the elections and the uniform application of theprovisions of this Act referring to electoral procedures;

2)co-ordinate the work of constituency electoral commissions and districtelectoral commissions, provide expert advice on the application of this Act,and oversee their work;

...

5)announce the results of National Assembly elections;

6)issue election certificates;

7) establish the lists of candidateswhich at the national level received four or more percent of the votes cast forall lists;

...

Article38

Constituencyelectoral commissions shall:

1)provide for the legitimacy of the election of deputies in constituencies;

2) ascertain whether individualcandidacies or lists of candidates are in accordance with the law;

3)determine the results of elections, declare which deputies have been elected ina constituency according to Article 90 of this Act, and issue reports on theelection results;

...

VII. STANDING FOR ELECTION

Article43

...

Apolitical party may submita list of candidates in a constituency provided the list of candidateshas been nominated by members of the political party who have the voting rightand permanent residence in the constituency, and that the list of candidates issupported by the signatures of at least fifty voters who have permanent residencein the constituency.

Apolitical party may also submit a list of candidates in a constituency if thelist of candidates has not been nominated in the manner described in thepreceding paragraph, provided the list of candidates is supported by the signaturesof at least one hundred voters who have permanent residence in theconstituency.

...

Article51

Thelist of candidates shall be submitted to the constituency electoral commission. Theproposed list of candidates must bear the mark of the constituency, the name ofthe proposer, the name of the list, the personal data of the candidates (fullname, date and place of birth, profession trained for, occupation and permanentaddress), and the name and permanent address of the representative of the list.Enclosed with the list must be the written consent of the candidates,confirming that they accept the candidacy, and the minimum number of voters'signatures on the prescribed forms, as provided by this Act.

VIII.CONFIRMATION OF LISTS OF CANDIDATES

Article54

Listsof candidates shall be submitted to the constituency electoral commission notlater than 25 days prior to Election Day.

Uponreceipt of the list of candidates, the constituency electoral commission shallimmediately ascertain whether the list of candidates was submitted in due timeand whether it was nominated in accordance with this Act.

Article55

The constituency electoral commissionshall reject a list of candidates if it ascertains that the list was notsubmitted in due time.

Article56

Theconstituency electoral commission shall reject a list of candidates if itascertains that the list was not nominated in accordance with this Act.

Ifthe constituency electoral commission ascertains formal shortcomings in a listof candidates, it shall immediately request that the proposer make correctionswithin three days. If the formal shortcomings are not corrected in due time,the electoral commission shall reject the list of candidates.

Inthe cases referred to in the preceding two paragraphs, the electoral commissionshall reject a list of candidates entirely or in respect of individualcandidates.

dministrative Dispute Act (ZUS-1) (2006-09-08)

Chapter 3 Competences and composition of the court

Section 1 Subject matter jurisdiction

Article 12

(1) The Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter referred to as the Supreme Court) shall decide in the administrative dispute over the legality of acts issued by election bodies at elections to the National Assembly, the National Council and for the President of Slovenia. (2) The Supreme Court shall adjudicate on the appeal and on the revision. (3) The Supreme Court shall adjudicate on disputes regarding the division of jurisdiction between an administrative and other court.

Ministry of the Interior of Slovenia,

http://?www2.?fu.?uni-?lj.?si/?mediawiki/?index.?php?title=Zak:ZUS-?1 as retrieved on 2013-11-12.

ConECs arethe bodies that are in charge of candidate registration issue (Article 38 (2)Electoral law), thus they can register candidate or refuse to register.(Article 55, Electoral Law). Consequently, according to the Administrative Dispute Act,Article 12, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia shall decide in theadministrative dispute over the legality of acts issued by election bodies atelections to the National Assembly. ODIHR report provides certain examples onhow things were handled in this particular election (Early Elections Of TheNational Assembly Republic Of Slovenia (2011-12-04).  ODIHR report also together with thoseexamples determined that in practice the ambiguity in the law createsjurisdiction problems, when complaint might be filed with multiple bodies (notalways correctly) and gives a suggestion for further legislation change inorder to remove such ambiguity.

However,following legislation as it is at the present moment, the Supreme Court is markedas first and last instance, based on the following: according to electoral law,ConEC – body responsible to take decision on candidate registration, and -Supreme Court is the body which adjudicates the disputesover the legality of acts issued by election bodies at elections to the NationalAssembly.  Supreme Court - is the highestcourt in this hierarchical branch.