Although time limits for lodging and deciding on complaints and appeals during an election period must be short and appeal bodies must make their rulings as quickly as possible, time limits must be long enough to develop as effective an appeal as possible, to guarantee the exercise of rights of defence and a well considered decision. The current 1-2 day timelines for lodging and consideration of complaints and appeals by election commissions and courts (some of which were shortened in March 2008 amendments) are certainly too short to consistently meet these guarantees. Moreover, the time limit for filing against decisions of the courts and election commissions starts from the time of issuance of the decision, and not the time of notification, which shortens the timeframe and is subject to abuse. It is recommended that the Election Code be amended to provide 3-5 days, particularly at the first instance, both for lodging appeals and making rulings, as a reasonable timeline for decisions to be taken before the elections. For further appeals, a minimum of 2-3 days should be allowed for submitting and hearing of appeals.
