Home > 1.1.3 Submission of candidatures > AZERBAIJAN - Joint Opinion on the Draft Law on amendments and changes to the Electoral Code adopted by the Council for Democratic Elections and the Venice Commission
 
 
 
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Paragraph 13
 

The interpretation and implementation of Article 13.3.4 of the Electoral Code (liabilities before foreign countries as a limitation on candidacy rights) has been a problem in past elections. The Constitutional Court, in its decision delivered on 1 August 2003, applied the provision ‘having no obligations towards other states’ of Article 100 of the Constitution to a specific case before it. The provision is one of the requirements to be fulfilled by candidates for the office of President. In its decision the Constitutional Court emphasised that the constitutional electoral right is one of the main characteristics of a democratic state. The right to elect representatives to different state bodies is an essential one in a democracy. The right of citizens to participate in State governance and the electoral right are enshrined in the Constitution (Articles 55 and 56).