C. Registration and removal from the registry

Under Article 21 par c, political parties may be removed from the register if they have not nominated candidates for any two consecutive general elections, local council elections or European Parliament Elections. This would appear to constitute a restriction on the right to stand for elections, which, according to Article 3 of the Protocol 1 to the ECHR shall be held: “[…] under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature”.[1]In this light, the removal from the register for not contesting any two consecutive elections appears somewhat excessive, and should be reconsidered; another possibility would be to introduce a time period (provided it is not too short) after which the party, if it does not participate in any elections, is removed from the register.

[1]Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by Protocol No. 11, Paris, 20.III.1952.