Paragraph 4 of Article 47 provides for a ban on the right to vote, to be elected and to participate in referendums for “persons convicted of grave crime”. The European Court of Human Rights has held that “Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, which enshrines the individual’s capacity to influence the composition of the law-making power, does not therefore exclude that restrictions on electoral rights could be imposed on an individual who has, for example, seriously abused a public position or whose conduct threatened to undermine the rule of law or democratic foundations (…) The severe measure of disenfranchisement must not, however, be resorted to lightly and the principle of proportionality requires a discernible and sufficient link between the sanction and the conduct and circumstances of the individual concerned.”14 The Venice Commission has recently examined in particular the issue of the exclusion of offenders from parliament and has reached the conclusion that “ineligibility to be elected is a restriction of the right to free elections: it must therefore be based on clear norms of law, pursue a legitimate aim and observe the principle of proportionality. It is in the general public interest to avoid an active role of offenders in the political decision-making. Proportionality limits not only the cases in which a restriction is admissible, but also the length of the restriction; it requires that such elements as the nature and severity of the offence and/or the length of the sentence be taken into account.”15 Article 47 paragraph 4 of the Armenian Constitution should therefore contain an explicit reference to limitations to this electoral ban in pursuance to the principle of proportionality.