Home > 5.1.3 Referendum requested by part of the electorate > ALBANIA - Joint Opinion on the Draft Law on the Legislative Initiative of the Citizens
 
 
 
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Paragraph 19
 

The right to initiate a citizens’ initiative is vested on every eligible voter. According to Article 45 of the Constitution citizens who have been declared mentally incompetent by a final court decision do not have the right to vote. While it is a good practice to link the right to legal initiative to the right of vote, it disfranchises those who are mentally incapacitated. Paragraph 7.3 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document commits the OSCE participating States to guarantee universal and equal suffrage to adult citizens. Article 12 of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) prescribes that “State Parties recognise that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life.” Whereas in accordance with Article 29 calls on State Parties to “guarantee to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others.” This also contradicts the revised interpretative declaration to the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters on the participation of people with disabilities in elections (CDL‑AD(2011)045). Consideration should be given to revise the eligibility of legal initiatives in line with international obligations.