First, General Comment 25 of the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) makes it clear that in conformity with Article 25(b) of the ICCPR, “elections must be conducted fairly and freely”, and that “an independent electoral authority should be established […] to ensure that it is conducted fairly, impartially and in accordance with established laws which are compatible with the Covenant.” Second, one of the dissenting opinions included in the SEC decision also mentions the principle of fairness in elections by reference to the Constitution of Turkey. Namely, Article 67, paragraph 5 states that “[…] the electoral laws shall be drawn up in such a way as to reconcile the principles of fair representation”, and Article 79, paragraph 2 stipulates that the SEC is “to ensure the fair and orderly conduct of the elections […]”. Consistently with the dissenting opinion’s reading of the principle of fairness in elections under the Constitution of Turkey, the Venice Commission regards the international standards of “fairness” in the Covenant as requiring that in the absence of a clear regulation prior to the elections, and bearing in mind that no opportunity was given to political parties to change their candidates, the competent electoral authorities should have either recognised the elected candidates or annulled and repeated the elections in the electoral zones concerned.