The ineligibility to be elected provided for by the amendments is intended to have a preventive character and not a punitive one, and therefore cannot be assimilated to a criminal charge in the sense of Article 6 ECHR. Although the principle of presumption of innocence enshrined in Article 6 § 2 ECHR does not in principle apply in procedures that decide on the ineligibility to be elected, the presumption of innocence is of relevance if the procedure deciding on the ineligibility to stand for elections on the basis of Article 16(2)(f)(1) occurs in parallel with criminal proceedings. The measure providing for the ineligibility to be elected would not per se be incompatible with the presumption of innocence, unless in substance, the disqualification decision would infer the determination of guilt of the candidate.

3. Does the Law no. 280 provide sufficient procedural guarantees able to prevent arbitrariness in the case of candidates who were prohibited from running in the elections?