Home > 1. The principles of Europe's electoral heritage > MONTENEGRO- Opinion on the Compatibility of the Existing Legislation Concerning the Organisation of Referendums with Applicable International Standards
 
 
 
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Paragraph 53
 

It might be questioned whether the practice of other federal states remains relevant for the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro which, de facto if not de iure, largely functions as a confederation. While the State Union remains a single subject of international law, both member states behave independently in most respects. In contrast to the situation in a federal state within the State Union the link between the individual and the separate entities within the Union seems, for the person concerned, more important than the link between the individual and the State Union. For the person resident in a member state other than the member state of which he or she is a citizen, the situation resembles to a greater degree than in 2001 the situation of an expatriate wishing to vote in his or her country of origin. Nevertheless, the situation cannot be entirely assimilated to a vote by expatriates. It has also to be borne in mind that there is no binding international standard requiring that expatriates should have the right to vote, although Resolution 1459 of the Parliamentary Assembly on the abolition of restrictions on the right to vote takes a position in favour of allowing expatriates to vote in their country of origin. This is however not a binding text and the European Court of Human Rights has implicitly accepted[20] that expatriates may be excluded from the vote.