STRØBYE AND ROSENLIND v. DENMARK JUDGMENT voting in general elections. Their right to vote had thus been restricted by law. The Court will proceed to determine whether this measure pursued a legitimate aim in a proportionate manner, having regard to the principles identified above. (i) Lawfulness 95. Unlike other provisions of the Convention, such as Article 5, Articles 8 to 11, or Article 1 of Protocol No. 1, the text of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 does not contain an express reference to the “lawfulness” of any measures taken by the State. However, the rule of law, one of the fundamental principles of a democratic society, is inherent in all the Articles of the Convention and its Protocols (see, among many other authorities, Amuur v. France, 25 June 1996, § 50, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1996-III, and Abil v. Azerbaijan (no. 2), no. 8513/11, § 66, 5 December 2019). 96. In the present case, it is not in dispute between the parties that the applicants’ disenfranchisement was lawful. It was prescribed by section 29 of the Constitution and section 1 of the Danish Act on Parliamentary Elections. The Court finds no reason to hold otherwise (see, for example, a contrario, Seyidzade v. Azerbaijan, no. 37700/05, §§ 31-40, 3 December 2009. (ii) Legitimate aim 97. The Court points out that Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 does not (as do other provisions of the Convention) specify or limit the aims that a restriction must pursue; a wide range of purposes may therefore be compatible with Article 3. The Government submitted that the measure complained of had pursued the legitimate aim of ensuring that voters in general elections had the required level of mental skills. The applicants accepted that view, and the Court sees no reason to hold otherwise (see also Alajos Kiss, cited above, § 38, in which the Court accepted “that the measure complained of pursued the legitimate aim of ensuring that only citizens capable of assessing the consequences of their decisions and making conscious and judicious decisions should participate in public affairs”). (iii) Proportionality 98. From the outset, it should be noted that at time of the parliamentary elections that took place on 18 June 2015 (in which the applicants could not vote), persons who were subject to guardianship under section 5 the Guardianship Act were deemed to be legally competent. Accordingly, they could vote in general elections. 28