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CAAMAÑO VALLE v. SPAIN JUDGMENT RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PRACTICE I. RELEVANT DOMESTIC LAW 16. The relevant provisions of the Spanish Constitution read as follows: Article 14 “All Spanish citizens are equal before the law and they may not in any way be discriminated against on account of birth, race, sex, religion, opinion or any other personal or social condition or circumstance.” Article 23 “1. Citizens have the right to participate in public affairs, directly or through representatives freely elected in periodic elections by universal suffrage. 2. They likewise have the right to access on equal terms to public office, provided that they meet the requirements provided by law.” 17. The relevant provisions of the Civil Code read as follows: Article 199 “No one may be declared incapacitated, except under a court judgment for reasons set forth in the law.” Article 200 “Persistent physical or mental illness or deficiencies that prevent a person from caring for himself constitute reasons for ruling that person legally incapacitated.” Article 232 “Guardianship shall be exercised under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor, who shall act ex officio or at the request of any interested party. The Public Prosecutor may require at any time a guardian to inform him of the situation of the minor or incapacitated person in question and of the state of the administration of the guardianship.” Article 233 “The judge may establish, in the resolution establishing a guardianship or in another subsequent resolution, any supervision and control measures deemed suitable for the benefit of the person under guardianship. Likewise, he may at any time require the guardian to inform him of the situation of the minor or incapacitated person and the state of the administration of the guardianship.” 18. The relevant provisions of Institutional Law 5/1985 of 19 June 1985 on the general electoral system (the LOREG), as worded at the material time, read as follows: 6

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Caamaño Valle v. Spain

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the rescission of voting rights for disabled person under guardianship based on individualized assessment is legal under Article 3, Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Alleged Acts: Applicant, Ms. Caamaño Valle, was the mother of a young woman with an intellectual disability. Around her daughter's 18th birthday, the mother requested that her daughter be placed under her legal guardianship (partial guardianship under Spanish law), but explicitly asked that the daughter not be deprived of her right to vote. Spanish courts placed the daughter under guardianship but also removed her voting rights, finding that she was "highly influenceable and not aware of the consequences of any vote that she might cast." The Spanish courts determined that the daughter lacked sufficient mental capacity to make a free and informed electoral choice, and that allowing her to vote would not serve the purpose of the democratic process.

Procedural history: Mother filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights, alleging that the disenfranchisement violated her daughter's right to vote under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Summary: The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in Caamaño Valle v. Spain that Spain did not violate the applicant’s rights under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to vote) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in the case of her daughter, M., who has an intellectual disability.

Conclusion: Spain's disenfranchisement of the applicant's daughter did not violate the European Convention. The judgment upheld the removal of voting rights for a person with an intellectual disability where domestic courts had conducted an individualized assessment and found that the person was incapable of understanding the electoral process and susceptible to undue influence.

Legal Issue(s)

Accessibility

Applicable Law(s): Article 3, Protocol No. 1, and Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights

Region: Europe and Eurasia

Country: Spain

Language of Decision

English

Court: Human Rights Court

Election Type: Parliamentary

Date of decision: Aug 11, 2021

Geolocation

Latitude: 48.5964

Longitude: 7.7742

: Geolocation

Link: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-210089%22]}

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CASE OF CAAMAÑO VALLE v. SPAIN.pdf
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Caamaño Valle v. Spain

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