ANATOLIY MARINOV v. BULGARIA JUDGMENT B. Legal incapacitation 15. The relevant provisions related to the legal status of persons placed under partial guardianship and their representation before the courts, as well as to the procedures for placement under partial guardianship and for restoration of legal capacity have been summarised in Stanev v. Bulgaria ([GC] no. 36760/06, §§ 42-47, and 51-52, ECHR 2012). In execution of this latter judgment, the Bulgarian authorities have enacted a number of legislative amendments among which the introduction, on 27 October 2017 under Article 340 (2) of the 2007 Civil Procedure Code, of the right to a direct access to a court for the persons placed under guardianship (запрещение) in order to request the restoration of their legal capacity. II. INTERNATIONAL AND EUROPEAN LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AND COMPARATIVE PRACTICE 16. The relevant international and European material concerning the right to vote of individuals deprived of legal capacity have been summarised in Strøbye and Rosenlind v. Denmark (nos. 25802/18 and 27338/18, §§ 66-71, 2 February 2021) and Caamaño Valle v. Spain (no. 43564/17, §§ 21-28, 11 May 2021). THE LAW I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 3 OF PROTOCOL NO. 1 TO THE CONVENTION 17. The applicant complained that his disenfranchisement on account of his being placed under guardianship had been in violation of his rights under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, which reads as follows: Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 “The High Contracting Parties undertake to hold free elections at reasonable intervals by secret ballot, under conditions which will ensure the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature.” A. Admissibility 1. The parties’ submissions 18. The Government raised three preliminary objections, whereas the applicant maintained that the case should be examined on the merits. 19. The Government firstly raised doubts about the validity of the applicant’s representation before the Court, arguing that the signature that appeared on the contract for legal services (submitted together with the 4