Guidelines for Understanding, Adjudicating, and Resolving Disputes in Elections formation technology expert, lawyers and a clerk.135 The adjudicatory body should regulate the conduct of its staff, and should adopt a code of conduct for its judges and commissioners (see text box on the previous page for a code of conduct developed by the Afghanistan Electoral Complaints Commission).  Staff members should be sanctioned just as judges would be if they commit a comparable error. This will create a responsibility equivalent to a civil duty of care. The arbiters should be liable for their misconduct in processing a claim. They should be responsible to the parties and polity, requiring them to be more vigilant when reviewing a complaint. A study on the Electoral Court in Uruguay has revealed that its members are nominated based on their professional skills and that the electoral staff is generally well-trained, but lack proper resources to run an efficient system.136 With several competing demands on domestic resources, this is a major entry point for the assistance of the international donor community; however, all aid should be designed with the ultimate goal of creating self-sustaining systems. 4. A System that Judicially Expedites Decisions Because the legitimacy of the entire government may rest on the validity of election results, complaint proceedings must be expeditious. The importance of timing is widely recognized in international conventions and treaties, even though the language may vary. For example, the timesensitive nature of resolving complaints requires the proceedings to take place “within a reasonable time” or “without undue delay.”137 A. Expeditious Proceedings The importance of a timely remedy has been recognized by courts as inextricably linked to fair public participation in government and elections. There must be time limits for resolving electoral complaints.138 IFES, Timor-Leste: Development of a National Electoral Framework 26-27 (2008) [hereinafter IFES Timor-Leste Report]. 136 Staino, supra note 6, at 1-2. 137 ICCPR, supra note 11, art. 14, § 1(c); American Convention, supra note 14, art. 8; European Convention, supra note 26, art. 6, § 1; see also Autheman, supra note 51, at 6. 138 SADC Parliamentary Forum, Norms and Standards for Elections in the SADC Region 15 (2001) [hereinafter SADC Norms], available at http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/africa/ regional-resources-africa/sadcpf_electionnormsstandards.pdf/view. 135 50