Chapter 3: Complaints Adjudication Training for Election
Management Bodies and Political Parties
Commission (CEC). In turn, CEC decisions can be appealed
to the District Administrative Court. CEC decisions regarding
election results can be contested at the Supreme Court.
• Greece has established the Supreme Special (Electoral) Court
to hear cases involving compliance of legal acts with the Constitutional principles guiding the elections, violations of the
election law, prohibitions to stand for election, and disqualification of elected officials. Other cases follow a chain from the
polling station level to the courts of first instance in the relevant
district. Media issues related to the campaign period are monitored by the National Council of Radio and Television (NCRT).
The NCRT is governed by a plenary comprised of the Council’s
president, the Vice President and five members who are nominated by the Conference of Presidents.
• Portugal relies heavily on a diversity of laws and regulations,
and the institutions handling complaints differ depending on the
subject matter. The National Election Commission (NEC) has
established rules whereby complaints can be submitted. The
NEC then decides whether the complaint is eligible and whether
further action or decisions are necessary. Decisions of the NEC
can be appealed to the Constitutional Court.
• In Kosovo a special Election Complaints and Appeals Commission has been established, while in Indonesia Supervisory
Bodies are appointed by the relevant provincial, district and municipal assemblies. These supervisory bodies are charged with
the responsibility of reviewing all complaints and deciding the
venue to which they are to be transferred for adjudication. They
are also considered the monitoring bodies overseeing the work
of the election commissions in their jurisdictions.
Such diversity points to the importance of ensuring that EMBs and political participants are fully informed as to how the process works in their
countries and which adjudicating body has jurisdiction.
ii. Training non-legal experts is different
The implication of shifting election complaints to the EMB’s domain is that
complaints are being reviewed, and at least initially adjudicated, by people
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