ŽDANOKA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT 25 individuals in the same position as herself had been elected to the Latvian parliament. In those circumstances, the applicant could not see how her election could threaten national security such a long time after the facts held against her. 81. In so far as the Government referred to the Constitutional Court’s judgment of 30 August 2000, the applicant referred to the dissenting opinion signed by three of the seven judges who had examined the case and found that the restriction was disproportionate. With regard to the Constitutional Court’s restrictive interpretation of the electoral law, which presupposed an evaluation of the individual responsibility of each person concerned, the applicant argued that nothing in her personal conduct justified the disputed measure, since she had never attempted to restore the totalitarian regime or to overthrow the legitimate authorities. On the contrary, she had campaigned for democratisation and reform within the CPSU, the CPL and society as a whole. 82. The applicant also argued that nothing in her personal conduct justified the restriction imposed on her electoral rights. Subsequent to January 1990, she had campaigned in a non-governmental organisation, the Latvian Committee for Human Rights (Latvijas Cilvēktiesību komiteja), and had co-chaired that organisation until 1997. Working within the committee, she had become very well known for her activities in providing legal assistance to thousands of individuals; she had helped to promote respect for human rights in Latvia and she had been responsible for implementing three Council of Europe programmes. 83. Finally, and contrary to the Government’s submissions, the applicant considered that the impugned restriction was not provisional. In that connection, she pointed out that, although Parliament had indeed reexamined the electoral law before each election, this re-examination had always resulted in an extension rather than a reduction in the number of circumstances entailing disqualification. Consequently, it had to be acknowledged that the disqualification of individuals who had been active within the CPL after 13 January 1991 was likely to continue. In conclusion, the applicant emphasised that the Government’s restoration of her ability to stand as a candidate to the Latvian parliament was long overdue, in particular in view of her recent election as a member of the European Parliament, a fact which confirmed that she had the confidence and support of a significant part of the Latvian electorate. 2. The Government 84. The Government requested the Grand Chamber to find no violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. They submitted a detailed description of the historical events leading to the restoration of Latvian State independence. They stated that the Chamber had failed to take due account of these events in reaching its conclusions. In addition, they referred to the historical facts