ŽDANOKA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT
37
connection, the wide margin of appreciation enjoyed by the Contracting
States has always been underlined. In addition, the Court has stressed the
need to assess any electoral legislation in the light of the political evolution
of the country concerned, with the result that features unacceptable in the
context of one system may be justified in the context of another (see, inter
alia, Mathieu-Mohin and Clerfayt and Podkolzina, both cited above).
(d) The need for individualisation of a legislative measure alleged by an
individual to be in breach of the Convention, and the degree of that
individualisation where it is required by the Convention, depend on the
circumstances of each particular case, namely the nature, type, duration and
consequences of the impugned statutory restriction. For a restrictive
measure to comply with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, a lesser degree of
individualisation may be sufficient, in contrast to situations concerning an
alleged breach of Articles 8 to 11 of the Convention.
(e) As regards the right to stand as a candidate for election, that is, the
so-called “passive” aspect of the rights guaranteed by Article 3 of Protocol
No. 1, the Court has been even more cautious in its assessment of
restrictions in that context than when it has been called upon to examine
restrictions on the right to vote, the so-called “active” element of the rights
under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. In Melnychenko (cited above, § 57), the
Court observed that stricter requirements may be imposed on eligibility to
stand for election to Parliament than is the case for eligibility to vote. In
fact, while the test relating to the “active” aspect of Article 3 of Protocol
No. 1 has usually included a wider assessment of the proportionality of the
statutory provisions disqualifying a person or a certain group of persons
from the right to vote, the Court’s test in relation to the “passive” aspect of
the above provision has been limited largely to a check on the absence of
arbitrariness in the domestic procedures leading to disqualification of an
individual from standing as a candidate (see, in particular,
paragraphs 106-08 above).
3. Application of these principles in the present case
116. Turning to the circumstances of the present case, the Court notes
that the applicant alleges a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 in view
of her exclusion from standing as a candidate for election to the Latvian
parliament pursuant to section 5(6) of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1995
on the ground that she had “actively participated” in the activities of the
CPSU (CPL) after 13 January 1991.
117. The Court points out in the first place that the criterion of political
loyalty which may be applied to public servants is of little, if any, relevance
to the circumstances of the instant case, which deals with the very different
matter of the eligibility of individuals to stand for Parliament. The criterion
of “political neutrality” cannot be applied to members of parliament in the