ŽDANOKA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT 39 democratic legislature those individuals who had taken an active and leading role in a party which was directly linked to the attempted violent overthrow of the newly-established democratic regime. It is true that it is not stated in the legislation that the disqualification is unlimited in time, but nor does it appear that it is temporary. Notwithstanding this ambiguity, the intention of the legislature was clearly motivated by prevention rather than by punishment. The Constitutional Court’s conclusions of 30 August 2000 and the subsequent periodic review of the legislation at the national level confirm this conclusion (see paragraphs 61-62 above). 123. In Refah Partisi (the Welfare Party) and Others (cited above, § 115) the Court held that acts of leaders of a party were imputable to the party unless it distanced itself from them. The corollary may be equally true in circumstances such as those of the instant case, namely that the acts of a party are imputable to its members, particularly those who are leading figures in it, unless those members distance themselves from those acts. A politician’s conduct usually includes not only actions or speeches but also omissions or a lack of response, which can equally constitute acts indicating that politician’s stance. In view of the critical events surrounding the survival of democracy in Latvia which occurred after 13 January 1991, it was reasonable for the Latvian legislature to presume that the leading figures of the CPL held an anti-democratic stance, unless by their actions they had rebutted this presumption, for example, by actively dissociating themselves from the CPL at the material time. However, the applicant has not made any statement distancing herself from the CPSU/CPL at the material time, or indeed at any time thereafter (see paragraphs 21, 23 and 120 above). 124. Criminal proceedings were never brought against the applicant. If this had been the case, she would have benefited from safeguards such as the presumption of innocence and the resolution of doubts in her favour in respect of such proceedings. The disqualification imposed under section 5(6) of the 1995 Act constitutes a special public-law measure regulating access to the political process at the highest level. In the context of such a procedure, doubts could be interpreted against a person wishing to be a candidate, the burden of proof could be shifted onto him or her, and appearances could be considered of importance. As observed above, the Court is of the opinion that the Latvian authorities were entitled, within their margin of appreciation, to presume that a person in the applicant’s position had held opinions incompatible with the need to ensure the integrity of the democratic process, and to declare that person ineligible to stand for election. The applicant has not disproved the validity of those appearances before the domestic courts; nor has she done so in the context of the instant proceedings. 125. It should also be recalled that the Convention does not exclude a situation where the scope and conditions of a restrictive measure may be