Access to Justice and Electoral Integrity National and supranational protection of political rights In the Matthews v United Kingdom case, the decision of the European Court of Human Rights had important implications on the right of people from Gibraltar to vote for the European Parliament. The applicant, a British citizen and resident of Gibraltar, applied to the Electoral Registration Office for Gibraltar to be registered as a voter at the elections to the European Parliament on 12 April 1994. She was told that, under the terms of the European Community Act on Direct Elections, Gibraltar was not included in the franchise for the European Parliamentary elections. The applicant argued that this constituted a violation of her right to vote in free elections, as established in Article 3 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The British government contended that activities of the European Parliament fell outside the scope of Article 3 given that the activities of the European Parliament are deemed as a supranational institution, over which the United Kingdom had no control. The Court accepted the wide margin of appreciation that states have regarding the choice of their electoral system. Nevertheless, in this particular matter, the applicant as well as Gibraltarians and other EU nationals residing in Gibraltar were denied the opportunity to express their opinion on who should constitute a member of the European Parliament; although legislation deriving from the European Community was part of the legislation of Gibraltar. 20