23. Have these decisions been taken within the prescribed time-limit? (For those cases where time-limits have been exceeded, explain the reasons given or assumed. Also break down into categories of complaints). 24. How many of the cases decided upon by courts have been enforced? (Break down into categories of complaints) Prosecutors 25. How many cases have been brought before prosecutors? (Break down into categories of complaints) 26. How many of the cases brought before public prosecutors have been decided? (Break down into categories of complaints) 27. Have these decisions been taken within the prescribed time-limit? (For those cases where time-limits have been exceeded, explain the reasons given or assumed. Also break down into categories of complaints). 28. How many of the cases originally sent to the prosecutor have been enforced? (Break down into categories of complaints) 2. In-Depth Analysis of Channels for Election Dispute Resolution On the basis of the basic information retrieved from the database, further analysis can serve to expose the efficiency and functioning of a dispute resolution mechanism. To a certain extent, the analysis conducted will vary from country to country, or according to the type of elections held. However, in most cases the answers to these questions will be more difficult to discern and will require analysis of the decisions and documents on the cases. Below are examples of analytical questions which, if answered, will increase a legal adviser’s ability to analyse the legal system and will improve the appropriateness of recommendations. Analytical questions: cases requiring further investigations 29. How many cases have been considered to require further investigation? (Break down into categories of complaints) 30. Among the complaints how many have been sent by the election commissions to law enforcement agencies or other state bodies? (Break down into categories of complaints) 31. Among cases requiring further investigation how many have been sent to the prosecutor? (Break down into categories of complaints) 32. How many of these cases have been decided? (Break down into categories of complaints) 33. What are the substantive grounds of the decisions by the election commissions? 34. What are the substantive grounds of the decisions by the courts at each level? 35. Are there institutional comparisons on the efficiency and extent of enforcement of the decisions? 36. What are the substantive grounds for the appeals (especially with regard to the prosecutor)? 37. What are the statistics on the total number of cases filed with each institution? (in order to assess the relevance of the cases brought to the attention of the election observation mission) 38. How many of the cases are related purely to the administration of elections and how many are tied to the structural weaknesses of the legal and/or electoral system? 21