NAMAT ALIYEV v. AZERBAIJAN JUDGMENT 29 89. Moreover, in any event, not all of the applicant's allegations were based on those observers' affidavits. His complaint also mentioned other alleged serious irregularities, including apparent inconsistencies in several PEC protocols disclosing potential large-scale tampering with ballots on the PEC level. In terms of initial evidence necessary for examination of this specific issue, the courts had to do nothing more than request the electoral commissions to submit those protocols to them for an independent examination. If such examination indeed revealed inconsistencies, a more thorough assessment of their impact on the election results would be necessary. However, the relevant court decisions were silent in respect of this part of the applicant's complaint. 90. The Court acknowledges that, owing to the complexity of the electoral process and associated time-restraints necessitating streamlining of various election-related procedures, the relevant domestic authorities may be required to examine election-related appeals within comparatively short time-limits in order to avoid retarding the electoral process. For the same practical reasons, the States may find it inexpedient to require these authorities to abide by a set of very strict procedural safeguards or to deliver very detailed decisions. Nevertheless, these considerations may not serve to undermine the effectiveness of the appeal procedure, and it must be ensured that a genuine effort is made to address the substance of arguable individual complaints concerning electoral irregularities and that the relevant decisions are sufficiently reasoned. In the present case, however, the conduct of the electoral commissions and courts and their respective decisions revealed an appearance of lack of any genuine concern for the protection of the applicant's right to stand for election. 91. The foregoing considerations are sufficient to enable the Court to conclude that the applicant's complaints concerning election irregularities were not effectively addressed at the domestic level and were dismissed in an arbitrary manner. 92. In view of the conclusion reached in the above paragraph, the Court finds that it is not necessary for the purposes of the present case to further examine the applicant's arguments concerning the method of composition of the electoral commissions. 93. There has accordingly been a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention. II. OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF THE CONVENTION A. Article 14 of the Convention 94. In conjunction with the above complaint, the applicant complained that during the entire election process he, as an opposition candidate, had