liability that may be imposed by the EMB or an administrative agency after proceedings in the form of a trial, or by a civil court or an administrative law court. 31. This Handbook discusses the means for preventing electoral disputes (chapter 3) and formal mechanisms for resolving them (chapter 4) as well as AEDR mechanisms (chapter 8). In chapters 5, 6 and 7 the Handbook emphasizes those mechanisms established in different legal systems for resolving such disputes as they arise – electoral dispute resolution systems (EDRSs) – with special reference to the means for bringing electoral challenges and the organs in charge of resolving them. 2. Upholding electoral rights a) What are electoral rights and where are they established? 32. Electoral rights are political rights, which are in turn a category of human rights. Electoral rights are enshrined in the basic or fundamental provisions of a particular legal order (generally in the constitution and the relevant statutes of a country) and in various international human rights instruments, although on occasion they also stem from case law. 33. Among the most important international human rights instruments that provide for electoral rights are several universal and regional declarations and conventions which are binding in the countries that have ratified them (see figure 2.2). 34. Even where a particular country is not a party to these international human rights instruments, the international commitments on electoral rights that they contain, such as the commitment to holding free, fair and genuine elections by universal, free, secret and direct suffrage, have an important persuasive value. The democratic legitimacy of the government of such a country and the credibility of that country’s electoral processes depend on whether it observes such commitments. 12