96. A penalty in the case of electoral offences is always imposed by a court, generally a criminal court but in some countries – as in Panama – the specialized electoral court itself. In some electoral justice systems, however, an administrative sanction may be imposed by the EMB after a proceeding in the form of a hearing or trial, the result of which can be challenged before an EDRB. In other EJSs, only a court may impose an administrative sanction – a criminal court, as generally occurs in those common law countries which make no distinction between administrative and criminal liability; a civil or administrative court; or even on occasion the EDRB itself. 97. In some EDRSs, for example that of the UK, if the winning candidate is found guilty of corruption or illegal practices, regardless of whether he or she has been convicted and punished for the offence, the election is annulled as a consequence. In others (e.g. Kyrgyzstan’s) it is up to the EMB or EDRB to decide whether the offences determined by the criminal court affected the outcome of the election and to declare an annulment as appropriate. 98. Electoral criminal offences and electoral administrative infractions are both examples of ‘unlawful or wrongful conduct’. In other words, they are conduct that entails engaging in prohibited acts, such as vote-buying or having campaign expenditure in excess of the ceiling allowed by electoral statute, or the omission of actions ordered by the legal framework, such as failing to file a report on campaign revenue and expenditure. The perpetrator or person responsible is subject to a criminal and/or administrative sanction. 99. Electoral crimes or offences and electoral administrative breaches or infractions are usually classified on the basis of: • The values or legal interests protected: (e.g. freedom of the ballot or fair conditions in the electoral contest). It is often the more fundamental values that are protected by criminal statutes. • The types of sanction that can be imposed: imprisonment is commonly used for a criminal offence as a way of punishing a person convicted of a serious criminal offence. The penalty for administrative electoral infractions does not entail any loss of liberty, but may for example take the form of a financial sanction, the suspension or loss of a political party’s registration or the cancellation of a candidacy. • The nature of the active subjects or persons responsible: legal entities, such as political parties, are not usually subject to criminal liability, although this is no impediment to the imposition of an administrative sanction. 41 4. EDR mechanisms elections comply with the legal framework. In some EDRSs, cases involving an alleged punishable criminal offence or administrative liability are heard and adjudicated together with electoral challenges, with potential corrective effects or remedies.