18 TĂNASE v. MOLDOVA JUDGMENT The provisions of this chapter do not affect: a. the rules of international law concerning diplomatic or consular protection by a State Party in favour of one of its nationals who simultaneously possesses another nationality; b. the application of the rules of private international law of each State Party in cases of multiple nationality.” B. The Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe (CDL-AD (2002) 23 rev) 86. The Venice Commission has adopted a Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters. The relevant parts of the explanatory report to this code read as follows: “6b. [U]nder the European Convention on Nationality persons holding dual nationality must have the same electoral rights as other nationals. ... 63. Stability of the law is crucial to credibility of the electoral process, which is itself vital to consolidating democracy. Rules which change frequently – and especially rules which are complicated – may confuse voters. Above all, voters may conclude, rightly or wrongly, that electoral law is simply a tool in the hands of the powerful, and that their own votes have little weight in deciding the results of elections. 64. In practice, however, it is not so much stability of the basic principles which needs protecting (they are not likely to be seriously challenged) as stability of some of the more specific rules of electoral law, especially those covering the electoral system per se, the composition of electoral commissions and the drawing of constituency boundaries. These three elements are often, rightly or wrongly, regarded as decisive factors in the election results, and care must be taken to avoid not only manipulation to the advantage of the party in power, but even the mere semblance of manipulation. 65. It is not so much changing voting systems which is a bad thing – they can always be changed for the better – as changing them frequently or just before (within one year of) elections. Even when no manipulation is intended, changes will seem to be dictated by immediate party political interests.” IV. LAW AND PRACTICE IN THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE MEMBER STATES 87. On the basis of the information available to the Court, it would seem that, apart from Moldova, three countries (Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Lithuania) clearly ban dual nationals from being elected to Parliament. In Azerbaijan and Lithuania, it is in any event prohibited to hold dual