686 AFRICAN COURT LAW REPORT VOLUME 1 (2006-2016) protect the right to equality before the law and equal protection by the law as a fundamental precondition for a just and democratic society.” 144. Article 3 of the Charter on Human Rights also mentioned by the Applicant provides that: “1. Every individual shall be equal before the law 2. Every individual shall be entitled to equal protection of the law”. 145. Article 26 of the Covenant is much more detailed in this regard. It provides as follows: “All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” 146. The principle of “equality” in law presupposes that the law protects 15 everyone without discrimination.15 147. Concerning discrimination, it is defined as a differentiation of persons or situations on the basis of one or several unlawful criterion/ 16 criteria.16 148. In the same vein, the European Court of Human Rights declared in the Matter ofYumak and Sadak v Turkey that: “With regard to electoral systems, the Court’s task is to determine whether the effect of the rules governing parliamentary elections is to exclude some persons or groups of persons from participating in the political life of the country, and whether the discrepancies created by a particular electoral system can be considered arbitrary or abusive or whether the system tends to favour one political party or candidate by giving them an electoral 17 advantage at the expense of others”.17 149. The Court has found that the composition of the Ivorian electoral body is imbalanced in favour of the Government and that this imbalance affects the independence and impartiality of that body. 150. It is therefore clear that in the event that the President of the Republic or another individual belonging to his political family presents himself as a candidate for any election, be it presidential or legislative, the impugned law would place him in a much more advantageous situation in relation to the other candidates. 151. The Court therefore holds that, by not placing all the potential candidates on the same footing, the impugned law violates the right to equal protection of the law as enshrined in the several international human rights instruments mentioned above, ratified by the Respondent State, especially Article 10(3) of the African Charter on Democracy and Article 3(2) of the Charter on Human Rights. 15 Dictionary of Human Rights under the direction of Joël Andriantsimbazovina, Hélène Gaudin, Jean-Pierre Maguenaud, Stéphane Rials and Frédéric Sudre, French University Press, 2008, p 284. 16 Jean Salmon (ed) Dictionary of International Public Law, under the direction of, Bruylant, Brussels, 2001, p 344. 17 Application 1022/03, Judgment of 8 July 2008, para 21.