STRØBYE AND ROSENLIND v. DENMARK JUDGMENT
Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia. This exclusion is either
set out in the country’s constitution or in electoral legislation. The German Federal
Election Law is an example of this second approach. Persons for whom a custodian to
manage all their affairs is appointed, not just by temporary order, are automatically
deprived of their voting rights.”
The Court observes that it seems that other European States, including
Albania, Moldova, Serbia and Turkey, also had legislation restricting the
right to vote in respect of persons who had been deprived of their legal
capacity.
THE LAW
I. JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS
72. Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the
Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.
II. ARTICLE 3 OF PROTOCOL NO. 1 TO THE CONVENTION
73. The applicants complained that the Supreme Court judgment of
18 January 2018 had breached their right to vote under Article 3 of Protocol
No. 1 to the Convention, which reads as follows:
“The High Contracting Parties undertake to hold free elections at reasonable
intervals by secret ballot, under conditions which will ensure the free expression of
the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature.”
A. Admissibility
1. Submissions by the parties
74. The Government submitted that the complaint should be declared
inadmissible as manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3
of the Convention.
75. The applicants disagreed.
2. The Court’s assessment
76. The Court notes that the complaint is neither manifestly ill-founded
nor inadmissible on any other grounds listed in Article 35 of the
Convention. It must therefore be declared admissible.
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