Chapter 1: International Standards In Kwiecien v. Poland, the European Court of Human Rights acknowledged the legality of summary proceedings brought under local election law, stating that “proceedings of this type are conducted within very short time-limits . . . such a summary remedy during periods of (local and national) electoral campaigns serves the legitimate goal of ensuring the fairness of the electoral process and as such cannot be questioned from the Convention standpoint.”139 Timeliness requires states to make a two-step effort: (1) ensure that the substantive and procedural law provide for such timing requirement; and (2) provide the courts or commission in charge of electoral complaint adjudication with the ability and resources to implement those time limits stated in the law. Some international experts agree that deadlines for filing or deciding on a complaint or an appeal should be set in the electoral laws or appropriate regulations. The timeframe could be short provided that the court hearing election complaints can clear its schedule for the duration of the election or effectively prioritize election-related cases. Delays in adjudicating complaints can hurt public confidence and delegitimize a government. For example, in Nigeria, an electoral dispute arose concerning the 14 April 2007 gubernatorial election in the Ekiti State, after INEC declared Mr. Olusegun Oni of the People’s Democratic Party as the winner. The opposition party candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi of Action Congress, challenged the elections before the Election Petition Tribunal and alleged malpractice, in the form of multiple balloting and voter registry manipulation.140 Despite the requirement of Section 148 of the Electoral Act of 2006, which provides that “an election petition and an appeal arising therefrom . . . shall be given accelerated hearing and shall have precedence over all other cases or matters before the Tribunal or Court,”141 the Nigerian court system took nearly two years to resolve the dispute.142 It was not until 17 February 2009 that the Court of Appeal ordered a re-run Kwiecien v. Poland, Eur. Ct. H.R., App. No. 51744/99, Judgment of 9 Jan. 2007, ¶ 55. Oni v. Fayemi, [2009] (C.A.) (Nigeria); see also Demola Akinyemi et al., Court Sacks Oni, Orders Fresh Polls in Ekiti, Vanguard, Feb. 18, 2009, available at http://allafrica.com/stories/200902180002.html. 141 Electoral Act 2010, § 142 (Nigeria), available at http://placng.org/Electoral percent20Act percent202010- percent20as percent20Gazetted.pdf. 142 This provision of the electoral law recalls section 294(1) of the Nigerian Constitution, that “every court established under this Constitution shall deliver its decision in writing not later than ninety days after the conclusion of evIdence and final addresses.” Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999), § 294(1). 139 140 51