Chapter 1: International Standards A. The Right to an Appeal The right to an appeal is a key component in ensuring access to an adequate remedy. International human rights conventions all recognize, implicitly or explicitly, the fundamental value of an appeals mechanism.215 Article 14, § 5 of the ICCPR provides for such a right in criminal matters and the United Nations Human Rights Committee has underlined that the guarantee of an appeal is not confined to only the most serious offenses.216 The outcome of an electoral complaint can also be of paramount importance and an appeals process can reinforce the right to an effective remedy, in particular in more serious claims in which the outcome of the election is at stake. The European Commission for Democracy through Law also recognizes in its code of good practice that a system of appeals is necessary to provide for an effective remedy. Individual citizens and candidates should be able to fully challenge any electoral irregularities, before an election tribunal, an electoral commission, or a constitutional court.217 The ECtHR has also stressed that “an effective system of electoral appeals is an important safeguard against arbitrariness in the electoral process.”218 Electoral law should clearly provide for a mechanism of review. In Nicaragua, the electoral law only provides for a right to appeal for decisions by the CSE when the issue is the cancellation of a political party’s registration.219 The CSE is the electoral management body in charge of initial complaints, and is also the final judicial instance regarding electoral irregularities. Apart from electoral crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary criminal courts, there is no independent avenue of appeal; this stunted legal process has the potential for real conflict if complainants feel ICCPR, supra note 11, art. 14, § 5; American Convention, supra note 14, art. 8(2)(h); Protocol No. 7 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, art. 2, Nov. 22, 1984, C.E.T.S. No. 117 (entered into force Nov. 1, 1988), available at http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/117.htm; African Charter, supra note 14, art. 7(a); Constitutional Rights Project v. Nigeria, African Comm’n on Human and Peoples' Rights, Comm. No. 60/91 (1995); UN Human Rights Comm., CCPR General Comment No. 32, Art. 14: Right To Equality Before Courts And Tribunals And To A Fair Trial, ¶¶ 47-50, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/GC/32 (Aug. 23, 2007) [hereinafter CCPR General Comment No. 32]. 216 ICCPR, supra note 11, art. 14, § 5; CCPR General Comment No.32, supra note 215, ¶¶ 4750; CCPR General Comment No. 13, supra note 165, ¶ 17. 217 Venice Commission Code, supra note 44, at 29-30. 218 Petkov v. Bulgaria, Eur. Ct. H.R., App. nos. 77568/01, 178/02 and 505/02, Judgment of 11 June 2009, ¶ 63. 219 The CSE is the last instance of judgment for almost all election-related complaints. E.U. Nicaragua Report, supra note 38, at 23. 215 71