Incompatibility A limitation in legislation of a candidacy for or election to a representative position based on the perceived undesirability of a person who already holds one public position gaining access to or holding another. Independent Model EMB An EMB model where elections are organized and managed by an EMB which is institutionally independent and autonomous of the executive branch of government, and which has and manages its own budget. Infraction The act or an instance of infringing a legal or administrative provision or regulation. International challenge Those legal instruments provided for in international treaties and conventions by which those with the standing to do so may have recourse, on a subsidiary and complementary basis, to the competent body after exhausting the domestic remedies provided. Judicial challenge Those procedural legal instruments provided for by law by which two or more conflicting parties bring before a judicial body, that is, a judge or a court, whether or not as part of the judicial branch, a dispute over an alleged error, irregularity, instance of wrongful conduct, deficiency or illegality in a certain electoral action or decision. The judicial body, in its position as a superior third party and as an organ of the state, decides on the dispute in a final and impartial manner. Generally speaking, the various judicial electoral challenges can be classified into trials and appeals. Judicial EDR system An EDR system that entrusts the authority to make the final decision on a challenge to a particular election to a judicial body. The body in question might be: (a) regular court of the judicial branch; (b) a constitutional court or council; (c) an administrative court; or (d) a specialized electoral court. Judgement The decision reached and promulgated by a judicial body and/ or an EDRB. Legislation The body of law made by the legislative process, also called statute law. Written laws passed by a Parliament, Congress or other legislative body at the national or local level. Legislative challenge Those legal instruments provided for in the constitution or statutes of some countries which grant powers to legislative bodies or other political assemblies to formally resolve certain electoral challenges or issue the certification or the final result of an election. Legitimacy The perceived fairness of a dispute-resolution process. Litigation A judicial contest which seeks a decision from a court. Lower-level EMB An EMB formed at any sub-national level, such as a province, region, district or commune. Mediation A process in which the disputing parties use a third party to assist them in reaching a settlement of a dispute though a process that is private, informal and non-binding. The mediator has no power to 62