ŽDANOKA v. LATVIA JUDGMENT
16
Article 91
“All persons in Latvia shall be equal before the law and the courts. Human rights
shall be exercised without discrimination of any kind.”
Article 101
“All citizens of Latvia are entitled to participate, in accordance with the law, in the
activities of the State and of local government ...”
58. The relevant provisions of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Saeimas
vēlēšanu likums) of 25 May 1995 provide:
Section 4
“All Latvian citizens who have reached the age of 21 on the date of the elections
may be elected to Parliament, on condition that they are not concerned by one of the
restrictions provided for in section 5 of the present Act.”
Section 5
“The following may not stand as candidates in elections or be elected to Parliament:
...
(6) persons who actively participated [darbojušās] after 13 January 1991 in the
CPSU (CPL), the Internationalist Front of Workers of the Latvian SSR, the United
Council of Labour Collectives, the Organisation of War and Labour Veterans or the
Latvian Public Rescue Committee, or in their regional committees; ...”
Section 11
“The following documents must be appended to the list of candidates:
...
(3) a signed declaration by each candidate on the list confirming that he or she
meets the requirements of section 4 of this Act and that he or she is not concerned by
section 5(1)-(6) of the present Act; ...”
Section 13
“...
(2) Once registered, the candidate lists are definitive, and the Central Electoral
Commission may make only the following corrections:
1. removal of a candidate from the list, where: ...
(a) the candidate is not a citizen enjoying full civic rights (sections 4 and 5 above);