In order to enable the election observation mission to monitor the effectiveness of election dispute resolution, it is essential that the legislative, adjudicative and enforcement basis of decisions be included in the relevant fields. Legal Basis of Complaint: The alleged violations claimed in the complaint. This field is for the basis alleged by the complainant, NOT that believed to be so by the registrant of the complaint. For instance if no legal reference (i.e. no law or article cited as having been violated) is made by the complainant, the field remains empty.11 Decision: Decisions adopted by courts, election commissions or other institutions. The legal basis of the decision must be specified (national laws, codes, and articles). Enforcement: Was the decision implemented? When and how? Was the redress satisfactory for the plaintiff and was it enforced in full? The development of categories within which to classify complaints is fundamental to the analysis of the information gathered. While the categories will never be exhaustive and variations may be needed for each election and in each country, adherence to the basic categories of election disputes will allow analysis of international and regional trends. Category: Categorization of complaints serves to reveal where the complaints are concentrated in the election process and where the legal weaknesses are. Further analysis of the substance of cases found in given categories can uncover whether weaknesses relate to the law or its implementation. For instance, a deeper look into cases on campaign obstruction may reveal that actions by the state administration are often the source of complaints. C. Election Dispute Analysis Matrix 1. Basic Data Retrieval The set of general questions which fall under the rubric of ‘Basic Data Retrieval’ can be readily retrieved from the database through simple queries. This heading is further divided into the types of questions to be addressed in order to obtain an initial overview of the status of election-related complaints. The categories are outlined as ‘general information’, ‘categorization of complaints and appeals’, and ‘bodies with the authority to resolve election disputes’. Under the heading of ‘general information’, an overview of the data gathered during an election observation mission should be provided. The categorization of disputes will allow the mission to identify the alleged weaknesses of an election and a breakdown of the institutions to which cases were brought will clarify the possible channels for remedies. The answers to the questions under these headings should then serve to indicate where further analysis would best reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the legal system in election dispute resolution. a) General Information 1. How many cases have been brought to the attention of the election observation mission? 2. Of these cases how many final decisions were taken? 11 The rationale for this approach is that, in order to trace the efficiency of the legal system, the ability of parties to argue their cases must be noted. Furthermore, it is the judicial opinions which are of interest to the election observation mission in election disputes monitoring and the inclusion of other legal opinions would confuse this. 19