b. to offer tools to the framers of constitutions, political and judicial institutions, and electoral and procedural laws to help them make informed decisions when designing new EJSs or reforming existing ones. 17. The specific objectives of this Handbook are thus: • to increase knowledge and encourage learning about EJSs, including conflict prevention mechanisms and procedures for resolving conflicts when they arise; • to identify the various contemporary models of EJSs and how they are structured and perform in the light of the various institutional guarantees and international principles that uphold the obligations that govern them; • to provide frames of reference and guidelines for those who seek to design, establish, reform or strengthen an EJS; and • to provide tools that will help to ensure that all electoral actions, procedures and decisions are in line with the law and with democratic principles and values, safeguarding electoral rights. 18. The Handbook addresses the likely concerns of those who intend to design or redesign an electoral justice system, such as those who are drafting constitutional and statutory texts, political negotiators, electoral advisors and officials. To this end, it analyses some of the most complex issues, taking into account the key points of the relevant professional and academic literature. It is written to be accessible to political reformers, but is inevitably ‘heavy’ in its legal content because of the legal nature of many of the issues discussed. 19. The electoral justice system is an integral part of the electoral framework. To be fully effective, electoral assistance and observation thus need to consider the design, establishment and functioning of the EJS throughout the electoral cycle in framing their activities and assessments. 20. This Handbook focuses on electoral justice systems at the national level, but the alternatives examined are appropriate for any community that wishes to resolve the possible conflicts that may arise in relation to electoral processes, both of representative democracy and of direct democracy through a referendum or recall vote. The Handbook will also be useful for those who design institutions for local or supranational electoral processes; for internal political party elections, traditional and communal systems; and for trade unions, associations of professionals, or organized civil society groups. As many electoral justice systems are unique, the means for preventing conflict and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms will naturally be context specific and will require more analysis of the local conditions. 6