Principles and guarantees of EDR systems 1. Introduction 215. Whichever type of electoral dispute resolution system is adopted, certain principles and guarantees should be provided for and applied to ensure the holding of free, fair and genuine elections. These principles should be observed and applied not only by the EDRB, which is the instance of last resort for deciding an election, but also at every level or instance of the EDRS, starting from the first decision on an electoral dispute. 216. ‘Principles’ here mean the supreme and paramount ethical/political values of a legal order, a sector of it or an institution. They set a standard or inspire those to whom they are directed – either the voters in general or the EDRBs in particular. Their observance or enforcement not only bestows legitimacy or moral or political authority, but also increases the likelihood, based on experience, that they will serve their purpose. ‘Principles of the EDR system’ thus refers to the fundamental values that help to guarantee the holding of free, fair and genuine elections, strictly in keeping with the law. 217. An EDR system needs to adhere both to fundamental principles on elections, such as holding free, fair and genuine elections or universal suffrage, and to general principles that apply in the various areas of the law such as constitutionality, legality, judicial independence, due process of law and the right to a competent defence. Further principles exist that are specific to EDRSs, such as the principle of irrevocability, which establishes that the successive stages of the electoral process must be definitive, that is, once any particular stage is concluded (e.g. the preparatory stage of the election), there can after a specific deadline be no further challenge during a later stage (e.g. on election day or at the post-election stage) to actions or decisions made about that stage. However, there could be exceptions to such a principle in some 83