28
TĂNASE v. MOLDOVA JUDGMENT
which they will lack the requisite accessibility and effectiveness (see,
among other authorities, Akdivar and Others, cited above, § 66).
121. The Court further reiterates that under Rule 55 of the Rules of
Court, any plea of inadmissibility must be raised by the respondent
Contracting Party in its written or oral observations on the admissibility of
the application (see K. and T. v. Finland [GC], no. 25702/94, § 145, ECHR
2001-VII, and N.C. v. Italy [GC], no. 24952/94, § 44, ECHR 2002-X).
However, there may in particular cases be exceptional circumstances that
dispense the Government from the obligation to raise their preliminary
objection at the admissibility stage (see Prokopovich v. Russia,
no. 58255/00, § 29, 18 November 2004, and Sejdovic, cited above, § 41).
122. The Court considers it unnecessary to examine whether the
Government were estopped from raising this objection at this stage in the
proceedings as, in any case, the Court finds the remedy now proposed to be
one which the applicant was not required to exhaust. The Court notes the
finding of the Chamber, which is not contested by the respondent
Government, that the possibility of lodging a complaint with the
Ombudsman, who in turn could challenge the Law before the Constitutional
Court, was not an effective remedy because it was not open to the applicant
to complain directly to the court. The Court sees no reason to disagree with
the Chamber’s assessment. The remedy currently proposed by the
Government is, similarly, not directly accessible to the applicant as he was
unable to approach the Constitutional Court directly but had to rely on the
exercise of discretion by Mr Filat to lodge a complaint. Accordingly, this
remedy was not effective for the purposes of Article 35 § 1 of the
Convention.
123. In any event, it is clear that, the Constitutional Court having
pronounced on the constitutionality of Law no. 273 (see paragraphs 54-58
above), the remedy proposed has now been exhausted. In the circumstances,
the Government’s objection is dismissed.
C. Incompatibility ratione materiae
1. The parties’ submissions
(a) The Moldovan Government
124. In their submissions to the Grand Chamber, the Government raised
for the first time an objection ratione materiae following references to the
European Convention on Nationality (“the ECN”) in the Chamber’s
judgment. In their view, the Chamber did not consider the right to stand for
elections, protected by Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, but instead examined the
right to multiple nationalities and the right to acquire a nationality, which