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698 AFRICAN COURT LAW REPORT VOLUME 1 (2006-2016) rights and indicate, for example, that considerations of proper administration of justice required it to interpret the Applicant’s Application in a way that gives it a meaning; and in so doing, the Court would have dispelled the appearance of having also ruled ultra petita with respect to the Applicant’s second claim.

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APDH v. Cote d'Ivoire

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the composition of the IEC is in conformity with the Constitution.

Alleged Acts: The plaintiff alleges that allowance of the a person representative of the President of the Republic and a personal representative of the National Assembly should not be permitted to serve on the Independent Electoral Commission Central Commission because their presence breach the equality of candidates. Further, the plaintiff alleges that either of the aforementioned individuals may serve as a candidate. Further, the candidate content that the overall composition of the IEC over-represented the President's interests and that IEC could not remain impartial.

Procedural history: The Constitutional Council denied the plaintiff's allegations and stated that the provisions conformed to the Constitution.

Summary: The African Union Observer Mission indicated that the composition of the electoral body facilitated the perception of mistrusts. Further, the European Court of Human Right indicated that the appearance of electoral bodies may be important. Consequently, the court determined that the state violated its duty to create an impartial and independent body. The imbalances in composition further favors the Government because if the President or a member of his political network chose to run for office, he would necessarily be at an advantage.

Conclusion: The IEC composition fails to put all candidate on equal footing and therefore violates the constitution.

Legal Issue(s)

EMB Independence
EMB Operation

Applicable Law(s): African Charter on Democracy art. 3; ECOWAS Democracy Protocol art. 3.

Region: Africa

Country: Ivory Coast

Language of Decision

English
French

Court: Supreme Court

Election Type: Review of law

Date of decision: Nov 18, 2016

Geolocation

Latitude: 6.824575041

Longitude: -5.278549731

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

APDH v. Cote d'Ivoire.pdf
English
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Supporting files

pdf

French- APDH v. Cote d'Ivoire.pdf1.23 MB

Election Judgments - IFES

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APDH v. Cote d'Ivoire

Primary Documents

Supporting files

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