Denis and Association of ethnic Turks v. Romania, No. 16632/09, ECtHR (Third Section), 21 April 2015

Prohibition of discrimination and presence of an admissibility requirement that disadvantages national minority organizations not yet represented in Parliament.

Art. 14 ECHR
Art. 3 Prot. 1 ECHR
 

1. The request to meet additional and specific requirements in order to exercise the right to passive electorate, just because one is a candidate for the first time in the elections to Parliament, constitutes a violation of art. 14 ECHR in conjunction with art. 3 Prot. 1 ECHR.

2. The provision of additional requirements to be able to stand as candidates in parliamentary elections only for those who stand as candidates for the first time constitutes a violation of the prohibition of discrimination, because differentiated treatment is reserved between subjects in similar situations without an objective and reasonable justification.
(In the present case, the applicant association, which had already participated in the 2004 elections, was asked for additional requirements to present its candidate in the 2008 elections, only because it did not already have an elected representative).