Gahramanli and Others v. Azerbaijan, No. 36503/11, ECtHR (First Section), 8 October 2015

Lack of effective examination of the applicants’ complaints concerning election irregularities.

Art. 3, Prot. 1 ECHR

1. Member States may provide for limitations to the rights guaranteed in Article 3 of Prot. 1 of the ECHR. These, however, must not reduce these rights to such an extent as to jeopardise their very existence or deprive them of their effectiveness.

2. The existence of a system within States for the effective processing of individual complaints and appeals concerning electoral rights is one of the essential guarantees for free and fair elections. Such a system ensures the effective exercise of individual voting rights.
(The applicants, candidates in the parliamentary elections on the lists of certain opposition parties, complained about certain irregularities that occurred during the elections. The Electoral Commission and the national courts rejected their complaints as unfounded).