Information Note on the Court’s case-law 113

November 2008

Grosaru v. Romania (dec.) - 78039/01

Decision 25.11.2008 [Section III]

Article 3 of Protocol No. 1

Free expression of the opinion of the people

Election to parliament of representative of a national minority according to number of votes obtained at the territorial, not the national, level: admissible

The applicant stood as a candidate in the 2000 genera l elections for one of the organisations representing Romania’s Italian minority. The organisation presented the applicant’s uninominal list in 19 of the country’s 42 constituencies and won 21,263 votes at the national level. However, although the applican t won a total of 5,624 votes at the national level, the central electoral bureau awarded the seat to another member, who had stood on another uninominal list and won only 2,943 votes but in a single constituency. The applicant challenged that decision befo re the central electoral bureau, but his appeal was rejected on the grounds that seats were allocated on the basis, inter alia , of the order of the candidates on the organisation’s winning list. The organisation was legally entitled to allocate its seats i n the constituencies. Appeals against the decision which the applicant lodged with the bureau, the Constitutional Court and the High Court were rejected on the grounds that decisions of the central electoral bureau were final. The Parliament’s validation c ommittee dismissed another appeal by the applicant on the same grounds.

Admissible under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 and Article 13 of the Convention.

© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.

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