Information Note on the Court’s case-law 230
June 2019
Mugemangango v. Belgium (relinquishment) - 77940/14, 78512/14, 310/15 et al.
Article 3 of Protocol No. 1
Free expression of the opinion of the people
Alleged ineffectiveness of a complaints procedure before a legislative assembly to deal with irregularities in the election of its own members: relinquishment in favour of the Grand Chamber
Article 13
Effective remedy
Alleged ineffectiveness of a complaints procedure before a legislative assembly to deal with irregularities in the election of its own members: relinquishment in favour of the Grand Chamber
[This summary covers the application of Mugemangango v. Belgium, 310/15, communicated with the applications of Verzin and Others v. Belgium, 77940/14 et al.]
Under Belgian electoral law, legislative assemblies are themselves competent to verify any irregularities during the elections, thus excluding the jurisdiction of any external court or body.
Having stood for election to the Walloon Region’s parliament on 25 May 2014, the applicant failed to win a seat by just 14 votes. He asked the parliament, unsuccessfully, for a recount of the blank or spoilt ballot papers, of which there were over 20,000, in his constituency. Relying on Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, the applicant complains of a breach of the free expression of the opinion of the people in the choice of the legislature.
Relying on the same Article taken together with Article 13 of the Convention – referring to the judgment in Grosaru v. Romania (78039/01, 2 March 2010, Information Note 128) –, the applicant also complains that there was no remedy before an independent and impartial body, taking the view that the complaints procedure before the Walloon parliament itself was not accompanied by the requisite safeguards against arbitrariness.
On 11 June 2019 the Chamber to which the case had been allocated relinquished jurisdiction in favour of the Grand Chamber.
© Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights
This summary by the Registry does not bind the Court.
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