Σχόλιο: The European Court of Human Rights holds lifelong ban to stand for election to be in contradiction with the Convention [Dr. Aurimas Brazdeikis, Lecturer at the Private Law Department of the Vilnius University Law Faculty]

The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (the “ECHR” or the “Court”) as of 6th January 2011 in the case Paksas v. Lithuania seems to prove yet another time that the European Convention on Human Rights (the “Convention”) is a law-making treaty that through the judgments of the ECHR is able to create “the public order of Europe” even in an area of heightened political sensitivity and national sovereignty interests, such as the design and implementation of national electoral system. Although the ECHR generally and in principle allows the states a wide margin of appreciation in managing their electoral affairs [7] , this judgment clearly shows that the ECHR can step in if certain boundaries are crossed. Eventually it can create difficult constitutional problems within the state, when the impugned restriction violating the Convention is of constitutional level. The judgment under consideration concerned the applicant’s disqualification from holding parliamentary office. The applicant, Mr. Rolandas Paksas, in 2003 was elected President of the Republic of Lithuania. Following impeachment [8] proceedings, he was removed from office in 2004 by the Lithuanian Parliament for committing a gross violation of the Constitution and breaching the constitutional oath. The Constitutional Court of Lithuania...