Political party “Patria” and others v. the Republic of Moldova, No. 5113/15, ECtHR (Second Section), 4 August 2020

Arbitrary disqualification of a political party in view of elections and the right to free elections.

Art. 3 Prot. 1 ECHR

1. Compared to art. 3 of Protocol 1 of the ECHR, the Contracting States enjoy a wide margin of appreciation, but it is still up to the Court to ensure that certain provisions do not reduce electoral rights to such an extent as to prejudice their very essence and deprive them of their effectiveness.

2. The decision of the national authorities to exclude a party from the upcoming elections, when based on insufficient evidence and lacking a motivation - as well as sufficient guarantees in the procedure - constitutes a violation of art. 3 of Protocol 1 and the standards set by it.
(In the present case, the Moldovan political party "Patria" was excluded from the national elections, which would be held in three days, due to the use of undeclared foreign funds).