Legal framework
The electoral framework is regulated by: Law on Voter Registration (Law 2/98), Law for the Election of the President and the Popular National Assembly (Law 3/98), Law on the National Election Commission (Law 4/98), and Law on International Election Observation (Law 4/94). Additional legal regulations pertaining to elections are found in the Criminal Code, in the Law on the Right of Meetings and Demonstration (Law 3/92), in the law regulating the constitution of political parties and other norms developing the fundamental political rights proclaimed in the Constitution.
Universal and regional principles
Guinea Bissau signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 12 September 2000. Ratification is pending. In addition, it ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), signed the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (MWC).
At regional level, Guinea Bissau ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and signed the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (ACHPR-PW, March 2005). Within its regional security and economic framework, the ECOWAS Member States signed a Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, Supplementary to the Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security (December 2001).
Democratic benchmarks for good electoral practice mainly revolve around principles as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 25 of the International Covenant for Civil and Political rights (ICCPR) of 1966: periodic elections, universal and equal suffrage; right to stand for public office; right to vote; and genuine elections allowing for the free expression of the will of the people.
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