The Constitutional Court passed a judgement by which it declared the ban on voting in elections imposed on persons with mental disabilities unconstitutional. The Court pronounced after lawyer Alexandru Cebănaș raised the exception of unconstitutionality of Article 13, para. (1) letter b) of the Election Code in a case tried by the Ciocana branch of the Chisinau City Court, IPN reports.

According to the lawyer, the provisions that deprive the persons declared mentally incompetent by court decision of the right to vote run counter to Articles 1, para. (3), 4 and 8 of the Constitution, which institute the principle of the rule of law, guarantee the rights and freedoms and set down the obligation to respect the international law and international treaties.

The Constitutional Court made reference to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which says that the right to vote in a democratic state in the 21st century should not be a privilege of small groups of persons and should be enjoyed by the entire society.

The Court held that when a person is declared mentally incompetent, the reason for protecting this from the negative consequences of the own acts is extended to the right to vote. Thus, the ban on the right to vote is based on the supposition that an incompetent person is unable to vote. Such a presumption was and is widely rejected by national and international tribunals.

The Constitutional Court’s judgement is definitive and cannot be challenged and takes effect when it is adopted and is published in the Official Gazette.