22. Article 3, First Protocol: The right to free elections

Abstract

This chapter discusses Article 3 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights, which imposes a positive obligation on states to secure free elections. The Court has read into this text individual rights to vote and to stand for election, reversing its technique of deriving positive obligations from the expressly articulated guarantees of individual rights contained in other Articles of the Convention. The right of prisoners to vote is included.