[EL] Election litigation abroad: Prime Minister resigns after the first ever Slovenian campaign finance trial

[Schultz, David A.]

Nice win Jurij.

Do you have recommendations on other authors for my handbook of election
law?

On Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 10:01 AM, Jurij Toplak <jurij.toplak at um.si> wrote:

> For those interested in election litigation abroad:
>
>
> In Slovenia the Supreme Court ruled in its first ever campaign finance
> case. It was also the first ever public trial of the Supreme Court of
> Slovenia since the independence of this country.
>
>
> In a referendum held in September 2017, voters supported a large railway
> project by 53 percent of the votes.  One voter disputed the referendum
> results. He brought the case to Slovenia's Supreme Court, arguing that the
> government had an unfair advantage in the referendum because it used public
> funds, public media, and numerous other state resources to support a
> campaign in favor of the railway project. I helped him and we argued that
> the government acted contrary to the Council of Europe's Code of Good
> Practice on Referendums, which requires governments to assure balanced
> coverage of both campaigns.
>
> The court agreed that the government's campaign was inadmissibly one-sided
> and annuled the referendum results. A few hours later the Prime Minister
> resigned.
>
> This was the first time that results of the vote were disputed, and first
> time ever that an election law trial took place. And first time ever that
> the Supreme Court had a public trial on any issue, because this is just an
> appeals court and never holds trials.
>
> Until now, regardless of the breaches of the rules, the courts have always
> quickly dismissed all the election-related complaints. This court ruling is
> a clear message to all candidates and to the election authorities that from
> now on, rules need to be followed and the court will no longer tolerate
> breaching of the election rules.
>
> Jurij Toplak, professor of law
>
> University of Maribor
>
>
> http://www.dw.com/en/slovenia-prime-minister-miro-cerar-
> resigns-over-court-ruling-on-referendum/a-42981064
>
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/world/europe/slovenia-
> prime-minister-miro-cerar-resigns.html
>
>
>
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>



-- 
David Schultz, Professor
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FacultyRow SuperProfessor, 2012, 2013, 2014
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