Overview
NDI supports constitutional and law reform efforts to enhance the basis for genuine, democratic elections. The Institute has assisted such efforts to improve the legal framework for elections in more than 30 countries around the world.
Through these programs NDI has provided over 100 legal commentaries to political parties, legislatures, governmental ministries, election commissions and civic organizations in order to enhance their capacities to take part in open dialogue about law reforms. The commentaries have been used in parliamentary debates, in roundtable discussions that include political and civic leaders, as well as legal experts, and frequently have been the subject of news coverage that informed the public about the nature of the debate.
NDI often convenes international advisory groups of volunteer constitutional and legal experts to provide commentaries. The commentaries are based on internationally recognized principles of human rights, as well as on international standards and best practices in conducting democratic elections.
The commentaries usually are presented by NDI representatives resident in a country. Members of NDI international legal advisory groups sometimes travel to the countries to participate in consultations, roundtable discussions and other forums focused on reforming the legal framework for elections. Depending on the circumstances, the Institute may conduct a comprehensive review of the framework or may concentrate on specific issues that are central to reform efforts. In addition, NDI's pre-election, election and post-election delegations offer recommendations for improving election and political processes, which may address the need for law reforms. In each instance, the Institute seeks to help improve the democratic nature of the process leading to reforms, while contributing to the substance of the dialogue about them.
NDI also supports law reform efforts by providing political parties, parliamentary groups and civic organizations with relevant materials on comparative law and constitutional models. The Institute consults with these sectors about methods used in various countries for citizen advocacy concerning law reform and methodologies for conducting civic education and enhancing citizen participation in law reform processes. NDI, for example, has provided such information to civic organizations in more than 20 countries, while consulting with them on their law and constitutional reform initiatives.
In spring 2003, NDI will publish a guidebook on evaluating the legal framework for democratic elections, to assist those promoting electoral law reform in transitional democracies. The publication entitled: "Promoting Legal Frameworks for Democratic Elections: An NDI Guide for Developing Election Laws and Law Commentaries" presents over 300 questions to consider when evaluating election laws and includes a compendium of relevant provisions from international human rights instruments and an annotated compilation of relevant decisions of international human rights tribunals, as well as a bibliography and selected NDI commentaries on legal frameworks. The Institute also has organized regional and country-specific working sessions on electoral-related rule of law activities, including conducting consultations and political dialogue to establish broad agreement about the rules for electoral competition, developing political party codes of conduct for election campaigns and preparing parties to better safeguard their electoral rights through monitoring electoral processes and using electoral complaint mechanisms to seek legal remedies. Such activities, as well as election monitoring by domestic civic organizations, often contribute to election law reform efforts.
Contact Information
For further information, please contact:
Julia Brothers, Senior Program Assistant Send Email
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