Today my Int Human Rights Clinic filed a new communication for the Human Rights Committee accusing Italy of violation of the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs, specifically art. 25(a) and (b) of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

While most of Art. 25 cases usually deal with the right of this or that person or party to run in elections (representative democracy), this is one of the few, to my knowledge, that focuses instead on direct democracy, that is to say the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs directly, through referenda and popular initiatives.