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Tănase v. Moldova was a 2010 European Court of Human Rights case which determined that the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights prohibited states making dual cititzenship holders ineligible to sit in a national parliament.

Background

In 2008, Moldovan electoral law was changed to forbid persons with multiple citizenship from sitting in the parliament. That affected Alexandru Tănase, from the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova. Having been elected in 2009, he was forced to refuse Romanian citizenship to take his seat.

He launched a complaint before the Court. Romania was admitted as a third party.

Judgments

In 2008, a Chamber of the Court decided that the provisions of Moldovan law violated Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgment was appealed by Moldova.

In 2010, the Grand Chamber unanimously found the ineligibility of persons with dual citizenship to violate Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. It was unanswered whether forbidding those with multiple nationalities from taking seats in Parliament pursued a legitimate aim.

It found the law to be disproportionate and in violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1.

See also

• Moldova–Romania relations
• Controversy over linguistic and ethnic identity in Moldova

References

1. ECtHR Grand Chamber judgment - Para. 7
2. ECtHR Grand Chamber judgment - Para. 170
3. ECtHR Grand Chamber judgment - Para. 180

Further reading

• Timmer A. Tănase v. Moldova: multiple readings of a case concerning multiple nationality Human Rights Centre of the Faculty of Law of Ghent University, 2010
• M. Hamilton (August 2011). "Transition and political loyalties". In Antoine Buyse; Michael Hamilton (eds.). Transitional Jurisprudence and the ECHR: Justice, Politics and Rights. Cambridge University Press. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-1-139-50111-8. for comparison with similar cases.
• ECtHR Chamber judgment
• ECtHR Grand Chamber judgment

• Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights
• Moldovan nationality law
• Elections in Moldova
• European Court of Human Rights cases decided by the Grand Chamber
• European Court of Human Rights cases involving Moldova
• European Court of Human Rights cases involving Romania