In the case of Georgios Papadopoulos v. Cyprus the Court held that there had been a violation of the right to free elections.

The case concerned the fact that Cypriot law did not provide for the possibility to fill a parliamentary seat that had become vacant before the start of the parliamentary term.

The Court found that there had been no mechanism – be it appointing a runner-up or holding a byelection – for filling the vacant seat in question, despite the fact that such a scenario, namely a seat not being taken up before the start of parliamentary term, could have been foreseen.

• Press release