Limits of the Office
The Constitution states what the Office may not do. The prohibitions are absolute and a measure adopted in breach of them is void.
- Article 263(1)The Office may in no case classify a person, a party, a list or an association by ideology, opinion, doctrine or programme. Article 12(4), Article 51(7) and Article 53(5) govern.
- Article 263(2)The Office may in no case ban, dissolve, suspend or restrict an association, refuse or annul a candidacy, exclude a person from office, attach an electoral consequence to a finding, or impose any sanction.
- Article 263(3)A finding of the Office binds no court. The court decides upon the evidence before it.
- Article 263(4)The Office may in no case maintain a register of persons by opinion, conduct surveillance, or acquire information otherwise than under Article 241.
- Article 263(5)A measure adopted in breach of this Article is void, and Article 43(4) governs personal liability.
Effect on candidacies and lists
Article 246(3): a finding of the Office of Democratic Integrity in no case affects the registration of a list or a candidacy.
Article 246(2): the Electoral Commission may in no case examine, classify or assess the programme, the ideology or the opinions of a list.
Registration is a matter for the Electoral Commission and turns on conditions fixed by the Constitution and by organic law. Nothing the Office publishes bears on it.
Findings address acts, measurements and conditions
Article 261(3): findings are addressed to acts, to measurements and to conditions. The Office may in no case attribute an ideology, a doctrine, an intention or an affiliation to any person or association.
Every finding of the Office therefore takes the same form: what was done, what was measured, and which provision is engaged. Findings state no view about the beliefs, motives or affiliations of anyone.
Origin of these provisions
The Constitution of 2024 conferred a power to classify organisations by ideology. The power was used against a housing campaign, and the Convention of 2025 removed it. Article 263 is the replacement, and it names each thing the earlier power permitted and prohibits it.
The historic record maintained by the Office of Constitutional Revision sets out the events. The repealed constitutions are published in the archive of the register.
Complaints about the Office
Any person may address an office and receive a reasoned answer. Article 239(1) allows removal of a member of an office only by the Constitutional Court, on application by the Judicial Council or by the college of the office, and Article 239(2) forbids removal for the content of a finding, a report or an opinion.
Where a measure of the Office is said to breach Article 263, the measure is void by Article 263(5) and any person may plead the nullity before any court at any time under Article 265(3).