Agata Hauser

Institution: Faculty of Law and Administration, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan

Period of stay: 28 April - 4 July 2025

Contact: https://prawo.amu.edu.pl/c/tytul/doktorzy/p/dr-agata-hauser/    ahauser@amu.edu.pl

Profile: 

Agata Hauser is an assistant professor in the Department of International Law and International Organisations of the Faculty of Law and Administration at AMU (Poznan, Poland). She specialises in international human rights law and Polish constitutional law. She focuses her research on international electoral standards, especially the work of the Venice Commission.

She is also involved in research projects concerning the economic, social and cultural rights of the child and the use of artificial intelligence in human rights education.

Research Area:

Human Rights

Research Title:

International electoral standards as safeguards for the effective right to vote

Research Outline:

At the international level, elections are tackled from two different perspectives: standard-setting for democracies and the individual's right to vote. The first approach is visible in particular in the works of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The individual's political rights are enshrined in numerous international treaties, such as the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) in Europe.

The initial stages of research will establish 1) how international bodies define the core concepts of democratic elections: universality, equality, freedom, and secret and direct suffrage and 2) what is the scope of States' obligations under the relevant international human rights treaties, in particular, the right to vote (Article 25 ICCPR) and the right to free elections (Article 3 of the 1st Additional Protocol to the ECHR).

This preliminary investigation will serve as a basis for a detailed analysis of how democratic electoral standards should change to ensure full compliance with the biding human rights treaties.

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