Guidelines to Assist National Minority Participation in the Electoral Process • • Page: 27 The need to improve training in legal aspects, conciliation, and administration of electoral justice; The need for the selection of impartial and professional personnel to administer and execute the electoral justice system. The second component is the importance of having the appropriate independent and/or neutral bodies to ensure proper implementation that will ultimately guarantee that minority provisions and prescriptions do not become “paper” provisions. In this regard, the major implementing body in relation to electoral laws, systems and administration will be the electoral administration or electoral commission in a particular country. In order to build confidence and encourage minority participation in elections, members of minorities should be included in election commissions. A. ELECTORAL BODY OPTIONS Once the functions and features of an electoral body have been considered, it is then necessary to determine where that body should be situated. To put it in its simplest form, there are two competing options: inside the Government or outside the Government in an electoral commission. However, there are variations on these two options, based on a variety of facts and circumstances, four of which are discussed below: 1. Government approach The first model is that the electoral body is located within a government ministry and is charged with the responsibility of conducting and managing elections and utilising the resources of that ministry and civil service to achieve the task. This system works well in cases where the civil service is respected as being professional and politically neutral. 2. Supervisory or judicial approach A variation on the above is that a government ministry is tasked with the conduct of the electoral process, but is supervised by an independent electoral commission consisting of selected judges. The task of the commission is to oversee and monitor the conduct of the electoral process by the relevant government ministry. This is the case in Eastern and Central Europe in such countries as Albania, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. 3. Independent approach The third model is that an independent electoral commission is established that is directly accountable to parliament or a parliamentary committee or to parliament. Independent electoral commissions need to have a substantial degree of financial and administrative independence from the executive government. The selection process for appointing electoral commissioners should be transparent and impartial. Ideally, the selection should be based on a consensus of the political parties contesting the elections and be individuals with the relevant experience and expertise and who also have a reputation for independence and integrity. The use of internationally recognised or prominent persons which would also include prominent members of civil society has also been proven in countries where there has been conflict or a breakdown of trust between the parties. 4. Political Party approach A further option in terms of comparison is to have all registered political parties designate representatives to the national electoral commission. This ensures that various interests are