651. Special provision for minorities.

Above and beyond the obligation to guarantee pluralism and equal treatment, Article 3 of Protocol 11 does not give rise to any particular obligation to protect the interests of national minorities or other minority groups2, although where a state makes provision for special representation for minorities in its legislature it is obliged to ensure that the relevant electoral rules have the necessary clarity to prevent arbitrariness and that any appeal mechanism has sufficient guarantees of impartiality to ensure the effective protection of rights under Article 3 of Protocol 1