A/HRC/21/63 a combination of approved documents, including passports, national identity cards and family books with photos. This marked a major change in the registration process from the previous elections, in which voter registration cards were required. While this change is to be commended, it should be noted that the current system results in some citizens being disenfranchised, such as those without an address or residing away from the address of their permanent residence. A number of interlocutors suggested that the current cumbersome and expensive voter registration system could be replaced with a list automatically generated from a civil registry. This proposal merits closer investigation. 46. In theory, commune council elections should add an additional layer of legitimacy to the country’s fledgling democracy by providing for checks and balances on the proportional representation of parties at the national level and further increasing the avenues for multiparty politics to flourish. Provisions in the Amended Law would tend to support this by prohibiting the election of members of the Senate or National Assembly, judges or civil servants in these elections. In practice, however, the elections have suffered from shortcomings, some of which are outlined below. B. National elections 47. Four parliamentary or national elections have taken place since the conclusion of the Paris Peace Agreements in 1991. The most recent national elections took place in 2008. According to independent monitors, while the 2008 campaign was generally conducted in a more peaceful and open environment than previous elections, the elections themselves fell short of international standards for democratic elections. The improvements in transparency notwithstanding, there was a lack of confidence in the impartiality of the election administrators among election stakeholders. The campaign was marked by consistent and widespread use of State resources by the governing party, and the alleged distribution of money and gifts by candidates and party officials belonging to various political parties was widely reported. 48. The principal legislation governing elections to the National Assembly is the Law on the Election of the Members of the National Assembly. Other laws that also affect the election process include the Constitution, the Law on Political Parties, the Law on the Regime of the Press, the Law on Peaceful Demonstrations, the Law on Nationality and the Penal Code. Furthermore, there are National Election Committee regulations and procedures and directives, joint directives issued by the Ministry of the Interior and the Committee, the Committee’s internal regulations, and codes of conduct for political parties, media, observers, electoral officials, members of the armed forces and the police. 49. The applicable laws generally provide a workable framework and largely conform, at least on paper, to international standards and establish the necessary institutions for the conduct of elections. The codes of conduct regulate the rights and obligations of those concerned in a satisfactory manner. The problem lies in the inadequate implementation of the legal provisions and the genuine or perceived lack of independence of the institutions. 50. Similar to the Amended Law on Elections of Commune Councils, the legal conditions for registering as candidate in the National Assembly elections raise some concerns. According to the Law on the Election of the Members of the National Assembly, a candidate must be a registered voter of at least 25 years of age, a Cambodian citizen from birth, have a residence in Cambodia and be nominated by a political party. It does not allow independent candidates to stand in elections and limits the possibility of standing as a candidate to citizens born in Cambodia, thus barring naturalized citizens. In this respect it does not entirely conform to international standards and best practices. 12