Access to public service (Article 25(c) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights)

Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentioned in Article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions:

[…]

c. To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country.

Whereas the ECHR does not comprise the right to equal access to public service,²¹⁰³ such a right is afforded by Article 25(c) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In addition, the notion of “public service” implies executive authorities as well as judicial authorities, so that judges²¹⁰⁴ and state prosecutors²¹⁰⁵ may claim a violation of their right of equal access to public service.