The European Court of Human Rights has again found that the United Kingdom’s blanket ban on prisoner voting is in violation of Convention rights. In the Chamber judgment of Firth and others v. United Kingdom, the Court declared a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, because the case was identical to another prisoner voting case (Greens and MT v. United Kingdom) in which a breach of the right to vote had been found and the relevant legislation had not yet been amended.
Ten Scottish prisoners applied to the Court because as an automatic consequence of their convictions and detention, they were unable to vote in elections for the European Parliament in 2009. Although the Court ruled in their favour, it held that finding a violation constituted just satisfaction for any non-pecuniary damage suffered. No award for legal costs was made because any legal costs incurred could not be regarded as reasonably and necessarily incurred.
The UK has been found to be in violation of the Convention since the 2005 Grand Chamber judgment in Hirst v. United Kingdom (No. 2), where the Court first scrutinised the blanket ban on prisoner voting. In the current case, the Court reiterated that legislative amendment was required to bring the UK in conformity with Convention obligations. The Court praised the positive steps taken in recent months, with the Draft Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill 2013 and the Joint Parliamentary Committee established to examine the Bill and the issues surrounding it. The Joint Parliamentary Committee released its report on 18 December 2013 and concluded that ‘voting is a right, not a privilege’. They recommended that all prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less should be entitled to vote in all UK parliamentary, local and European elections and that prisoners should be allowed to apply register to vote with six months or less remaining on their sentence.
Since 2004, UK governments have repeatedly refused to legislate to amend the blanket ban. In responding to the judgment, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice said, “The Government has always been clear that it believes prisoner voting is an issue that should ultimately be decided in the UK.” The Joint Parliamentary Committee had addressed this argument in their report stating “Parliament remains sovereign, but that sovereignty resides in Parliament’s power to withdraw from the Convention system; while we are part of that system we incur obligations that cannot be the subject of cherry picking.”
By comparison, Irish prison inmates are able to vote by post in all elections.
Click here to read a summary of the judgment.
Click here to read the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee.