Prisoners’ voting rights: developments since May 2015

This House of Commons Briefing Paper analyses the debate over the voting rights of prisoners since May 2015, it also includes a concise summary of the main developments before May 2015.

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Overview

• In December 2017 the UK Government came up with proposals that the Council of Europe said were sufficient to signify compliance with the 2005 ruling.
• The responsibility for local and devolved elections in Scotland and Wales, including the franchise for those electionsis nowdevolved.
• This briefing gives a summary of events before May 2015 and examines the debate since May 2015.
• For more detail of events before 2015, see Commons Librarys standard note Prisoners voting rights (2005 to May 2015).

The ban

• The current provisions are set out in Section 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1983.
• This ban does not apply to prisoners on remand.
• The disenfranchisement of prisoners in Great Britain dates back to the Forfeiture Act 1870 and was been linked to the notion of civic death.

The challenge

• In 2001 the ban was challenged by three convicted prisoners.
• The domestic courts rejected the challenge and one of the prisoners, John Hirst, then took his case to the ECtHR.
• The central element to the ECtHR ruling was that the UKs blanket ban on prisoner voting was indiscriminate and disproportionate.

The debate

• The Hirst (No 2) judgment set off a political debate.
• This debate has largely focused on the constitutional issues raised by the judgment, in particular: the UKs relationship with the ECtHR; reform of the Human Rights Act 1998; and the importance of parliamentary sovereignty.
• Hirst (No 2) is regarded by some as an example of the ECtHR overstepping its proper role and encroaching upon Parliaments legislative authority.

The responses

• In the 2005 Parliament, the Labour Government issued two consultations, one in 2006 and one in 2009.
• It did not bring forward final proposals before the 2010 General Election.
• In 2013, a Joint Committee scrutinising the Bill recommended that all prisoners serving sentences of 12 months or less should be entitled to vote in all UK parliamentary, local and European elections.
• The Government did not formally respond and these proposals were not taken forward.
• Neither a response to the Committee nor a consultation on the Human Rights Act has yet been published.

The solution

• These proposals are more limited in scope than those included in previous proposals.
• The main change proposed is to allow prisoners on Temporary Licence to vote.
• It agreed to report back to the Council of Europes Committee of Ministers by September 2018.
• The Council of Europe confirmed that the case was closed at its meeting of September 2018.

Scotland and Wales