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