Jailhouselawyer's Blog

Since getting a computer for a present last Xmas, I have gone from being computer illiterate to being a prolific blogger. According to Google, jailhouselawyer has posted 534 times. I did a few under LadyMargaretThatcher, and TrollsRus, but the switching of identities back and forth can get a bit confusing, so now I stick to the one nick. I found some flattering comments about me on Frank Fisher's blog, from names I remember when CIF was the in thing before it went down the pan. Frank Fisher even used jailhouselawyer in a quiz, what was the case he won at the ECtHR? Upon giving the answer, that it was the prisoners votes case, Frank Fisher added the comment that is a sore point with me. That is, that the government has not responded to the victory as yet. This is nothing personal, whilst conducting some research, I discovered from the Joint Committee on Human Rights, that there are another 49 cases in which violations were found against the UK and the government has not remedied these either. When I started to study law, I remember in one of the text books that it said a right is not a right if it cannot be enforced. There is machinary in place to enforce the decisions of the ECtHR, but it requires the will to start the machine up and the will is absent in those who are supposed to monitor compliance. I recall Tony Blair making his statement with great fanfare about bringing rights home. Then, he said that prisoners because they had committed crimes had lost the moral authority to vote. However, moral authority has never been a qualification for the franchise. On the other hand, I would argue that Tony Blair has lost moral authority by taking the country into a war that is illegal under international law.