Fresh moves to give prisoners the right to vote

Fresh moves to give prisoners the right to vote

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor, Daily Telegraph

Prisoners could be given the vote by next year if two attempts to force Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, to implement a controversial European ruling succeed.

The ban on inmates voting in elections, which dates back almost 140 years, was ruled unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights five years ago.

Since then, the Government has held a lengthy consultation process but is still to act on the ruling.

But Mr Straw is now facing a double offensive to change the law. It could lead to some of the most reviled people in Britain - including Ian Huntley, the Soham child killer, Rosemary West, the serial killer, Roy Whiting, the paedophile, and Charles Bronson, who has spent more than two decades in solitary confinement - being given a say in electing politicians.

The Prison Reform Trust has made a formal complaint to the Council of Europe over the Government's "failure to comply", accusing it of deliberately delaying tactics.

Meanwhile, the killer at the centre of the original challenge is now planning more legal action to force the Government to act. John Hirst, who was jailed for manslaughter after killing his landlady with an axe, is preparing a judicial over the failure to implement the ruling.

Lyn Costello, of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression, said: "Punishment has become a dirty word. If you commit a violent crime and go to prison you give up some of your rights as a citizen for that period and that's the way it should be".

In March 2004, European judges ruled the blanket ban on prisoners having the right to vote breached their human rights, following a case brought by Hirst, who served 25 years of a life sentence.

Beyond giving all prisoners the right to vote, other possible options inculde placing limits on prisoners with sentences of certain length or allowing judges to decide if voting rights should be taken away from individual prisoners.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "The issues around prisoner voting are complex and require full consultation and consideration".

* The public will be able to vote online to select the community sentence punishments they want criminals to carry out. The Ministry of Justice pilot project, covering 54 areas, starts today.



From the Daily Telegraph 30 March 2009, not available online