Letter to Mr John Hirst

Letter to Mr John Hirst

Letter to Mr John Hirst

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And my letter in response...

Dear Peter

Thank you for your letter.

However, I am disappointed to note, given the almost 5 years of procrastination by the UK government in relation to Hirst v UK(No2), that the Equality and Human Rights Commission appear to have decided to sit on the fence over this issue.

I note that John Wadam has been engaging with the Committee of Ministers, apparently, in talks about talks. The Suffragette Movement adopted the motto "Deeds not words" when Parliament wanted to talk about women and the vote rather than give them the actual vote. In prison, it is not whether someone can talk the talk which counts for anything but whether they can walk the walk.

On your website at About us it states:
"How we live together is one of the big challenges of the twenty-first century: as serious as climate change and more immediate.

A milestone along the road to a fairer, more equal Britain, the new Equality and Human Rights Commission opened on 1 October 2007.

The new commission is working to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and to build good relations, ensuring that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society.

The previous commissions – the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality, and the Disability Rights Commission – have made enormous advances, changing Britain into a fairer place. But much remains to be done.

The new commission is building on their legacy to achieve change to benefit some of the most disadvantaged and voiceless people in our society.

The new commission brings together the work of the three previous equality commissions and also takes on responsibility for the other aspects of equality: age, sexual orientation and religion or belief, as well as human rights.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission acts not only for the disadvantaged, but for everyone in society, and can use its new enforcement powers where necessary to guarantee people’s equality. It also has a mandate to promote understanding of the Human Rights Act.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) established under the Equality Act 2006 – accountable for its public funds, but independent of government".

I have emphasised the text which I feel is relevant to the case in hand. It has to be acknowledged that the UK government is discriminating against 80,000+ prisoners, who are EU citizens, by denying them their human right to vote in the European Election for MEPs on 4 June 2009. Following Matthews v UK, Parliament legislated to implement the ECtHR's judgment. You will note that in both Matthews and Hirst it was Article 3 of the First Protocol which the Court relied upon in reaching its judgment. In Matthews the subject matter was EU citizens being denied their right to vote under EU law. Although the issue of prisoners being EU citizens and not being allowed to vote in EU elections was not raised in Hirst, nevertheless the principle is the same because under EU law prisoners are EU citizens and it follows that they have the human, legal, civil, and political right to vote in the EU election. Therefore, I am asking what the Equality and Human Rights Commission intends to do in pratical terms to eliminate this blatant discrimination against a minority group within society?

In relation to the Hirst judgment, unless action is taken immediately, 60,000+ convicted prisoners will not be able to exercise their human right to vote at the next General Election, nor at any local elections. The government has not planned to introduce any Bill to legislate to implement the Hirst judgment, between now and the next General Election. This is totally unacceptable. Prisoners are voiceless people in society because without the franchise they are unable to be represented in Parliament. As Lord Justice Woolf discovered following the Strangeways Prison riot, if there is a lack of justice within prisons then prisoners will take to the rooftops of riot torn jails to air their grievances. This unofficial blocking of an official channel must be cleared.

I am not seeking direct legal assistance. However, the Equality and Human Rights Commission can issue a press release condemning the UK government procrastination in implementing the Hirst judgment. If the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Iraq and now Hong Kong can all do something following the Hirst judgment there really is no excuse for the UK government to do nothing. Not only has the government continued to violate prisoners human rights in direct contravention of the European Convention, it appears that it cares little that it is in danger of saddling the taxpayers with a bill of between £60 and £120M in compensation claims by disgruntled prisoners who are being denied their human right to vote in both the European Election and the General Election.

I hope that the Equality and Human Rights Commission will consider issuing a press release, at the very least, and that I am happy to give any facts which you may need for this purpose, and make myself available to answer any media inquiries which might follow.

Yours sincerely

John Hirst