Britain urged to allow prisoners to vote

Britain urged to allow prisoners to vote

European committee warns of 'pressing need' for ban to be lifted before next election

By Duncan Campbell

The UK has come under renewed pressure to grant prisoners the vote in time for the next election or fall foul of European human rights legislation.

The committee of ministers of the Council of Europe today condemned the UK's delay in granting votes to prisoners and warned that there was now a "pressing need" for action to be taken.

Prison reform groups called on the government today to act swiftly so that prisoners would be able to vote in a general election predicted for next spring. The action follows a seven-year legal battle by a former prisoner to force the government to grant the vote to inmates.

The committee of ministers of the Council of Europe expressed concern at the "significant delay" in implementing the vote for prisoners in the wake of a European court of human rights judgment of 2005. The committee said that it "recognised the pressing need to take concrete steps to implement the judgment, particularly in light of upcoming UK elections which must take place by June 2010 at the latest".

Juliet Lyon of the Prison Reform Trust welcomed the move and said that it was logical for the right to vote to be included in Gordon Brown's proposed constitutional reform. "It seems that the committee of ministers has had enough of the UK's foot dragging, prevarication and mean-minded refusal to comply with the European court of human rights judgment that the blanket ban on prisoners' voting is unlawful," said Lyon.

"As the government scrambles to put right constitutional wrongs, this is the time when the justice secretary can dispose of an antiquated punishment of civic death and make sure that people held in a modern prison system can exercise their civic responsibilities."

The committee of ministers also stressed the need to take procedural steps "without delay". It is the strongest condemnation so far of the UK government which has declined to bring in the necessary changes to allow the vote to most prisoners.

John Hirst, the former prisoner who brought the original action in 2001 under human rights legislation, said that it should be possible for prisoners to vote in an election next year. "I am very happy," he said. "There is no reason now why prisoners should not be able to vote next year."

The UK government has so far resisted pressure to extend the franchise. Last year, the UN human rights committee expressed concern saying the British stance "may not meet the requirements" of the UN's human rights covenant.

The British ban dates back to the Forfeiture Act of 1870. Britain is one of only nine European countries, including Russia, Bulgaria and Romania, where all convicted prisoners are banned from voting, although in some countries, such as France and Spain, judges can impose the loss of voting rights as an additional punishment.