Strasbourg tells government to overturn ban ruled illegal in landmark case or face thousands more compensation claims
The Council of Europe has issued an unprecedented warning to the British government to take urgent steps to enable prisoners to vote in the forthcoming general election or face thousands more compensation claims.
The committee of ministers issued the warning six years after a former prisoner, John Hirst, won a landmark case in the European court of human rights in which Britain's blanket ban on prisoners voting was declared illegal.
The ministers expressed serious concern in December that the failure to give prisoners the vote meant there was a significant risk the election would "fail to comply with the European convention on human rights".
Now Strasbourg has issued an even firmer warning, strongly urging British authorities "to rapidly adopt measures, of even an interim nature, to ensure the execution of the court's judgment before the forthcoming general election".
The ministers also warned that failure to act could lead to thousands more compensation claims from sentenced inmates denied the right to vote. In diplomatic language, the Council of Europe said "the increasing number of persons potentially affected by the restriction could result in similar violations affecting a significant category of persons, giving rise to a substantial risk of repetitive applications to the European court".
Justice ministers have held two consultations over whether to give prisoners the vote, with the Lord Chancellor, Jack Straw, proposing that those convicted of serious violent and sexual offences be excluded from voting in elections. No final decision has been made.
A justice ministry spokesman said: "It remains the government's view that the right to vote goes to the essence of the offender's relationship with democratic society, and the removal of the right to vote in the case of some convicted prisoners can be a proportionate and proper response following conviction and imprisonment. The issue of voting rights for prisoners is one that the government takes very seriously and that remains under careful consideration."
Prison reformers have criticised what they call the government's delaying tactics. The move is backed by cross-party figures including the former Conservative home secretary Lord Hurd and the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, as well as senior Labour figures including David Winnick and Lord Corbett.
Juliet Lyon of the Prison Reform Trust said the ban should be overturned without further fuss or delay: "The decision is profoundly embarrassing for the government and places on it a clear and urgent obligation to overturn the blanket ban on sentenced prisoners voting. Despite six years of prevarication, there is still time remaining before the next election for the government to amend the existing legislation."
She said the prison service foresaw no practical problems in enabling sentenced prisoners to vote, and the Electoral Commission had laid out a straightforward method by which they could do so.
Bob Cummings, the chief executive of the ex-offenders' organisation Unlock, said: "Giving prisoners the vote is a question of moral conscience not political conscience. If prisoners are excluded from voting, then we don't have a democratic society – we are just paying lip service to one. The government must accept that prisoners remain citizens of this country with legitimate human rights, including the right to vote."
Report by Alan Travis in the Guardian
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