1115th meeting (DH), 7-8 June 2011

1115th meeting (DH), 7-8 June 2011

Application 74025/01

Final on 06/10/2005


HIRST (No. 2) v. the United Kingdom


Enhanced procedure

74025/01 Hirst No. 2, judgment of 06/10/2005 - Grand Chamber

60041/08+ Greens and M.T., judgment of 23/11/2010, final on 11/04/2011

Case description: Blanket ban on voting imposed automatically on the applicant due to his status as a convicted offender detained in prison (Violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1). Related pilot judgment of 23/11/2010 in Greens and M.T. (60041/08 and 60054/08, final on 11/04/2011) concerning the same questions.

Status of execution before the meeting: Individual Measures: In the event that the applicants are detained, their eligibility to vote will depend on the general measures adopted (see §§ 72, 93 and 94 of the judgment in Hirst).

General Measures: the United Kingdom transmitted information to the Secretariat on the 1 March 2011, see DH-DD(2011)139 indicating that it had submitted a request for a referral to the panel of Grand Chamber in the related pilot judgment, Greens and M.T.

At its 1108th meeting of March 2011, the Committee of Ministers decided to resume consideration of the questions raised by the judgment once the referral request had been considered. On 11 April 2011, the panel of the Grand Chamber refused the request for referral. As a result, the United Kingdom authorities have until 11 October 2011 to submit an Action Plan detailing a legislative proposal to execute both judgments.

Links to relevant documents:

Interim Resolution <>CM/ResDH(2009)160

Notes:

In Greens and M.T, the European Court indicated at §115 that ”…the lengthy delay to date has demonstrated the need for a timetable for the introduction of proposals to amend the electoral law to be imposed. Accordingly, the Court concludes that the respondent State must introduce legislative proposals to amend section 3 of the 1983 Act and, if appropriate section 8 of the 2002 Act, within six months of the date on which the present judgment becomes final, with a view to the enactment of an electoral law to achieve compliance with the Court’s judgment in Hirst according to any time-scale determined by the Committee of Ministers”.

As the judgment in Greens and M.T. became final on 11 April 2011, the deadline for the United Kingdom authorities to submit an Action plan is 11 October 2011.

Decision

The Deputies,

1. recalled that in the Hirst (No. 2) judgment, final on 6 October 2005, the Court found that the general, automatic and indiscriminate restriction on the right of convicted prisoners in custody to vote, fell outside any acceptable margin of appreciation and was incompatible with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention;

2. recalled that at their 1108th meeting (March 2011), the Deputies noted that on 22 February 2011 the United Kingdom government had requested a referral to the Grand Chamber of the pilot judgment Greens and M.T. and decided consequently to resume consideration of the questions raised by the judgment once the referral request had been considered;

3. noted that the request for a referral to the Grand Chamber in Greens and M.T. was refused by the panel of the Grand Chamber on 11 April 2011, and that the pilot judgment subsequently became final on that date;

4. noted further that, according to §115 of the pilot judgment, the United Kingdom authorities have until 11 October 2011 to introduce legislative proposals with a view to the enactment of an electoral law to achieve compliance with the Court's judgments in Hirst and Greens and M.T. according to any time-scale determined by the Committee of Ministers;

5. consequently invited the United Kingdom authorities to present an action plan to this effect without delay.

Committee of Ministers link.