EU: UK Must Give Prisoners Right To Vote

By Marc Schulman, American Future

Can you imagine convicted terrorists being given the right to vote? That’s the implication of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that further erodes sovereignty:

The ECHR has ruled that the disenfranchisement of 48,000 convicts in British jails violated the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court added that with the exception of the right to liberty, lawfully detained prisoners continued to enjoy all the rights guaranteed in the convention.

Britain is among 13 signatories to the human rights convention who prevent prisoners from voting, according to a government survey. The only exceptions in Britain are those in jail for non-payment of debts, contempt of court or on remand. A further 14 signatories to the convention limit the right of prisoners to vote, while another 18 impose no restriction at all. The court’s ruling could see prisoners across all states belonging to the 46-member Council of Europe, the court’s parent body, given the right to vote.

The text of the ECHR’s ruling is available here.

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