Legal Challenges Against The 'Blanket Ban' On Prisoners' Vote Continue

As voters across the UK went to the polls on Thursday 5 May 2011, in a series of national and local elections, as well as a referendum on the way in which MPs are elected, prisoners remained disenfranchised.

Over one month into the 6 month timescale fixed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the UK Government has taken no steps to address the blanket ban on prisoners exercising their right to vote. We recently reported that the ECtHR had, for the time being at least, drawn a line under the issue, noting that it would not hear any further applications pending compliance by the UK Government. This decision, however, has not prevented prisoners from continuing to challenge the blanket ban. Indeed, some of those who have continued to do so have adopted distinctly different arguments, with a view to taking their cases to a different European Court altogether; not to the ECtHR in Strasbourg, but to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg.

One such prisoner, who sought to challenge the decision of the Electoral Registration Officer to refuse to register him as a voter, by way of judicial review, has been unsuccessful in obtaining a reference to the ECJ. Lord Tyre dismissed the Petition for Judicial Review on the basis that a statutory remedy existed that provided an effective means of seeking redress and, in respect of the substantial arguments, Lord Tyre was not persuaded by the interpretation of the European Union law as presented on behalf of the prisoner. In finding against the prisoner, Lord Tyre was of the view that the rights referred to (which, it...

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