ECHR Reject Prisoners Claims for Compensation Over Voting Rights

Today, 12 August 2014, the European Court of Human Rights rejected a bid by ten prisoners to gain compensation from the government for the country’s ban on prisoners voting in elections.

ECHR judges upheld the claim taken forward by a group of prisoners held in prison in Scotland, that the blanket ban on prisoners voting in elections was in fact a breach of their human rights.

This was in line with a previous ruling that the ban on prisoners voting during the 2009 European elections had been a breach of human rights. However, the Court stated that the verdict in itself was sufficient, and that they are not entitled to any financial compensation or their legal costs for bringing the case.

This ruling will have implications for hundreds of other inmates, who may have sought compensation. Their claims would be highly unlikely to succeed given this ruling. However, this decision does not affect the earlier European Court ruling that the government’s outright ban on prisoner voting is a breach of human rights legislation.

The government must take steps to implement new legislation which allows some innmates to take part in elections. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said:

"The government has always been clear that it believes prisoner voting is an issue that should ultimately be decided in the UK. The government is reflecting on the report from the joint committee on prisoner voting rights and is actively considering its recommendations. This is not a straightforward issue and the government needs to think carefully about the recommendations, which included new options for implementation."

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