Britain to take on European court over jail voting

The Government has launched a legal challenge to the European Court of Human Rights ruling that the UK’s blanket ban on prisoners voting is unlawful.

Constitutional Affairs Minister Mark Harper said the UK had asked for the highest tier of the European court to examine the issue.

In a written parliamentary answer, Mr Harper said the Government believed the court should “look again” at the ruling on the blanket ban.

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The move follows an overwhelming Commons vote last month in favour of defying the judgment.

MPs voted by 234 to 22, majority 212, in favour of the motion tabled by senior Tory David Davis and Labour former justice secretary Jack Straw.

In his written answer, Mr Harper said the Government had requested the referral in the case of two prisoners, named as Robert Greens and MT, who were awarded 5,000 euros (£4,230) in costs and expenses for their loss of voting rights last November.

The judgment said that, as a result of the UK’s failure to act on the ruling in the case of axe killer John Hirst five years ago, the two prisoners remained unable to vote.

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Mr Harper said: “The Government have requested that the court’s judgment in the ‘Greens and MT’ case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights – the highest tier of the ECHR.

“If the Grand Chamber agrees to the referral, they will look again at the judgment and issue their opinion.

“The basis of the Government’s referral request is that we believe that the court should look again at the principles in ‘Hirst’ which outlaws a blanket ban on prisoners voting, particularly given the recent debate in the House of Commons.

“The referral request also points out the need for clarity in the ECHR’s case law in this area.”

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Mr Harper’s announcement of the referral – the court’s equivalent of an appeal – came in a response to Labour’s Gordon Marsden, who had asked for the publication of legal advice on compliance with the court’s ruling.

Fears of compensation claims running into millions of pounds as a result of the ruling have forced the Government to come up with plans to give some inmates the right to vote.

The plans would see some 28,000 criminals serving less than four years being given the vote, although there have been signs that ministers could row back from that position.