Taxi Driver Online

UK given prisoner votes deadline

Tuesday, April 12 06:19 pm
Press Assoc.

The Government has lost its final appeal against a human rights ruling requiring Britain to give prisoners the vote.

Prime Minister David Cameron - who said the thought of granting the vote to criminals made him physically ill - now has six months to produce "legislative proposals" ending the current blanket ban on inmates voting in national and European elections.

The ultimatum was delivered by a five-judge panel of the European Court of Human Rights, which last November awarded two UK prisoners 5,000 euro (£4,350) in costs and expenses for their loss of voting rights, which was ruled a breach of their human rights.

On Monday the Court dismissed a request for an appeal hearing and decreed the original verdict final.

A statement issued by the Court said: "The Court now gives the UK Government six months from 11 April 2011 to introduce legislative proposals to bring the disputed law in line with the (European Human Rights) Convention.

"The Government is further required to enact the relevant legislation within any time frame decided by the Committee of Ministers, the executive arm of the Council of Europe, which supervises the execution of the Court's judgments".

More than five years ago the same court delivered a similar verdict in a separate case brought by a prisoner, but the then Labour government left the blanket ban in place.

Last November's second ruling came in a case brought by prisoners named as Robert Greens and MT, both serving time at Peterhead prison.

By then Mr Cameron's coalition government had announced that it reluctantly accepted there was a legal obligation to offer voting rights to at least some prisoners, and scrap the total ban.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20110412/tu ... 23e80.html

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

cant see the problem myself

send em a voting card

if they cant attend to vote tough

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

The PM will be worried as all the Tory mps who where jailed could now vote labour to get there own back

As far as I'm aware there are no ex Tory MPs in court, but several ex Labour ones.

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IDFIMH

Its time the invertebrates that make up the UK government stood up to the EU and told them to shove their Human rights proposals up where the sun dont shine...

except they all want EU jobs when the get the elbow from westminster

look a the welsh windbag (Kinnock) and family

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I'm concerned that those that don't consider others human rights should have theirs so carefully considered by others. Having said that I'm a great believer that 2 wrongs don't make a right. I think it's a toughy myself and would obviously depend entirely on what the person was in jail for

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Theres the Rights of Humans to consider..but this European court of Human rights is just a needless P*ss take.

there are only 100,000 in prisons, given that half wont vote and those that do (by post i assume) will be from all over the UK its little more than a minor irritation, it will have little effect on anything and giving them the vote will mean none can claim compo id say "yeah, ok, have the vote"

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most