Prisoners deserve to be disenfranchised

Prisoners deserve to be disenfranchised

The North Yorkshire Police website is home to a sad collection of faces. Faces guilty of crimes including assault, theft, blackmail, tax evasion, drug dealing and even manslaughter. They are all serving prison sentences of up to four years and they will all be eligible to vote under new legislation to be introduced next year. The change comes following pressure from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for the government to remove the blanket ban on prisoners’ eligibility to vote. The ECHR believes the ban to be an infringement of prisoners’ rights.

Prisoners cannot reasonably claim that their rights are being infringed upon when they have directly deprived another person of theirs. In 2001, John Hirst, who served 25 years for killing his landlady, challenged the removal of prisoners’ enfranchisement in court, but was dismissed. In 2005, Hirst then went on to appeal with success to the ECHR. He has been a relentless campaigner for the prisoner’s right to vote, and this week rejoiced at the announcement in a homemade video where he stated, “I’m now going to celebrate for the 75,000 prisoners who will be getting the vote – that includes murderers, rapists, paedophiles, all of them will be getting the vote because it’s their human right to have the vote.”

This all comes from a man who, after an unprovoked attack on his landlady with an axe, calmly went to make a cup of coffee, and drank it as she lay fatalling wounded in the next room. Criminals deprive others of their rights, and at the very least they should have their liberties restricted as part of their punishment. His landlady will never vote again, so why should Hirst?

Regardless of a prisoner’s crime or history, once in prison the fact of the matter is this: a prisoner’s living costs are paid for by the tax payer, whilst they do not contribute to society in any way. As a result, their temporary disenfranchisement seems only fair, preventing them from having a voice in the system that they have rejected.

We must consider the future. If the ECHR and the likes of John Hirst have succeeded in making the government back down this far on the grounds of human rights infringement, then where will it stop? Like it or not, prisoners serving sentences longer than four years are still entitled to their human rights, so it is not inconceivable to consider that in the future, those convicted of the worst crimes will be able to vote.

Criminals undergoing their punishment deserve to be disenfranchised as a result of their actions. Once a sentence has been served and an inmate re-enters society, they then have the opportunity to contribute again in a positive way. Only then should they be enfranchised, and allowed a voice equal to yours or mine.

Comment: Contrary to your headline, of course convicted prisoners do not deserve to be disenfranchised save for those convicted of electoral fraud or abuse of a public office (see Hirst v UK (No2) and Frodl v Austria).

Whilst you are correct in observing the type of offender who will be allowed to vote under the government’s proposals, you are incorrect to claim that legislation for these proposals will be introduced next year. The necessary change to domestic law is as a result of pressure from the ECtHR (see Hirst v UK (No2) and Frodl v Austria), and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and from the Interlaken process. I state necessary change because the government’s proposals do not refer to this, rather it is an attempt to not fully comply with both Hirst v UK (No2) and Frodl v Austria. These cases show that only by amending s.3 of ROPA 1983 to reflect that all convicted prisoners must be allowed to vote, will be evidence of the necessary change.

You are wrong to claim “Prisoners cannot reasonably claim that their rights are being infringed upon when they have directly deprived another person of theirs”. The HRA 1998 is not about balancing the human rights of prisoners with the rights of victims of crimes. The HRA states that those who have their rights infringed by a public authority are victims. Indeed, the ECtHR stated in my judgment that I was a victim. Under the Actio Popularis principle the Court protects vulnerable groups in society from abuse by the State and from victimisation by wider society. The mere fact that I won the case is evidence that prisoners can reasonably claim that their rights are being infringed. It is your argument which is unreasonable.

It was 30 March 2004 when the Chamber handed down its judgment, and the government lost its appeal to the Grand Chamber on 6 October 2005. The video was not posted this week but after the government’s announcement on 3 November.

Indeed, this all comes from me. Isn’t it a wonderful achievement?

Actually, the trial judge refers to accepting a certain amount of provocation in my case therefore your reference to unprovoked is not only legally but factually incorrect. Perhaps, the word you were looking for was “unjustified”? And, we were both in the same room at the time. Criminals do deprive others of their rights, and if sentenced by the court (the punishment), and given a custodial sentence, they do lose their liberty as part of the punishment. Once again your argument falters. It is true that the dead cannot vote, and I do vote because I am now outside serving my sentence in the community. But, other convicted prisoners should vote because the highest court in Europe has said this should be the case. Accept it.

Whilst it is true that the cost of keeping prisoners in prison is met by the taxpayers, however, many of them do contribute to society. The franchise is not based upon making monetary contributions. Therefore it is your argument which is not fair. It is precisely to give prisoners the voice in Parliament that I took the case to court. I do not agree with your claim that prisoners have rejected the system.

As you say: “Like it or not, prisoners serving sentences longer than four years are still entitled to their human rights, so it is not inconceivable to consider that in the future, those convicted of the worst crimes will be able to vote”. The government will have a headache when it returns after the Xmas holiday period.

“Criminals undergoing their punishment deserve to be disenfranchised as a result of their actions”. Prisoners are sent to prison as a punishment and not for punishment. It is the government in the dock for its actions (or inaction if you like). The ECtHR made it clear in my case that seriousness of crime or length of sentence is not a factor to be taken into account in relation to the franchise. So, the prisoners conduct is no yardstick in relation to the vote. It is a basic human right in a democracy.

Prisoners are not removed from society and remain part of it even in custody. Some prisoners do contribute in a positive way. Look at me, for example, I went from a law breaker to a law-maker. I am doing the public a service by reforming the law. Freedom of expression extends to prisoners. Society can learn from the prisoners voice, and it is equal to any other voice in society. The government had argued that prisoners had lost the moral authority to vote, but this was rejected by the Court. Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, when the expenses scandal broke, stated that Parliament had lost the moral authority to govern. When I won the case, I also claimed the moral high ground.

Because the government has not handed over the White Flag of Surrender, it means that the £135m (which the taxpayers will have to pay for denying prisoners the vote in last year’s European election and May’s general election) could be doubled if those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and English in the AV referendum, don’t get the vote by May 2011.

It remains to say, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.