PACE Legal Affairs Committee head reacts to UK vote on prisoner voting

PACE Legal Affairs Committee head reacts to UK vote on prisoner voting

Strasbourg, 11.02.2010 –

Following yesterday’s vote in the House of Commons on prisoners’ voting rights, Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), made the following statement:

“I am deeply disappointed by last night’s vote, in defiance of the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on prisoner voting. I had hoped that the parliament of one of Europe’s oldest democracies – regarded as playing a leading role in protecting human rights – would have encouraged the United Kingdom to honour its international obligations, as our Assembly urged only last month. Every member state must implement the judgments of the Court.

The United Kingdom government has said that it intends to implement this judgment, and I encourage it to find a way to do so that is consistent with its international legal obligations. There are different ways this can be done, as shown by the range of positions on this issue in Council of Europe member states.”

PACE resolution on the abolition of restrictions on the right to vote

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