Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004
693 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights that British prisoners have the right to vote; if he will put in place facilities to enable Irish prisoners to vote in the local and European elections here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11277/04]
View answerAs I indicated previously, in reply to Question No. 175 of 7 April 2004, the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, in a judgment adopted on 9 March 2004, found that a breach of Article 3 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights had occurred in a case taken by a prisoner in the United Kingdom.
The prisoner, who is serving a sentence of life imprisonment, had complained that, as a convicted prisoner, he was subject to a blanket ban on voting in elections. This was as a result of legislation in the UK, section 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, which prohibits a convicted person from voting in a parliamentary or local election during the term of his or her detention in a penal institution. There is no such legislation in this country that prohibits a sentenced person from voting.
The Supreme Court, while taking cognisance of the fact that there are no statutory provisions that prohibit a convicted prisoner from voting, has held that the State is under no constitutional obligation to facilitate prisoners in the exercise of that franchise. I have, however, brought the recent ruling of the ECHR to the attention of both the Attorney General and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government who has primary responsibility for electoral legislation and I will consider the implications of the court's judgment in consultation with my colleagues.
