[JURIST] The European Court of Justice (ECJ) [official website] ruled [judgment] Tuesday that a convicted murderer could be banned from voting because the ban is proportionate to the offense. Thierry Delvigne challenged the ban before the ECJ as a violation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights [text]. According to a press release [text, PDF] from the court, “the deprivation of the right to vote to which Mr Delvigne is subject represents a limitation of the exercise of the right of EU citizens to vote in elections to the European Parliament, as guaranteed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Court notes that limitations may, however, be imposed on the exercise of fundamental rights, and provided, inter alia, that they are proportionate.” Sean Humber, solicitor at Leigh Day [firm website], a law firm specializing in human rights, stated [press release] “As a result of this judgment, it is likely that prisoners convicted of less serious offences will now be able to take legal action against the Government for being denied the vote in the 2014 European elections. In addition, the Government will inevitably leave itself open to legal action from prisoners facing the prospect of being unable to vote in the European elections in 2019 if it does not take action now.”

The controversy over UK prisoner voting rights stems from a 2005 case filed by John Hirst, who had been sentenced to life in prison for killing his landlord. Hirst claimed he should be able to vote while in prison, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agreed, ruling [judgment, PDF] that the ban breached Hirst’s human rights. In March 2011 the UK government commenced legal measures to overturn the ECHR ruling [JURIST reports] that declared the UK’s ban unlawful. The government requested that the ECHR decision in Greens and MT v. the United Kingdom [JURIST report] be appealed to the Grand Chamber [official website] of the court, believing it may reverse the precedent that grants prisoners the right to vote. In October 2013 the Supreme Court of the UK upheld [JURIST report] the law that banned inmates from voting. In August 2014 the ECHR ruled [JURIST report] that the UK ban violates prisoners’; human rights. JURIST guest columnist Richard Edwards of the University of the West of England Bristol Law School described [JURIST op-ed] the “constitutional crisis” facing the UK over prisoner disenfranchisement.