Thomas Hammarberg: Prisoners should have the vote

Thomas Hammarberg, the Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe, has underlined the position of the European Court of Human Rights that there should be no blanket ban on prisoners voting.

His intervention follows the UK authorities’ decision to complain against a recent ruling by the European Court which established a legislative timetable for overturning the ban. “Prisoners, though deprived of physical liberty, have human rights,” says Hammarberg in an article published on the Council of Europe website. “Measures should be taken to ensure that imprisonment does not undermine rights which are unconnected to the intention of the punishment.”

Read a full copy of the article here.