EIT keskeyttää toistaiseksi 2354:ää vankien äänestysoikeutta koskevan jutun käsittelyn

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuin (EIT) on päättänyt jäädä odottamaan Yhdistyneiden kuningaskuntien lainsäädäntötoimien edistymistä vankien äänestysoikeutta koskien, ja tämän vuoksi jäädyttänyt liki 2500 valituksen käsittelyn.

Vankien äänestysoikeus on ollut eräs kritiikin kohteista, kun Yhdistyneissä kuningaskunnissa on kritisoitu EIT:n toimia ja sitä, että EIT ottaa itselleen liian suuren roolin oikeudenkäytössä. EIT antoi jo vuonna 2005 suuren jaoston tuomion Yhdistyneitä kuningaskntia vastaan, jossa äänestämistä koskevan kategorisen kellon vangeille katsottiin loukanneen Euroopan ihmisoikeussopimuksen 1 lisäpöytäkirjan 3 artiklaa (oikeus vapaisiin vaaleihin). EIT vahvisti tämän kantansa marraskuussa 2010, jolloin se ratkaisi kaksi muuta samantyyppistä valitusta.

EIT:n lehdistötiedotteesta:

In its first judgment against the United Kingdom regarding prisoners’ right to vote, Hirst v. the United Kingdom (no. 2) (74025/01) of 6 October 2005, the Grand Chamber of the Court found that a blanket ban preventing all convicted prisoners from voting, irrespective of the nature or gravity of their offences, constituted a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to free elections) to the European Convention on Human Rights. It did not give any detailed guidance as to the steps which the United Kingdom should take to make its law compatible with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, emphasising that there were numerous ways of organising and running electoral systems and that it was for each Member State of the Council of Europe to decide on its own rules. In its Chamber judgment in Greens and M.T. v. the United Kingdom (60041/08 and 60054/08) of 23November 2010, the Court again found a violation of the right to free elections, as the Government of the United Kingdom had failed to amend the blanket ban legislation. The Court held that the Government should bring forward legislative proposals to amend the law and to enact the legislation within a time-frame decided by the Committee of Ministers, the executive arm of the Council of Europe, which supervises the implementation of the Court’s judgments2. The Government were granted an extension of time pending proceedings before the Court’s Grand Chamber in an Italian case concerning prisoners’ right to vote (Scoppola v. Italy (No. 3) (126/05), Grand Chamber judgment of 22 May 2012).

The Committee of Ministers has been following the UK Government’s progress in complying with the Court’s rulings. On 22 November 2012, the Government published a draft bill on prisoners’ voting eligibility. The draft bill includes three proposals: (1) ban from voting those sentenced to four years’ imprisonment or more; (2) ban from voting those sentenced to more than six months; or (3) ban from voting all prisoners (i.e. maintain the status quo). The Committee of Ministers is overseeing the progress of this draft bill. It has decided to resume consideration of the cases Hirst (no. 2) and Greens and M.T. at the latest at its September 2013 meeting.

In view of the Committee of Ministers’ decision, the Court decided to adjourn its consideration of the pending applications against the United Kingdom concerning prisoners’ right to vote until, at the latest, 30 September 2013. In the meantime, it has invited the Committee of Ministers to keep it regularly informed of progress.

Koko lehdistötiedote löytyy täältä: Press release

Vankien äänestysoikeutta koskeva faktalehtinen löytyy täältä:
Prisoners’ right to vote