Statement on voting eligibility for prisoners
22 November 2012
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling, made a statement on 22 November 2012 in the House of Commons, on voting eligibility for prisoners
Shadow Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Sadiq Khan, responded on behalf of the Opposition.
- Watch Parliament TV: Statement on voting eligibility for prisoners
- Read Commons Hansard: Statement on voting eligibility for prisoners
- Read current Parliamentary material in Topics: Prisons
The Justice Secretary outlined the three options contained within the Eligibility (Prisoners) Draft Bill, that are to be put to a Committee of both Houses for Parliamentary scrutiny.
The three options are:
- Replace the current ban on prisoner voting with a ban on voting for prisoners sentenced to 4 years or more.
- Replace the current ban on prisoner voting with a ban on voting for prisoners sentenced to more than 6 months.
- Re-enact the current general ban on prisoner voting, but with a few minor changes.
The draft bill has been published on the Ministry of Justice website.
House of Commons Library Research Briefing
The House of Commons Library provides research, analysis and information services for MPs and their staff.
The Library has produced a Standard Note that provides a narrative of events following the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on 6 October 2005, the Hirst case, that the UK’s current ban on all serving prisoners from voting contravenes Article 3 of Protocol No 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Oral statements
Oral statements are made after Question Time (or at 11am on a Friday) and after any Urgent Questions.
Statements normally relate to matters of policy or government actions. At the end of a statement, MPs can respond or question the government minister on its contents.