European Court of Human Rights

 

FOURTH SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 47784/09
Paul FIRTH against the United Kingdom
and 9 other applications
(see list appended)

The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting on 27 May 2014 as a Chamber composed of:

          Ineta Ziemele, President,
          Päivi Hirvelä,
          George Nicolaou,
          Ledi Bianku,
          Zdravka Kalaydjieva,
          Paul Mahoney,
          Krzysztof Wojtyczek, judges,
and Françoise Elens-Passos, Section Registrar,

Having regard to the above applications lodged on various dates (for details see appendix),

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

1.  A list of the ten applicants is set out in the appendix. They are represented before the Court by Taylor & Kelly, a firm of solicitors based in Coatbridge.

A.  The circumstances of the case

2.  The applicants complained that, as convicted prisoners, they were prevented from voting in the following: elections to the Scottish Parliament on 3 May 2007; elections to the European Parliament on 4 June 2009; and local government elections. They also noted in their application forms that “elections to the UK Parliament are forthcoming” and complained of the continuing refusal to allow them to exercise their right to vote.

B.  Relevant domestic law and practice

3.  The relevant domestic law and practice is set out in the Court’s judgments in Hirst v. the United Kingdom (no. 2) [GC], no. 74025/01, ECHR 2005-IX; and Greens and M.T. v. the United Kingdom, nos. 60041/08 and 60054/08, ECHR 2010 (extracts); and its decision in McLean and Cole v. the United Kingdom (dec.), nos. 12626/13 and 2522/12, 11 June 2013.

COMPLAINTS

4.  The applicants complained under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention that they were subject to a blanket ban on voting in elections and had been prevented from voting in a number of elections (see paragraph 2 above).

5.  They also complained of a violation of Articles 6 and 13 on the grounds that they were refused legal aid to pursue domestic proceedings in respect of their complaints and that they had no effective remedy to address their complaints under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1.

THE LAW

A.  Joinder

6.  Given their similar factual and legal background, the Court decides that the applications should be joined pursuant to Rule 42 § 1 of the Rules of Court.

B.  The complaint about the applicants’ ineligibility to vote in the election on 4 June 2009

7.  In the light of its case-law, and in particular its judgments in Hirst (no. 2), and Greens and M.T., both cited above, the Court considers that it is necessary to give notice of this complaint to the respondent Government.

C.  The remaining complaints

8.  The applicants also complained about elections in 2007; elections to local government bodies; and the continuing refusal to allow them to exercise their right to vote. They made reference to “forthcoming” parliamentary elections. They further complained under Articles 6 and 13 of the Convention about their access to legal aid and the availability of effective remedies.

9.  Having regard to its findings in Greens and M.T., cited above, §§ 90-92, McLean and Cole, cited above, and Dunn and Others v. the United Kingdom (dec.), nos. 566/10 and 130 other applications, 13 May 2014, and in the light of all the material in its possession, the Court finds that these complaints do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the Convention or its Protocols.

10.  It follows that these complaints are manifestly ill-founded and must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 §§ 3 (a) and 4 of the Convention.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to join the applications;

Decides to adjourn the examination of the applicants’ complaints under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 concerning their ineligibility to vote in the election of 4 June 2009;

Declares the remainder of the applications inadmissible.

Françoise Elens-Passos                                                           Ineta Ziemele
         Registrar                                                                            President




 

 

Appendix

 

No.	Application no. and date of introduction	Applicant name, (prisoner no.) date of birth place of residence nationality	Address	Represented by	Election concerned	Detention details if known
1.	47784/09 17/08/2009	Paul FIRTH (80736) 12/09/1951 Peterhead British	HMP Peterhead Peterhead AB42 2YY	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU election 4 June 2009	Not known
2.	47806/09 17/08/2009	Douglas NEILL (4123) 06/08/1966 Kilmarnock British	HMP Kilmarnock Mauchline Road Kilmarnock KA1 5AA	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Kilmarnock
3.	47812/09 17/08/2009	Michael MC KENNA (5802) 05/05/1970 Greenock British	HMP Greenock Old Inverkip Road Greenock PA16 9AH	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Greenock
4.	47818/09 11/08/2009	Jamie BAIN 10/03/1984 Shotts British	HMP Shotts Canthill Road Shotts ML7 4LE	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Shotts
5.	47829/09 17/08/2009	Stewart MC KECHNIE (96580) 01/04/1979 Peterhead British	HMP Peterhead Peterhead AB42 2YY	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Peterhead
6.	49001/09 28/08/2009	David MC CONACHIE (11333) 30/06/1959 Dumfries British	HMP Dumfries Terregles Street Dumfries DG2 9AX	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Dumfries
7.	49007/09 28/08/2009	Paul DILLON (8295) 31/10/1971 Shotts British	HMP Shotts Canthill Road Shotts ML7 4LE	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Shotts
8.	49018/09 28/08/2009	Robert DOW (90526) 13/08/1973 Peterhead British	HMP Peterhead Peterhead AB42 2YY	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Peterhead
9.	49033/09 28/08/2009	Raymond LEE (55947) 13/10/1947 Peterhead British	HMP Peterhead Peterhead AB42 2YY	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Peterhead
10.	49036/09 28/08/2009	Raymond LOVIE (47784) 23/07/1974 Peterhead British	HMP Peterhead UK - Peterhead AB42 2YY	TAYLOR & KELLY	EU elections 4 June 2009	Detained at relevant time at HMP Peterhead