EU court rejects French prisoner voting ban challenge
A ban under French law on voting in European Parliament elections, imposed on prisoners serving sentences of five years or more, has been upheld by the Court of Justice of the European Union, in a decision that had been keenly awaited due to its potential implications for the United Kingdom.
The Luxembourg court rejected a claim by convicted murderer Thierry Delvigne, who is serving a 12 year sentence, that the law violated his civil and political rights, ruling that it was "proportionate" to the offence.
A decision against France would have meant it likely that the UK blanket ban on prisoner voting would also have been held unlawful. However a challenge could still be brought to the UK rule, which goes much further than the French.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has previously ruled in other cases that the UK law infringes the European Convention, being indiscriminate, but the UK Government has so far refused to promote amending legislation.
Delvigne brought his claim under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. The court ruled that the Charter applies to the right of citizens, including prisoners, to vote in European Parliament elections, but that the French law was proportionate in so far as it took into account the nature and gravity of the criminal offence committed and the duration of the penalty.