003-5010996-6151237

issued by the Registrar of the Court   ECHR 052 (2015)   10.02.2015   Remaining legacy prisoner voting cases: ECHR finds violation of the right to   vote but awards no compensation or legal costs   In today’s Committee judgment in the case of McHugh and Others v. the United Kingdom   (no. 51987/08 and 1,014 others), which is final1, the European Court of Human Rights held,   unanimously, that there had been:   a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to free elections) to the European Convention on   Human Rights.   The case concerned 1,015 prisoners who, as an automatic consequence of their convictions and   detention pursuant to sentences of imprisonment, were unable to vote in elections. The Court   concluded that there had been a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 because the case was   identical to other prisoner voting cases in which a breach of the right to vote had been found and   the relevant legislation had not yet been amended.   It rejected the applicants’ claim for compensation and legal costs.   Principal facts   The 1,015 applicants were all incarcerated at the relevant time following criminal convictions for a   variety of offences. They were automatically prevented from voting, pursuant to primary legislation,   in one or more elections in 2009, 2010 or 2011.   Complaints, procedure and composition of the Court   Relying on Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to free elections), all applicants complained of a breach   of their right to vote.   The applications were lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on various dates between   August 2009 and 31 October 2011.   Judgment was given by a Committee of three judges, composed as follows:   Päivi Hirvelä (Finland), President,   Nona Tsotsoria (Georgia),   Faris Vehabović (Bosnia and Herzegovina),   and also Fatoş Aracı, Deputy Section Registrar.   Under Article 28 of the Convention, judgments delivered by a Committee are final.   Final judgments are transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of their execution. Further   information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution   Decision of the Court   Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to free elections)   The Court noted that it had found the statutory ban on prisoners voting in elections to be, by reason   of its blanket character, incompatible with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1. It remarked that in Greens and   M.T. v. the United Kingdom (application nos. 60041/08 and 60054/08) it had indicated that some   legislative amendment would be required to make the electoral law compatible with the   Convention.   Given, however, that the legislation remained unamended, the Court concluded that, as in Hirst   (No. 2) v. the United Kingdom (no. 74025/01) Greens and M.T. v. the United Kingdom and Firth and   Others v. the United Kingdom (no. 47784/09 and nine others), there had been a violation of Article 3   of Protocol No. 1.   Article 41 (just satisfaction)   As in previous judgments concerning prisoners’ right to vote (including Hirst (No. 2), Greens and   M.T., Scoppola (No. 3) v. Italy and Firth and Others), the Court held that the finding of a violation   constituted sufficient just satisfaction for any non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicants. It   therefore declined to award any compensation.   The Court also rejected the applicants’ claim for legal costs. It did not consider that legal assistance   was required to lodge an application, for the reasons given in Firth and Others. The Court’s approach   to follow-up cases was made clear in that judgment, which was both concise and unambiguous. No   legal assistance was required to consider its implications.   The judgment is available only in English.   This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions,   judgments and further information about the Court can be found on www.echr.coe.int. To receive   the Court’s press releases, please subscribe here: www.echr.coe.int/RSS/en or follow us on Twitter   @ECHRpress.   Press contacts   [email protected] | tel: +33 3 90 21 42 08   Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel: + 33 3 88 41 35 30)   Céline Menu-Lange (tel: + 33 3 90 21 58 77)   Nina Salomon (tel: + 33 3 90 21 49 79)   Denis Lambert (tel: + 33 3 90 21 41 09)   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member   States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.   2