This week, Holyrood finally recognised the right of prisoners serving terms of less than 12 months in jail to vote. And not before time - 15 years after the ECHR ruled the UK's blanket ban was disproportionate. In other countries this is uncontroversial.
thenational.scot/news/18254991.…
thenational.scot/news/18254991.…
Although the Government argue they've been forced by law to do this - which is substantially true - Labour and the SNP have clearly been on a bit of a political journey on this issue. Reading the official report, this didn't sound like pinching your nose & taking your medicine.
As recently as 2013, MSPs excluded all prisoners from the #indyref franchise, leading to the Moohan case in the UK Supreme Court. (The Justices, by majority, said this was lawful beause the right to vote under the ECHR doesn't extend to referendums). supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uks…
There's an interesting "evolution of devolution" dimension at play here too. Under the Human Rights Act, all judges can do is declare Westminster legislation is incompatible with ECHR rights. This held for Holyrood elections, so long as the franchise was a reserved matter.
But when the 2016 Scotland Act transferred control over Holyrood elections to Edinburgh, much stronger ECHR restrictions kicked in. It is unlawful for either Scottish Ministers or the Parliament to violate ECHR rights in the manner Westminster is empowered to. Hence this week.
