Privileges and Procedures have lodged proposals with the House which it says will ensure that the Island complies with European Court of Human Rights regulations on the rights of prisoners to vote.
If approved by the States when they consider the proposition early next year, the move would mean that some prisoners would be eligible to vote at the next general election, in spring 2018.
The Island’s current stance, similar to the UK’s, is that prisoners are not eligible to vote. This means that Jersey currently stands in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2004, in the case of Hirst v the UK, the ECHR found that the UK’s ban on convicted prisoners voting breached Article 3 of the convention.
In 2012, the PPC considered the matter but decided not to address it until the UK had done so. However, Constable Len Norman, who chairs the PPC, has now said that it is time for Jersey to discuss the issue following advice from the Island’s Legislation Advisory Panel.
The propositions are due to be debated on 17 January.
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