No compensation for prisoners denied the vote, rules ECHR

But Strasbourg upholds previous ruling that blanket ban on prisoners voting is unlawful

A guard stands behind a locked gate at Pentonville prison
(Image credit: Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that prisoners in the UK are not entitled to damages because they are denied the right to vote, but is upheld its earlier ruling that the blanket ban breaches prisoners' human rights.

All prisoners in the UK, regardless of the seriousness of their crime, have been barred from voting in both local and parliamentary elections since 1969. Both the last Labour government and the coalition have been unsuccessful in introducing a change to the law ordered by the European court over a decade ago, the BBC reports. So how did the country's ongoing battle with the Strasbourg Court over prisoner's votes come about?

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