Essay --

Democratic societies are those who allow individuals to participate in the decision making process, in addition to recognizing and practicing the human rights. The majority of the democratic societies recognize the right to vote as a fundamental human right in accordance with the European Union on Human rights act 1998 protocol 1, part 2, article 3, which acknowledges the right of each individual to vote and without excluding any particular person. Despite this, many countries including the United Kingdom, embargo prisoners from practicing this right and believe in their disenfranchisement. Currently, there is an on going debate concerning the United Kingdom’s breach of the Humans right act in light of the case of Hirst v United Kingdom (74025/01) which has forced the UK to reconsider its position. Banning prisoners from voting contradicts democracy and violations the human rights act. This paper will focus on analyzing a number of different arguments concerning this matter. The United Kingdom’s stance on the disenfranchisement of prisoners was clearly expressed in the Representati...