The European Court of Human Rights has described the UK's current blanket ban on prisoner voting as 'general, automatic and indiscriminate' and found it to be in breach of article 3 of protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ECHR requires the UK to bring forward legislative proposals to amend our current legislation to be compliant with the Convention. The Government is putting forward three options to a Committee of both Houses for full Parliamentary scrutiny. The three options are: a ban for prisoners sentenced to 4 years or more; a ban for prisoners sentenced to more than 6 months; a continued ban for all convicted prisoners. When the Joint Committee has finished its scrutiny the Government will reflect on its recommendations it will continue the legislative process by introducing a Bill.

The report Joint Committee On The Draft Voting Eligibility (Prisoners): Report (HL 103, HC 924) discuses the Government's Voting Eligibility (Prisoners): Draft Bill (see below) which was published as a result of a decision by the European Court of Human Rights, that the UK's complete prohibition on convicted prisoners voting was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Joint Committee on the Bill has reached the following conclusions on points of basic principle: in a democracy the vote is a right, not a privilege and should not be removed without good reason; the vote is a presumptive, not an absolute right; the vote is also a power; there is a legitimate expectation that those convicted of the most heinous crimes should be stripped of the power embodied in the right to vote; selecting the custody threshold as the unique indicator of the type of offence that is so serious as to just

Constitutional and administrative law (Public law) is an essential element of all law degrees. UNLOCKING CONSTITUTIONAL & ADMINISTRATIVE LAW will ensure that you grasp the main concepts with ease, providing you with an indispensable foundation in the subject. This revised third edition is fully up-to-date with the latest key changes in the law. The UNLOCKING THE LAW series is designed specifically to make the law accessible. Each chapter contains: aims and objectives, activities such as self-test questions, key facts charts to consolidate your knowledge diagrams to aid memory and understanding prominently displayed cases and judgments chapter summaries a glossary of legal terminology essay questions with answer plans. The series covers all the core subjects required by the Bar Council and the Law Society for entry onto professional qualifications as well as popular option units. The website www.unlockingthelaw.co.uk provides free resources such as multiple choice questions and updates to the law.

More than merely describing the evolution of human rights and civil liberties law, this classic textbook provides students with detailed and thought-provoking coverage of the most crucial developments in the field, clearly explaining the law in context and practice. Updated throughout for this new edition, Fenwick on Civil Liberties and Human Rights considers a number of recent major changes in the law – in particular proposals to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights, and the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 – whilst also contextualising the impact of reforms on hate speech and contempt due to advances in new media. Comprehensive and authoritative, this textbook offers an essential resource for students on human rights or civil liberties courses, as well as a useful reference for students and scholars of UK Public Law.

Both New Zealand and the United Kingdom challenge assumptions about how a bill of rights functions. Their parliamentary bills of rights constrain judicial review and also look to parliament to play a rights-protecting role. This arises from the requirement to inform parliament if legislative bills are not compatible with rights. But are these bills of rights operating in this proactive manner? Are governments encountering significantly stronger pressures to ensure legislation complies with rights? Are these bills of rights resulting in more reasoned deliberations in parliament about the justification of legislation from a rights perspective? Through extensive interviews with public officials and analysis of parliamentary debates where questions of compliance with rights arise (prisoner voting, parole and sentencing policy, counter-terrorism legislation, and same-sex marriage), this book argues that a serious gap exists between the promise of these bills of rights and the institutional variables that influence how these parliaments function.

Clear disparities exist between notions of representative democracy and political practice in Britain. Alternative models of democracy, however, have their own incongruities in trying to marry representation and democracy. This book analyses the mismatches in democratic theories and between theory and practice in British representative democracy.

Explores the relationship between the legitimacy, the efficacy, and the decision-making of national and transnational constitutional courts.

This highly-respected textbook is regularly updated to provide complete coverage of the Public Law syllabus and is accompanied by a range of interactive resources designed to support teaching and learning. Mapped to the common course outline, it equips students with an understanding of the constitution’s past, present and future by analysing and illustrating the political and socio-historical contexts which have shaped the major rules and principles of public law, as well as on-going constitutional reform. The new 10th edition has been revised and updated to reflect recent developments in the law including the Defamation Act 2013, Crime and Courts Act 2013 and the Justice and Security Act 2013 and has been enhanced to meet the needs of students and lecturers working in today’s digital world. In addition to the printed textbook users receive access to an enhanced electronic version. The interactive eTextbook brings the benefits of digital to the text – searching, online, offline and mobile access, interactive exercises and note-sharing are just some of the newly integrated features. Key features of the interactive electronic textbook One-click access to the cases on LexisNexis and the statutes on the government’s legislation archive with almost 1,000 embedded hyperlinks in the text The most-up-date book available with author updates twice a year to key developments in Public law End of chapter interactive exercises which enable students to assess their understanding and progress and diagnose areas of weakness An Interactive timeline that provides instant access to essential context on how the constitution has developed historically and politically to the present day A comprehensive bank of essay questions with outline answers to help students prepare for assessments The ability to make notes and highlight key sections of the text and to share your notes with the class Instructor Resources A companion website will help instructors integrate the textbook with their teaching and includes links to further reading for students: Access to articles on constitutional and administrative law from The Student Law Review All of the diagrams from the text, ready to be integrated with your teaching Chapter-by-chapter customisable PowerPoint slides which can be used in seminars or lectures A bank of multiple choice questions which can be customised and adapted for formative assessment Weblinks curated by the author in a read-to-click format Please register to gain access to the Instructor’s eResource on www.RoutledgeInteractive.com Further information about the interactive electronic textbook Author Updates twice a year As the law changes, so does the interactive eTextbook. Updates will go live in the Interactive eTextbook and can be downloaded from the Instructor eResource. Hyperlinked citations embedded in the text Students will have one-click access to the full text of cases on LexisNexis® and to statutes on the government’s legislation archive End of chapter assessments and quizzes Hundreds of interactive multiple-choice exercises to encourage students to test their understanding of the key concepts Anytime, anywhere access Made possible by a partnership between Routledge and VitalSource®, your interactive eTextbook is accessible via VitalSource’s Bookshelf - the most used eTextbook platform in the world. Bookshelf makes digital reading possible online, offline as a download or on mobile devices in native apps as well as browsers. Please see the help section if you encounter any difficulties in pairing devices or accessing your eTextbook on your preferred device. Notes It’s easy to add notes and save them in the cloud, these can be synchronised across devices. Online help is built into Bookshelf®. Notes can be used privately or to share comments on the text with a group. This means comments and notes from lectures or seminars can move from instructor to student, student to instructor and student to student.

The Optimize series is designed to show you how to apply your knowledge in assessment. These concise revision guides cover the most commonly taught topics, and provide you with the tools to: Understand the law and remember the details using diagrams and tables throughout to demonstrate how the law fits together Contextualise your knowledge identifying and explaining how to apply legal principles for important cases providing cross-references and further reading to help you aim higher in essays and exams Avoid common misunderstandings and errors identifying common pitfalls students encounter in class and in assessment Reflect critically on the law identifying contentious areas that are up for debate and on which you will need to form an opinion Apply what you have learned in assessment presenting learning objectives that reflect typical assessment criteria providing sample essay and exam questions, supported by end-of chapter feedback The series is also supported by comprehensive online resources that allow you to track your progress during the run-up to exams.