Europe has given the UK 10 months to scrap a blanket ban on prisoner voting.
Draft changes to the law, which include the possibility of keeping the status quo, are not good enough, Europe's Human Rights watchdog has warned.
It insists the UK's ban on all prisoners voting is a breach of human rights. A draft Bill before Westminster, announced as a previous deadline for action expired, includes the option of keeping the rules unchanged.
Now the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, which monitors whether countries are implementing Human Rights Court judgments, has intervened. It said the UK's option "aimed at retaining the blanket restriction criticised by the European Court cannot be considered compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights". It warned it would look at the case again "at the latest" in September next year.
The Commons has previously voted overwhelmingly to maintain the ban. The Scottish Government is also opposed to prisoners voting
Council of Europe secretary- general Thorbjorn Jagland, in Norway awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU, said he felt the Human Rights judges had left the UK enough of a "margin of interpretation" to be able to choose how many prisoners will be allowed to vote. He said: "The UK has been a leader in human rights and I urge it to continue in this tradition."
The Ministry of Justice insisted last night MPs should have the final say.
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