Human Rights A Justified Form Of Punishment - 944 Words

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to everybody in the world. Under Article 3 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights, everyone has the right to a free election (some qualifications are imposed on those who are eligible, such as under 18s). However, the right to a free election is absolute in the Human Rights Act, which means it cannot be restricted (Right to free elections, 2009). In the UK and abroad, there is a large proportion of prisoners who have not been given this human right. This essay will look at the disenfranchisement of prisoners as a justified form of punishment in accordance with the four main theories of punishment; rehabilitation, deterrence, retribution and incapacitation. It will also address both sides of the argument as to whether the ban on prisoners’ right to vote is an appropriate form of punishment. In the UK, a large proportion of convicted offenders are being denied the right to vote in local or national elections while they are incarcerated. There are few who qualify to vote, such as people in remand and people sentenced for non-payment of fines and contempt of court, but the numbers are still high as over 48,000 prisoners are being disenfranchised (Easton, 2010). The UK’s decision to implement this blanket ban, regardless of the prisoner’s crime and sentence, was deemed unlawful by the European Courts in 2004 when ex-prisoner John Hirst sued the British Government for denying his right to vote, he putShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Death Penalty:Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy1737 Words   |  7 Pagespenalty is morally justified because murderers can’t live and you have a right to kill them. 2) The premises and conclusions that the author of the letter outlines are as follows: Death Penalty serves as a deterrent. a. Criminals fear the death penalty. b. 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