Elections

The proceedings concerned whether the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Act 2013’s blanket disenfranchisement of convicted prisoners, in relation to the Scottish independence referendum, was ultra vires the Scottish Parliament. The Supreme Court held, inter alia, that the claimants’ claim under Art 3 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (A3P1) failed. The requirement in A3P1, that elections were held “at reasonable intervals”, suggested that the drafters had not had referendums in mind. The words in their ordinary meaning had not supported a wider view that it had been intended to cover any major political decision which was put to a popular vote, however important that decision might be.