High Court Says Prisoners Have Right to Vote

So every once in a while I feel the legaleagle in me trying to get out and I begin wondering what is happening on the legal landscape in Oz - that's what 10 years at law skool does to you. (The best way to keep in touch is Radio National's Law Report www.abc.net.au/rn/lawreport) Since I haven't paid back any of my HECS yet, in an attempt to share some of the knowledge that I gained courtesy of the public purse, I thought I might share some legaleagle things with one and all.

It is not every day that you read about the High Court of Australia upholding fundamental rights - like the right to vote. So it was with some glee that I read about the HCA decision in August last year.

As a little background, in 2006 the Howard Government passed legislation which prevented all the perps in the slammer from voting. That meant that around 25,000 people who were serving sentences less than two years would lose the right to vote.
A female prisoner in Victoria challenged the law as unconstitutional, in that it denied the provision of the Constitution which required the parliament to be elected directly by the people.
Interestingly, the High Court agreed with the argument, and for the first time in a long time upheld what is an implied right. (All the more striking considering the pretty much the whole Court has been appointed by Honest John) The High Court however upheld the prohibition on prisoners serving more than 3 years.
George Williams, one of those Contsitutional Law professor-know-it-alls described the decision as land mark, “Never in our history have we had a vindication of our right to vote. This is the first someone has actually won the right to vote in the High Court’’

Could this be a sign of a High Court willing to use a more creative interpretation of the Constitution - returning to the high water years of the Mason High Court in the 80's and 90's or was the Court just as pissed at Howard as the rest of the country and wanted to have its say too.

Interesting the QC who ran the case was no other than Ron Merkel, a former Federal Court judge who handed down the Rubibi Native Title Determination that I had the privilege of attending in Broome back in 2006.

The sad part of this story is that the applicant was an Aboriginal, who FYI are incarcerated at 13 times the rate of non-Aboriginals in Oz. First an apology then a bit of action.