The infringement of prisoners' right to vote : an analysis of intentions and general principles in due consideration of recent judgements

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dc.contributor.advisorDe Vos, Pierreen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSeitz, Florianen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-04-02T14:17:17Z
dc.date.available2015-04-02T14:17:17Z
dc.date.issued2012en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe right to vote is the most important and often even the only possibility of citizens to participate in a democracy’s governance. Generally accepted democratic principles like the electoral equality and the objective to include all citizens who have acquired their full age and are of sound mind in the decision-making process demand that disenfranchisement may - if at all - only occur in very exceptional cases. However, laws infringing prisoners’ right to vote are widespread and differ greatly among established democracies: While some states do not impose any restrictions on the right of prisoners to vote, others (like many states in the USA) exclude most or all of their detainees from taking part in elections, sometimes even after their release.1 Even though this phenomenon pertains to core issues of democratic principles as well as central human rights aspects, it has not been subject to noteworthy public debate for a long time. Due to several decisions of national constitutional courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) within the last decade, felony disenfranchisement has gained more attention among legal academics. Still, most of this literature is limited to the specific arguments which have been brought forward in the particular court procedures. From my point of view, a holistic analysis which seeks to give a general recommendation whether or not to grant prisoners the right to vote – and if so, what restrictions may still be feasible – must not only focus on a national context, but has to consider legal philosophic and political issues, too. The long grinding debate which is going on in the British Parliament about the amendments demanded by Strasbourg’s European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) emphasises the practical necessity of such a study.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationSeitz, F. (2012). <i>The infringement of prisoners' right to vote : an analysis of intentions and general principles in due consideration of recent judgements</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Law ,Department of Public Law. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12663en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationSeitz, Florian. <i>"The infringement of prisoners' right to vote : an analysis of intentions and general principles in due consideration of recent judgements."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Law ,Department of Public Law, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12663en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSeitz, F. 2012. The infringement of prisoners' right to vote : an analysis of intentions and general principles in due consideration of recent judgements. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Seitz, Florian AB - The right to vote is the most important and often even the only possibility of citizens to participate in a democracy’s governance. Generally accepted democratic principles like the electoral equality and the objective to include all citizens who have acquired their full age and are of sound mind in the decision-making process demand that disenfranchisement may - if at all - only occur in very exceptional cases. However, laws infringing prisoners’ right to vote are widespread and differ greatly among established democracies: While some states do not impose any restrictions on the right of prisoners to vote, others (like many states in the USA) exclude most or all of their detainees from taking part in elections, sometimes even after their release.1 Even though this phenomenon pertains to core issues of democratic principles as well as central human rights aspects, it has not been subject to noteworthy public debate for a long time. Due to several decisions of national constitutional courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) within the last decade, felony disenfranchisement has gained more attention among legal academics. Still, most of this literature is limited to the specific arguments which have been brought forward in the particular court procedures. From my point of view, a holistic analysis which seeks to give a general recommendation whether or not to grant prisoners the right to vote – and if so, what restrictions may still be feasible – must not only focus on a national context, but has to consider legal philosophic and political issues, too. The long grinding debate which is going on in the British Parliament about the amendments demanded by Strasbourg’s European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) emphasises the practical necessity of such a study. DA - 2012 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2012 T1 - The infringement of prisoners' right to vote : an analysis of intentions and general principles in due consideration of recent judgements TI - The infringement of prisoners' right to vote : an analysis of intentions and general principles in due consideration of recent judgements UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12663 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/12663
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationSeitz F. The infringement of prisoners' right to vote : an analysis of intentions and general principles in due consideration of recent judgements. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Law ,Department of Public Law, 2012 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12663en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Lawen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Lawen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPublic Lawen_ZA
dc.titleThe infringement of prisoners' right to vote : an analysis of intentions and general principles in due consideration of recent judgementsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameLLMen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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