A European court ruled Britain's blanket ban on prisoners voting unlawful

In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Hirst v UK that automatically barring every convicted prisoner from voting breached the right to free elections. It did not say all prisoners must vote. After years of deadlock, a 2017 UK change let about a hundred prisoners on temporary licence vote, which the Council of Europe accepted. Scotland went further in 2020 for prisoners serving 12 months or less.

— European Court of Human Rights, Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2) — Grand Chamber, 6 October 2005