Secretary of State's oral statement on sentencing

On the 2nd November 2017 the Rt Hon David Lidington MP, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, delivered an Oral Statement to the House of Commons on sentencing and the Government’s response to the Hirst judgment.

In summary the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice stated:

• It will be made clear to criminals when they are sentenced that while they are in prison they will lose the right to vote. This directly addresses a specific concern of the Hirst judgment that there was not sufficient clarity in confirming to offenders that they cannot vote in prison.
• Amendments will made to guidance to address an anomaly in the current system, where offenders who are released back in the community on licence using an electronic tag under the Home Detention Curfew scheme can vote, but those who are in the community on Temporary Licence, cannot.

Read the ful press release here .