Date

28^th of February 2019

Type of Act

(name in English / in the official language)

Decision of the Constitutional Court, G319/2018 ua

Enacted by

Constitutional Court

Reference to the Constitution (art.)

Art 3 Protocol No 1 to the ECHR

Subject area

Electoral law

If the act implements a source of EU Law: cite the relevant EU legal source

Comment

In a decision on the exclusion from the right to vote, the Constitutional Court followed its case-law, according to which it already considers the older legal situation for convicted persons on the basis of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice to lie within the (wide) scope of discretion of the legislator in the case of restrictions of the right to vote.

The Constitutional Court sees no reason to depart from this ruling. The considerations made in this decision on the constitutional conformity of the automatic exclusion from the right to vote apply all the more to the newer provisions for convicted persons. These provide for the exclusion from the right to vote only in the case of an individual court decision, which is to be imposed as an ancillary penalty within the framework of the sentencing. Therefore the Court does not find a violation of Art. 3 of Protocol No 1 to the ECHR.

Secondary sources/ doctrinal works (if any)

Available Text

https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokument.wxe?Abfrage=Vfgh&Dokumentnummer=JFT_20190228_18G00319_00

Date of entry into force