issued by the Registrar of the Court ECHR 213 (2012) 15.05.

2012

Forthcoming Grand Chamber Judgment in the case of Scoppola v. Italy (n 3) concerning a prisoners right to vote
The European Court of Human Rights will be delivering a Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Scoppola v. Italy (n 3) (application no. 126/05), at a public hearing on 22 May 2012 at 4 p.m. local time in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg. The case concerns the applicants disenfranchisement following his criminal conviction. Press releases and the text of the judgment will be available after the hearing on the Courts Internet site (www.echr.coe.int)

Principal facts
The applicant, Franco Scoppola, is an Italian national who was born in 1940 and lives in Parma (Italy). In 1999, following a violent family argument, he killed his wife and wounded one of his sons. In 2002 the Assize Court sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder, attempted murder, ill-treatment of members of his family and unauthorised possession of a firearm. Under the Italian Criminal Code his life sentence entailed a lifetime ban from public office, which in turn meant the permanent forfeiture of his right to vote. Appeals by the applicant against the ban were unsuccessful. The Court of Cassation dismissed an appeal on points of law in 2006, pointing out that only prison sentences of at least five years or life sentences entailed permanent disenfranchisement. Following a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 17 September 2009 in another case brought by Mr Scoppola (Scoppola v. Italy (no. 2)), in which the Court held that there had been a violation of Articles 6 (right to a fair trial) and 7 (no punishment without law) of the Convention, the Court of Cassation commuted his life sentence to 30 years imprisonment.

Complaint and procedure

Relying on Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to free elections) to the Convention, the applicant complains that he was deprived of the right to vote as a result of being banned from public office for life following his criminal conviction. The complaint was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 16 December 2004. In its Chamber judgment of 18 January 2011 the Court found a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 because of the automatic and indiscriminate nature of the measure depriving Mr Scoppola of the right to vote. On June 2011 the panel of the Grand Chamber accepted the Italian Governments request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber under Article 43 of the Convention.1 A hearing was held in the Human Rights building in Strasbourg on 2 November 2011.
1

Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the 17-member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its Protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties

The Court authorised the Government of the United Kingdom, under Article 36 2 of the Convention, to submit comments as a third party.

This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions, judgments and further information about the Court can be found on www.echr.coe.int. To receive the Courts press releases, please subscribe to the Courts RSS feeds. Press contacts echrpress@echr.coe.int | tel: +33 3 90 21 42 08 Cline Menu-Lange (tel: + 33 90 21 58 77) Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel: + 33 3 88 41 35 30) Kristina Pencheva-Malinowski (tel: + 33 3 88 41 35 70) Nina Salomon (tel: + 33 3 90 21 49 79) Denis Lambert (tel: + 33 3 90 21 41 09) The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.

declare that they do not intend to make a request to refer.