European Court of Human Rights (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The EU’s priorities on this, and other matters, is as Dr Alf suggests is worrying.
Prisoners to my mind have a right to a strict and humane regime, sensible attempts to redeem themselves and become useful and productive members of society.
Beyond that they are entitled to be fed, given exercise periods, reading material, some limited visitation rights (people coming to them) and spiritual guidance, but nothing else.
This has to be done, even though some prisoners are hardened criminals incapable of the slightest remorse and in my book evil.
Beyond that, they have forfeited the right to vote because they are no longer contributing financially to society and represent a costly burden on everyone else, quite apart from the damage, injury and distress that they have caused their immediate victims.
These costs do not just include the costs of arrest, police time, incarceration, courts and probation officers, juries and witnesses.
They also include raised insurance premiums to cover theft and damage and the mental and emotional scars that their victims feel and often have to be treated for.
Patients in hospitals and doctors’ surgeries are already creating more demand than supply and prisoners by creating more demand cause others who are genuinely ill to be missed or misdiagnosed by doctors rushing to get through growing caseloads.
Those persons in the EU who make these judgements do not have to live with the consequences so this aspect of the Human Rights legislation has to be offset by the rights of everyone else who have been affected by the criminal activities of the prisoners before they were caught, tried and imprisoned and afterwards if the prisoner reoffends as many of them do.
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