A Whangarei lawyer has called on the Government to act upon a High Court ruling that declared a ban on prisoners' right to vote was a breach of their Bill of Rights.
The declaration alone by Justice Paul Heath does not mean Parliament must repeal the ban, the court noted. Even when it finds Parliament has placed unjustified limits on rights it still has to apply that law. Self-described 'prison lawyer' and criminal, Arthur Taylor, along with four women prisoners from Christchurch, sought a High Court declaration in 2013 that a ban on voting was a breach of the Bill of Rights' Act.
Whangarei lawyer Kelly Ellis said the Government had to realise prisoners were humans too.
Ms Ellis represented Taylor in one of his trials in Auckland many years ago.
"We need to realise there's only one kind of person and they're called humans and all human beings should have basic rights afforded to them under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," she said.