[JURIST] The High Court of Australia [official website] on Thursday struck down [press release, PDF] an amendment to Australia's Commonwealth Electoral Act passed in 2006 that took voting rights away from all prisoners regardless of the length of their sentence, finding that the amendments stripped prisoners of a constitutional right in an arbitrary manner. The court found that the 2006 amendment violated Sections 7 and 24 of the Commonwealth Constitution [text], which establish the correct procedure for enacting legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives. According to the court's press release, the High Court did not find it necessary to consider substantive arguments raised by the petitioner, who had argued at trial that the 2006 amendment violates the freedom of political communication implied by the constitution. The court upheld the version of the Commonwealth Electoral Act that was in place prior to the 2006 amendment, so prisoners who are serving sentences of longer than three years are still prevented from voting.

The petitioner, who was convicted of negligent driving and sentenced to five years in prison, was ordered to pay half of the case costs, as she is still prevented by law from voting. Australia's Herald Sun has more.