The UK should not comply with the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that prisoners should be allowed to vote in general and local elections. European member states are bound to respect human rights, and the ECHR is the organisation that defines those rights. However, although freedom and democracy are human rights, voting is not. It is a constitutional right, because it is conferred by nations that practise democracy. It is a fundamental aspect of the relationship between individuals and the state. Obedience to the law is also an aspect of this relationship. Thus it is entirely proper that the state should be free to decide that those who are imprisoned because they have broken the law should temporarily be deprived of their right to vote.