Having examined relevant Commission jurisprudence (no. 6564/74, Commission decision of 21 May 1975, Decisions and Reports (DR) 2, p. 105; no. 8166/78, Commission decision of 3 October 1978, DR 13, p. 241; Hamer v. the United Kingdom, no. 7114/75, Commission's report of 13 December 1979, DR 24, p. 5; Draper v. the United Kingdom, no. 8186/78, Commission's report of 10 July 1980, DR 24, p. 72; and E.L.H. and P.B.H. v. the United Kingdom, nos.

For example, prisoners may not be ill-treated, subjected to inhuman or degrading punishment or conditions contrary to Article 3 of the Convention (see, among many authorities, Kalashnikov v. Russia, no. 47095/99, ECHR 2002-VI; Van der Ven v. the Netherlands, no. 50901/99, ECHR 2003-II); they continue to enjoy the right to respect for family life (Ploski v. Poland, no. 26761/95, judgment of 12 November 2002; X. v. the United Kingdom, no. 9054/80, Commission decision of 8 October 1982, DR 30, p. 113), the right to freedom of expression (Yankov v. Bulgaria, no. 39084/97, §§ 126-145, ECHR 2003-XII, T. v. the United Kingdom, no. 8231/78, Commission report of 12 October 1983, DR 49, p. 5, §§ 44-84), the right to practise their religion (Poltoratskiy v. Ukraine, no. 38812/97, §§ 167-171, ECHR 2003-V), the right of effective access to a lawyer or to court for the purposes of Article 6 (Campbell and Fell v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 28 June 1984, Series A, no. 80; Golder v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 21 February 1975, Series A, no. 18), the right to respect for correspondence (Silver and Others v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 25 March 1983, Series A no. 61) and the right to marry (Hamer v. the United Kingdom, no. 7114/75, Commission report of 13 December 1979, DR 24, p. 5; Draper v. the United Kingdom, no. 8186/78, Commission report of 10 July 1980, DR 24, p. 72).

For example, prisoners may not be ill-treated, subjected to inhuman or degrading punishment or conditions contrary to Article 3 of the Convention (see, among many authorities, Kalashnikov v. Russia, no. 47095/99, ECHR 2002-VI, and Van der Ven v. the Netherlands, no. 50901/99, ECHR 2003-II); they continue to enjoy the right to respect for family life (Ploski v. Poland, no. 26761/95, 12 November 2002, and X v. the United Kingdom, no. 9054/80, Commission decision of 8 October 1982, DR 30, p. 113); the right to freedom of expression (Yankov v. Bulgaria, no. 39084/97, §§ 126-45, ECHR 2003-XII, and T. v. the United Kingdom, no. 8231/78, Commission's report of 12 October 1983, DR 49, p. 5, §§ 44-84); the right to practise their religion (Poltoratskiy v. Ukraine, no. 38812/97, §§ 167-71, ECHR 2003-V); the right of effective access to a lawyer or to a court for the purposes of Article 6 (Campbell and Fell v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 28 June 1984, Series A no. 80, and Golder v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 21 February 1975, Series A no. 18); the right to respect for correspondence (Silver and Others v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 25 March 1983, Series A no. 61); and the right to marry (Hamer v. the United Kingdom, no. 7114/75, Commission's report of 13 December 1979, DR 24, p. 5, and Draper v. the United Kingdom, no. 8186/78, Commission's report of 10 July 1980, DR 24, p. 72).

The mere fact of imprisonment has not been found sufficient to justify the imposition of blanket restrictions on the right of a prisoner to correspond (Silver and Others v. the United Kingdom, judgment of 25 March 1983, Series A, no. 61), to have effective access to a lawyer or to court (Campbell and Fell v. the United Kingdom, 28 June 1984, Series A, no. 80; Golder v. the United Kingdom, 21 February 1975, Series A, no. 18), to have access to his family (X. v. the United Kingdom, no. 9054/80, Commission decision of 8 October 1982, DR 30, p. 113), to practise his religion (Poltoratskiy v. Ukraine, no. 38812/97, ECHR 2003-..., §§ 167-171), to exercise freedom of expression (T. v. the United Kingdom, no. 8231/78, Commission report, 12 October 1983, DR 49, p. 5, §§ 44-84) or to marry (Hamer v. the United Kingdom, no. 7114/75, Commission report, 13 December 1979, DR 24, p. 5; Draper v. the United Kingdom, no. 8186/78, Commission report, 10 July 1980, DR 24, p. 72).

In practice the ECHR had been firm in upholding the right to marry, finding in favour of applicants denied the exercise of that right because they were serving prisoners (Hamer v. the United Kingdom, no. 7114/75, Commission decision of 13 December 1979, Decisions and Reports 24, p. 62), because of a mandatory delay imposed before entering into a fourth marriage (F. v. Switzerland, 18 December 1987, Series A no. 128), or because one applicant was the father-in-law of the other and they could only exercise their right to marry if they obtained a private Act of Parliament (B. and L. v. the United Kingdom, no. 36536/02, 13 September 2005).

The applicants refer in this respect to the cases of Hamer (No. 7114/75, Comm. Report 13.12.79, D.R. 24, p. 5) and Draper (No. 8186/78, Comm. Report 10.7.80, D.R. 24, p. 72).