British retiree in France to take Brexit case to human rights court

A British retiree and her French lawyers plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after EU judges rejected their latest bid to improve Britons’ post-Brexit rights.

The European court in Luxem­bourg said it was normal that Alice Bouilliez has lost her EU election voting rights, restating its previous view that Britons lost EU citizenship rights as they are no longer citizens of an EU state.

Lawyer Julien Fouchet said the ECHR appeal could take several years but “we’ll continue to the end”. 

They are also considering a new case in France about the fact that Mrs Bouilliez will specifically not be able to vote in the European elections next month.

Read more: Fight goes on, says lawyer as court rejects case on Britons’ EU rights

Read more: EU court to rule on Briton's right to vote in EU elections

Court rejects Gibraltar as precedent 

He said the fact that non-EU citizens in Gibraltar had been able to vote in EU elections had raised his hopes. 

The court rejected this, saying it concerned the right of an EU state to grant non-EU citizens the vote, rather than the right for non-EU citizens to demand such a vote. 

Mrs Bouilliez said: “Our lawyers are amazing, doing it totally pro bono. 

“They really believe in it on behalf of us Brits, just to get rather negative reactions from the powers-that-be. 

“It may be, however, that as one door closes, it opens another door with the ECHR.”