Representation of the People Act 1983

• (4) The claimant or the candidate or his election agent may apply to the High Court or to the county court for leave to pay a claim for any election expenses, although sent in after that period of 21 days or although sent in to the candidate and not to the election agent, and the court on cause shown to their satisfaction may by order grant the leave.

In relation to an application in respect of expenses for a local government election in Scotland the reference in this subsection to the High Court shall be omitted.

• (5) Any sum specified in the order of leave may be paid by the candidate or his election agent and when paid in pursuance of the leave shall not be deemed to be in contravention of subsection (2) above.

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (7) Article 60 of the County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 (appeals from county courts) shall apply in relation to any order of a county court in Northern Ireland made by virtue of subsection (4) above as it applies in relation to any such decree of a county court as is mentioned in paragraph (1) of that Article.

Disputed claims

79

• (1) If the election agent disputes any claim sent in to him within the period of 21 days mentioned in section 78 above or refuses or fails to pay the claim within the period of 28 days so mentioned, the claim shall be deemed to be a disputed claim.

• (2) The claimant may, if he thinks fit, bring an action for a disputed claim in any competent court, and any sum paid by the candidate or his agent in pursuance of the judgment or order of the court shall nor be deemed to be in contravention of section 73(1) above or of section 78(2).

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) Subsections (4) to (7) of section 78 apply in relation to a disputed claim as they apply in relation to a claim for election expenses sent in after that period of 21 days.

Election agent's claim

80

So far as circumstances admit, this Act applies to an election agent’s claim for his remuneration and to its payment in like manner as if he were any other creditor, and if any difference arises about the amount of the claim, the claim shall be a disputed claim within the meaning of this Act and be dealt with accordingly.

Return as to election expenses

81

• (1) Within 35 days after the day on which the result of the election is declared, the election agent of every candidate at the election shall deliver to the appropriate officer a true return containing as respects that candidate—.

• (a) a statement of all election expenses incurred by or on behalf of the candidate; and

• (b) a statement of all payments made by the election agent together with all bills or receipts relating to the payments.

• (1A) Subsection (1) above—

• (a) in its application in relation to an election of the Mayor of London, shall have effect with the substitution for “35 days” of “70 days”; and

• (b) in its application in relation to the election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election, shall have effect with the substitution for “35 days after the day on which the result of the election is declared” of “70 days after the day on which the last of the successful candidates at the election is declared to be returned.”

• (2) A return under this section must—

• (a) specify the poll by virtue of which the return is required;

• (b) specify the name of the candidate to whom the return relates and of the candidate’s election agent; and

• (c) deal under a separate heading with any expenses in respect of which a return is required by virtue of section 75(2) or 75A(6) above.

• (3) The return shall also contain as respects that candidate—

• (a) a statement of all payments made—

• (i) by the candidate in accordance with section 74(1) or (1B) above, or

• (ii) by any other person in accordance with section 74(3) above,

together with all bills or receipts relating to any such payments made in accordance with section 74(1B) or 74(3);

• (b) a statement of all disputed claims of which the election agent is aware;

• (c) a statement of all the unpaid claims, if any, of which the election agent is aware, in respect of which application has been or is about to be made to the High Court or county court;

• (d) any declarations of value falling to be made by the candidate’s election agent by virtue of section 74A(2) above or 90C(2) below;

• (da) a declaration of the amount of expenses which are to be regarded as election expenses incurred by or on behalf of the candidate by virtue of section 90A(5)(b) below;

• (e) a statement of donations made to the candidate or his election agent which complies with the requirements of paragraphs 11 and 12 of Schedule 2A to this Act; and

• (f) a statement of the amount, if any, of money provided by the candidate from his own resources for the purpose of meeting election expenses incurred by him or on his behalf.

• (3A) The return shall also contain as respects that candidate—

• (a) a statement relating to such other expenses in connection with which provision is made by this Part as the Electoral Commission provide in regulations;

• (b) a statement relating to such claims (whether paid, unpaid or disputed) in connection with such election expenses or such other expenses mentioned in paragraph (a) as the Electoral Commission so provide;

• (c) a statement relating to such other matters as is prescribed.

• (3B) In the application of paragraph (c) of subsection (3A) in relation to a local government election in Scotland, any regulations under that paragraph are to be made by the Scottish Ministers and such regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) Where after the date at which the return as to election expenses is delivered, leave is given by the court under section 78(4) above for any claim to be paid, the candidate or his election agent shall, within seven days after its payment, deliver to the appropriate officer a return of the sums paid in pursuance of the leave, accompanied by a copy of the order of the court giving the leave, and in default he shall be deemed to have failed to comply with the requirements of this section without such authorised excuse as is mentioned in section 86 below.

• (6) Where a registered political party submits a list of two or more candidates to be London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election, the preceding provisions of this section shall have effect in relation to those candidates and their election agent with the following modifications.

• (7) The return which the election agent is required to deliver under subsection (1) above—

• (a) shall be in respect of all those candidates; . . .

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

• (8) If any payments made by the election agent were in respect of two or more candidates, the return shall deal under a separate heading or subsection with all such payments, and the expenses to which they relate, in respect of those candidates.

• (9) The statements which the return is required to contain by virtue of subsection (3A) above in respect of the matters there mentioned shall be a separate statement of each such matter as respects each of the candidates in question.

• (10) If and to the extent that any such matter is referable to two or more candidates together, the return shall contain a separate statement of that matter as respects those candidates.

• (10A) The Electoral Commission may, by regulations, prescribe a form of return which may be used for the purposes of making any (or any description of) return required by this section.

• (10B) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Declarations as to election expenses

82

• (1) The return delivered under section 81(1) above shall be accompanied by a declaration made by the election agent in the appropriate form.

• (2) At the same time that the election agent delivers that return, or within seven days afterwards, the candidate shall deliver to the appropriate officer a declaration made by him in the appropriate form.

• (2A) For the purposes of subsections (1) and (2) above, “the appropriate form”—

• (a) in the case of the election agent for the candidates on a list submitted under paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 to the 1999 Act (election of London members) by a registered political party, is the form set out for the purpose in rules under section 36(2A) above;

• (b) in the case of any of the candidates included in such a list, is the form set out for the purpose in those rules; and

• (c) in any other case, is the form in Schedule 3 to this Act.

• (3) Where the candidate is out of the United Kingdom when the return is so delivered—

• (a) the declaration required by subsection (2) above may be made by him within 14 days after his return to the United Kingdom, and

• (b) in that case, the declaration shall be forthwith delivered to the appropriate officer,

but the delay authorised by this provision in making the declaration shall not exonerate the election agent from complying with the provisions of this Act relating to the return and declaration as to election expenses.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) Where the candidate is his own election agent, the declaration by an election agent as to election expenses need not be made and the declaration by the candidate as to election expenses shall be modified as specified in the form in Schedule 3.

• (5A) Where one of the candidates included in a list submitted under paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 to the 1999 Act (election of London members) by a registered political party is the election agent for those candidates, the declarations required by subsections (1) and (2) above shall instead be modified as specified in the form set out in the rules under section 36(2A) above.

• (6) If a candidate or election agent knowingly makes the declaration required by this section falsely, he shall be guilty of a corrupt practice.

Where no return and declarations needed at parliamentary elections

83

Notwithstanding anything in sections 81 and 82 above, no return or declaration as to election expenses shall be required in the case of a person—

• (a) who is a candidate at a parliamentary election, but is so only because he has been declared by others to be a candidate; and

• (b) who has not consented to the declaration or taken any part as a candidate in the election.

Penalty for failure as respects return or declarations

84

Subject to the provisions of section 86 below, if a candidate or election agent fails to comply with the requirements of section 81 or section 82 above he shall be guilty of an illegal practice.

Penalty for sitting or voting where no return and declarations transmitted

85

• (1) If, in the case of any candidate, the return and declarations as to election expenses are not delivered before the expiry of the time limited for the purpose, that candidate shall not, after the expiry of that time, sit or vote in the House of Commons as member for the constituency for which the election was held until—

• (a) either that return and those declarations have been delivered, or

• (b) the date of the allowance of an authorised excuse for the failure to deliver that return and those declarations,

and if he sits or votes in contravention of this subsection he shall forfeit £100 for every day on which he so sits or votes.

• (2) In the application of subsection (1) above to a candidate at a local government election—

• (a) the reference to sitting or voting in the House of Commons for the constituency for which the election was held shall be taken as a reference to sitting or voting in the council for the local government area for which the election was held; and

• (b) £50 shall be substituted for £100 and, instead of civil proceedings for a penalty, summary proceedings may be instituted under the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, or, in Scotland, in the sheriff court, and the person charged shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding the amount of the penalty which would be recoverable in civil proceedings.

• (2A) As respects Authority elections—

• (a) subsections (1) and (2) above shall not apply in relation to a candidate in an election of the Mayor of London (for which separate provision is made by section 85A below);

• (b) in the case of any other Authority election, the reference in subsection (2)(a) above to the council for the local government area for which the election was held shall be taken as a reference to the London Assembly; and

• (c) in the case of a candidate included in a list submitted under paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 to the 1999 Act (election of London members) by a registered political party, the references in subsection (1) above to the returns and declarations in respect of election expenses shall be taken as references to the declaration as to election expenses by the candidate.

• (3) Civil proceedings for a penalty under this section shall be commenced within the period of one year beginning with the day in respect of which the penalty is alleged to have been incurred.

• (4) For the purposes of subsection (3) above—

• (a) where the service or execution of the legal processon or against the alleged offender is prevented by the absconding or concealment or act of the alleged offender, the issue of a legal process shall be deemed to be a commencement of a proceeding; but,

• (b) where paragraph (a) does not apply, the service or execution of the legal process on or against the alleged offender, and not its issue, shall be deemed to be the commencement of the proceeding.

• (5) Subsections (3) and (4) above do not apply in Scotland.

Authorised excuses for failures as to return and declarations

86

• (1) A candidate or his election agent may apply for relief under this section to—

• (a) the High Court, except in relation to a local government election in Scotland;

• (b) an election court; or

• (c) the county court.

• (1A) Where a person makes an application under this section he shall notify the Director of Public Prosecutions of the application and the Director or his assistant or any barrister, advocate, solicitor or authorised person duly appointed as the Director’s representative may attend the hearing of the application and make representations at the hearing in respect of it.

• (1B) In subsection (1A) “authorised person” means a person (other than a barrister or solicitor) who, for the purposes of the Legal Services Act 2007, is an authorised person in relation to an activity which constitutes the exercise of a right of audience (within the meaning of that Act).

• (2) Relief under this section may be granted—

• (a) to a candidate, in respect of any failure to deliver the return and declarations as to election expenses, or any part of them, or in respect of any error or false statement in them; or

• (b) to an election agent, in respect of the failure to deliver the return and declarations which he was required to deliver, or any part of them, or in respect of any error or false statement in them.

• (3) The application for relief may be made on the ground that the failure, error or false statement arose—

• (a) by reason of the applicant’s illness; or

• (b) where the applicant is the candidate, by reason of the absence, death, illness or misconduct of his election agent or sub-agent or of any clerk or officer of such agent; or

• (c) where the applicant is the election agent, by reason of the death or illness of any prior election agent of the candidate, or of the absence, death, illness or misconduct of any sub-agent, clerk or officer of any election agent of the candidate; or

• (d) by reason of inadvertence or any reasonable cause of a like nature,

and not by reason of any want of good faith on the applicant’s part.

• (4) The court may—

• (a) after such notice of the application in the constituency or local government area, as the case may be, as it considers fit, and

• (b) on production of such evidence of the grounds stated in the application and of the good faith of the application, and otherwise, as it considers fit,

make such order for allowing an authorised excuse for the failure, error or false statement as it considers just.

• (5) Where it is proved to the court by the candidate—

• (a) that any act or omission of the election agent in relation to the return and declarations was without the sanction or connivance of the candidate, and

• (b) that the candidate took all reasonable means for preventing the act or omission,

the court shall relieve the candidate from the consequences of the act or omission of his election agent.

• (6) An order under subsection (4) above may make the allowance conditional on the making of the return and declaration in a modified form or within an extended time, and upon the compliance with such other terms as to the court seem best calculated for carrying into effect the objects of this Part of this Act.

• (7) An order under subsection (4) shall relieve the applicant for the order from any liability or consequences under this Act in respect of the matter excused by the order.

• (8) The date of the order, or if conditions and terms are to be complied with, the date at which the applicant fully complies with them, is referred to in this Act as the date of the allowance of the excuse.

• (9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (10) Article 60 of the County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 (appeals from county courts) shall apply in relation to any order of a county court in Northern Ireland made by virtue of this section as it applies in relation to any such decree of a county court as is mentioned in paragraph (1) of that Article.

Court's power to require information from election agent or sub-agent

87

• (1) Where on an application under section 86 above it appears to the court that any person who is or has been an election agent or sub-agent has refused or failed to make such return, or to supply such particulars, as will enable the candidate and his election agent respectively to comply with the provisions of this Act as to the return or declarations as to election expenses, the court, before making an order under that section, shall order that person to attend before the court.

• (2) The court shall on the attendance of that person, unless he shows cause to the contrary, order him—

• (a) to make the return and declaration, or

• (b) to deliver a statement of the particulars required to be contained in the return,

as the court considers just, within such time, to such person and in such manner as it may direct, or may order him to be examined with respect to the particulars.

• (3) If a person fails to comply with any order of the court under this section, the court may order him to pay a fine not exceeding the amount of the maximum fine to which he would be liable if at the time the order is made he were convicted of a summary offence on conviction of which he was liable to a fine of level 5 on the standard scale.

Publication of time and place for inspection of returns and declarations

88

—At a parliamentary election or an Authority election—

• (a) the returning officer shall, within 10 days after the end of the time allowed for delivering to him returns as to election expenses, publish in not less than two newspapers circulating in the constituency or electoral area for which the election was held, and shall send to each of the election agents, a notice of the time and place at which the returns and declarations (including the accompanying documents) can be inspected; but

• (b) if any return or declaration has not been received by the returning officer before the notice is dispatched for publication, the notice shall so state, and a like notice about that return or declaration, if afterwards received, shall within 10 days after the receipt be published in like manner and sent to each of the election agents other than the agent who is in default or is agent for the candidate in default.

Inspection of returns and declarations

89

• (1) Where the appropriate officer receives any return or declaration under section 75, 75A, 81 or 82 above he shall—

• (a) as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving the return or declaration make a copy of it, and any accompanying documents, available for public inspection at his office, or some other convenient place chosen by him, for a period of two years beginning with the date when the return is received by him;

• (b) if requested to do so by any person, and on payment of the prescribed fee, supply that person with a copy of the return or declaration and any accompanying documents.

• (1A) If any such return contains a statement of donations in accordance with paragraph 10 of Schedule 2A to this Act above, the appropriate officer shall secure that the copy of the statement made available for public inspection under subsection (1)(a) above or (as the case may be) supplied under subsection (1)(b) above does not include, in the case of any donation by an individual, the donor’s address.

• (2) After the expiry of those two years the appropriate officer—

• (a) may cause those returns and declarations (including the accompanying documents) to be destroyed, or

• (b) if the candidate or his election agent so require, shall return them to the candidate.

• (3) Any returns or declarations delivered under section 75 or 75A shall be returned not to the candidate (if he or his election agent so require) but to the person delivering them, if he so requires.

Election expenses at elections where election agent not required

90

• (1) In relation to an election of parish councillors in England or of community councillors in Wales—

• (a) section 76(1B) above and sections 90ZA(4) and 90C below have effect as if for the references to an election agent there were substituted references to any agent of the candidate;

• (b) sections 71A to 75 and 78 to 89 above, and Schedule 2A to this Act, do not apply, and instead the provisions of Schedule 4 to this Act have effect but the form of declaration as to election expenses shall be that prescribed by rules under section 36 or section 36A above relating to the election of parish or, as the case may be, community councillors, or a form to the like effect.

• (c) section 76A(2) has effect as if it referred, in substitution for the provisions set out in paragraphs (a) to (c) of that subsection, to paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to this Act.

• (2) At an election under the local government Act which is not a local government election, sections 71A to 89 do not apply, and if a candidate at that election or any person on behalf of a candidate at that election knowingly pays any sum or incurs any expense, whether before, during or after that election, on account of or in respect of the conduct or management of the election he shall be guilty of an illegal practice.

Publicity at parliamentary elections

Candidate's right to send election address post free

91

• (1) A candidate at a parliamentary election is, subject to such reasonable terms and conditions as the universal postal service provider concerned may specify, entitled to send free of any charge for postage which would otherwise be made by a universal postal service provider either—

• (a) one unaddressed postal communication, containing matter relating to the election only and not exceeding 60 grammes in weight, to each place in the constituency which, in accordance with those terms and conditions, constitutes a delivery point for the purposes of this subsection; or

• (b) one such postal communication addressed to each elector.

• (2) He is also, subject as mentioned above, entitled to send free of any such charge for postage as mentioned above to each person entered in the list of proxies for the election one such communication as mentioned above for each appointment in respect of which that person is so entered.

• (2A) The candidate may require the returning officer to make arrangements with the universal postal service provider for communications under subsection (1)(b) to be sent to persons who have anonymous entries in the register.

• (2B) Arrangements under subsection (2A) shall be such as to ensure that it is not disclosed to any other person that the addressee of such a communication has an anonymous entry.

• (3) A person shall not be deemed to be a candidate for the purposes of this section unless he is shown as standing nominated in the statement of persons nominated, but until the publication of that statement any person who declares himself to be a candidate shall be entitled to exercise the right of free postage conferred by this section if he gives such security as may be required by the universal postal service provider concerned for the payment of postage should he not be shown as standing nominated as mentioned above.

• (4) For the purposes of this section “elector”—

• (a) means a person who is registered in the register of parliamentary electors for the constituency on the last day for publication of notice of the election; and

• (b) includes a person then shown in that register (or, in the case of a person who has an anonymous entry in the register, in the record of anonymous entries) as below voting age if (but only if) it appears from the register (or from the record) that he will be of voting age on the day fixed for the poll.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Broadcasting from outside United Kingdom

92

• (1) No person shall, with intent to influence persons to give or refrain from giving their votes at a parliamentary or local government election, include, or aid, abet, counsel or procure the inclusion of, any matter relating to the election in any programme service (within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act 1990) provided from a place outside the United Kingdom otherwise than in pursuance of arrangements made with:—

• (a) the British Broadcasting Corporation;

• (b) Sianel Pedwar Cymru; or

• (c) the holder of any licence granted by the Office of Communications,

for the reception and re-transmission of that matter by that body or the holder of that licence or in pursuance of arrangements made with—

• (i) the Independent Television Commission or the Radio Authority, or

• (ii) any programme contractor whose contract continues in force by virtue of Part II or IV of Schedule 11 to the Broadcasting Act 1990,

for the matter to be received by that body or contractor and re-transmitted by that body in the provision of any broadcasting service in accordance with the said Schedule 11.

• (2) An offence under this section shall be an illegal practice, but the court before whom a person is convicted of an offence under this section may, if they think it just in the special circumstances of the case, mitigate or entirely remit any incapacity imposed by virtue of section 173 below.

• (3) Where any act or omission of an association or body of persons, corporate or unincorporate, is an illegal practice under this section, any person who at the time of the act or omission was a director, general manager, secretary or other similar officer of the association or body, or was purporting to act in any such capacity, shall be deemed to be guilty of the illegal practice, unless he proves—

• (a) that the act or omission took place without his consent or connivance; and

• (b) that he exercised all such diligence to prevent the commission of the illegal practice as he ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.

Broadcasting during elections

93

• (1) Each broadcasting authority shall adopt a code of practice with respect to the participation of candidates at a parliamentary or local government election in items about the constituency or electoral area in question which are included in relevant services during the election period.

• (2) The code for the time being adopted by a broadcasting authority under this section shall be either—

• (a) a code drawn up by that authority, whether on their own or jointly with one or more other broadcasting authorities, or

• (b) a code drawn up by one or more other such authorities;

and a broadcasting authority shall from time to time consider whether the code for the time being so adopted by them should be replaced by a further code falling within paragraph (a) or (b).

• (3) Before drawing up a code under this section a broadcasting authority shall have regard to any views expressed by the Electoral Commission for the purposes of this subsection; and any such code may make different provision for different cases.

• (4) The Office of Communications shall do all that they can to secure that the code for the time being adopted by them under this section is observed in the provision of relevant services; and the British Broadcasting Corporation and Sianel Pedwar Cymru shall each observe in the provision of relevant services the code so adopted by them.

• (5) For the purposes of subsection (1) “the election period”, in relation to an election, means the period beginning—

• (a) (if a parliamentary general election) with the date of the dissolution of Parliament ... ,

• (b) (if a parliamentary by-election) with the date of the issue of the writ for the election or any earlier date on which a certificate of the vacancy is notified in the London Gazette in accordance with the Recess Elections Act 1975, or

• (c) (if a local government election) with the last date for publication of notice of the election,

and ending with the close of the poll.

• (6) In this section—

• “broadcasting authority” means the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Office of Communications or Sianel Pedwar Cymru;

• “candidate”, in relation to an election, means a candidate standing nominated at the election or included in a list of candidates submitted in connection with it;

• “relevant services”—in relation to the British Broadcasting Corporation or Sianel Pedwar Cymru, means services broadcast by that body;in relation to the Office of Communications, means services licensed under Part 1 or 3 of the Broadcasting Act 1990 or Part 1 or 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996 or services that are Tier 1 services within the meaning given by section 368HA of the Communications Act 2003.

Imitation poll cards

94

No person shall for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of any candidate at a parliamentary election or a local government election to which this section applies issue any poll card or document so closely resembling an official poll card as to be calculated to deceive, and subsections (2) and (3) of section 92 above apply as if an offence under this section were an offence under that section.

• (2) This section applies to any local government election in relation to which rules made under section 36 or section 36A or, in Scotland, section 42 above require an official poll card to be sent to electors in a form prescribed by the rules.

Election meetings

Schools and rooms for parliamentary election meetings

95

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a candidate at a parliamentary election is entitled for the purpose of holding public meetings in furtherance of his candidature to the use free of charge of reasonable times between the receipt of the writ and the day preceding the date of the poll of—

• (a) a suitable room in the premises of a school to which this section applies;

• (b) any meeting room to which this section applies.

• (1A) For the purposes of subsection (1), the writ is to be taken to have been received—

• (a) in the case of a general election, on the day after the date of the dissolution of Parliament, and

• (b) in the case of a by-election, on the day after the date of the warrant for the writ.

• (2) This section applies—

• (a) in England and Wales, to community, foundation and voluntary schools of which the premises are situated in the constituency or an adjoining constituency, and

• (b) in Scotland, to any school of which the premises are so situated, not being an independent school within the meaning of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.

but a candidate is not entitled under this section to the use of a room in school premises outside the constituency if there is a suitable room in other premises in the constituency which are reasonably accessible from the same parts of the constituency as those outside and are premises of a school to which this section applies.

• (3) This section applies to meeting rooms situated in the constituency, the expense of maintaining which is payable wholly or mainly out of public funds or out of any rate, or by a body whose expenses are so payable.

• (4) Where a room is used for a meeting in pursuance of the rights conferred by this section, the person by whom or on whose behalf the meeting is convened—

• (a) shall defray any expenses incurred in preparing, warming, lighting and cleaning the room and providing attendance for the meeting and restoring the room to its usual condition after the meeting; and

• (b) shall defray any damage done to the room or the premises in which it is situated, or to the furniture, fittings or apparatus in the room or premises.

• (5) A candidate is not entitled to exercise the rights conferred by this section except on reasonable notice; and this section does not authorise any interference with the hours during which a room in school premises is used for educational purposes, or any interference with the use of a meeting room either for the purposes of the person maintaining it or under a prior agreement for its letting for any purpose.

• (6) The provisions of Schedule 5 to this Act have effect with respect to the rights conferred by this section and the arrangements to be made for their exercise.

• (7) For the purposes of this section (except those of paragraph (b) of subsection (4) above), the premises of a school shall not be taken to include any private dwelling . . ., and in this section—

• (a) the expression “meeting room” means any room which it is the practice to let for public meetings; and

• (b) the expression “room” includes a hall, gallery or gymnasium.

• (8) This section does not apply to Northern Ireland.

Schools and rooms for local election meetings

96

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a candidate at a local government election is entitled for the purpose of holding public meetings to promote or procure the giving of votes at that election—

• (i) for himself, or

• (ii) if he is a candidate included in a list of candidates submitted by a registered political party at an election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election, towards the return of candidates on that list,

to the use free of charge at reasonable times between the last day on which notice of the election may be published in accordance with rules made under section 36 or section 36A or, in Scotland, section 42 above and the day preceding the day of election of—

• (a) a suitable room in the premises of a school to which this section applies; or

• (b) a meeting room to which this section applies.

• (2) This section applies—

• (a) in England and Wales, to a community, foundation or voluntary school situated in the electoral area for which the candidate is standing (or, if there is no such school in the area, in any such school in an adjacent electoral area) or in a parish or community, as the case may be, in part comprised in that electoral area; and

• (b) in Scotland, to any school (not being an independent school within the meaning of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980) situated in the electoral area for which the candidate is standing (or, if there is no such school in the area, in any such school in an adjacent electoral area).

• (3) This section applies—

• (a) in England and Wales, to any meeting room situated in the electoral area for which the candidate is standing or in a parish or community, as the case may be, in part comprised in that electoral area, the expense of maintaining which is payable wholly or mainly out of public funds or out of any rate, or by a body whose expenses are so payable;

• (b) in Scotland, to any meeting room the expense of maintaining which is payable by a local authority.

• (4) Subsections (4), (5) and (7) of section 95 above and paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 5 to this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section as they apply for the purposes of that section, and any person stating himself to be, or to be authorised by, a candidate at a local government election in respect of an electoral area which falls (or partly falls) within a constituency, or his election agent, shall be entitled to inspect the lists prepared under Schedule 5 to this Act in relation to the constituency or a copy of them at all reasonable hours during the period beginning with the day on which notice of the election is published and ending with the day preceding the day of election.

Disturbances at election meetings

97

• (1) A person who at a lawful public meeting to which this section applies acts, or incites others to act, in a disorderly manner for the purpose of preventing the transaction of the business for which the meeting was called together shall be guilty of an illegal practice.

• (2) This section applies to—

• (a) a political meeting held in any constituency between the date of the issue of a writ for the return of a member of Parliament for the constituency and the date at which a return to the writ is made;

• (b) a meeting held with reference to a local government election in the electoral area for that election in the period beginning with the last date on which notice of the election may be published in accordance with rules made under section 36 or section 36A or, in Scotland, section 42 above and ending with, the day of election.

• (3) If a constable reasonably suspects any person of committing an offence under subsection (1) above, he may if requested so to do by the chairman of the meeting require that person to declare to him immediately his name and address and, if that person refuses or fails so to declare his name and address or gives a false name and address, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale, and—

• (a) if he refuses or fails so to declare his name and address or

• (b) if the constable reasonably suspects him of giving a false name and address,

the constable may without warrant arrest him.

This subsection does not apply in Northern Ireland.

Premises not affected for rates

98

The use of any premises for the holding of public meetings in furtherance of any person’s candidature at a parliamentary or local government election does not render any person liable to be rated or to pay any rate for the premises.

Agency by election officials and canvassing by police officers

Officials not to act for candidates

99

• (1) If

• (a) any returning officer at a parliamentary or local government election, or

• (b) any officer or clerk appointed under the parliamentary elections rules, or the rules under section 36 , section 36A or section 42 above, as the case may be, or

• (c) any partner or clerk of any such person,

acts as a candidate’s agent in the conduct or management of the election, he shall be guilty of an offence, but nothing in this subsection prevents a candidate from acting as his own election agent.

• (2) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Illegal canvassing by police officers

100

• (1) No member of a police force shall by word, message, writing or in any other manner, endeavour to persuade any person to give, or dissuade any person from giving, his vote, whether as an elector or as proxy—

• (a) at any parliamentary election for a constituency, or

• (b) at any local government election for any electoral area,

wholly or partly within the police area.

• (2) A person acting in contravention of subsection (1) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, but nothing in that subsection shall subject a member of a police force to any penalty for anything done in the discharge of his duty as a member of the force.

• (3) In this section references to a member of a police force and to a police area are to be taken in relation to Northern Ireland as references to a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and to Northern Ireland.

Conveyance of voters to and from poll

No hiring of vehicles to convey voters

101

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No payments for conveyance of voters

102

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Provisions supplemental to ss. 101 and 102

103

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

" Carriage " in ss. 101 to 103

104

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Access to polling place by sea

105

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Other illegal practices, payments, employments or hirings

False statements as to candidates

106

• (1) A person who, or any director of any body or association corporate which—

• (a) before or during an election,

• (b) for the purpose of affecting the return of any candidate at the election,

makes or publishes any false statement of fact in relation to the candidate’s personal character or conduct shall be guilty of an illegal practice, unless he can show that he had reasonable grounds for believing, and did believe, that statement to be true.

• (2) A candidate shall not be liable nor shall his election be avoided for any illegal practice under subsection (1) above committed by his agent other than his election agent unless—

• (a) it can be shown that the candidate or his election agent has authorised or consented to the committing of the illegal practice by the other agent or has paid for the circulation of the false statement constituting the illegal practice; or

• (b) an election court find and report that the election of the candidate was procured or materially assisted in consequence of the making or publishing of such false statements.

• (3) A person making or publishing any false statement of fact as mentioned above may be restrained by interim or perpetual injunction by the High Court or the county court from any repetition of that false statement or of a false statement of a similar character in relation to the candidate and, for the purpose of granting an interim injunction, prima facie proof of the falsity of the statement shall be sufficient.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) Any person who, before or during an election, knowingly publishes a false statement of a candidate’s withdrawal at the election for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of another candidate shall be guilty of an illegal practice.

• (6) A candidate shall not be liable, nor shall his election be avoided, for any illegal practice under subsection (5) above committed by his agent other than his election agent.

• (7) In the application of this section to an election where a candidate is not required to have an election agent, references to an election agent shall be omitted and the reference in subsection (6) above to an illegal practice committed by an agent of the candidate shall be taken as a reference to an illegal practice committed without the candidate’s knowledge and consent.

• (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (9) Article 60 of the County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 (appeals from county courts) shall apply in relation to any order of a county court in Northern Ireland made by virtue of subsection (3) above as it applies in relation to any such decree of a county court as is mentioned in paragraph (1) of that Article.

Corrupt withdrawal from candidature

107

Any person who corruptly induces or procures any other person to withdraw from being a candidate at an election, in consideration of any payment or promise of payment, and any person withdrawing in pursuance of the inducement or procurement, shall be guilty of an illegal payment.

Premises not to be used as committee rooms

108

Payments for exhibition of election notices

109

• (1) No payment or contract for payment shall for the purpose of promoting or procuring the election of a candidate at an election be made to an elector or his proxy on account of the exhibition of, or the use of any house, land, building or premises for the exhibition of, any address, bill or notice, unless—

• (a) it is the ordinary business of the elector or proxy as an advertising agent to exhibit for payment bills and advertisements; and

• (b) the payment or contract is made in the ordinary course of that business.

• (2) If any payment or contract for payment is knowingly made in contravention of this section either before, during or after an election—

• (a) the person making the payment or contract, and

• (b) if he knew it to be in contravention of this Act, any person receiving the payment or being a party to the contract,

shall be guilty of an illegal practice.

Printer's name and address on election publications

110

Prohibition of paid canvassers

111

If a person is, either before, during or after an election, engaged or employed for payment or promise of payment as a canvasser for the purpose of promoting or procuring a candidate’s election—

• (a) the person so engaging or employing him, and

• (b) the person so engaged or employed,

shall be guilty of illegal employment.

Providing money for illegal purposes

112

Where a person knowingly provides money—

• (a) for any payment which is contrary to the provisions of this Act, or

• (b) for any expenses incurred in excess of the maximum amount allowed by this Act, or

• (c) for replacing any money expended in any such payment or expenses,

except where the payment or the incurring of the expenses may have been previously allowed in pursuance of section 167 below to be an exception, that person shall be guilty of an illegal payment.

Bribery, treating and undue influence

Bribery

113

• (1) A person shall be guilty of a corrupt practice if he is guilty of bribery.

• (2) A person shall be guilty of bribery if he, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf—

• (a) gives any money or procures any office to or for any voter or to or for any other person on behalf of any voter or to or for any other person in order to induce any voter to vote or refrain from voting, or

• (b) corruptly does any such act as mentioned above on account of any voter having voted or refrained from voting, or

• (c) makes any such gift or procurement as mentioned above to or for any person in order to induce that person to procure, or endeavour to procure, the return of any person at an election or the vote of any voter,

or if upon or in consequence of any such gift or procurement as mentioned above he procures or engages, promises or endeavours to procure the return of any person at an election or the vote of any voter.

For the purposes of this subsection—

• (i) references to giving money include references to giving, lending, agreeing to give or lend, offering, promising, or promising to procure or endeavour to procure any money or valuable consideration; and

• (ii) references to procuring any office include references to giving, procuring, agreeing to give or procure, offering, promising, or promising to procure or to endeavour to procure any office, place or employment and

• (iii) references to procuring the return of any person at an election include, in the case of an election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election, references to procuring the return of candidates on a list of candidates submitted by a registered political party for the purposes of that election

• (3) A person shall be guilty of bribery if he advances or pays or causes to be paid any money to or for the use of any other person with the intent that that money or any part of it shall be expended in bribery at any election or knowingly pays or causes to be paid any money to any person in discharge or repayment of any money wholly or in part expended in bribery at any election.

• (4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not extend or be construed to extend to any money paid or agreed to be paid or on account of any legal expenses incurred in good faith at or concerning an election.

• (5) A voter shall be guilty of bribery if before or during an election he directly or indirectly by himself or by any other person on his behalf receives, agrees, or contracts for any money, gift, loan or valuable consideration, office, place or employment for himself or for any other person for voting or agreeing to vote or for refraining or agreeing to refrain from voting.

• (6) A person shall be guilty of bribery if after an election he directly or indirectly by himself or by any other person on his behalf receives any money or valuable consideration on account of any person having voted or refrained from voting or having induced any other person to vote or refrain from voting.

• (7) In this section the expression “voter” includes any person who has or claims to have a right to vote.

Treating

114

• (1) A person shall be guilty of a corrupt practice if he is guilty of treating.

• (2) A person shall be guilty of treating if he corruptly, by himself or by any other person, either before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly gives or provides, or pays wholly or in part the expense of giving or providing, any meat, drink, entertainment or provision to or for any person—

• (a) for the purpose of corruptly influencing that person or any other person to vote or refrain from voting; or

• (b) on account of that person or any other person having voted or refrained from voting, or being about to vote or refrain from voting.

• (3) Every elector or his proxy who corruptly accepts or takes any such meat, drink, entertainment or provision shall also be guilty of treating.

Undue influence

115

• (1) A person shall be guilty of a corrupt practice if he is guilty of undue influence in relation to an election in Scotland ... under the local government Act.

• (2) A person shall be guilty of undue influence in relation to an election in Scotland ... under the local government Act—

• (a) if he, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, makes use of or threatens to make use of any force, violence or restraint, or inflicts or threatens to inflict, by himself or by any other person, any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm or loss upon or against any person in order to induce or compel that person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of that person having voted or refrained from voting; or

• (b) if, by abduction, duress or any fraudulent device or contrivance, he impedes or prevents , or intends to impede or prevent, the free exercise of the franchise of an elector or proxy for an elector, or so compels, induces or prevails upon , or intends so to compel, induce or prevail upon, an elector or proxy for an elector either to vote or to refrain from voting.

Supplemental

Rights of creditors

116

The provisions of this Part of this Act prohibiting—

• (a) payments and contracts for payments,

• (b) the payment or incurring of election expenses in excess of the maximum amount allowed by this Act, or

• (c) the incurring of expenses not authorised by the election agent,

do not affect the right of any creditor, who, when the contract was made or the expense was incurred, was ignorant of that contract or expense being in contravention of this Act.

Savings as to parliamentary elections

117

• (1) Where a person has been declared by others to be a candidate at a parliamentary election without his consent, nothing in this Part of this Act shall be construed to impose any liability on that person, unless he has afterwards given his assent to the declaration or has been nominated.

• (2) Nothing in this Part makes it illegal for an employer to permit parliamentary electors or their proxies to absent themselves from his employment for a reasonable time for the purpose of voting at the poll at a parliamentary election without having any deduction from their salaries or wages on account of their absence, if the permission—

• (a) is (so far as practicable without injury to the employer’s business) given equally to all persons alike who are at the time in his employment, and

• (b) is not given with a view to inducing any person to record his vote for any particular candidate at the election, and

• (c) is not refused to any person for the purpose of preventing him from recording his vote for any particular candidate at the election,

but this subsection shall not be construed as making illegal any act which would not be illegal apart from this subsection.

Interpretation of Part II

118

In this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “appropriate officer” has the meaning given by section 67(7) above;

• “candidate” shall be construed in accordance with section 118A below;

• “committee room” does not include any house or room occupied by a candidate as a dwelling, by reason only of the candidate transactingbusiness there with his agents in relation to the election, and no room or building shall be deemed to be a committee room by reason only of the candidate or any agent of the candidate addressing in it electors, committee members or others;

• “date of the allowance of an authorised excuse” has the meaning given by section 86(8) above, or paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 to this Act, as the case may be;

• “declaration as to election expenses” means a declaration made under section 82 above, or, as the case may be, paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to this Act;

• “disputed claim” has the meaning given by section 79(1) above as extended by section 80 above;

• “election expenses”, in relation to an election, shall be construed in accordance with sections 90ZA to 90D above;

• “money” and “pecuniary reward” shall (except in sections 71A, 113 and 114 above and Schedule 2A to this Act) be deemed to include—any office, place or employment, andany valuable security or other equivalent of money, andany valuable consideration,and expressions referring to money shall be construed accordingly;

• “payment” includes any pecuniary or other reward;

• “personal expenses” as used with respect to the expenditure of any candidate in relation to any election includes the reasonable travelling expenses of the candidate, and the reasonable expenses of his living at hotels or elsewhere for the purposes of and in relation to the election;

• “return as to election expenses” means a return (including the bills and receipts to be delivered with it) to be made under section 81(1) above, or, as the case may be, paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to this Act.

Computation of time for purposes of Part II

119

• (1) Where the day or last day on which anything is required or permitted to be done by or in pursuance of this Part of this Act is any of the days mentioned in subsection (2) below—

• (a) the requirement or permission shall be deemed to relate to the first day thereafter which is not one of those days; and

• (b) in computing any period of not more than 7 days for the purposes of this Part any of the days so mentioned shall be disregarded.

• (2) The days referred to in subsection (1) above are Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, a bank holiday or a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning (but, in relation to a parliamentary general election, excluding any day to which rule 2 of the parliamentary elections rules does not apply by virtue of rule 2(2A)).

• (3) In this section “bank holiday”, in relation to any election, means a day which is a bank holiday in the part of the United Kingdom in which the constituency or, as the case may be, electoral area is situated.

Part III — Legal Proceedings

Questioning of a parliamentary election

Method of questioning parliamentary election

120

• (1) No parliamentary election and no return to Parliament shall be questioned except by a petition complaining of an undue election or undue return (“a parliamentary election petition”) presented in accordance with this Part of this Act.

• (2) A petition complaining of no return shall be deemed to be a parliamentary election petition and the High Court—

• (a) may make such order on the petition as they think expedient for compelling a return to be made; or

• (b) may allow the petition to be heard by an election court as provided with respect to ordinary election petitions.

Presentation and service of parliamentary election petition

121

• (1) A Parliamentary election petition may be presented by one or more of the following persons—

• (a) a person who voted as an elector at the election or who had a right so to vote; or

• (b) a person claiming to have had a right to be elected or returned at the election ; or

• (c) a person alleging himself to have been a candidate at the election.

• (1A) The reference in subsection (1)(a) to a person who voted as an elector at an election or who had the right so to vote does not include a person who had an anonymous entry in the register of electors.

• (2) The member whose election or return is complained of is hereinafter referred to as the respondent, but if the petition complains of the conduct of a returning officer, the returning officer shall for the purposes of this Part of this Act be deemed to be a respondent.

• (3) The petition shall be in the prescribed form, state the prescribed matters and be signed by the petitioner, or all the petitioners if more than one, and shall be presented to the High Court, or to the Court of Session, or to the High Court of Northern Ireland, depending on whether the constituency to which it relates is in England and Wales, or Scotland or Northern Ireland.

• (4) The petition shall be presented by delivering it to the prescribed officer or otherwise dealing with it in the prescribed manner; and the prescribed officer shall send a copy of it to the returning officer of the constituency to which the petition relates, who shall forthwith publish it in that constituency.

• (5) The petition shall be served in such manner as may be prescribed.

Time for presentation or amendment of parliamentary election petition

122

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a parliamentary election petition shall be presented within 21 days after the return has been made to the Clerk of the Crown, or to the Clerk of the Crown for Northern Ireland, as the case may be, of the member to whose election the petition relates.

• (2) If the petition questions the election or return upon an allegation of corrupt practices and specifically alleges a payment of money or other reward to have been made by the member or on his account or with his privity since the time of that return in pursuance or in furtherance of the alleged corrupt practice, it may be presented within 28 days after the date of the payment.

• (3) A petition questioning the election or return upon an allegation of an illegal practice may, so far as respects that illegal practice, be presented—

• (a) within 21 days after the day specified in subsection (4) below; or

• (b) if specifically alleging a payment of money or some other act to have been made or done since the day so specified by the member to whose election the petition relates or an agent of his, or with the privity of that member or his election agent, in pursuance or in furtherance of the alleged illegal practice, within 28 days after the date of the payment or other act.

• (4) The day referred to in subsection (3) above is the tenth day after the end of the time allowed for delivering to the returning officer returns as to election expenses at the election or, if later—

• (a) that on which the returning officer receives the return and declarations as to election expenses by that member and his election agent; or

• (b) where the return and declarations are received on different days, the last of those days; or

• (c) where there is an authorised excuse for failing to make the return and declarations, the date of the allowance of the excuse, or if there was a failure as regards two or more of them, and the excuse was allowed at different times, the date of the allowance of the last excuse.

• (5) An election petition presented within the time limited by subsection (1) or subsection (2) above may, for the purpose of questioning the election or return upon an allegation of an illegal practice, be amended with the leave of the High Court within the time within which a petition questioning the election upon the allegation of that illegal practice could be presented under subsection (3).

• (6) Subsections (3), (4) and (5) above apply—

• (a) notwithstanding that the act constituting the alleged illegal practice amounted to a corrupt practice; and

• (b) to a corrupt practice under section 75 above, as if it were an illegal practice.

• (7) For the purposes of this section, an allegation that an election is avoided under section 164 below shall be deemed to be an allegation of corrupt practices, notwithstanding that the offences alleged are or include offences other than corrupt practices.

• (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Constitution of election court and place of trial

123

• (1) A parliamentary election petition shall be tried by—

• (a) two judges on the rota for the trial of parliamentary election petitions, and the judges for the time being on that rota shall, unless they otherwise agree, try the election petitions standing for trial according to their seniority,

• (b) in Northern Ireland, the two judges of the High Court or the Court of Appeal for the time being selected under section 108 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978,

and the judges presiding at the trial of a parliamentary election petition are hereinafter referred to as the election court.

• (2) The election court has, subject to the provisions of this Act, the same powers, jurisdiction and authority as a judge of the High Court (or, in Scotland, a judge of the Court of Session presiding at the trial of a civil cause without a jury) and shall be a court of record.

• (3) The place of trial shall be within the constituency for which the election was held, but—

• (a) the High Court may, on being satisfied that special circumstances exist rendering it desirable that the petition should be tried elsewhere, appoint some other convenient place for the trial; and

• (b) if that constituency is wholly or partly in Greater London, the petition may be heard at such place within Greater London as the High Court may appoint.

• (4) The election court may adjourn the trial from one place to another within the constituency.

Judges' expenses and reception: England and Wales and Northern Ireland

124

In relation to the trial of a parliamentary election petition—

• (a) in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, the travelling and other expenses of the judges and all expenses properly incurred in . . . providing them with necessary accommodation and with a proper court shall be defrayed by the Treasury out of moneys provided by Parliament;

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Judges' expenses and reception: Scotland

125

In relation to the trial of a parliamentary election petition in Scotland—

• (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (b) the travelling and other expenses of the judges, and of the officer or officers in attendance on them, and all expenses properly incurred in providing the judges with a proper court shall be defrayed by the Treasury out of moneys provided by Parliament

Attendance of House of Commons shorthand writer

126

• (1) The shorthand writer of the House of Commons or his deputy shall attend the trial and shall be sworn by one of the judges of the election court faithfully and truly to take down the evidence given at the trial and from time to time as occasion requires to transcribe that evidence or cause it to be transcribed.

• (2) The shorthand writer shall take down the evidence and from time to time transcribe it or cause it to be transcribed and a copy of the evidence shall accompany the certificate given by the election court to the Speaker.

• (3) In Scotland . . . the expenses of the shorthand writer shall be deemed to be part of the expenses incurred under section 125 above.

Questioning of a local election

Method of questioning local election

127

An election under the local government Act may be questioned on the ground that the person whose election is questioned—

• (a) was at the time of the election disqualified, or

• (b) was not duly elected,

or on the ground that the election was avoided by corrupt or illegal practices or on the grounds provided by section 164 or section 165 below, and shall not be questioned on any of those grounds except by an election petition.

Presentation of petition questioning local election

128

• (1) A petition questioning an election under the local government Act may be presented either by four or more persons who voted as electors at the election or had a right so to vote, or by a person alleging himself to have been a candidate at the election.

• (1A) The reference in subsection (1) to a person who voted as an elector at an election or who had the right so to vote does not include a person who had an anonymous entry in the register of electors.

• (1B) Subsection (1A) does not apply to a local government election in Scotland.

• (2) A person whose election is questioned by the petition, and any returning officer of whose conduct the petition complains, may be made a respondent to the petition.

• (3) The petition shall be in the prescribed form signed by the petitioner and shall be presented in the prescribed manner—

• (a) in England and Wales, to the High Court;

• (b) in Scotland, to the sheriff principal of the sheriffdom in which the election took place or, where the election was in respect of a local authority whose area is situated within more than one sheriffdom, to the sheriffs principal of the sheriffdoms in which the area of the authority is situated.

• (4) In England and Wales the prescribed officer shall send a copy of the petition to the proper officer of the authority for which the election was held, who shall forthwith publish it in the area of that authority.

Time for presentation or amendment of petition questioning local election

129

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a petition questioning an election under the local government Act shall be presented within 21 days after the day on which the election was held.

• (2) If the petition complains of the election—

• (a) on the ground of a corrupt practice, and

• (b) specifically alleges that a payment of money or other reward has been made or promised since the election by a candidate elected at the election, or on his account or with his privity, in pursuance or furtherance of that corrupt practice,

it may be presented at any time within 28 days after the date of the alleged payment or promise, whether or not any other petition against that person has been previously presented or tried.

• (3) If the petition complains of the election—

• (a) on the ground of an illegal practice, and

• (b) specifically alleges a payment of money or other act made or done since the election by the candidate elected at the election, or by an agent of the candidate or with the privity of the candidate or his election agent, in pursuance or in furtherance of that illegal practice,

it may be presented at any time within 28 days after the date of that payment or act, whether or not any other petition against that person has been previously presented or tried.

• (4) If the petition complains of an election where election expenses are allowed on the ground of an illegal practice, it may be presented at any time within 14 days after the day specified in subsection (5) below.

• (5) The day referred to in subsection (4) above is—

• (a) that on which the appropriate officer receives the return and declarations as to election expenses by that candidate and his election agent; or

• (b) where the return and declarations are received on different days, the last of those days; or

• (c) where there is an authorised excuse for failing to make the return and declarations, the date of the allowance of the excuse, or if there was a failure as regards two or more of them and the excuse was allowed at different times, the date of the allowance of the last excuse.

• (6) An election petition presented within the time limited by subsection (1) or subsection (2) above may for the purpose of complaining of the election upon an allegation of an illegal practice, be amended with the leave of the High Court within the time within which a petition complaining of the election on the ground of that illegal practice could, under this section, be presented.

In the application of this subsection to an election of councillors in Scotland, the reference in this subsection to subsection (2) above shall be omitted and for the reference to the High Court there shall be substituted a reference to the election court or the sheriff.

• (7) Subsections (3), (4), (5) and (6) above apply—

• (a) notwithstanding that the act constituting the alleged illegal practice amounted to a corrupt practice; and

• (b) to a corrupt practice under section 75 or 75A above as if it were an illegal practice.

• (8) For the purposes of this section, an allegation that an election is avoided under section 164 below shall be deemed to be an allegation of corrupt practices, notwithstanding that the offences alleged are or include offences other than corrupt practices.

• (9) In relation to an election where candidates are not required to have election agents there shall be omitted—

• (a) the references in subsection (3) and paragraph (a) of subsection (5) above to an election agent; and

• (b) paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (5).

Election court for local election in England and Wales, and place of trial

130

• (1) A petition questioning an election in England and Wales under the local government Act shall be tried by an election court consisting of a person qualified and appointed as provided by this section.

• (2) A person shall not be qualified to constitute an election court—

• (a) unless he satisfies the judicial-appointment eligibility condition on a 7-year basis; or

• (b) if the court is for the trial of an election petition relating to any local government area in which he resides.

• (3) The judges for the time being on the rota for the trial of parliamentary election petitions, or any two of those judges—

• (a) may annually appoint as many qualified persons, not exceeding five, as they may think necessary as commissioners for the trial of petitions questioning elections in England and Wales under the local government Act; and

• (b) shall from time to time assign the petitions to be tried by each commissioner.

• (4) If the commissioner to whom the trial of a petition is assigned dies, or declines to act or becomes incapable of acting, those judges or two of them may assign the trial to be conducted or continued by any other of the commissioners appointed under this section.

• (5) The election court has for the purposes of the trial the same powers and privileges as a judge on the trial of a parliamentary election petition.

• (6) The place of trial shall be within the area of the authority for which the election was held, except that the High Court may, on being satisfied that special circumstances exist rendering it desirable that the petition should be tried elsewhere, appoint some other convenient place for the trial.

• (7) The election court may in its discretion adjourn the trial from one place to another within the local government area or place where it is held.

Accommodation of and attendance on court

131

• (1) The proper officer of the authority for which the election was held shall provide suitable accommodation for holding the election court constituted under section 130 above and any expenses incurred by him for the purposes of this section and section 132 below shall be paid by that authority.

• (2) The election court so constituted may employ officers and clerks as prescribed, and all constables and bailiffs shall give their assistance to the court in the execution of its duties.

• (3) A shorthand writer (whose expenses, according to a prescribed scale, shall be treated as part of the expenses incurred in receiving the election court) shall attend the trial before that court, and—

• (a) shall be sworn by the court faithfully and truly to take down the evidence given at the trial, and

• (b) shall take down such evidence at length,

and a transcript of the notes of the evidence taken down by him shall, if the election court so directs, accompany the court’s certificate.

Remuneration and allowances

132

• (1) The remuneration and allowances to be paid to the commissioner for his services in respect of that trial and to any officers, clerks or shorthand writers employed under section 131 above in relation to that trial shall be fixed by a scale made and varied by the judges on the rota for the trial of parliamentary election petitions, with the Treasury’s approval.

• (2) The remuneration and allowances shall be paid in the first instance by the Treasury and shall be repaid to the Treasury on their certificate by the authority for which the election was held.

Repayments under ss. 131 and 132

133

• (1) The election court constituted under section 130 above may in its discretion order that—

• (a) the expenses referred to in section 131 above, incurred by the proper officer of the authority for receiving the court, or

• (b) the remuneration and allowances referred to in section 132 above,

shall be repaid, wholly or in part, to the proper officer of the authority or to the Treasury, as the case may be—

• (i) when, in the opinion of the election court, the petition is frivolous and vexatious, by the petitioner;

• (ii) when, in the opinion of the election court, the respondent has been personally guilty of corrupt practices at the election, by that respondent.

• (2) The order so made for the repayment of any sum by a petitioner or respondent may be enforced as an order for payment of costs, but a deposit made or a security given under this Part of this Act shall not be applied for any such repayment until all costs and expenses payable by the petitioner or respondent to any party to the petition have been satisfied.

Election court for local election in Scotland, and place of trial

134

• (1) An election petition questioning an election of councillors in Scotland, and all proceedings incidental to and consequent on it, except as otherwise provided, shall be tried—

• (a) by the sheriff principal of the sheriffdom within which the challenged election took place; or

• (b) where the election was in respect of a local authority whose area is situated within more than one sheriffdom, by the sheriffs principal of the sheriffdoms in which the area of the authority is situated; and where in such a case the sheriffs principal are unable to reach a unanimous decision, they shall state a case for the Court of Session and the Court may pronounce any deliverance which it would have been competent for the sheriffs principal to make.

• (2) The election court has for the purposes of the trial the same powers and privileges as a judge on the trial of a parliamentary election petition, except that any fine or order of committal unless imposed or made by the Court of Session in consequence of a case stated under subsection (1) above may, on summary application by the person aggrieved, be discharged or varied by the Court of Session, or in vacation by the judge acting as vacation judge on such terms, if any, as the Court of Session or judge may think fit.

• (3) The place of trial shall be such place within the sheriffdom or sheriffdoms in which the area of the local authority is situated as the election court may determine.

• (4) The election court may in its discretion adjourn the trial from one place to another within that sheriffdom or those sheriffdoms.

• (5) The travelling and other expenses of the sheriff principal incurred by him in the execution of his duties under this Part of this Act shall be paid by the authority for which the election was held, but the election court may order repayment of those expenses to that authority by the parties to the petition or any of them, in such proportion as shall to the court seem proper.

• (6) A shorthand writer shall attend at the trial of the petition, and shall be sworn by the election court faithfully and truly to take down the evidence given at the trial, and he shall take down the evidence at length.

Consequences of local election declared void

135

• (1) Where on a petition questioning an election under the local government Act—

• (a) the election of any person has been declared void, and

• (b) no other person has been declared elected in his place,

a new election shall be held to fill the vacancy in the same manner as on a casual vacancy.

• (1A) Subsection (1) above shall not apply in the case of an election of the London members of the London Assembly at an ordinary election (for which separate provision is made by section 135A below).

• (2) For the purposes of that election any duties to be performed by any officer shall, if he has been declared not elected, be performed by a deputy or other person who might have acted for him if he had been incapacitated by illness.

• (3) This section does not apply to Scotland.

Procedure on all election petitions

Security for costs

136

• (1) At the time of presenting an election petition or within three days afterwards the petitioner shall give security for all costs which may become payable by him to any witness summoned on his behalf or to any respondent.

• (2) The security shall be—

• (a) in the case of a parliamentary election petition, such amount not exceeding £5,000 as the High Court or a judge of the High Court, directs on an application made by the petitioner; and

• (b) in the case of a petition questioning an election under the local government Act, such amount not exceeding £2,500 as the High Court, or a judge of the High Court, directs on an application made by the petitioner,

and shall be given in the prescribed manner by recognisance entered into by any number of sureties not exceeding four or by a deposit of money, or partly in one way and partly in the other; but in Scotland—

• (i) the amount mentioned in paragraph (a) above shall be such amount not exceeding £5,000 as the Court of Session or a judge of the Court of Session directs and the amount mentioned in paragraph (b) above shall be such amount not exceeding £2,500 as the election court or the sheriff directs; and

• (ii) the persons finding caution for that amount may exceed four.

• (3) Within the prescribed time after giving the security the petitioner shall serve on the respondent in the prescribed manner—

• (a) a notice of the presentation of the petition and of the amount and nature of the security, and

• (b) a copy of the petition.

• (4) Within a further prescribed time, . . . the respondent may object in writing to any recognisance on the ground that any surety is insufficient or is dead or cannot be found or ascertained for want of a sufficient description in the recognisance, or that a person named in the recognisance has not duly acknowledged the recognisance.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) An objection to a recognisance shall be decided in the prescribed manner.

• (7) If the objection is allowed, the petitioner may within a further prescribed time . . . , remove it by a deposit in the prescribed manner of such sum of money as will, in the opinion of the court or officer having cognisance of the matter, make the security sufficient.

• (8) If no security is given as required by this section or any objection is allowed and not removed as mentioned above, no further proceedings shall be had on the petition.

Petition at issue

137

• (1) The petition shall be at issue as from the relevant time, as defined by subsection (2) below.

• (2) In this section “the relevant time” means—

• (a) where the petitioner gives the security for costs required by section 136 above by a deposit of money equal to the amount of the security so required, the time when the security is so given; and

• (b) in any other case, the time when—

• (i) the time prescribed for the making of objections under section 136(4) above expires, or

• (ii) if such an objection is made, that objection is disallowed or removed,

whichever happens later.

List of petitions

138

• (1) The prescribed officer shall—

• (a) as soon as may be, make out a list of all election petitions at issue presented to the court of which he is officer, placing them in the order in which they were presented, and

• (b) keep at his office a copy of the list, open to inspection in the prescribed manner,

and the petitions questioning elections under the local government Act shall be in a separate list . . ..

• (2) The petitions shall, so far as convenient, be tried in the order in which they stand in the list.

• (3) In the case of a petition questioning an election under the local government Act, two or more candidates may be made respondents to the same petition, and their cases may be tried at the same time, but for the purposes of this Part of this Act the petition shall be deemed to be a separate petition against each respondent.

• (4) Where more petitions than one are presented relating to the same election or to elections under the local government Act held at the same time for more than one electoral area in the same local government area, all those petitions shall be bracketed together in the election list and shall be dealt with as one petition, standing, unless the High Court otherwise direct, in the election list in the place where the last of them would have stood if it had been the only petition presented.

• (5) Subsections (1), (2) and (4) above do not apply in relation to petitions questioning an election of councillors in Scotland but where two or more of those petitions are presented relating to the same election they shall be tried together.

Trial of petition

139

• (1) An election petition shall be tried in open court, without a jury, and notice of the time and place of trial shall be given in the prescribed manner, not less than, in the case of a parliamentary election petition, 14 days and in any other case, seven days, before the day of trial.

• (2) The election court may in its discretion adjourn the trial from time to time, but the trial shall, so far as is practicable consistently with the interests of justice in respect of the trial, be continued from day to day on every lawful day until its conclusion.

• (3) The trial of a parliamentary election petition shall be proceeded with notwithstanding the acceptance by the respondent of an office vacating his seat in Parliament and notwithstanding the prorogation of Parliament; and the trial of a petition questioning an election under the local government Act shall be proceeded with notwithstanding that the respondent has ceased to hold the office his election to which is questioned by the petition.

• (4) On the trial of a petition, unless the court otherwise directs, any charge of a corrupt practice may be gone into, and evidence in relation to it received, before any proof has been given of agency on behalf of any candidate in respect of the corrupt practice.

In relation to an election in England and Wales under the local government Act, this subsection applies as if corrupt practices included illegal practices.

• (5) On the trial of a petition complaining of an undue election and claiming the seat or office for some person, the respondent may give evidence to prove that that person was not duly elected, in the same manner as if he had presented a petition against the election of that person.

• (6) If the petition relates to an election conducted under the parliamentary elections rules or the rules under section 36 , section 36A or section 42 above and it appears that there is an equality of votes between any candidates at the election, and that the addition of a vote would entitle any of those candidates to be declared elected then—

• (a) any decision under the provisions as to equality of votes in the parliamentary elections rules or the rules under section 36 , section 36A or section 42, as the case may be, shall in so far as it determines the question between those candidates, be effective also for the purposes of the petition; and

• (b) in so far as that question is not determined by such a decision, the court shall decide between them by lot and proceed as if the one on whom the lot then falls had received an additional vote.

Witnesses

140

• (1) Witnesses shall be summoned and sworn in the same manner as nearly as circumstances admit as in an action tried in the High Court, but this subsection does not apply to Scotland in relation to an election of councillors.

• (2) On the trial a member of the election court may, by order signed by him, require any person who appears to him to have been concerned in the election to attend as a witness, and any person refusing to obey the order shall be guilty of contempt of court.

• (3) The election court may examine any person so required to attend or who is in court although he is not called and examined by any party to the petition.

• (4) A witness may, after his examination by the court, be cross-examined by or on behalf of the petitioner and respondent, or either of them.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) The Director of Public Prosecutions shall without any direction from the court cause any person appearing to him to be able to give material evidence as to the subject of the trial to attend the trial and shall, with the leave of the court, examine him as a witness.