The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (Amendment) Order 2010
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
2010 No. 1178
Northern Ireland
The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (Amendment) Order 2010
Made 31th March 2010
Coming into force in accordance with Article 1(2)
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 31st day of March 2010
Present,
The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council
In accordance with section 7(3) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 20001the Electoral Commission has been consulted prior to this Order being laid before Parliament.
In accordance with section 84(4) of the Northern Ireland Act 19982a draft of this Order has been laid before and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
Accordingly, Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred on Her by section 84(1) and (3) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order as follows:
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 (Amendment) Order 2010.
(2) This Order shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.
(3) In this Order “the 1962 Act” means the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 19623.
(4) The amendments made by this Order have effect in relation to casual vacancies (within the meaning of section 11(4) of the 1962 Act4) arising on or after the day on which it comes into force.
Casual vacancies in district councils
2.—(1) Section 11 of the 1962 Act5(election and term of office of members of district councils) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (4), in the words following paragraph (c), for “occurs” substitute “arises”.
(3) In subsection (4A), for paragraphs (a) and (b) substitute “by a person returned or elected in accordance with sections 11D to 11K.”.
(4) After that subsection insert—
“4AA Any person returned as mentioned in subsection (4A) shall be deemed for all purposes to have been duly elected as a member of the council.
4AB The clerk of a district council must as soon as practicable after a casual vacancy arises notify the Chief Electoral Officer—
(a) that a casual vacancy has arisen in the council, and
(b) of the name of the member of the council whose seat has become vacant (in this Act referred to as the “previous member”).
4AC The clerk of a district council must, within 7 days from any other matter concerning a casual vacancy coming to the clerk’s knowledge, report it to the Chief Electoral Officer.”.
(5) Omit subsections (4B) and (4C).
(6) In subsection (5)—
(a)
(a) after “deemed” insert “for the purposes of rule 1(3) of the Local Elections Rules6”,
(b)
(b) in paragraph (a), for “the vacancy exists” substitute “an election must be held to fill the vacancy in accordance with section 11D, 11E, 11F, 11G or 11H”, and
(c)
(c) omit the words following paragraph (b).
(7) In subsection (6)—
(a)
(a) for “occurring” substitute “arising”, and
(b)
(b) for “member whom he has succeeded” substitute “previous member”.
Procedures for filling casual vacancies
3. After section 11 of the 1962 Act insert—
“Procedures for filling casual vacancies: interpretation
11A.—(1) For the purposes of this Part (other than section 11J(3)) a person (“P”) who is a member of a district council—
(a)
(a) stood as an independent when elected if the statement of persons nominated for the purposes of the last election for P’s seat showed no description or the description “independent” in respect of P;
(b)
(b) stood in the name of a registered party when elected if that statement showed a description of the type mentioned in rule 5A(1A) of the Local Elections Rules7in respect of P;
(c)
(c) stood in the name of two or more registered parties when elected if that statement showed a description of the type mentioned in rule 5A(1C) of the Local Elections Rules in respect of P.
(2) If P is a member of the district council by virtue of being returned in accordance with section 11D, 11E or 11F, a reference in subsection (1) to the description in respect of P is a reference to the description in respect of the last member elected to the seat at an election.
(3) In this Part—
“nominating officer”, in relation to a registered party, means the person registered as its nominating officer under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 20008in the Northern Ireland register (within the meaning of that Act);
“registered party” means a party registered under that Act in that register;
“statement of persons nominated” means the statement of persons nominated published under rule 12 of the Local Elections Rules9.
(4) References in this Part to a person being qualified to be returned are to be construed in accordance with sections 3 and 4 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 197210.
Initial response to vacancy
11B.—(1) On receipt of a notice of a casual vacancy to which section 11(4)(a) or (b) applies from the clerk of a district council under section 11(4AB) the Chief Electoral Officer must determine, by reference to the statement of persons nominated for the purposes of the last election to the seat, whether the previous member—
(a)
(a) stood as an independent when elected (see section 11D),
(b)
(b) stood in the name of a registered party when elected (see section 11E), or
(c)
(c) stood in the name of two or more registered parties when elected (see section 11F).
(2) This section is subject to sections 11H (transitional provision for previously co-opted members) and 11J (transitional provision for elected members).
Independent members: list of substitutes
11C.—(1) A member of a district council who stood as an independent when elected may give to the Chief Electoral Officer a list in accordance with subsection (2) (in this Act referred to as a “list of substitutes”).
(2) That list must—
(a)
(a) be dated,
(b)
(b) be signed by the member,
(c)
(c) set out the names, addresses and dates of birth of not more than six persons for the purpose of filling any casual vacancy in the member’s seat and indicate, where more than one person is named, an order of preference, and
(d)
(d) be signed by those persons indicating their consent to be contacted in accordance with section 11D.
(3) Where the member has given the Chief Electoral Officer more than one list of substitutes, the latest list supersedes any earlier one.
Independent members: filling casual vacancies
11D.—(1) The following provisions apply if—
(a)
(a) a casual vacancy arises in the seat of a member of a district council,
(b)
(b) the Chief Electoral Officer determines the previous member stood as an independent when elected, and
(c)
(c) the previous member has given the Chief Electoral Officer a list of substitutes.
(2) As soon as practicable after receiving the notice of the vacancy the Chief Electoral Officer must take such steps as appear to the Chief Electoral Officer to be reasonable to contact the person who appears as the first choice in the list of substitutes with the request mentioned in subsection (3).
(3) That request is for the person to respond in writing in accordance with subsection (4) within 14 days from the date of the Chief Electoral Officer’s request indicating whether the person is prepared to fill the vacancy.
(4) If the person is prepared to fill the vacancy, the response must—
(a)
(a) state the person’s date of birth,
(b)
(b) declare that to the best of the person’s knowledge and belief the person is qualified to be returned to fill the vacant seat,
(c)
(c) declare that the person has made and served on the clerk of the council a declaration in the form set out in Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 198911, and
(d)
(d) be signed and dated by the person.
(5) Subsection (6) applies if—
(a)
(a) the Chief Electoral Officer has taken reasonable steps to contact a person on the list of substitutes but has been unable to do so,
(b)
(b) a person on the list of substitutes fails to respond to the Chief Electoral Officer’s request in accordance with subsections (3) and (4), or
(c)
(c) a person on the list of substitutes responds to the Chief Electoral Officer’s request to indicate that the person is not prepared to fill the vacancy.
(6) If this subsection applies—
(a)
(a) the person is not returned for the seat in question, and
(b)
(b) the Chief Electoral Officer must repeat the procedure in subsection (2) in respect of each subsequent person (if any) whose name and address appears in the list of substitutes until the vacancy is filled or the names on the list are exhausted.
(7) If a person responds to the Chief Electoral Officer’s request in accordance with subsections (3) and (4) indicating that the person is prepared to fill the vacancy the Chief Electoral Officer must—
(a)
(a) declare that person to be returned to fill the vacant seat, and
(b)
(b) notify the person’s name to the clerk of the council.
(8) But the Chief Electoral Officer may not declare a person to be returned to fill the vacant seat unless the clerk of the council has confirmed to the Chief Electoral Officer that a declaration by that person in the form set out in Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989 has been received by the clerk.
(9) If the Chief Electoral Officer is unable to fill the vacancy under this section, an election must be held to fill the vacancy.
(10) If—
(a)
(a) a casual vacancy arises in the seat of a member of a district council,
(b)
(b) the Chief Electoral Officer determines the previous member stood as an independent when elected, and
(c)
(c) the previous member has not given the Chief Electoral Officer a list of substitutes,
an election must be held to fill the vacancy.
(11) This section is subject to section 11K (unfilled vacancies in a local election year).
Members for registered parties: filling casual vacancies
11E.—(1) This section applies if—
(a)
(a) a...
To continue reading
Request your trial