The Scottish Elections (Details to appear on Election Material) Regulations 2020
| Year | 2020 |
2020 No. 297
Representation Of The People
The Scottish Elections (Details to appear on Election Material) Regulations 2020
Made 24th September 2020
Laid before the Scottish Parliament 28th September 2020
Coming into force 7th December 2020
The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 143(6) and section 156(5) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 20001(“the 2000 Act”), section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722and all other powers enabling them to do so.
In accordance with section 143(6) of the 2000 Act, the Scottish Ministers have consulted the Electoral Commission.
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Scottish Elections (Details to appear on Election Material) Regulations 2020 and come into force on 7 December 2020.
Application
2.—(1) These Regulations apply to election material within the meaning of section 143 of the 2000 Act3.
(2) These Regulations do not apply in relation to an election where the date of the poll is before 6 May 2021.
Interpretation
3. In these Regulations—
“address” means postal address,
“the 1983 Act” means the Representation of the People Act 19834,
“the 2000 Act” means the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000,
“the 2015 Order” means the Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 20155,
“EEA state” means a state which for the time being is a member State of the European Union or a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 19926, together with the Protocol adjusting that Agreement signed at Brussels on 17 March 19937, as modified or supplemented from time to time,
“information society service” has the meaning given in Article 2(a) of Directive 2000/31/ECof the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market8,
“information society service provider” means a person providing an information society service,
“recipient” means a person who (whether for professional purposes or not) uses an information society service, in particular for seeking information or making it accessible,
“relevant offence” means an offence under section 143(9) of the 2000 Act (details to appear on election material).
Circumstances in which election material is to be taken as published
4. For the purposes of these Regulations, election material is published where it is transmitted to the public at large, or any section of the public via the internet and is presented in text format or in another format which contains text.
Details to appear on election material
5. Material to which section 143(1)(b) of the 2000 Act (details to appear on election material) applies is not to be published, in relation to an election mentioned in regulation 6, unless it includes the following details—
(a) the name and address of the promoter9of the material, and
(b) the name and address of any person on behalf of whom the material is being published (and who is not the promoter).
Elections to which regulation 5 applies
6. The elections are—
(a) Scottish Parliamentary general elections,
(b) elections held under section 9 of the Scotland Act 1998 (constituency vacancies),
(c) local government elections in Scotland.
Circumstances in which regulation 5 does not have to be complied with
7.—(1) Regulation 5 does not apply to the publication of election material if the material—
(a)
(a) is published by an individual other than a relevant person,
(b)
(b) expresses the individual’s personal opinion, and
(c)
(c) is published on the individual’s own behalf on a non-commercial basis.
(2) In regulation 7(1)(a), a “relevant person” means—
(a)
(a) a person who is a candidate at the election,
(b)
(b) a person who holds a relevant elective office (within the meaning of paragraph 1(8) of schedule 7 of the 2000 Act10(operation and interpretation of schedule)),
(c)
(c) a person who is an officer of any registered party, namely—
(i) the registered leader under section 24(1) of the 2000 Act (office-holders to be registered),
(ii) the registered nominating officer under section 24(1) of the 2000 Act (office-holders to be registered),
(iii) the registered treasurer under section 24(1) of the 2000 Act (office-holders to be registered),
(iv) where a registered party is a party with accounting units—
(aa) the registered treasurer of any accounting unit under section 27(2)(a) of the 2000 Act11(financial structure of registered party: accounting units), or
(bb) another person who is an officer of the unit registered for the purposes of section 27(3) of the 2000 Act (financial structure of registered party: accounting units),
(v) a registered campaigns officer under section 25(1) of the 2000 Act12(parties with campaigns officers),
(vi) a deputy campaigns officer appointed under section 25(4) of the 2000 Act (parties with campaigns officers),
(vii) a deputy treasurer appointed under section 74(1) of the 2000 Act (officers of registered party with responsibility for campaign expenditure),
(d)
(d) a person who is an election agent appointed—
(i) under article 32 of the 2015 Order (appointment of election agent), or
(ii) under section 67(1) of the 1983 Act (appointment of election agent),
(e)
(e) a person who is a deputy election agent appointed—
(i) under article 33 of the 2015 Order (appointment of sub-agent), or
(ii) under section 68(1) of the 1983 Act13(nomination of sub-agent at parliamentary or authority elections),
(f)
(f) a responsible person in relation to a recognised third party within the meaning of section 85(7) of the 2000 Act14(controlled expenditure by third parties).
Consideration of election material regarded as promoting or procuring the electoral success of two or more candidates in a party
8.—(1) For the purposes of regulation 5(b), election material to which paragraph (2) applies—
(a)
(a) is not to be taken as being published on behalf of a candidate merely because it can be regarded as promoting or procuring their electoral success, but
(b)
(b) may be regarded as being published on behalf of the party mentioned in paragraph (2).
(2) This paragraph applies to election material which can be reasonably regarded as promoting or procuring the electoral success of two or more candidates standing in the name of a party or included in a list of candidates submitted by the party in connection with the election.
Information society services: restriction on institution of proceedings against a non-UK service provider
9.—(1) Proceedings for a relevant offence are not to be instituted against an information society service provider who is established in an EEA state other than the United Kingdom unless the derogation condition is satisfied.
(2) The derogation condition is satisfied where the institution of proceedings—
(a)
(a) is necessary for the purposes of the public interest objective,
(b)
(b) relates to an information society service that prejudices that objective or presents a serious and grave risk of prejudice to it, and
(c)
(c) is proportionate to that objective.
(3) In paragraph (2) the “public interest objective” means public policy, in particular the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of a relevant offence.
Information society services: exception for mere conduit
10.—(1) Where an information society service provider provides so much of an information society service as consists in—
(a)
(a) the provision of access to a communication network, or
(b)
(b) the transmission in a communication network of information provided by the recipient of the service,
anything done by the provider in providing that part of the service is not to result in the commission of the relevant offence.
(2) Paragraph (1) applies only if the provider does not—
(a)
(a) initiate the transmission,
(b)
(b) select the recipient of the transmission, or
(c)
(c) select or modify the information contained in the transmission.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the provision of access to a communication...
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