Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962

96 Provisions applying to all persons reported personally guilty of a corrupt or illegal practice. N.I.

(1) The report of the election court under section seventy-seven or section eighty-one shall state the names of all persons, if any, who have been proved at the trial to have been guilty of any corrupt or illegal practice and whether they have been furnished with certificates of indemnity, but, as respects someone who is not a party to the petition nor a candidate on behalf of whom the seat or office is claimed by the petition, the election court shall first cause notice to be given to him, and if he appears in pursuance of the notice, shall give him an opportunity of being heard by himself and of calling evidence in his defence to show why he should not be so reported.

It shall be the duty ofF1 [F2 the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland] to obey any directions given to him by the election court with respect to any person to whom such a notice is given.

(2) The report shall be laid before the Attorney-General with a view to his instituting or directing a prosecution against such persons as have not received certificates of indemnity, if the evidence should, in his opinion, be sufficient to support a prosecution.

[F3 (3) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3A) and section 113(2) to (6), a candidate or other person reported by an election court personally guilty of a corrupt or illegal practice—

(a) shall during the relevant period specified in subsection (4) be incapable of—

(i) being registered as an elector or voting at any local election in Northern Ireland, or

(ii) holding any elective office; and

(b) if already holding any such office shall vacate it as from the date of report.

[F4 (3A) The incapacity imposed by subsection (3)(a)(i) applies only to a candidate or other person reported personally guilty of—

(a) a corrupt practice under paragraph 4 of Schedule 9 (personation);

(b) a corrupt practice under paragraph 4A of that Schedule (offences relating to applications for postal or proxy votes); or

(c) an illegal practice under paragraph 12A of that Schedule (other voting offences).]

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) the relevant period is the period beginning with the date of the report and ending—

(a) in the case of a person reported personally guilty of a corrupt practice, five years after that date, or

(b) in the case of a person reported personally guilty of an illegal practice, three years after that date.]

[F5 (5) In respect of the report of an election court at the trial of a local election petition, this section shall have effect subject to the following amendments:

(a) in subsection (1) the words from and whether to indemnity and from It shall be the duty to is given shall be omitted; and

(b) for subsection (2) there shall be substituted:

“(2) The report shall be laid before the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.”]

F1 continue to am. 2002 c. 26

F2 1972 NI 1

F3 SI 2001/417

F4 S. 96(3A) substituted (16.12.2010) by Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/2977), arts. 1(2), 4, Sch. 1 para. 22 (with art. 1(3))

F5 SI 1987/168