The Scottish Parliament (Elections etc.) Order 2010

Broadcasting from outside United Kingdom

63.—(1) No person shall, with intent to influence persons to give or refrain from giving their votes at a Scottish parliamentary election, include, or aid, abet, counsel or procure the inclusion of, any matter relating to the election in any programme service (within the meaning given in section 201 of the Broadcasting Act 1990(1) (programme services)) 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.

(2) An offence under this article shall be an illegal practice, but the court before whom a person is convicted of an offence under this article 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 of the 1983 Act (as applied by this Order)(2) (incapacities on conviction of corrupt or illegal practice).

(3) Where any act or omission of an association or body of persons, corporate or unincorporate, is an illegal practice under this article, any person (“P”) 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 P proves—

(a) that the act or omission took place without P’s consent or connivance; and

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

(1)

1990 c.42. Section 201 was amended by the Communications Act 2003 (c.21), section 360 and Schedule 19, paragraph 1.

(2)

Section 173 is applied by article 84 of and Schedule 6 to this Order. Section 173 was substituted by the 2000 Political Parties Act, section 136 and was amended by S.I. 2007/931, article 2(4).