SCHEDULE 1System of Election, &c.
Judicial proceedings as to disqualification under paragraph 5
6
F1(1)
Any person may apply to the court for a declaration or, as the case may be, a declarator that a person who purports to be an MEP -
(a)
is disqualified, or
(b)
was disqualified at the time when, or at some time since, he was returned as an MEP under section 3 F2or 3A or under regulations made in accordance with paragraph 3(1).
(1A)
The decision of the court on an application under this paragraph shall be final.
(2)
On an application under this paragraph the person in respect of whom the application is made shall be the respondent or, as the case may be, defender; and the applicant shall give such security for the costs or expenses of the proceedings, not exceeding F3£5,000, as the court may direct.
(3)
No declaration or declarator shall be made under this paragraph in respect of any person on grounds which subsisted at the time of his election if there is pending, or has been tried, an election petition in which his disqualification on those grounds is, or was, in issue.
(4)
Any declaration or declarator made by the court on an application under this paragraph shall be certified in writing to the Secretary of State forthwith by the court.
(5)
The court for the purposes of this paragraph is the High Court, the Court of Session or the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland according as the F4European ParliamentaryF5electoral region to which the application relates is in England and Wales, or Scotland, or Northern Ireland; and in this paragraph “disqualified” means disqualified under paragraph 5 above for the office of F6Member of to the Assembly (whether generally or in relation to a particular F4European ParliamentaryF5electoral region).
F7(6)
The Secretary of State may by order substitute another figure for the figure in sub-paragraph (2).
(7)
A statutory instrument made under sub-paragraph (6) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.