Statutory Instrument 1998 No. 1287

Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 1287

The New Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 1998

Statutory Instruments printed from this website are printed under the superintendence and authority of the Controller of HMSO being the Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament.

The legislation contained on this web site is subject to Crown Copyright protection. It may be reproduced free of charge provided that it is reproduced accurately and that the source and copyright status of the material is made evident to users.

It should be noted that the right to reproduce the text of Statutory Instruments does not extend to the Queen's Printer imprints which should be removed from any copies of the Statutory Instrument which are issued or made available to the public. This includes reproduction of the Statutory Instrument on the Internet and on intranet sites. The Royal Arms may be reproduced only where they are an integral part of the original document.

The text of this Internet version of the Statutory Instrument which is published by the Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament has been prepared to reflect the text as it was Made. A print version is also available and is published by The Stationery Office Limited as the The New Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 1998 , ISBN 0 11 079082 0. The print version may be purchased by clicking here. Braille copies of this Statutory Instrument can also be purchased at the same price as the print edition by contacting TSO Customer Services on 0870 600 5522 or e-mail:customer.services@tso.co.uk.

Further information about the publication of legislation on this website can be found by referring to the Frequently Asked Questions.

To ensure fast access over slow connections, large documents have been segmented into "chunks". Where you see a "continue" button at the bottom of the page of text, this indicates that there is another chunk of text available.

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS

1998 No. 1287
NORTHERN IRELAND
The New Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 1998

	Made	21st May 1998
	Coming into force in accordance with article 1(2)

Whereas a draft of this Order has been approved by resolution of each House of Parliament;

     Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 2(5) and (6), 3and 6(2)(b) of the Northern Ireland (Elections) Act 1998[1], I hereby make the following Order: -

Citation and commencement
     1. - (1) This Order may be cited as the New Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 1998.

    (2) This Order shall come into force -

whichever is the later.

Interpretation
2. Unless the context otherwise requires, in this Order and any provision applied by this Order -

"1962 Act" means the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962[

"1998 Act" means the Northern Ireland (Elections) Act 1998;

"Assembly" means the New Northern Ireland Assembly and "Assembly election" means an election to that Assembly;

"date of the poll" refers to the date set by section 2(1) of the 1998 Act or, in the caseofa by-election, the date set by the Chief Electoral Officer under article 7(2) below; and

"elections rules" means the rules in Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act, as applied by Schedule1 to this Order.

Application of certain provisions for Assembly elections
3. - (1) The provisions of the 1983 Act, the Elections (Northern Ireland) Act 1985[7] and the 1985 Act which are specified in the left-hand column of Schedule1 to this Order shall, subject to -

apply for the purposes of an Assembly election.

(2) The provisions of the 1986 Regulations, the Election Petition Rules 1964[8] and the Planning (Control of Advertisements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1992[9] which are specified in the left-hand column of Schedule2 to this Order shall, subject to -

apply for the purposes of an Assembly election.

(3) Unless the context otherwise requires, in the provisions applied by Schedules 1 and 2 to this Order -

(4) Section 72 of the Post Office Act 1969[10] and section 35(2)(h) of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978[11] shall apply in relation to an Assembly election and an Assembly election petition, respectively, as they apply in relation to a parliamentary election and a parliamentary election petition and as though -

    (5) The references to "parliamentary election" to which paragraph (3)(a) above does not apply are those in section 160(4) of the 1983 Act and the first reference in section 160(5) of that Act.

Returning officer and registration officer
     4. - (1) The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland shall be the returning officer for each constituency.

    (2) That Officer shall be the electoral registration officer for the purposes of the provisions applied by this Order (as he is for parliamentary and local elections).

    (3) Section 14(5) and 14A(2) and (3) of the 1962 Act[12] (appointment of temporary deputy and delegation to assistants) shall have effect in relation to the Chief Electoral Officer in his capacity as returning officer and electoral registration officer under this Order.

Alterations to registers
     5. - (1) An alteration made to the register of electors after 3rd June 1998 shall be disregarded for the purposes of the poll on 25th June 1998.

    (2) Section 11(3) of the 1983 Act[13] (alterations to the register of elections) shall apply in relation to an Assembly by-election as it applies in relation to a parliamentary election.

Substitutes
     6. - (1) The Chief Electoral Officer ("the Officer") shall act in accordance with this article where, after the election of the initial members of the Assembly -

(a) he has been notified by -

that a vacancy exists in the seat of a member of the Assembly, and

(b) that member had given a notice under rule 8A of the elections rules ("the relevant notice").

(2) The Officer shall take such steps as appear to him to be reasonable to contact the person whose name and address appear as the first choice in the relevant notice to ask that person whether he will state in writing that he is willing and able to be returned as a member of the Assembly.

(3) Where -

(a) within such period as the Officer considers reasonable -

(b) that person has stated in writing that he is not willing or able to be so returned,

the Officer shall repeat the procedure required by paragraph (2) above in respect of the person (if any) whose name and address appear as the second choice in the relevant notice or, where sub-paragraph (a) or (b) above applies in respect of that person, in respect of the person (if any) whose name and address appear as the third choice in that notice; and the Officer shall continue to repeat the procedure until the seat is filled or the names in the list exhausted.

(4) Where a person whose name and address appear in the relevant notice states in writing in response to the question from the Officer under paragraph (2) above (including that paragraph as applied by paragraph (3) above) that he is willing and able to be returned as a member of the Assembly, the Officer shall (subject to paragraph (5) below) declare that person to be so returned.

(5) Where under paragraph (3) above the Officer has asked the person whose name appears as the second or, as the case may be, other subsequent choice in the relevant notice the question set out in paragraph (2) above prior to the receipt of a statement from a person whose name appears as an earlier choice in that notice that he is willing and able to be returned as a member of the Assembly, that statement shall not have effect for the purposes of paragraph (4) above unless -

(a) the first-mentioned person has stated in writing that he is not willing and able to be so returned, or

(b) no statement in writing that he is willing and able to be so returned has been received from him by the Officer in response to the Officer's question within such period as the Officer considers reasonable.

(6) The Officer shall give public notice of a declaration under paragraph (4) above and send it to the presiding officer of the Assembly.

By-elections
7. - (1) This article applies where the Chief Electoral Officer has been notified by -

(a) an election court or the High Court under section 144 or 146 of the 1983 Act, as applied by article 3 of, and Schedule 1 to, this Order, or

(b) the presiding officer of the Assembly under paragraph 7 of the Schedule to the 1998 Act,

that a vacancy exists in the seat of a member of the Assembly and either article 6(1) above does not apply or no person has been declared a member to fill the vacancy under article 6(4) above.

(2) Where this article applies, the Chief Electoral Officer shall set a date as the date of the poll for a by-election to fill the vacancy.

(3) Subsections (2) (the franchise), (3) and (4) (method of election) of section 2 of the 1998 Act and the provisions of this Order (except article 6) shall apply to any by-election as they apply to the election of the initial members of the Assembly.

Marjorie Mowlam
One of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State

Northern Ireland Office
21st May 1998