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The Local Government Elections (Changes to the Franchise and Qualification of Members) Regulations 1995

Type Statutory-Instrument

Publication 1995-07-23

State In force

Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API PDF

Made: 23rd July 1995

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1(2)

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State, being a Minister designated[^f00002] for the purposes of subsection (2) of section 2 of that Act in relation to measures relating to the right of citizens of the Union to vote at and stand as a candidate at local government elections in England and Wales and Scotland and local elections in Northern Ireland, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by that subsection, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencement

1

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Local Government Elections (Changes to the Franchise and Qualification of Members) Regulations 1995.

(2) Regulations 3 and 5(1) of, and Schedule 1 to, these Regulations shall come into force on 1st January 1996 and the remainder of these Regulations shall come into force on the fourteenth day after the day on which they are made.

Interpretation

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In these Regulations—

“the Act of 1983” means the Representation of the People Act 1983[^f00003];

“the Act of 1989” means the Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989[^f00004].

Changes to the qualification for election and holding office as a member of a local authority

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(1) In section 79(1) of the Local Government Act 1972[^f00005], after the word “Ireland” there shall be inserted “or a relevant citizen of the Union”, and after subsection (2) of that section there shall be inserted:

(2A) In this section the expression “citizen of the Union” shall be construed in accordance with Article 8.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community[^f00006] (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union[^f00007]), and “relevant citizen of the Union” means such a citizen who is not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.

(2) In section 29(1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973[^f00008], after the word “Republic” there shall be inserted “or a relevant citizen of the Union” and in subsection (2) of that section, after the word “above”, there shall be inserted:

“citizen of the Union” shall be construed in accordance with Article 8.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union) and “relevant citizen of the Union” means such a citizen who is not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland; and

(3) In section 3(1) of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972[^f00009], after the word “Ireland” there shall be inserted “or a relevant citizen of the Union”, and in subsection (2) of that section, after the word “section” there shall be inserted:

“citizen of the Union” shall be construed in accordance with Article 8.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union) and “relevant citizen of the Union” means such a citizen who is not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland; and

(4) In section 5(1) of the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1957[^f00010], after the word “Ireland” there shall be inserted “or a relevant citizen of the Union”.

Changes to the franchise

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(1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(2) In—

(a) section 202(1) of the Act of 1983, and

(b) section 10(1) of the Act of 1989,

there shall be inserted at the appropriate place:

“citizen of the Union” shall be construed in accordance with Article 8.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union), and “relevant citizen of the Union” means such a citizen who is not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland;

(3) In section 4(1) of the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1957 there shall be inserted at the appropriate place:

“citizen of the Union” shall be construed in accordance with Article 8.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union) and “relevant citizen of the Union” means such a citizen who is not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland;

(4) In section 6(1) of the said Act of 1957, the word “either” shall be omitted, and after the word “Ireland” there shall be inserted “or, in the case of a ward election for common councilmen, relevant citizens of the Union”.

Consequential amendments

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(1) The amendments set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations, which are consequential upon the changes to the qualification of members made by regulation 3 of these Regulations, shall have effect.

(2) The amendments set out in Schedule 2 to these Regulations, which are consequential upon the changes to the franchise made by regulation 4 of these Regulations, shall have effect.

SCHEDULE 1 — AMENDMENTS CONSEQUENTIAL UPON THE CHANGES TO THEQUALIFICATION OF MEMBERS

Primary legislation

1

In section 130(1) (interpretation) of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962[^f00011], there shall be inserted at the appropriate place:

“citizen of the Union” shall be construed in accordance with Article 8.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union), and “relevant citizen of the Union” means such a citizen who is not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland;

2

In Form 2 (candidate’s consent to nomination) in the Appendix of Forms in Schedule 5 to the said Act of 1962[^f00012], for the words “or a person to whom section 121 of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962 applies” there shall be substituted “, citizen of the Republic of Ireland or a citizen of another Member State of the European Community”.

Subordinate legislation

3

At the end of rule 4 (interpretation) of—

(a) the Local Elections (Principal Areas) Rules 1986[^f00013],

(b) the Local Elections (Parishes and Communities) Rules 1986[^f00014], and

in each case there shall be inserted:

, and “citizen of the Union” shall be construed in accordance with Article 8.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union), and “relevant citizen of the Union” means such a citizen who is not a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland.

4

In the form of candidate’s consent to nomination in the Appendix of Forms in Schedule 2 to each of the Rules of 1986 referred to in paragraph 3(a) and (b) of this Schedule, for the words “or citizen of the Republic of Ireland” there shall be substituted “, a citizen of the Republic of Ireland or a citizen of another Member State of the European Community”.

5

In the form of nomination paper in the Appendix of Forms in Schedule 2 to the Rules referred to in paragraph 3(c) of this Schedule, for the words from “British” to “Republic” in both places where they occur there shall be inserted “Commonwealth citizen or citizen of the Republic of Ireland or a citizen of another Member State of the European Community”.

SCHEDULE 2 — AMENDMENTS CONSEQUENTIAL UPON CHANGES TO THE FRANCHISE

Primary legislation

The Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962

1

In rule 34(6)(b) of the Local Elections Rules contained in Schedule 5 to the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962, for the words from “the United” to the end there shall be substituted “a Member State of the European Community;”.

The Representation of the People Act 1983

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The Act of 1983 shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs 3 to 5 below.

3

In—

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(b) section 16(e);

(d) section 42(3)(c),

after the word “Ireland”, there shall be inserted in each case “or a relevant citizen of the Union”.

4

In—

(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b) section 15(5)(a),

after the words “parliamentary elections”, there shall be inserted in each case “, or by a relevant citizen of the Union”.

5

For section 49(5)[^f00016], there shall be substituted:

(5) A person registered as a parliamentary or local government elector, or entered in the list of proxies, shall not be excluded from voting on any of the following grounds: but this shall not prevent the rejection of the vote on a scrutiny, or affect his liability to any penalty for voting. The grounds are— (a) that he is not of voting age; (b) that he is not, or, on the qualifying date or the date of his appointment (as the case may be), was not— (i) a Commonwealth citizen; (ii) a citizen of the Republic of Ireland; (iii) in the case of a person registered as a parliamentary elector in pursuance of an overseas elector’s declaration, a British citizen; (iv) in the case of a person registered as a local government elector or entered in the list of proxies by virtue of being a relevant citizen of the Union, a relevant citizen of the Union; (c) that he is, or, on the qualifying date or the date of his appointment (as the case may be), was, otherwise subject to any other legal incapacity to vote.

6

The amendments made by paragraphs 3 to 5 of this Schedule shall also have effect in relation to the provisions amended as those provisions are applied for the purposes of local elections in Northern Ireland by section 2 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Act of 1989.

The Representation of the People Act 1985

7

For section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act 1985[^f00017], there shall be substituted:

(3) A person is not capable of being appointed to vote, or voting, as proxy at a parliamentary election— (a) if he is subject to any legal incapacity (age apart) to vote at that election as an elector, or (b) if he is neither a Commonwealth citizen nor a citizen of the Republic of Ireland. (3A) A person is not capable of being appointed to vote, or voting, as proxy at a local government election— (a) if he is subject to any legal incapacity (age apart) to vote at that election as an elector, or (b) if he is neither a Commonwealth citizen nor a citizen of the Republic of Ireland nor a relevant citizen of the Union.

8

In subsection (4) of the said section 8, for the words “any such” there shall be substituted “a parliamentary or local government”.

9

Section 4(4) of the Representation of the People Act 1985 (which amended section 49(5) of the Act of 1983 and is superseded by paragraph 5 above) is hereby repealed.

Subordinate legislation

The Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 1985

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11

In the Form in the Appendix to Schedule 2 to the said Order of 1985, in paragraph 3 of the note entitled “Your right to vote as proxy”, for the words “the Republic of Ireland”, there shall be substituted “a Member State of the European Community.”.

The Representation of the People Regulations 1986

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The Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 1986

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The Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1986

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The European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 1986

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The European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1986

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The European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1986[^f00031] shall be amended as follows:

(a) after sub-paragraph (i) of regulation 5(1)[^f00032] there shall be inserted:

(ia) section 49 of the Act of 1983 is to that provision as amended by Schedule 2 to the Local Government Elections (Changes to the Franchise and Qualification of Members) Regulations 1995;

(b) after sub-paragraph (iii) of regulation 5(1) there shall be added:

and (iv) section 8 of the Act of 1985 is to that provision as amended by Schedule 2 to the Local Government Elections (Changes to the Franchise and Qualification of Members) Regulations 1995

; and

(c) there shall be inserted the following modification of section 49 of the Act of 1983 (effect of registers), as applied by the left-hand column of Schedule 1, in the right-hand column of that Schedule:

In subsection (5)[^f00033] for the words “Republic of Ireland” there shall be substituted “Union”.

The Local Government (Transitional Election Arrangements) (Scotland) Order 1994

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After article 2 of the Local Government (Transitional Election Arrangements) (Scotland) Order 1994[^f00034] there shall be inserted the following article—

(2A) Any reference in this Order to the 1973 Act, the 1983 Act, the 1986 Regulations or the 1986 Rules is a reference to that Act or, as the case may be, those Regulations or Rules as amended by the Local Government Elections (Changes to the Franchise and Qualification of Members) Regulations 1995.

Signed

Michael Howard — One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State — 23rd July 1995

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations are made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. They contain provisions extending the franchise and changing the qualification for election and holding office as members of local authorities. They amend both primary and secondary legislation on these matters for the purpose of implementing article 8b.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union) and the requirements of the directive of the Council of the European Communities No. 94/80/EC.

Regulation 3 amends the Local Government Act 1972, the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 and the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1957 to extend the right to stand at local government elections in England, Wales and Scotland, local elections in Northern Ireland and Common Council elections in the City of London to citizens of all Member States of the European Community on the same terms as Commonwealth citizens.

Regulation 4 amends the Representation of the People Act 1983, the Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989 and the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1957 to extend the right to vote in those elections to all citizens of Member States of the European Community on the same terms as Commonwealth citizens.

Regulation 5 and the Schedules to the Regulations make consequential amendments to primary and subordinate legislation for each of the three United Kingdom jurisdictions.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1972 c. 68.

[^f00002]: By the European Communities (Designation) (No. 3) Order 1993 (S.I. 1993/2661).

[^f00003]: 1983 c. 2.

[^f00004]: 1989 c. 3.

[^f00005]: 1972 c. 70.

[^f00006]: Treaty Series No. 47 (1988), Cm. 455.

[^f00007]: Cm. 1934.

[^f00008]: 1973 c. 65.

[^f00009]: 1972 c. 9 (N.I.); section 3(1) was amended by section 11(5) of the Elected Authorities (Northern Ireland) Act 1989.

[^f00010]: 1957 c.x; section 5(1) was amended by the City of London (Various Powers) Act 1967 (c.xlii), section 28.

[^f00011]: 1962 c. 14 (N.I.).

[^f00012]: Schedule 5 was substituted by the Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (S.I. 1985/454).

[^f00013]: S.I. 1986/2214; rule 4 was substituted by S.I. 1990/158. There have been other amendments which are not relevant to these Regulations.

[^f00014]: S.I. 1986/2215, to which there have been amendments which are not relevant to these Regulations.

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