Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020
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PART 5 Miscellaneous | ||
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Remote meetings of State body | ||
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29. (1) Notwithstanding anything in any other enactment— | ||
(a) meetings of a designated State body, or | ||
(b) designated meetings of a State body, | ||
may consist of a conference between some or all of the members who are not all in one place, but each of whom is able (directly or by means of electronic communications technology) to speak to each of the others and to be heard by each of the others. | ||
(2) Any decision made, vote taken or other act done by means of a conference referred to in subsection (1) of members of a designated State body, or of members at a designated meeting of a State body, shall be as good and effectual as a decision made, vote taken or other act done by the members concerned would have been if such had been made, taken or done by those members in a meeting of them held in person. | ||
(3) A relevant Minister may, by order, designate, for the purposes of this section— | ||
(a) a State body, or | ||
(b) a meeting or category of meeting held by a State body. | ||
(4) A relevant Minister shall make an order under subsection (3) only where he or she is of the opinion that it is appropriate to do so having regard to the— | ||
(a) nature of the State body concerned, | ||
(b) nature of the meetings of the State body concerned, | ||
(c) need to ensure efficiency in the conduct of meetings of the State body, and | ||
(d) public interest. | ||
(5) Where more than one Minister of the Government is a relevant Minister in relation to a particular State body, a relevant Minister, before making an order under subsection (3) in respect of the body, shall consult with all other relevant Ministers in relation to the body. | ||
(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed as operating to interfere with the power of a State body under an enactment or rule of law to hold a meeting by means of a conference referred to in subsection (1) or any similar means. | ||
(7) In this section a reference to— | ||
(a) members includes a reference to directors and to commissioners, and | ||
(b) a State body includes a reference to a board of the State body and to a committee or sub-committee of the State body or of such a board. | ||
(8) In this section— | ||
“electronic communications technology”, in relation to a meeting referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1), means technology that enables real time transmission and real time two-way audio-visual or audio communication; | ||
“designated State body” means a State body designated under subsection (3)(a); | ||
“designated meeting” means, in relation to a State body, a meeting or category of meeting held by the State body and designated under subsection (3)(b); | ||
“meeting”, in relation to a State body, does not include a meeting that consists of a hearing, at which a person the subject of any proceedings by the State body— | ||
(a) is entitled to appear or be represented, and | ||
(b) at which the person does so appear or is so represented; | ||
“relevant Minister” means, in relation to a State body, the Minister of the Government with responsibility for the body and in whom functions, whether statutory or otherwise, as respects the body are vested; | ||
“State body” means a body established— | ||
(a) by or under an enactment (other than the Companies Act 2014 or a former enactment relating to companies within the meaning of section 5 of that Act), or | ||
(b) under the Companies Act 2014 (or a former enactment relating to companies within the meaning of section 5 of that Act) in pursuance of powers conferred by or under another enactment, and financed wholly or partly by means of money provided, or loans made or guaranteed, by a Minister of the Government or the issue of shares held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government. |