Electoral, Local Government and Planning and Development Act 2013

Amendment of rule 6 of Second Schedule to European Parliament Elections Act 1997

10. The Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 is amended by substituting the following rule for rule 6:

“6. (1) Where a person named as a candidate on a nomination paper is a national of a Member State, other than the State or the United Kingdom, there shall be delivered to the returning officer at the time of delivery of the nomination paper a statutory declaration in the prescribed form made by the candidate stating—

(a) the Member State of which the person is a national,

(b) the person’s date and place of birth,

(c) the person’s last address in the person’s home Member State,

(d) the address in the State at which the person is ordinarily resident,

(e) where applicable, the locality or constituency in the person’s home Member State on the electoral roll of which the person’s name was last entered,

(f) that the person is not a candidate at the election in any other Member State, and

(g) that the person does not stand deprived of the right to stand as a candidate under the law of the person’s home Member State as a result of an individual judicial decision, or an administrative decision that may be subject to judicial remedies.

(2) The returning officer, immediately after ruling on the validity of the nomination paper in accordance with paragraph (1) of rule 13, shall, in the case of each valid nomination paper, forward to the Minister a copy of the statutory declaration delivered in connection with the nomination paper, and the Minister shall, as soon as may be—

(a) transmit a copy of the statutory declaration to the competent administrative authority of the home Member State of the person who made the statutory declaration, and

(b) request information from that competent administrative authority verifying whether or not that person stands deprived of the right to stand as a candidate under the law of that person’s home Member State as a result of an individual judicial decision, or an administrative decision that may be subject to judicial remedies, and the Minister may ask for such information to be provided within a specified period of time.

(3) The Minister shall, as soon as may be after receiving the information requested in paragraph (2)(b), notify the returning officer as to whether the person stands deprived of the right to stand as a candidate under the law of that person’s home Member State as a result of an individual judicial decision, or an administrative decision that may be subject to judicial remedies.

(4) If, at or before the time specified in paragraph (1) of rule 15 as the latest time for the withdrawal of candidature, the returning officer is notified under paragraph (3) that a person stands deprived of the right to stand as a candidate, the candidature of the person shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.”.