Referendum Act, 1942

General provisions in respect of referendum petitions.

36.—The following provisions shall apply and have effect in relation to every referendum petition, that is to say:—

(a) the petition shall be presented by being lodged in the Central Office of the High Court, and shall be so presented not later than twenty-one days after the publication in the Iris Oifigiúil of the provisional referendum certificate to which the petition relates;

(b) save where the Attorney-General is the petitioner, a copy of the petition shall be served on the Attorney-General within five days after the day on which it is presented, and an affidavit verifying such service shall be filed in the Central Office of the High Court within the said five days;

(c) save where the Attorney-General is the petitioner, the petitioner shall, within five days after the petition is presented, give security for the costs of the Attorney-General to the amount of one thousand pounds either,

(i) by the lodgment of the sum of one thousand pounds with the Accountant of the Courts of Justice, or

(ii) by entering into a recognisance, with three sureties accepted by the Master of the High Court, conditioned for the payment of the costs of the Attorney-General to such (if any) amount not exceeding one thousand pounds as shall be ordered by the High Court;

(d) if, in a case to which the foregoing provisions of this section in relation to serving a copy of the petition, filing an affidavit of service, and giving security for costs apply, those provisions are not all complied with, the petition shall, at the expiration of the time limited by this section for complying with those provisions, become and be null and void;

(e) the petition shall set out with reasonable particularity the grounds on which it is based and shall pray that the provisional referendum certificate to which it relates shall be reviewed by the High Court;

(f) the petition shall be signed by the petitioner or by his counsel;

(g) where the ground or one of the grounds on which the petition is based is that corrupt practices prevailed extensively in relation to the taking of the referendum in a particular constituency, such corrupt practices need only be stated generally in the petition, but save where the Attorney-General is the petitioner, the petitioner shall lodge a full and detailed statement of the particulars of such corrupt practices in the Central Office of the High Court and serve a copy thereof on the Attorney-General within fourteen days after the presentation of the petition;

(h) where a statement of particulars of corrupt practices has been lodged in pursuance of the next preceding paragraph of this section, the High Court may, at any time on the application of the Attorney-General, require the petitioner to furnish further and better particulars of such corrupt practices;

(i) if, at the expiration of twenty-one days from the publication of a provisional referendum certificate in the Iris Oifigiúil, no referendum petition has been presented in relation to such certificate, the Master of the High Court shall, immediately on the expiration of those twenty-one days, inform the referendum returning officer in writing of that fact;

(j) if a referendum petition is presented by the Attorney-General within the time limited by this section, the Master of the High Court shall forthwith inform the referendum returning officer in writing of that fact;

(k) if a referendum petition is presented by a person other than the Attorney-General within the time limited by this section, the Master of the High Court shall forthwith inform the referendum returning officer in writing of that fact and shall also, after, but not more than seven days after, the expiration of twenty-one days from the publication of the relevant provisional referendum certificate in the Iris Oifigiúil, inform the referendum returning officer in writing either (as the facts may be)—

(i) that the provisions of this section in relation to filing an affidavit of service on the Attorney-General and in relation to giving security for costs have been duly complied with in respect of such, petition, or

(ii) that the said provisions have not been complied with in respect of such petition and that such petition has therefore become null and void;

(l) unless or until rules of court are made in respect of referendum petitions, the rules of court for the time being in force in respect of plenary summonses and the trial of actions in the High Court shall, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, apply and have effect in respect of referendum petitions and the trial thereof with the necessary modifications;

(m) in the reckoning of any period of time mentioned in this section which does not exceed ten days, Sundays, bank holidays, Christmas Day, and Good Friday shall be excluded.