The European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 1999

UK Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 1214 — creates 1 criminal offence.

1offences created

0recorded in force

1revoked

Made: 23 April 1999
In force from: 28 April 1999
Extent: Not stated
Subject: Elections and representation of the people
Made under: European Communities Act 1972, Schedule 1 to the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1978

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations, which replace the Regulations revoked by Schedule 5, apply in Great Britain. They provide for the conduct of European Parliamentary elections under the regional list system of election. That system was introduced by amendments made to the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1978 by the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1999. The basic structure of the Regulations is to apply with modifications the provisions of the Representation of the People Acts 1983 and 1985 which are listed in the left-hand column of Schedule 1 to these Regulations and the provisions of the Representation of the People Regulations 1986 and the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 1986 which are listed in the left-hand column of Schedule 2 to these Regulations. The provisions are subject to the general modifications made by regulation 3 and the specific modifications in the right-hand columns of Schedules 1 and 2 to these Regulations. The general modifications convert references to parliamentary elections into references to European Parliamentary elections (regulation 3(4)(b)), references to constituencies into references to electoral regions (regulation 3(4)(c)) and make other similar changes. Regulation 4 (together with regulation 3(4)(f)) confers functions in relation to the conduct of European Parliamentary elections on the local returning officer, as defined by regulation 2. That officer is the acting returning officer (or, in Scotland, the returning officer) for each parliamentary constituency wholly or partly contained in an electoral region. Regulation 6(1) confers powers on returning officers and local returning officers to delegate their functions. As applied by Schedule 1 to these Regulations, sections 67 to 70 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (which concern election agents) apply only in respect of individual candidates. Equivalent provision in respect of registered parties is made by regulations 11 to 14. Regulation 10 requires the appointment of a national election agent for a political party which is registered under the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 and stands for election in more than one electoral region at a general election of MEPs. As respects such a party, paragraphs (1) and (2) of regulation 15 make provision about the limits on election expenses which is equivalent to that in section 76(1) and (2) of the Representation of the People Act 1983. That provision, as applied, relates only to individual candidates. Paragraphs (1) and (2) of regulation 15 provide for the calculation of the limit of a registered party’s election expenditure by reference to the number of electoral regions in which it stands for election. Paragraphs (3) and (4) of regulation 15 provide for that limit where a registered party stands in one electoral region only. In the modifications to the 1983 Act, the sum mentioned in section 75(1)(i) is increased from £5 to £5,000 for each electoral region. This change is intended to bring the law into line with a decision of the European Court of Human Rights. As applied by Schedule 1 to these Regulations, the grounds on which an election petition may be brought are restricted (section 120, as applied). Section 169 has been modified so that a prosecution in respect of the illegal practice of exceeding the limit on election expenses may be brought on indictment (and, as such, subject to an unlimited fine). Regulations 16 and 17 provide for the filling of a vacancy from the list of candidates of a registered party returned at a general election of MEPs. Regulations 18 and 19 concern the holding of by-elections when vacancies cannot be filled from such lists. Schedule 3 amends the elections rules in Schedule 1 to the Representation of the People Act 1983, as applied by Schedule 1 to these Regulations, where the poll at a European Parliamentary election is taken together with the poll at a parliamentary election or local government election under section 15 of the Representation of the People Act 1985. Schedule 4 concerns proxy papers.

Offences created by this instrument

A person who makes a statement which he knows to be false in the declaration required by rule 8A(2) of the elections… regulation 5(1) · Revoked · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Representation Of The People Commons · Commons Chamber · 15 April 1999
That the draft European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 1999, which were laid before this House on 24th March, be approved.— [Mr. Pope.]
European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 1999 Lords · Lords Chamber · 22 April 1999
Local Elections (Ordinary Day Of Election 2004) Order 2004 Lords · Lords Chamber · 4 March 2004
The European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 2004 revoke the European Parliamentary Elections Regulations 1999 and make provision for the conduct of those elections in Great Britain and, for the first time, in Gibraltar. While the regulations provide largely for similar arrangements to those used in 1999—the date of the last European parliamentary elections—a number of significant changes are also being proposed. These regulations are necessary because those which governed the 1999 European parliamentary elections require amendment to take account of changes that we have since made to…

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

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