UK Offence Report

The Representation of the People (Northern Ireland)(Amendment) Regulations 2007

UK Statutory Instrument 2007 No. 1612 — creates 2 criminal offences.

2offences created
0recorded in force
0revoked
Made
23 May 2007
In force from
6 June 2007
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Elections and representation of the people
Made under
Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, Representation of the People Act 1983

Explanatory note

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

These Regulations amend the Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2001 (S.I.2001/400)(“2001 Regulations”) to enable the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland to request information from local and public authorities in Northern Ireland. Section 2 of the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 (c.33) (“2006 Act”) removed the legal obligation to conduct an annual canvass in Northern Ireland. The annual canvass has been replaced with a more extensive system of continuous updating of the electoral register. The Chief Electoral Officer, as the registration officer for all constituencies in Northern Ireland, has responsibility for maintaining the electoral register in Northern Ireland. Section 10ZB of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (c.2), as inserted by section 4 of the 2006 Act, sets out the “relevant registration objectives” which the registration officer must aim to meet in maintaining the register. In order to assist the registration officer in meeting the registration objectives under the new system of continuous updating, these Regulations enable him to request information for the purposes of ensuring that the register is accurate and comprehensive. Regulation 3 substitutes new regulations 35, 35A and 35B for regulations 35 and 35A of the 2001 Regulations, which gave the registration officer powers to inspect records of certain public authorities and to request information relating to national insurance numbers from the Department for Work and Pensions respectively. New regulation 35 sets out the form which a request for information by the registration officer must take and the response required by the recipients of the request. New regulation 35A(2) sets out the public authorities which are required to supply the registration officer with information following a request made under regulation 35. New regulation 35A(3) to (6) set out the information which the registration officer may require in relation to people and buildings. New regulation 35B safeguards the onwards transmission of the information by providing that the information may only be passed to a third party for the purposes of meeting the registration objectives or for criminal or civil proceedings. It is an offence to disclose information in breach of these safeguards.

Offences created by this instrument

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.

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