UK Offence Report

Requirement of secrecy

paragraph 27(8) of SCHEDULE 1 of The Scottish Local Government Elections Order 2011

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

8 If a person acts in contravention of this rule that person shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the amount specified as level5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach paragraph 27(8) of SCHEDULE 1?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Scottish Local Government Elections Order 2011, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
10 November 2011
In force from
Not determined
Extent
S

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order, which revokes and replaces the Scottish Local Elections Order 2007 (“the 2007 Order”), provides for the conduct of elections of members of local authorities. Article3 provides that such elections shall be conducted in accordance with the rules set out in Schedule1 to the Order. Article2 defines various terms used in the Order. Article6 makes saving provision to provide that the Order applies to the local government elections to be held on 3rdMay 2012 and subsequent elections but not to any election held before that date, to which the 2007 Order will continue to apply. Schedule1 to the Order sets out the rules which apply for the purpose of the conduct of local government elections. These rules contain some differences from the rules in the 2007 Order, in many cases to follow amendments made to the parliamentary elections rules. In particular, rule 1 (timetable) now provides that nomination papers must be delivered by not later than the 23rd day before the poll, rather than the 16th day. Rule 4 (nomination of candidates) allows for use of commonly used names instead of other names. There are changes to rule 19 (supply of free copy of register, lists and notices), rule 22 (provision of polling stations), rule 24 (issue of official poll cards and notifications) and rule 26 (appointment of polling and counting agents). Rule 27 (requirement of secrecy) now includes a prohibition on publication of exit polls, in line with other elections. Rule 33 (voting procedure) clarifies that where a person is waiting to cast their vote at a polling station at the close of the poll, they must be permitted to vote. Changes have been made to the rules for counting of votes and retention of documents. Rule 42 (counting of votes) allows non-electronic counting of votes at a by-election and rule 44 (rejected ballot papers) permits void ballot papers to be so marked electronically. Rule 60 (retention of documents) requires that information be kept by the proper officer of the council for one year after a poll, rather than requiring electronic information to be kept for four years. Rule 61 (publication of voting information) has been introduced to make some voting information available after a poll where electronic counting is used, with safeguards to ensure that the secrecy of individual votes is protected. Rule 62 (death of a candidate) has been amended in line with the approach taken at Scottish Parliamentary elections, which allow in some cases a result to be declared where the deceased candidate does not obtain sufficient votes to be elected. However, where a deceased candidate obtains sufficient votes to be elected, no member will be returned and the poll will be re-arranged. The forms in Schedule 1 have been revised to take account of changes to electoral procedures. Specifically, the format of the ballot paper (Form 4) has been revised, including the instructions to voters. Schedule2 modifies the rules in Schedule1 where the poll at a local government election is taken together with a poll at UK parliamentary or European parliamentary elections under section15(1) or (2) of the Representation of the People Act 1985. Section15(1) requires the poll at an ordinary local government election to be taken together with the poll at a parliamentary or European Parliament general election when those polls are to be taken on the same day. Section15(2) allows the returning officers at two or more elections for related areas (within the meaning of section15(3)), the polls at which are taken on the same day, to agree to those polls being taken together. Schedule2 makes provision equivalent to the modifications to the parliamentary elections rules made by regulation98 of the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 1986. Schedules3 and 4 prescribe modified forms in consequence of the modifications prescribed in Schedule2.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.72.

Basis
the provision states liability on summary conviction; the provision states a penalty in older drafting
Confidence
0.72 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source