UK Offence Report

Officials not to act for candidates

article 71(1) of The National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 1999

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

1 If— a any constituency or regional returning officer at a constituency election, b any constituency or regional returning officer at a regional election, c any officer or clerk appointed under Schedule 5, or d any partner or clerk of any such person, acts as an agent for an individual candidate or a group of party list candidates in the conduct or management of the election, he shall be guilty of an offence, but nothing in this article prevents an individual candidate from acting as his own election agent or a party list candidate from acting as election agent for the candidates on the list.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
an officer
Conduct
breaching the provision
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 an officer 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 article 71(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 what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 1999.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
Unlimited
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
6 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

level 5 is unlimited in England and Wales for offences committed on or after 12 March 2015 (LASPO 2012 s.85, S.I. 2015/664).

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 March 1999
In force from
Not determined
Extent
Not stated

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.

The National Assembly for Wales (“the Assembly”) is established by the Government of Wales Act 1998 and this Order makes provision as to the conduct of elections and return of members to the Assembly. The Order makes other related provision e.g. with respect to the questioning of Assembly elections. Part I of the Order makes general provision relating to the Order. Part II of the Order makes provision in connection with the Assembly franchise and its exercise. Part III of the Order makes provision in connection with election campaigns at Assembly elections. Part IV of the Order makes provision in connection with legal proceedings and, in particular, election petitions. Part V of the Order makes miscellaneous and supplemental provision in connection with Assembly elections. Schedule 1 to the Order makes provision in connection with electors list and registers. Schedule 2 to the Order makes provision in connection with absent voting at Assembly elections. Schedule 3 to the Order makes provision in connection with the issue and receipt of postal ballot papers at Assembly elections. Schedule 4 to the Order makes provision in connection with the combination of polls at Assembly and local government elections. Schedule 5 to the Order makes provision in connection with the conduct of Assembly elections and the return of Assembly members. Schedule 6 to the Order sets out forms relating to returns and declarations as to election expenses in respect of Assembly elections. Schedule 7 to the Order makes provision in connection with the use for Assembly election meetings of rooms in school premises and of meeting rooms. Schedule 8 makes provision to modify the Election Petition Rules 1960 in connection with their application in relation to Assembly election petitions.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same 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 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 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