European Assembly Elections Act 1978 (Repealed)
This Act makes provision for the election in the United Kingdom of Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”).
66 shall be elected in England;
The United Kingdom shall be divided into electoral regions.
8 shall be elected in Scotland;
England shall be divided into nine electoral regions.
4 shall be elected in Wales; and
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland shall each constitute a single electoral region.
3 shall be elected in Northern Ireland.
The number of MEPs elected in the United Kingdom shall be 87, of whom—
71 shall be elected for electoral regions in England,
8 shall be elected for Scotland,
5 shall be elected for Wales, and
3 shall be elected for Northern Ireland.
Schedule 2 (which sets out the electoral regions in England and makes provision for the number of MEPs to be elected for each region) shall have effect.
The system of election in an electoral region in Great Britain shall be a regional list system complying with the following conditions.
A vote may be cast for a registered party, or an individual candidate, named on the ballot paper.
The first seat shall be allocated to the party or individual candidate with the greatest number of votes.
The second and subsequent seats shall be allocated in the same way, except that the number of votes given to a party to which one or more seats have already been allocated shall be divided by the number of seats allocated plus one.
In allocating the second or any subsequent seat there shall be disregarded any votes given to—
a party to which there has already been allocated a number of seats equal to the number of names on the party’s list of candidates, and
an individual candidate to whom a seat has already been allocated.
Seats allocated to a party shall be filled by the persons named on the party’s list of candidates in the order in which they appear on that list.
For the purposes of subsections (3) and (4) fractions shall be taken into account.
In this section—
“registered party” means a party registered under Part II of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000;
a reference to a party’s “list of candidates” is a reference to the list submitted in accordance with regulations made as required by paragraph 2(3B) of Schedule 1.
Without prejudice to any enactment relating to voting offences as applied by regulations under this Act to elections of MEPs held in the United Kingdom, a person shall be guilty of an offence if, on any occasion when under Article 9 elections to the Assembly are held in all the member States, he votes otherwise than as a proxy more than once in those elections, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.
The provisions of the Representation of the People Act 1983 as applied by regulations under this Act shall have effect in relation to an offence under this section as they have effect in relation to an offence under section 61(2) of that Act (double voting); and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, section 61(7) of that Act (which makes such an offence an illegal practice but allows any incapacity resulting from conviction to be mitigated by the convicting court) and section 178 of that Act (prosecutions for offences committed outside the United Kingdom) shall apply accordingly.
The system of election in Northern Ireland shall be a single transferable vote system under which—
a vote is capable of being given so as to indicate the voter’s order of preference for the candidates, and
a vote is capable of being transferred to the next choice—
when the vote is not required to give a prior choice the necessary quota of votes, or
when, owing to the deficiency in the number of votes given for a prior choice, that choice is eliminated from the list of candidates.
In Part III of Schedule 1 to the Juries Act 1974 (excusal of certain persons from jury service in England and Wales) . . ., before the heading “The Forces” there shall be inserted the following:.
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Schedule 1 (which makes supplementary provision about the holding of elections, the filling of vacancies, and disqualification) shall have effect.
No treaty which provides for any increase in the powers of the Assembly shall be ratified by the United Kingdom unless it has been approved by an Act of Parliament.
In this section “treaty” includes any international agreement, and any protocol or annex to a treaty or international agreement.
A person shall be entitled to vote as an elector at a European Parliamentary election in an electoral region if he is within any of subsections (2) to (5) below.
A person is within this subsection if on the day of the poll he would be entitled to vote as an elector at a parliamentary election in a parliamentary constituency wholly or partly comprised in the electoral region, and—
the address in respect of which he is registered in the relevant register of parliamentary electors is within the electoral region, or
his registration in the relevant register of parliamentary electors results from an overseas elector’s declaration which specifies an address within the electoral region.
A person is within this subsection if—
he is a peer who on the day of the poll would be entitled to vote at a local government election in an electoral area wholly or partly comprised in the electoral region, and
the address in respect of which he is registered in the relevant register of local government electors is within the electoral region.
A person is within this subsection if he is entitled to vote in the electoral region by virtue of section 3(2) to (9) of the Representation of the People Act 1985 (peers resident outside the United Kingdom).
A person is within this subsection if he is entitled to vote in the electoral region by virtue of the European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001 (relevant citizens of the European Union).
Subsection (1) shall have effect subject to any provision of regulations made under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 which provides for alterations made after a specified date in a register of electors to be disregarded.
In subsection (3) “local government election” includes a municipal election in the City of London (that is, an election to the office of mayor, alderman, common councilman or sheriff and also the election of any officer elected by the mayor, aldermen and liverymen in common hall).
There shall be charged on, and paid out of, the Consolidated Fund.
charges to which persons on whom functions are conferred by regulations made by virtue of paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 1 are entitled by virtue of regulations under this Act, and
any increase attributable to this Act in the sums charged on and payable out of that Fund under any other enactment.
any sums required by the Secretary of State for expenditure on the provision of training relating to functions conferred by regulations made by virtue of paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 1;
There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament—
any additional sums payable by way of rate support grant because of an increase attributable to this Act in the registration expenses of registration officers in Great Britain;
any increase so attributable in the sums payable out of money so provided under section 54(2) of the Representation of the People Act 1983 on account of the registration expenses of registration officers in Northern Ireland; and
any increase so attributable in the sums payable out of money so provided under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949.
The poll at each general election of MEPs shall be held on a day appointed by order of the Secretary of State.
A statutory instrument made under this section shall be laid before Parliament after being made.
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In this Act—
any reference to a numbered Article is a reference to the Article so numbered of the Act concerning the election of the representatives of the Assembly by direct universal suffrage annexed to the decision of the Council of the European Communities dated the 20th September 1976, and any reference to a numbered subdivision of a numbered Article shall be construed accordingly;
“enactment” includes an enactment contained in an Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland or an Order in Council made under the Northern Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act 1972, or in a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Except where the context otherwise requires, any reference in this Act to an enactment is a reference to that enactment as amended, and includes a reference to it as applied, by or under any other enactment, including this Act.
This Act may be cited as the European Parliamentary Elections Act 1978.
Any power to make orders or regulations conferred by this Act shall be exercisable by statutory instrument; and any power to make an order under any provision of this Act includes power to vary or revoke a previous order made under that provision.
Section 3.
The persons entitled to vote as electors at an European Parliamentary election in any particular European Parliamentary constituency shall be— In an European Parliamentary election in the constituency of Northern Ireland each vote shall be a single transferable vote, that is to say a vote— Subject to the provisions of this and the following paragraph, the Secretary of State may by regulations make provision— Regulations under this paragraph may make provision (including the creation of criminal offences)— For the purposes of this sub-paragraph a person stands for election if he is nominated as a candidate or is included in a party’s list of candidates. Regulations under this paragraph shall, in relation to an election in an electoral region in Great Britain, make provision for the nomination of registered parties, including provision requiring a nomination to be accompanied by a list of candidates numbering no more than the MEPs to be elected for that region. Regulations under this paragraph may— Section 26of the Welsh Language Act 1993(power to prescribe Welsh version) shall apply in relation to regulations under this paragraph as it applies in relation to Acts of Parliament. No regulations shall be made under this paragraph unless a draft thereof has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
Regulations under paragraph 2 shall include provision prescribing the procedure to be followed when a seat is or becomes vacant. The regulations may— Where regulations provide for a by-election to be held— A statutory instrument containing an order made by virtue of sub-paragraph (3) shall be laid before Parliament after being made.
There shall be a returning officer for each electoral region who shall be— Regulations under paragraph 2 may confer functions on the returning officers for electoral regions and on persons who are, in relation to parliamentary elections— The council of a relevant area which is wholly or partly within an electoral region shall place the services of their officers at the disposal of any person on whom functions in relation to that region are conferred in accordance with sub-paragraph (2), for the purpose of assisting him in the discharge of those functions. In sub-paragraph (3), “relevant area” means—
Subject to sub-paragraph (3) below, and without prejudice to Article 6(1) (incompatibility of office of representative with certain offices in or connected with Community institutions), a person is disqualified for the office of Member of the Assembly if— A person is disqualified for the office of Member of the Assembly for a particular European Parliamentaryelectoral region if he is under section 1(2) of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 disqualified for membership of the House of Commons for any particular parliamentary constituency wholly or partly comprised in that European Parliamentaryelectoral region. A citizen of the Union, determined in accordance with article 8.1 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (as amended by Title II of the Treaty on European Union), who is not a Commonwealth citizen or citizen of the Republic of Ireland is disqualified under this paragraph for the office of Member of the European Parliament if he is disqualified for that office through a criminal law or civil law decision under the law of the Member State of which he is a national. In sub-paragraph (2A) above “a criminal law or civil law decision” has the same meaning as it has in the directive of the Council of the European Communities No.93/109/EC. If a person who is disqualified under this paragraph for the office of MEP is returned as an MEP under— his return shall be void and his seat vacant. If a person who is disqualified under this paragraph for the office of MEP for a particular electoral region is returned as an MEP for that region under— his return shall be void and his seat vacant. If a Member ofthe Assembly becomes disqualified under this paragraph for the office of Member of the Assembly or for the office of Member of the Assembly for the European Parliamentaryelectoral region for which he was returned, his seat shall be vacated. A statutory instrument made under this paragraph shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
Any person may apply to the court for a declaration or, as the case may be, a declarator that a person who purports to be an MEP - The decision of the court on an application under this paragraph shall be final. On an application under this paragraph the person in respect of whom the application is made shall be the respondent or, as the case may be, defender; and the applicant shall give such security for the costs or expenses of the proceedings, not exceeding £5,000, as the court may direct. No declaration or declarator shall be made under this paragraph in respect of any person on grounds which subsisted at the time of his election if there is pending, or has been tried, an election petition in which his disqualification on those grounds is, or was, in issue. Any declaration or declarator made by the court on an application under this paragraph shall be certified in writing to the Secretary of State forthwith by the court. The court for the purposes of this paragraph is the High Court, the Court of Session or the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland according as the European Parliamentaryelectoral region to which the application relates is in England and Wales, or Scotland, or Northern Ireland; and in this paragraph “disqualified” means disqualified under paragraph 5 above for the office of Member of to the Assembly (whether generally or in relation to a particular European Parliamentaryelectoral region). The Secretary of State may by order substitute another figure for the figure in sub-paragraph (2). A statutory instrument made under sub-paragraph (6) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
As soon as may be after the passing of this Act each Boundary Commission shall submit to the Secretary of State a report showing the Assembly constituencies into which they recommend that the part of Great Britain with which they are concerned should be divided in order to give effect to the provisions of paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 to this Act and Part II of this Schedule.
Where the Boundary Commission for any part of Great Britain intend to consider making a supplementary report under this Schedule, they shall, by notice in writing, inform the Secretary of State accordingly, and a copy of the notice shall be published— As soon as may be after a Boundary Commission have submitted a supplementary report to the Secretary of State under this Schedule, he shall lay the report before Parliament together, except in a case where the report states that no alteration is required to be made in respect of the part of Great Britain with which the Commission are concerned, with the draft of an Order in Council for giving effect, whether with or without modifications, to the recommendations contained in the report.
The draft of any Order in Council laid before Parliament by the Secretary of State under this Schedule for giving effect, whether with or without modifications, to the recommendations contained in a supplementary report of a Boundary Commission may make provision for any matters which appear to him to be incidental to, or consequential on, the recommendations. Where any such draft gives effect to any such recommendations with modifications, the Secretary of State shall lay before Parliament together with the draft a statement of the reasons for the modifications. If any such draft is approved by resolution of each House of Parliament, the Secretary of State shall submit it to Her Majesty in Council. If a motion for the approval of any such draft is rejected by either House of Parliament or withdrawn by leave of the House, the Secretary of State may amend the draft and lay the amended draft before Parliament, and if the draft as so amended is approved by resolution of each House of Parliament, the Secretary of State shall submit it to Her Majesty in Council. Where the draft of an Order in Council is submitted to Her Majesty in Council under this Schedule, Her Majesty in Council may make an Order in terms of the draft which (subject to paragraph 8 below) shall come into force on such date as may be specified in the Order and shall have effect notwithstanding anything in any enactment. The validity of any Order in Council purporting to be made under this Schedule and reciting that a draft of the Order has been approved by resolution of each House of Parliament shall not be called in question in any legal proceedings whatsoever.
A Boundary Commission may, if they think fit, cause a local inquiry to be held in respect of any European Parliamentary constituency or constituencies. Where, on the publication of the notice under paragraph 5 above of a recommendation of a Boundary Commission for the alteration of any European Parliamentary constituencies, the Commission receive any representation objecting to the proposed recommendation from an interested authority or from a body of electors numbering five hundred or more, the Commission shall not make the recommendation unless, since the publication of the notice, a local inquiry has been held in respect of the European Parliamentary constituencies. Where a local inquiry was held in respect of the European Parliamentary constituencies before the publication of the notice mentioned in sub-paragraph (2) above, that sub-paragraph shall not apply if the Commission, after considering the matters discussed at the local inquiry, the nature of the representations received on the publication of the notice and any other relevant circumstances, are of opinion that a further local inquiry would not be justified. In sub-paragraph (2) above, “interested authority” and “elector” respectively means, in relation to any recommendation, a local authority whose area is wholly or partly comprised in the European Parliamentary constituencies affected by the recommendation, and an elector for any of those European Parliamentary constituencies; and for this purpose “local authority” means—
Where the Boundary Commission for any part of Great Britain submit to the Secretary of State a report under section 2(1) of the 1949 Act, they shall submit with it a supplementary report either—
showing the Assembly constituencies into which they recommend that that part of Great Britain should be divided in order to give effect to the provisions of paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 to this Act and Part II of this Schedule; or
stating that, in the opinion of the Commission, no alteration is required to be made in the Assembly constituencies in that part of Great Britain in order to give effect to those provisions.
Where the Boundary Commission for any part of Great Britain submit to the Secretary of State a report under section 2(3) of the 1949 Act containing recommendations which, if no alteration were made in the Assembly constituencies into which that part of Great Britain is for the time being divided, would produce a result in conflict with paragraph 9 below, they shall submit with it a supplementary report showing the alterations which they recommend should be made in those Assembly constituencies in order to avoid such a result.
Subject to the following sub-paragraph— In their application in accordance with the preceding sub-paragraph the provisions there mentioned shall have effect with the following modifications, that is to say—
Where a Boundary Commission have provisionally determined to make recommendations with respect to any European Parliamentary constituency, they shall publish a notice under this paragraph in such manner as they think best calculated to bring it to the attention of those concerned. A notice under this paragraph relating to an European Parliamentary constituency shall state— and the Commission shall take into consideration any representations duly made in accordance with any such notice. Where a Boundary Commission revise any proposed recommendations after publishing a notice of them under this paragraph the Commission shall publish a further notice under this paragraph in relation to the revised recommendations, as if no earlier notice had been published.
Section 250(2) and (3) of the Local Government Act 1972 or, as the case may be, section 210(4) and (5) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (attendance of witnesses at inquiries) shall apply in relation to an inquiry held in pursuance of paragraph 5A above.
Nothing in paragraphs 4A and 4B above shall be taken as enabling the Secretary of State to modify any recommendation or draft Order in Council in a manner conflicting with the provisions of Part II of this Schedule.
An Order in Council under this Schedule shall apply to the first general election of representatives to the Assembly held after the Order comes into force and (subject to any further Order in Council) to any subsequent European Parliamentary election, but shall not affect any earlier election. The validity of an European Parliamentary election held in an European Parliamentary constituency consisting of an area determined by an Order in Council made under this Schedule, being an Order which applies to that election, shall not be affected by any alteration made in any parliamentary constituency since the making of that Order.
In Great Britain—
each European Parliamentary constituency shall consist of an area that includes two or more parliamentary constituencies; and
no parliamentary constituency shall be included partly in one European Parliamentary constituency and partly in another.
The electorate of any European Parliamentary constituency in Great Britain shall be as near the electoral quota as is reasonably practicable having regard, where appropriate, to special geographical considerations.
In this Schedule—
“Boundary Commission” means a Boundary Commission provided for by the 1986 Act other than the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland.
“the 1986 Act” means the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986;
“electoral quota” means the number obtained by dividing the electorate of that part of Great Britain by the number of European Parliamentary constituencies specified for that part in paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 to this Act;
In Part II of this Schedule and this paragraph in their application to a part of Great Britain for which there is a Boundary Commission—
" electoral quota " means the number obtained by dividing the electorate of that part of Great Britain by die number of Assembly constituencies specified for that part in paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 to this Act;
" electorate " means—
“the relevant registers” means the following registers under the Representation of the People Acts, namely—
in relation to any report of a Boundary Commission under paragraph 1 above, the 16th February 1977;
in relation to that part of Great Britain, the registers of parliamentary electors for the parliamentary constituencies in that part.
in relation to any supplementary report of a Boundary Commission under paragraph 2 or 3 above, the date on which the notice with respect to that report is published in accordance with section 2(4) of the 1949 Act;
in relation to that part of Great Britain, the registers of parliamentary electors for the parliamentary constituencies in that part.
in relation to that part of Great Britain, the number of persons whose names appear on the relevant registers for that part of Great Britain in force on the enumeration date;
“electorate” means—
in relation to an European Parliamentary constituency, the number of persons whose names appear on the relevant registers for that European Parliamentary constituency in force on the enumeration date;
in relation to that part of Great Britain, the number of persons whose names appear on the relevant registers for that part of Great Britain in force on the enumeration date;