Election offences

Election offences - casework location Code for Crown Prosecutors – considerations The law Charging practice Procedure – pre-trial Election offences - casework levels and location

Election offences - casework location

All cases involving election offences must be referred to Special Casework Division at Ludgate Hill or York.

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Code for Crown Prosecutors – considerations

The principal purpose of the relevant legislation (Representation of the People Acts 1983 and 1985 and Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000) is to maintain the integrity and probity of the electoral process.

Proceedings for major infringements will usually be in the public interest, but such prosecutions are infrequent.

Proceedings for minor infringements may not be in the public interest if:

The offence is of a 'technical' nature which does not infringe the spirit of the legislation;
The offence was committed as a result of a genuine mistake or misunderstanding;
The offence could not have influenced the result of the election process; or
The offender has remedied any breach of the law.

If the offence is minor and one or more of the above criteria applies the matter may be dealt by way of a caution administered by the police or, where appropriate, the provision of advice as to an individual's future conduct.

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The law

The principal legislation is:

The Representation of the People Act 1983 (the Act)
The Representation of the People Act 1985
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000
The Electoral Administration Act 2006.

Subordinate legislation is contained in the Representation of the People Regulations 1983 and 1986. European Elections are covered by relevant sections of the Act by virtue of Regulation 5(1) and Schedule 1 of the European Parliamentary Regulations 1986.

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Charging practice

There are three categories of electoral offence under the Act:

Corrupt practices
Illegal practices
Miscellaneous offences.

Corrupt practices are triable either way, illegal practices and miscellaneous offences are triable only summarily. Proceedings for any category of offence under the Act must be commenced within one year after the offence was committed.

Extension of Time Limit: section 70

Section 70 inserts a new section 176(2A) of the RPA providing that an application may be made to a magistrates' court for an extension of the current 12 month time limit for bringing a prosecution by up to a year. The court may grant an extension, if it is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances' justifying the grant of the application, and that there has been no undue delay in the investigation of the offence.

This provision came into force on 1 January 2007.

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Procedure – pre-trial

Allegations of electoral offences often originate from returning officers or rival candidates and their agents. When information is given to the Director that an election offence has occurred it is her or his duty under section 181 of the Act to make such inquiries and institute such proceedings as the circumstances appear to require.

If the primary information indicates that an election offence may have been committed police enquiries will normally be requested. Those enquiries will normally be confined to the taking of statements from the complainant and the returning officer and an interview with the alleged offender.

A parliamentary or local government election may also be questioned in civil proceedings by presentation of an election petition to the High Court, notice of which must be given to the Director. An election petition will often be countered by an application for relief requesting that either an innocent act be exempted from being declared an illegal practice or that exemption be given to a failure to comply with the statutory provisions about returns and election expenses.

The fact that an application for relief has been made does not prevent a subsequent prosecution against the applicant.

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