No. 14/1937:

LOCAL ELECTIONS ACT, 1937

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL

1 Short title.

2 The Minister.

3 Saving for dissolved authorities.

PART II TEMPORARY PROVISIONS FOR ELECTIONS TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES OTHER THAN THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH OF CORK

4 Definitions for the purposes of Part II.

5 Alteration of times for elections to local authorities.

6 Consequential provisions in regard to triennial elections.

7 Consequential provisions in regard to non-triennial elections.

8 Term of office of certain members of certain boards, etc.

9 Casual vacancies.

10 Remission of penalties for resignation.

11 Saving from disqualification in certain cases.

12 Amendment of Section 9 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898.

13 Removal of difficulties in regard to certain meetings.

14 Adaptation of enactments.

PART III TEMPORARY PROVISIONS FOR ELECTIONS TO THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH OF CORK

15 Definitions for the purposes of Part III.

16 Alteration of times for borough elections.

17 Provisions consequential on the alteration of the times of borough elections.

18 Provisions in regard to certain terms of office.

19 Casual vacancies in the Council.

20 Remission of penalties for resignation from the Council.

21 Saving from disqualification in relation to the Council.

22 Removal of difficulties in regard to a certain quarterly meeting.

23 Adaptation of enactments in regard to the council.

PART IV PROVISIONS IN RELATION TO CERTAIN ELECTION YEARS

24 Election year for vocational education committees.

25 Election year for Committees of agriculture.

AN ACT TO ALTER THE TIMES FOR HOLDING ELECTIONS OF MEMBERS OF CERTAIN LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND TO MAKE PROVISIONS CONSEQUENTIAL ON OR INCIDENTAL TO SUCH ALTERATION.

[2nd June, 1937.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—

PART I PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL

1.—This Act may be cited as the Local Elections Act, 1937 .

2.—In this Act the expression "the Minister" means the Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

3.—Nothing in this Act shall prejudice or affect the operation of any order made (whether before or after the passing of this Act) under section 12 of the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923 (No. 9 of 1923), or section 72 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925).

PART II TEMPORARY PROVISIONS FOR ELECTIONS TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES OTHER THAN THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH OF CORK

4.—(1) In this Part of this Act the expression "the Act of 1927" means the Local Elections Act, 1927 (No. 39 of 1927).

(2) Each of the following bodies shall be a local authority for the purposes of this Part of this Act and the expression "local authority" shall, in this Part of this Act, be construed accordingly, that is to say:—

( a ) the council of a county,

( b ) the council of a county borough other than the county borough of Cork,

( c ) the council of a borough,

( d ) the council of an urban district,

( e ) the commissioners of a town.

5.—(1) The Minister shall, before the 30th day of September, 1940, by order appoint in respect of every local authority a day not later than the said 30th day of September, 1940, to be the appointed day for the purposes of this Part of this Act in respect of such local authority.

(2) No triennial election of the members of any local authority (other than a local authority to which the next following sub-section of this section applies) shall be held during the period beginning on the date of the passing of this Act and ending on the day before the day which is the appointed day in respect of such local authority, but in lieu thereof an election of the members of such local authority shall be held on the said appointed day.

(3) Where an election (not being a triennial election) of the members of a local authority is required by law to be held within a specified period which expires on or before the 30th day of September, 1940, such election shall be held on the day which is the appointed day for such local authority.

(4) Different days may be appointed under this section to be, the appointed day in respect of different local authorities.

(5) Whenever the Minister has by an order under this section (including an order under this sub-section) appointed a day to be the appointed day for a local authority, he may by a subsequent order revoke such order and appoint under sub-section (1) of this section another day to be the appointed day for such local authority.

(6) Nothing in this section shall operate to restrict the power of the Minister under any enactment other than this Act to order an election of the members of a dissolved local authority to be held at any time.

(7) In this Act the expression "the appointed day" means the day appointed under this section to be the appointed day for the local authority in respect of which the expression is used.

6.—The following provisions shall have effect in relation to every election of the members of a local authority which is held on the appointed day in pursuance of this Part of this Act, that is to say:—

( a ) such election shall be deemed to be a triennial election, and the times for the holding of subsequent triennial elections of the members of such local authority shall be calculated accordingly;

( b ) save as is otherwise provided by this Act, the appointed day shall, for the purposes of Part II of the Act of 1927, be an ordinary day of election of the members of such local authority;

( c ) where such local authority is the council of a county, the seventh day after the appointed day shall, for the purposes of Part II of the Act of 1927, be an ordinary day of retirement of the members of such local authority, and accordingly the respective terms of office of such members shall continue until such seventh day and no longer;

( d ) where such local authority is not the council of a county, the fifth day after the appointed day shall, for the purposes of Part II of the Act of 1927, be an ordinary day of retirement of the members of such local authority, and accordingly the respective terms of office of such members shall continue until such fifth day and no longer.

7.—(1) No provision in any other enactment limiting the time within which an election (other than a triennial election) and the members of a local authority shall be held or caused to be held shall apply or have effect in relation to the election of the members of such local authority which is required by this Act to be held on the appointed day.

(2) Where an election (other than a triennial election) of the members of a local authority is required by this Act to be held on the appointed day, the order of the Minister appointing such appointed day shall contain a declaration either (as the Minister shall think proper) that such election shall be deemed to be a triennial election or that such election shall not be or be deemed to be a triennial election, and in every such case—

( a ) if such declaration is that such election shall be deemed to be a triennial election, then such election shall for all purposes be a triennial election of the members of such local authority and Part II of the Act of 1927 shall apply thereto accordingly, or

( b ) if such declaration is that such election shall not be or be deemed to be a triennial election, then such election shall not be a triennial election but the next subsequent election of the members of such local authority shall be a triennial election and, if it falls to be held before the 30th day of September, 1940, this Act shall apply to it.

8.—(1) This section applies to those members of a board, committee, or other body all or any of the members of which are required by law to be appointed triennially by the council of a county or a county borough who are appointed by the council of a county or a county borough a triennial election to which is required by this Act to be held on the appointed day and whose term of office is current at the passing of this Act.

(2) The term of office current at the passing of this Act of those members to which this section applies shall continue until the day after the day on which is held the annual meeting or, in the case of a county borough, the quarterly meeting next after the appointed day of the council by whom such members were appointed.

(3) Every doubt, question, and dispute as to whether any particular member of any board, committee, or other body is or is not a member to whom this section applies shall be determined by the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final and conclusive.

9.—(1) Every casual vacancy to which this section applies may be filled by means of the choice by the local authority in whose membership such vacancy has occurred of a person to fill such vacancy, but not otherwise.

(2) A person chosen under this section by a local authority to fill a casual vacancy to which this section applies shall hold office in all respects as if he has been elected to fill such vacancy.

(3) This section applies to every casual vacancy in the membership of any local authority which either occurred but was not filled before the passing of this Act or shall occur after the passing of this Act and before the appointed day and which in either case would, but for this section, be required by law to be filled by election.

10.—No member of a local authority a triennial election to which is required by this Act to be held on the appointed day who shall resign his office as such member after the passing of this Act and before the appointed day shall be liable to any fine or other penalty for or on account of such resignation.

11.—A member of a local authority a triennial election to which is held on the appointed day who has ceased or shall cease to be a local government elector in the functional area of such local authority by reason of the coming into force of a new register of local government electors on any day after the passing of this Act and before the appointed day shall not, by reason only of such cesser, be disqualified from continuing to hold office as a member of such local authority until the ordinary day of retirement of the members of such local authority next after the appointed day.

12.—The reference in sub-section (7) of section 9 of the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, as amended by section 77 of the Local Government Act, 1925 (No. 5 of 1925), to the three local financial years which ended next before the last triennial election of county councillors shall from the passing of this Act until the appointed day be construed as a reference to the three local financial years which ended next before the triennial election of county councillors next before the passing of this Act, and the said sub-section shall have effect accordingly.

13.—Where by virtue of this Act a triennial election of members of any local authority due to be held in the year 1937 is not so held and no date is appointed by such local authority for the holding of the annual meeting or the quarterly meeting (as the case may be) of such local authority which is required by law to be held during the period beginning on the 23rd day of June, 1937, and ending on the 1st day of July, 1937, or there is or shall be any other difficulty in regard to such meeting, the Minister may by order make such provision in regard to such meeting (including appointing a date for the holding thereof) as shall appear to him necessary for securing that such meeting shall be duly held within the said period and that the business of such meeting shall be duly transacted thereat.

14.—Every statute, order, and regulation relating to elections of members of any local authority or to the meetings of any local authority shall, in so far as it relates to any election which takes place on the appointed day or to the meetings of a local authority an election to which takes place on the appointed day, subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, the Minister may by order make such adaptations of or modification in any such statute, order, or regulation as may in his opinion be necessary to enable such statute, order, or regulation to have effect in accordance with this section.

PART III TEMPORARY PROVISIONS FOR ELECTIONS TO THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH OF CORK

15.—In this Part of this Act—

the expression "the Council" means the council of the county borough of Cork;

the expression "borough election" means an election of members of the Council.

16.—(1) The Minister shall before the 30th day of September, 1940, by order appoint a day not later than the said 30th day of September, 1940, to be the appointed day for the purposes of this Part of this Act in respect of the Council.

(2) No borough election shall be held during the period beginning on the date of the passing of this Act and ending on the day before the day appointed under this section to be the appointed day in respect of the Council, but a borough election shall be held on the said day so appointed to be the appointed day and borough elections shall be held annually thereafter.

(3) In this Part of this Act the expression "the appointed day" means the day appointed under this section to be the appointed day in respect of the Council.

17.—The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the terms of office current at the passing of this Act of the members of the Council, that is to say:—

( a ) as regards those members whose terms of office are due to expire on the fifth day after the borough election which would, but for this Act, be held in 1937, such terms shall continue until the fifth day after the appointed day,

( b ) as regards those members whose terms of office are due to expire on the fifth day after the borough election which would, but for this Act, be held in 1938, such terms shall continue until the fifth day after the first borough election after the appointed day,

( c ) as regards those members whose terms of office are due to expire on the fifth day after the borough election which would, but for this Act, be held in 1939, such terms shall continue until the fifth day after the second borough election after the appointed day.

18.—(1) This section applies to those members of any board, committee, or other body all or any of the members of which are required by law to be appointed triennially by the Council who are appointed by the Council and whose term of office is current at the passing of this Act.

(2) The term of office current at the passing of this Act of those members to which this section applies shall continue until the day after the day on which is held the quarterly meeting of the Council next after the appointed day.

(3) Every doubt, question, and dispute as to whether any particular member of any board, committee, or other body is or is not a member to whom this section applies shall be determined by the Minister whose decision thereon shall be final and conclusive.

19.—(1) In this section the expression "casual vacancy" means any vacancy in the membership of the Council caused by the death, resignation or disqualification of a member thereof occurring but not filled before the passing of this Act or occurring after the passing of this Act and before the appointed day.

(2) Whenever a casual vacancy occurs the Council may, at any time thereafter in their absolute discretion, by resolution passed for that purpose after one week's notice to every member of the Council determine to fill such casual vacancy by co-option in accordance with this sub-section, and upon such resolution being passed the Council may either at the meeting at which such resolution was passed or any subsequent meeting thereof elect by the votes of a simple majority of the members of the Council present and voting at such meeting a person to fill such casual vacancy.

(3) A person co-opted under this section to fill a casual vacancy shall hold office in all respects as if he were the person whose vacancy he fills.

(4) This section shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in section 4 of the Cork City Management Act, 1929 (No. 1 of 1929).

20.—No member of the Council who shall resign his office as such member after the passing of this Act and before the appointed day shall be liable to any fine or other penalty for or on account of such resignation.

21.—A member of the Council who has ceased or shall cease to be a local government elector in the functional area of the Council by reason of the coming into force of a new register of local government electors on any day after the passing of this Act and before the appointed day shall not, by reason only of such cesser, be disqualified from continuing to hold office as a member of the Council until the fifth day after the appointed day.

22.—Where by virtue of this Act the borough election due to be held in the year 1937 is not so held and no date is appointed by the Council for the holding of the quarterly meeting of the Council which is required by law to be held during the period beginning on the 23rd day of June, 1937, and ending on the 1st day of July, 1937, or there is or shall be any other difficulty in regard to such meeting, the Minister may by order make such provision in regard to such meeting (including appointing a date for the holding thereof) as shall appear to him necessary for securing that such meeting shall be duly held within the said period and that the business of such meeting shall be duly transacted thereat.

23.—Every statute, order, and regulation relating to borough elections of members of the Council or to the meetings of the Council shall, in so far as it relates to any borough election which takes place on the appointed day or to meetings of the Council after the passing of this Act and before the appointed day, have effect subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, and the Minister may by order make such adaptations or modifications in any such statute, order, or regulation as may in his opinion be necessary to enable such statute, order, or regulation to have effect in accordance with this section.

PART IV PROVISIONS IN RELATION TO CERTAIN ELECTION YEARS

24.— Section 12 of the Local Elections and Meetings (Postponement) Act, 1931 (No. 17 of 1931), is hereby repealed and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted for the purposes of the Vocational Education Act, 1930 (No. 29 of 1930), that, in relation to every council of a county, county borough or urban district and every vocational education committee, the year in which the day appointed under this Act for the holding of an election of members of such council occurs shall be an election year and every third successive year after that year shall also be all election year.

25.—So much of the Second Schedule to the Agriculture Act, 1931 (No. 8 of 1931), as defines the expression "election year" is hereby repealed and in lieu thereof it is hereby enacted that, in relation to every county council and every committee of agriculture, the year in which the day appointed under this Act for the holding of an election of members of such council occurs shall be an election year for the purposes of the said Schedule and every third successive year after that year shall also be an election year for the said purposes.