Law Commissions call for single framework for election law
A call for a new legal framework to govern the conduct of elections and referendums, delivering consistency across all types of election, is made in an interim report published today by the three UK Law Commissions.
The Commissions are undertaking a joint project on electoral law, which is currently spread across 17 major statutes and some 30 sets of regulations. They conclude that it has become increasingly complex and fragmented, and difficult to use. Since the turn of the century there has been a steady increase in the numbers and types of election, each with its own set of rules, and when these elections take place on the same day, special rules bring in even more complexity.
The reforms recommended today aim to make electoral laws consistent across all types of election, and simplify and modernise out-of-date and complex laws, many of them Victorian in origin.
In particular, the Commissions recommend that the process for challenging elections should be modernised, making it easier for parties to understand and use, and that judges be given the power, in appropriate cases, to limit the potential costs for challengers. The interim report also recommends that existing electoral offences be updated and made easier for the electorate, officials and prosecutors to understand, and that the maximum sentence for serious electoral offences be increased to 10 years.
Governments in the UK now have to decide whether to ask the Commissions to proceed to the next stage of the project, which would involve submitting final recommendations for reform, along with draft legislation.
Lord Pentland, Chairman of the Scottish Law Commission, commented: “Inconsistencies and ambiguities risk undermining the credibility of our electoral process. It has become essential for electoral law throughout the UK to be streamlined and put into a modern, accessible and user-friendly format that is fit for the 21st century.
“Throughout the project, we have stressed that our recommendations will be made taking into account the existing and emerging devolutionary framework, and we look forward to discussing this further with the Scottish Government. We have been delighted to participate in this important work and hope that the interim report will be received favourably.”
Nicholas Paines QC, for the Law Commission of England & Wales, added: "The law must be set out in such a way that policy development by Government, once properly scrutinised by Parliament, can be achieved by one legislative change, rather than a dozen spread out across several years. We are pleased to make these recommendations for reform and are hopeful that this opportunity to make electoral law more principled and efficient will be taken forward.”