Public Elections (Amendment No. 7) (Jersey) Law 2017

Public Elections (Amendment No . 7) ( Jersey) Law 2017 Arrangement Article 1 Interpretation . 3 2 Article 4 substituted and Article 4A inserted . 3 3 Article 5 amended . 4 4 Article 35 amended . 4 5 Article 38 amended . 5 6 Article 39 amended . 5 7 Article 42 amended . 5 8 Article 43 amended . 5 9 Citation and commencement 5 Public Elections (Amendment No . 7) ( Jersey) Law 2017 A LAW to amend further the Public Elections (Jersey) Law 2002 Adopted by the States 18th January 2017 Sanctioned by Order of Her Majesty in Council 12th April 2017 Registered by the Royal Court 21st April 2017 THE STATES , subject to the sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law – 1 Interpretatio n In this Law a reference to an Article by number only is a reference to the Article of the same number in the Public Elections (Jersey) Law 2002 [1] . 2 Article 4 substituted and Article 4A inserted For Article 4 there shall be substituted the following Articles – “4 Disqualification of certain offenders (1) A convicted person, during the time that he or she is – (a) detained in a prison or other penal institution in pursuance of a sentence of imprisonment for a period exceeding 4 years; or (b) unlawfully at large when he or she would otherwise be so detained in pursuance of a sentence of imprisonment for any period, is legally incapable of voting at a public election. (2) For the purposes of this Article – (a) ‘convicted person’ means any person found guilty in Jersey or elsewhere of an offence (whether under the law of Jersey or another place), including a person found guilty by a court-martial or other court or tribunal applying any law applicable to armed services; (b) a person detained for default in complying with his or her sentence shall not be treated as detained in pursuance of the sentence, whether or not the sentence provided for detention in the event of default; (c) a person detained by virtue of a conditional pardon in respect of an offence shall be treated as detained in pursuance of his or her sentence for the offence; and (d) it does not matter whether the person has been convicted or sentenced before or after this Article comes into force. 4A Voting by prisoners not disqualified under Article 4 (1) This Article applies to persons who – (a) are detained (whether following conviction or otherwise) in a prison or other penal institution; and (b) are not disqualified under Article 4. (2) A person to whom this Article applies may vote in a public election only – (a) by postal vote, in accordance with Part 7; or (b) pursuant to measures taken by an Autorisé or Adjoint under Article 35.”. 3 Article 5 amended At the end of Article 5 there shall be added the following paragraph – “(3) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(c) – (a) a person is not to be treated as ordinarily resident in Jersey if the person becomes resident in Jersey only in pursuance of a sentence of imprisonment; and (b) in relation to any person who, before being detained in a prison or other penal institution pursuant to a sentence of imprisonment, was not entitled to have his or her name included on the electoral registers, the calculation of a period of ordinary residence shall not include any period during which the person is so detained.”. 4 Article 35 amended (1) For the heading to Article 35 there shall be substituted the following heading – “Measures to assist voting by certain persons who are ill, disabled etc.”. (2) For Article 35(1) there shall be substituted the following paragraph – “(1) In the case of a person who is – (a) entitled to vote; but (b) prevented from voting by reason that he or she is ill, disabled, illiterate or in custody, the Autorisé or an Adjoint may take such measures as he or she considers appropriate for taking the person’s vote on the day the poll is open, provided secrecy in voting is maintained.”. 5 Article 38 amended In Article 38, after the words “Every voter” there shall be inserted the following words “, except a person entitled to vote only by virtue of Article 4A,”. 6 Article 39 amended In Article 39, for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs – “(a) the person is likely to be out of Jersey during the hours of polling; (b) the person is, or will on the day of a poll for a public election be, detained in a prison or other penal institution and entitled to vote in that election only by virtue of Article 4A; or (c) the person’s name and address are omitted from the electoral register under Article 9.”. 7 Article 42 amended In Article 42(11), for the words “ill, disabled, illiterate or remanded in custody” there shall be substituted the words “ill, disabled or illiterate”. 8 Article 43 amended In Article 43, after paragraph (3) there shall be added the following paragraph – “(4) Where the Judicial Greffier receives an application after any closing time notified to the public under Article 40(3)(a), the Judicial Greffier may, if he or she considers there are exceptional circumstances which justify doing so, accept the application and treat it as properly made for the purposes of this Part.”. 9 Citation and commencement This Law may be cited as the Public Elections (Amendment No. 7) (Jersey) Law 2017 and shall come into force 7 days after the day on which it is registered. l.-m. hart Deputy Greffier of the States [1] chapter 16.600