Section 1: Amendment of section 1(1)(e) of the Disqualification Acts
8.Section 1 amends the two Acts under which at present members of all legislatures of countries or territories outside the Commonwealth are disqualified from membership of the House of Commons and the Northern Ireland Assembly – the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 and the Northern Ireland Assembly Disqualification Act 1975 – so as to remove the disqualification for members of the Irish legislature.
9.Persons disqualified from being a member of the House of Commons are also disqualified from membership of the Scottish Parliament (by virtue of section 15(1)(a) of the Scotland Act 1998) and the National Assembly for Wales (by virtue of section 12(1)(a) of the Government of Wales Act 1998). Thus the amendment to the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 also allows members of the Irish legislature to be members of the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales.
