Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Election Against Benefits Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 and shall come into operation on 19th December 2003.

(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(4) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.

Modification of the County Courts Act

2.—(1) The County Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 1959(5) shall have effect subject to the following modifications.

(2) In section 116A(6) –

(a)in subsection (2) the definition of “personal pension scheme” shall be omitted;

(b)in subsection (3) for paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following paragraph –

“(b)be entitled at any time to serve on the Lord Chancellor a written notice of election not to be a member of the judges' pension scheme, to take effect on a date not less than one month after the date on which it was served.”.

Modification of the Resident Magistrates' Pensions Act

3.—(1) The Resident Magistrates' Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 1960(7) shall have effect subject to the following modifications.

(2) In section 2A(8) –

(a)in subsection (2) the definition of “personal pension scheme” shall be omitted;

(b)in subsection (3) for paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following paragraph –

“(b)be entitled at any time to serve on the Lord Chancellor a written notice of election not to be a member of the resident magistrates' pension scheme, to take effect on a date not less than one month after the date on which it was served.”.

Modification of the Social Security Act

4.—(1) The Social Security (Northern Ireland) Act 1975(9) shall have effect subject to the following modifications.

(2) In paragraph 7A of Schedule 10(10) –

(a)in sub-paragraph (2) the definition of “personal pension scheme” shall be omitted;

(b)in sub-paragraph (3) for head (b) there shall be substituted the following head –

“(b)be entitled at any time to serve on the Lord Chancellor a written notice of election not to be a member of the Commissioners' pension scheme, to take effect on a date not less than one month after the date on which it was served.”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations modify the County Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 1959, the Resident Magistrates' Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 1960 and the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Act 1975 (“the judicial pensions provisions”) consequential upon the provisions of section 156 of the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993. The modified provisions clarify that social security commissioners, county court judges and resident magistrates may elect not to acquire pension rights under the judicial pensions provisions, whether or not they join any other pension scheme and without the need to notify the Lord Chancellor of the identity of any pension scheme which they join.