SCHEDULES

SCHEDULE 1 The Northern Ireland Policing Board

Part III Membership during devolved government

Political members

C17

1

Where this Part comes into effect in relation to the Board, the political members shall be nominated by applying sub-paragraphs (3) to (8) within the prescribed period.

2

Where at any other time—

a

an Assembly is elected under section 31 or 32 of the M1Northern Ireland Act 1998;

b

a resolution which causes one or more Ministerial offices to become vacant is passed under section 30(2) of that Act; or

c

the period of exclusion imposed by a resolution under section 30(2) of that Act comes to an end,

all political members shall cease to hold office and the political members shall be nominated by applying sub-paragraphs (3) to (8) within the prescribed period.

3

At the request of the F1Minister of Justice, the nominating officer of the political party for which the formula in sub-paragraph (7) gives the highest figure may nominate a person as a member of the Board who—

a

is a member of that party and of the Assembly; and

b

is not disqualified for membership of the Board.

4

The nominated person may take up office as a member of the Board by making a statement to that effect to the F1Minister of Justice.

5

If—

a

the nominating officer does not exercise the power conferred by sub-paragraph (3) within the prescribed period; or

b

the nominated person does not take up office as a member of the Board within that period,

that power shall become exercisable by the nominating officer of the political party for which the formula in sub-paragraph (7) gives the next highest figure.

6

Sub-paragraphs (3) to (5) shall be applied as many times as may be necessary to secure that all of the offices as political member are filled.

7

The formula is—

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where—

S = the number of seats in the Assembly which were held by members of the party on the day on which the Assembly first met following its election; and

M = the number of members of the party (if any) who hold office as a political member of the Board.

8

Where the figures given by the formula for two or more political parties are equal, each of those figures shall be recalculated with S being equal to the number of first preference votes cast for the party at the last general election of members of the Assembly.

9

A political member shall cease to hold office if—

a

he resigns by notice in writing to the Board;

b

he becomes disqualified for membership of the Board; or

c

he ceases to be a member of the Assembly otherwise than by virtue of a dissolution.

10

Where a person ceases to hold office as a political member otherwise than by virtue of sub-paragraph (2), the nominating officer of the party on whose behalf that person was nominated may nominate a person to hold the office who—

a

is a member of that party and of the Assembly; and

b

is not disqualified for membership of the Board.

11

If—

a

the nominating officer does not exercise the power conferred by sub-paragraph (10) within the prescribed period; or

b

the nominated person does not take up the office within that period,

the vacancy shall be filled by applying sub-paragraphs (3) to (8) within such further period as may be prescribed.

12

Where—

a

the Assembly has resolved under section 30(2) of the M2Northern Ireland Act 1998 that a political party does not enjoy its confidence; and

b

the party’s period of exclusion has not come to an end,

the party shall be disregarded for the purposes of any application of sub-paragraphs (3) to (8).

13

In this paragraph—

  • nominating officer”, in relation to a party, means the person registered under Part II of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 as the party’s nominating officer or a member of the Assembly nominated by him for the purpose;

  • prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the F2Minister of Justice.