The Commons Registration (England) Regulations 2008

PART 6Supplemental

Electronic communications

51.—(1) Any requirement by or under these Regulations for a person to send a notice or document to another person may be met by means of an electronic communication if—

(a)it results in the information contained in that notice or document being available to the other person in a form similar to the form in which it would appear in a notice or document sent in printed form; and

(b)except where the other person is the determining authority, the other person consents to the notice or document being sent by those means.

(2) A person who has provided an e-mail address is to be treated as consenting to a document being sent by e-mail.

(3) Any requirement in these Regulations for a document to be signed does not apply in the case of a document sent by means of an electronic communication.

(4) Paragraphs (1) and (3) do not apply in relation to the submission of an application form to a registration authority.

Service of documents

52.—(1) Any requirement in these Regulations to serve a document on another person is satisfied, if that person cannot be found, by—

(a)leaving the document at that person’s last known address; or

(b)sending the document by post to that address.

Inspection and copying of documents

53.—(1) Any request to inspect or make copies of any document referred to in section 20(1)(b) or (c) of the 2006 Act must be treated by the registration authority as a request for information under the relevant legislation.

(2) Where the relevant legislation does not require the information contained in the document to be communicated or made available, the registration authority may refuse to permit inspection, or copies to be taken, of that document.

(3) In this regulation and in regulation 54, “relevant legislation” means the Environmental Information Regulations 2004(1) or the Freedom of Information Act 2000(2).

Official copies

54.—(1) Any person may request a registration authority to provide an official copy of, or of any part of, any register or document referred to in section 21(1) of the 2006 Act.

(2) A registration authority may charge a fee for providing an official copy, not exceeding its costs in providing official copies.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4), upon receiving a request for an official copy, and payment of any fee, a registration authority must provide an extract from the register or a copy of the document, certified on behalf of the registration authority as a true extract or copy as at the date of issue.

(4) A registration authority may refuse a request to provide an official copy of, or of any part of, a document referred to in section 20(1)(b) or (c) of the 2006 Act where the relevant legislation does not require the information contained in the document to be communicated or made available.

Revocations and transitional provisions

55.—(1) The following enactments cease to have effect in relation to the registration areas in England of the registration authorities specified in Schedule 1—

(a)the Commons (Registration of Town or Village Greens) (Interim Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2007(3) (“the 2007 Town or Village Greens Regulations”); and

(b)the Commons (Deregistration and Exchange Orders) (Interim Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2007(4).

(2) Paragraphs (3) and (4) apply in relation to any application made before 1st October 2008 under section 15 of the 2006 Act in accordance with the 2007 Town or Village Greens Regulations if, by 1st October 2008, the application has not been determined, or if any amendment remains to be made to a register in consequence of the determination of the application.

(3) Nothing in paragraph (1) affects the validity of anything done in relation to the application before 1st October 2008 which was done in accordance with the 2007 Town or Village Greens Regulations.

(4) These Regulations apply in relation to the application from 1st October 2008, except for—

(a)regulations 15 to 19 and 27(3)(a), and Schedule 4; and

(b)any other provision which corresponds (whether or not in identical terms) to a provision of the 2007 Town or Village Greens Regulations which has already been complied with.