Recall of MPs Bill

Page 1, line 4, leave out “or second” and insert “, second or third”

Page 1, line 11, leave out subsections (3) to (6)

Page 1, line 13, after “Kingdom” insert “or elsewhere”

Page 1, line 14, after “detained” insert “for a period of more than 1 year”

Page 1, line 18, leave out subsection (4)

Page 1, line 19, after “Standards” insert “in relation to the MP”

Page 1, line 23, leave out “10” and insert “20”

Page 2, line 2, leave out “14” and insert “28”

Page 2, line 5, leave out “in relation to subsection (5)(a)” and insert “where that
period is expressed as a number of sitting days”

Page 2, line 7, at end insert—

“(6A)    The reference in subsection (4) to the Committee on Standards is to any
committee of the House of Commons concerned with the standards of
conduct of individual members of that House.

(6B)    Any question arising under subsection (6A) is to be determined by the
Speaker.”

Page 2, line 8, leave out “A further recall condition (section 10)” and insert “The
third recall condition”

Page 2, line 19, leave out “or otherwise”

Page 2, line 23, leave out subsection (1)

Page 2, line 23, leave out “(the first recall condition)” and insert “and (7) (the first
and third recall conditions)”

Page 2, line 23, leave out from “condition)” to end of line 26 and insert “—

(a)   the reference to an offence includes an offence committed before the
MP became an MP and an offence committed before the day on
which section 1 comes into force, but

(b)   the reference to an MP being convicted of an offence is only to an
MP being convicted of an offence on or after the day on which
section 1 comes into force.”

Page 2, line 24, after second “MP” insert “unless that offence was disclosed before
the MP became an MP”

Page 2, line 26, at end insert—

“( )     The reference in section 1(3) to an offence does not include an offence
mentioned in section 1(7).”

Page 3, line 5, leave out “(the first recall condition)” and insert “and (7) (the first
and third recall conditions)”

Page 3, line 9, leave out subsections (2) to (4) and insert—

“( )     “Relevant appeal”, in relation to the first recall condition, means—

(a)   an appeal that—

(i)   is in respect of the conviction, sentence or order mentioned
in section 1(3), and

(ii)   is brought within the usual period, or

(b)   an appeal that—

(i)   is in respect of the determination of an appeal that was itself
a relevant appeal, and

(ii)   is brought within the usual period.

( )     “Relevant appeal”, in relation to the third recall condition, means—

(a)   an appeal that—

(i)   is in respect of the conviction mentioned in section 1(7) or of
any sentence or order imposed in relation to that conviction,
and

(ii)   is brought within the usual period, or

(b)   an appeal that—

(i)   is in respect of the determination of an appeal that was itself
a relevant appeal, and

(ii)   is brought within the usual period.”

Page 3, line 31, after “issue)” insert “, or an appeal under section 288AA of the
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (appeal on compatibility issues)”

Page 3, line 40, after second “MP” insert “—

(a)   ”

Page 3, line 42, at end insert “, or

(b)   is convicted of an offence mentioned in section 1(7) within the
meaning of that provision (see section 2).”

Page 3, line 43, after “order” insert “in relation to the conviction”

Page 4, line 11, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—

“(b)   that—

(i)   in a case within subsection (1)(a), the conviction, sentence or
order has, or has not, been overturned on appeal;

(ii)   in a case within subsection (1)(b), the conviction has, or has
not, been overturned on appeal, and”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Method of questioning parliamentary conduct

(1)     Nothing in this section shall prevent any elector, or any other person, from
approaching the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards,
the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards or the Independent
Parliamentary Standards Authority in pursuance of an investigation,
complaint or other action against, or in respect of, a Member of Parliament.

(2)     Parliamentary conduct may be questioned by petition complaining of
parliamentary misconduct and seeking the recall of an MP (“a
parliamentary misconduct petition”).”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Presentation and service of parliamentary misconduct petition

(1)     Subject to subsections (4) and (5), a parliamentary misconduct petition may
be presented by five hundred or more persons registered to vote in the
constituency represented by the Member of Parliament who is the subject
of the petition.

(2)     The reference in subsection (1) to persons registered to vote in the
constituency represented by the Member of Parliament who is the subject
of the petition does not include persons who have an anonymous entry in
the register of electors.

(3)     The Member of Parliament who is the subject of the petition is hereinafter
referred to as the respondent.

(4)     A parliamentary misconduct petition may not be presented during the six
months prior to a parliamentary general election scheduled under section
1 of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (polling days for parliamentary
general elections).

(5)     A parliamentary misconduct petition may not be presented if it is the same
or substantially the same as another parliamentary misconduct petition
presented during the same Parliament about the same respondent.

(6)     The petition shall be in the prescribed form, state the prescribed matters
and be signed by the petitioners, and shall be presented to the High Court,
or to the Court of Session, or to the High Court of Northern Ireland,
depending on whether the constituency represented by the respondent is
in England and Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland.

(7)     The petition shall be presented by delivering it to the prescribed officer or
otherwise dealing with it in the prescribed manner; and the prescribed
officer shall send a copy of it to the returning officer of the constituency
represented by the respondent, who shall forthwith publish it in that
constituency.

(8)     The petition shall be served in such manner as may be prescribed.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Constitution of parliamentary misconduct hearing

(1)     A parliamentary misconduct petition shall be heard and considered by—

(a)   two judges on the rota for the hearing of parliamentary misconduct
petitions, and the judges for the time being on that rota shall, unless
they otherwise agree, hear the parliamentary misconduct petitions
awaiting a hearing according to their seniority;

(b)   in Northern Ireland, the two judges of the High Court or the Court
of Appeal for the time being selected under section 108 of the
Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978,

and the judges presiding at the hearing of a parliamentary misconduct
petition are hereinafter referred to as the parliamentary misconduct
hearing.

(2)     The parliamentary misconduct hearing has such powers as are afforded to
it by this Act.

(3)     The parliamentary misconduct hearing shall take place within the
constituency represented by the respondent but—

(a)   the parliamentary misconduct hearing may, on being satisfied that
special circumstances exist rendering it desirable that the petition
should be heard elsewhere, appoint some other convenient place
for the trial; and

(b)   if that constituency is wholly or partly in Greater London, the
petition may be heard at such place within Greater London as the
parliamentary misconduct hearing may appoint.

(4)     The parliamentary misconduct hearing may adjourn the hearing from one
place to another within the constituency.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Witnesses

(1)     Witnesses at a parliamentary misconduct hearing shall be summoned and
sworn in the same manner as nearly as circumstances admit as an action
tried in the High Court.

(2)     A member of the parliamentary misconduct hearing may, by order signed
by him, require any person, including but not limited to the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Standards, who appears to him to have information in
relation to the alleged misconduct to attend as a witness, and any person
refusing to obey the order shall be guilty of contempt of court.

(3)     The parliamentary misconduct hearing may examine any person so
required to attend or any person who is at the hearing although he is not
called and examined by any party to the parliamentary misconduct
petition.

(4)     A witness may, after his examination by the hearing, be cross-examined by
or on behalf of the petitioner and respondent, or either of them.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Attendance of House of Commons shorthand writer

(1)     The shorthand writer of the House of Commons or his deputy shall attend
the hearing and shall be sworn by one of the judges of the parliamentary
misconduct hearing faithfully and truly to take down the evidence given at
the hearing and from time to time as occasion requires to transcribe that
evidence or cause it to be transcribed.

(2)     The shorthand writer shall take down the evidence and from time to time
transcribe it or cause it to be transcribed and a copy of the evidence shall
accompany any notification given by the parliamentary misconduct
hearing to the Speaker.

(3)     In Scotland, the expenses of the shorthand writer shall be deemed to be part
of the expenses incurred under section (Judges’ expenses and reception:
Scotland).”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Hearing of parliamentary misconduct petition

(1)     A parliamentary misconduct petition shall be tried in an open hearing,
without a jury, and notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given
in the prescribed manner, not less than 14 days before the day of the
hearing.

(2)     The parliamentary misconduct hearing may in its discretion adjourn the
hearing from time to time, but the hearing shall, so far as is practicable be
continued from day to day on every lawful day until its conclusion.

(3)     The parliamentary misconduct hearing may consider evidence adduced by
the petitioners that the respondent has—

(a)   contravened the code of conduct for MPs operated by the House of
Commons;

(b)   advocated or initiated any cause or matter on behalf of any person
in consideration of any payment or benefit in kind;

(c)   in consideration of any payment or benefit in kind, urged any other
Member of Parliament to advocate or initiate any cause or matter on
behalf of any person;

(d)   subject to subsection (9), abused or attempted to abuse the MPs’
allowances scheme provided for under section 5 of the
Parliamentary Standards Act 2009;

(e)   having taken the oath or affirmation of office, failed to attend the
House of Commons for a period of six months without reasonable
excuse or justification; or

(f)   subject to the condition in subsection (4), otherwise abused or
brought into disrepute the office of Member of Parliament.

(4)     The condition is that the conduct in question is not wholly in relation to any
matter which is purely personal.

(5)     The parliamentary misconduct hearing must consider any evidence
produced to the contrary by the respondent.

(6)     Evidence under subsections (3) and (5) may include a report of the
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

(7)     Subject to subsection (8), the parliamentary misconduct hearing must
determine whether, on the basis of the evidence adduced under
subsections (3) to (6), parliamentary misconduct as defined by those
subsections has on the balance of probabilities taken place.

(8)     In making a determination under subsection (7), a parliamentary
misconduct hearing may not consider conduct specifically relating to the
respondent’s official duties in a ministerial capacity.

(9)     A parliamentary misconduct hearing will be suspended if any of the
matters under consideration are the subject of criminal investigation or
criminal proceedings.

(10)     A parliamentary misconduct hearing suspended under subsection (9) may
be resumed at the conclusion of any such criminal investigation or criminal
proceedings.

(11)     Where a parliamentary misconduct hearing determines under subsection
(7) that on the balance of probabilities parliamentary misconduct has taken
place, then it must notify the Speaker that it has so determined.

(12)     Where the Speaker receives notification from a parliamentary misconduct
hearing under subsection (11), he must follow the procedure set out in
section 5 of this Act, as though the second recall condition had been met in
relation to the Member of Parliament who was the respondent in the
relevant parliamentary misconduct petition.

(13)     A notification under subsection (11) shall be accompanied for information
by any evidence recorded under section (Attendance of House of Commons
shorthand writer).”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Judges’ expenses and reception: England and Wales and Northern Ireland

In relation to the hearing of a parliamentary misconduct petition, in
England and Wales and Northern Ireland, the travelling and other
expenses of the judges and all expenses properly incurred in providing
them with necessary accommodation and with the proper facilities of a
hearing shall be defrayed by the Treasury out of moneys provided by
Parliament.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Judges’ expenses and reception: Scotland

In relation to the hearing of a parliamentary misconduct petition, in
Scotland, the travelling and other expenses of the judges, and of the officer
or officers in attendance on them, and all expenses properly incurred in
providing the judges with the proper facilities of a hearing shall be
defrayed by the Treasury out of moneys provided by Parliament.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Further recall condition: illegal practices in parliamentary elections

(1)     It shall be a further recall condition under this Act that on consideration by
an election court of a parliamentary election petition it is shown that illegal
practices committed in reference to the election of an MP for the purpose of
promoting or procuring the election of that MP have so extensively
prevailed that they may be reasonably supposed to have affected the result.

(2)     Where an election court finds that the condition under subsection (1) has
been met, it must notify the Speaker of its decision.

(3)     Where the Speaker receives a notification under subsection (2), he must
follow the procedure set out in section 5, as though the second recall
condition had been met in relation the MP against whom the election court
made the decision.

(4)     Subsection (1) shall not apply if the election court finds that the illegal
practices amount to corrupt practice.

(5)     If subsection (1) applies, and the election court finds that the illegal
practices do not amount to corrupt practice, the election of the candidate
shall not be void.”

Page 4, line 23, leave out “or second” and insert “, second or third”

Page 4, line 28, leave out “6” and insert “3”

Page 4, line 32, leave out “or otherwise”

Lord Grocott gives notice of his intention to oppose the Question that Clause 5 stand part
of the Bill.

Page 5, line 39, leave out “maximum” and insert “minimum”

Page 6, line 8, leave out “10th” and insert “21st”

The above-named Lords give notice of their intention to oppose the Question that Clause 8
stand part of the Bill.

Page 6, line 31, leave out “8” and insert “2”

Page 6, line 37, leave out subsection (4)

Page 7, line 1, leave out “10%” and insert “20%”

Page 7, line 3, leave out “10%” and insert “20%”

Page 7, leave out line 5 and insert “as a result of the petition and therefore no by-
election will be held.””

Page 7, line 6, leave out “amend subsection (4)” and insert “set out the wording of
the petition signing sheet, following consultation with the Electoral Commission
and in consultation with the Welsh Language Commissioner”

Page 7, line 14, leave out “18” and insert “16”

Page 7, line 14, leave out “18th” and insert “16th”

Page 7, line 27, at end insert—

“( )     Any persons wishing to apply to vote by post, who are not registered to do
so before the Speaker’s notice is given or before the cut-off day, must do so
no later than the end of the fifth week of the signing period.”

Page 8, line 9, leave out “cannot be withdrawn” and insert “can only be withdrawn
on production of a stated reason”

Page 8, line 29, leave out “169” and insert “168”

Page 8, line 30, leave out from “for” to end of line 31 and insert “corrupt practices)
as a corrupt practice,”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Counter-recall petition

(1)     The petition officer must ensure that whenever and wherever the recall
petition is made available for signing, a counter petition is also available for
signing.

(2)     A “counter petition” means a petition calling—

(a)   for an MP not to lose his or her seat in the House of Commons, and

(b)   for a by-election not to be held to decide who should be the MP for
the constituency in question.

(3)     The wording of a counter petition signing sheet must include the
following—

“By signing in the box below, you are signing a petition for [name of the
MP], the MP for [name of constituency], not to lose [his/her] seat in the
House of Commons, and for a by-election not to be held to decide who
should be the MP for that constituency.”

(4)     The Minister may by regulations amend subsection (3).

(5)     Regulations under subsection (4) are subject to affirmative resolution
procedure.

(6)     Except for the provision in subsection (3), the rules concerning the conduct
of a counter petition are the same as for a recall petition.

(7)     If at least 10% of the number of eligible registered electors validly sign the
counter petition, the recall petition which is run concurrently shall not be
successful notwithstanding that it has been signed by at least 10% of the
eligible registered electors.”

Page 9, line 17, at end insert—

“( )     The fourth condition is that, in a case in which the third recall condition
was met in relation to the MP, the conviction in question is overturned on
appeal.”

Page 9, line 20, leave out “three”

Page 9, line 34, after “Commons” insert “and the Lord Speaker must lay before the
House of Lords”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Restriction on prejudicial comments

From the time that a recall petition is authorised, any material written,
spoken or broadcast on any media with the intention of being detrimental
to the MP in question, other than comments directly related to the reason
for the recall petition, shall render the recall petition null and void.”

Insert the following new Clause—

“Early publication of number of signatories

(1)     Petition officers shall not make public a running total of signatories to a
recall petition until the final result is announced.

(2)     Any breach of subsection (1), or any publication purporting to reveal a
running tally, shall render the recall petition null and void.”

Page 10, line 7, leave out “10%” and insert “20%”

Page 10, line 12, at end insert—

“( )     As soon as is reasonably practical after the first and last days of the signing
period, the petition officer will make public the number of eligible
registered electors in the constituency.”

Page 10, line 39, after “Commons” insert “and the Lord Speaker must lay before the
House of Lords”

Page 24, line 17, leave out “£500” and insert “£50”

Page 24, line 33, at end insert—

“(A1)    The Electoral Commission will, in relation to each of the two possible
outcomes of the recall petition, designate under this paragraph one
accredited campaigner as representing those campaigning for the
outcome in question.”

Page 55, line 41, leave out “, on request,”

Page 12, line 1, leave out paragraph (b)

Page 12, line 11, leave out paragraph (d)

Page 12, line 45, after “campaigning” insert “and campaign literature”

Page 12, line 46, at end insert—

“( )   provision about sufficient staffing levels at each petition signing
place and adequate times for the locations to be open”

Page 13, line 3, leave out “in accordance with provision made under subsection
(1)(b)” and insert “by way of judicial review”

Page 13, line 17, leave out subsection (1) and insert—

“( )     If a relevant circumstance arises, the functions of the Speaker under or by
virtue of this Act (“the Speaker’s functions”) are to be performed by the
Chairman of Ways and Means or a Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means.”

Page 13, line 22, after “reason,” insert—

“( )   the first, second or third recall condition has been met in relation to
the Speaker,”

Page 13, line 24, leave out subsections (3) and (4)

Page 57, line 32, leave out “may” and insert “shall”

Page 58, line 28, at end insert—

Page 14, line 4, leave out “(including this Act)”

Page 14, line 44, leave out “quashed” and insert “that there is no longer a conviction
for the purposes of section 1(3) or (7) (as the case may be)”