Mr.
Wills: Amendment No. 85 would require the Secretary of
State, having consulted with the Electoral Commission, to specify in an
order the type of discretionary requirements that may be imposed by the
commission under part 2 of proposed new schedule 19B. The discretionary
requirements are set out in paragraph 5(5) of the schedule and they
are “(a)
a requirement to pay a monetary penalty to the Commission of such
amount as the Commission may
determine, (b)
a requirement to take such steps as the Commission may specify, within
such period as they may specify, to secure that the offence or
contravention does not continue or recur,
or (c) a
requirement to take such steps as the Commission may specify, within
such period as they may specify, to secure that the position is, so far
as possible, restored to what it would have been if the offence or
contravention had not
happened.” The
size of a monetary penalty or the type of steps that are needed will,
inevitably, depend on the nature and scale of the offence committed.
The clause necessarily leaves the decision about the precise nature of
a penalty or the steps to be taken in each case to the commission. That
is sensible, as it would be impossible to try to anticipate every step
or penalty that the commission may wish to impose. Trying to draft an
exhaustive list of what the commission may or may not do in different
circumstances risks omitting things that subsequent cases will
demonstrate should have been
available. The
penalty or steps contained in any notice must be set out precisely when
the requirement is imposed. If not, or if the steps are uncertain, the
requirement will be susceptible to appeal—for example, on the
ground that it is
unreasonable. It
being twenty-five minutes past Ten o’clock, The
Chairman adjourned the Committee without Question put,
pursuant to the Standing
Order. Adjourned
till this day at One
o’clock.
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