publish or cause to be published such proclamation or notice of election as is mentioned in Schedule B. to this Act, or to the like effect. XII. In case of any indictment or information by a private prosecutor for any offence against the provisions of this Act, if judgment shall be given for the defendant, he shall be entitled to recover from the prosecutor the costs sustained by the defendant by reason of such indictment or information, such costs to be taxed by the proper officer of the court in which such judgment shall be given. XIII. It shall not be lawful for any court to order payment of the costs of a prosecution for any offence against the provisions of this Act, unless the prosecutor shall, before or upon the finding of the indictment or the granting of the information, enter into a recognizance, with two sufficient sureties, in the sum of two hundred pounds (to be acknowledged in like manner as is now required in cases of writs of certiorari awarded at the instance of a defendant in an indictment), with the conditions following; that is to say, that the prosecutor shall conduct the prosecution with effect, and shall pay to the defendant or defendants, in case he or they shall be acquitted, his or their costs. XIV. No person shall be liable to any penalty or forfeiture hereby enacted or imposed, unless some prosecution, action, or suit for the offence committed shall be commenced against such person within the space of one year next after such offence against this Act shall be committed, and unless such person shall be summoned or otherwise served with writ or process within the same space of time so as such summons or service of writ or process shall not be prevented by such person absconding or withdrawing out of the jurisdiction of the court out of which such writ or other process shall have issued; and in case of any such prosecution, suit, or process as aforesaid, the same shall be proceeded with and carried on without any wilful delay. XXIII. And whereas doubts have also arisen as to whether the giving of refreshment to voters on the day of nomination or day of polling be or be not according to law, and it is expedient that such doubts should be removed: Be it declared and enacted, that the giving or causing to be given to any voter on the day of nomination or day of polling, on account of such voter having polled or being about to poll, any meat, drink, or entertainment by way of refreshment, or any money or ticket to enable such voter to obtain refreshment, shall be deemed an illegal act, and the person so offending shall forfeit the sum of forty shillings for each offence, to any person who shall sue for the same, together with full costs of suit. XXXIII. If any candidate at any election, or any member hereafter returned to serve in Parliament, shall before the passing of this Act have paid any money for or in respect of any election hereafter to be held, or any expenses thereof, such person shall, to the best of his ability, deliver a full, true, and particular account of such payment or payments to the election auditor. * Sections 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and 34, are repealed by the 26th Vic., cap. 29. See page 166. XXXV. On the trial of any action for recovery of any pecuniary penalty under this Act, the parties to such action, and the husbands and wives of such parties respectively, shall be competent and compellable to give evidence in the same manner as parties, and their husbands and twives, are competent and compellable to give evidence in actions and suits under the Act of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Victoria, chapter ninety-nine, and "The Evidence Amendment Act, 1853," but subject to and with the exceptions contained in such several Acts: Provided always, that any such evidence shall not thereafter be used in any indictment or criminal proceeding under this Act against the party giving it. XXXVI. If any candidate at an election for any county, city, or borough shall be ["reported by a jude on the trial of an election petition"] (a) guilty, by himself or his agents, of bribery, treating, or undue influence at such election, such candidate shall be incapable of being elected or sitting in Parliament for such county, city, or borough during the Parliament then in existence. XXXVII. In citing this Act in any instrument, document, or proceeding, or for any purpose whatsoever, it shall be sufficient to use the expression "The Corrupt Practices Prevention Act, 1854." XXXVIII. Throughout this Act, in the construction thereof, except there be something in the subject or context repugnant to such construction, the word "county" shall extend to and mean any county, riding, parts, or division of a county, stewartry, or combined counties respectively returning a member or members to serve in Parliament; and the words "city or borough" shall mean any university, city, borough, town corporate, county of a city, county of a town, cinque port, district of burghs, or other place or combination of places (not being a county as hereinbefore defined) returning a member or members to serve in Parliament; and the word "election" shall mean the election of any member or members to serve in Parliament; and the words "returning "officer" shall apply to any person or persons to whom, by virtue of his or their office, under any law, custom, or statute, the execution of any writ or precept doth or shall belong for the election of a member or members to serve in Parliament, by whatever name or title such person or persons may be called; and the words "revising barrister" shall extend to and include an assistant barrister and chairman presiding in any court held for the revision of the lists of voters, or his deputy in Ireland, and a sheriff or sheriff's court of appeal in Scotland, and every other person whose duty it may be to hold a court for the revision and correction of the lists or registers of voters in any part of the United Kingdom; and the word "voter shall mean any person who has or claims to have a right to vote in the election of a member or members to serve in Parliament; [and the words "candidate at an election" shall include all persons elected as members to serve in Parliament at such election, and all persons nominated as candidates, or who shall have declared themselves candidates at or before such election] (b); and the words "personal expenses," as used herein with respect to the expenditure of any candidate in relation to any election, shall include the reasonable travelling expenses of such candidate, and the reasonable expenses of his living at hotels or elsewhere for the purposes of and in relation to such election. (a) Repealed, see s. 46. 31st and 32nd Victoriæ. cap. 125, p. 178. XXXIX. This Act shall continue in force for one year next after passing thereof, and thenceforth to the end of the then next session Parliament. Abstract of Schedule A. ACTS, OR PART OF ACTS, REPEALED BY SECTION 1. 7th William III., cap. 4. 2nd George II., cap. 24. section, prescribing officers. A.D. 1729. All the Act, excepting the third the oath to be taken by the returning The 33rd section. 16th George II., cap. 11. 43rd George III., cap. 74. A.D. 1803. The whole Act. 49th George III., cap. 118. A.D. 1809. The whole Act. 4th George IV., cap. 55. A.D. 1823. 48th, 79th, and 81st sections. 7th and 8th George IV., cap. 37. A.D. 1827. The whole Act. 2nd and 3rd William IV., cap. 65. A.D. 1832. So much of the 26th section and the schedule (K) as relates to the oath or affirmation against bribery, to be put to any registered voter at any poll or election. 2nd and 3rd William IV., cap. 88. A.D. 1832. So much of the 54th section as relates to administering the oath or affirmation against bribery. 5th and 6th Victoriæ, cap. 102. The 20th and 22nd sections. First Continuance Act. 19th & 20th Victoria Reginæ, cap. 84. Second Continuance Act. [June, 1856.] Act 21st & 22nd Victoria, cap. 87, an Act to continue and amend the Corrupt Practices Prevention Act, 1854. [2nd August, 1858.] WHEREAS an Act was passed in the Session holden in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Years of Her Majesty, Chapter One hundred and two, to consolidate and amend the Laws relating to Bribery, Treating, and "undue Influence at Elections of Members of Parliament;" and by aa Act of the Session holden in the nineteenth and twentieth years of Her Majesty, Chapter Eighty-four, the said first-mentioned Act was continued until the Tenth Day of August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, and thenceforth to the end of the then next Session of Parliament: And whereas it is expedient that the said first-mentioned Act should be further continued and amended: Be it enacted, &c., that I. It shall be lawful for any candidate, or his agent by him appointed in writing according to the provisions of the first-mentioned Act, to provide conveyance for any voter for the purpose of polling at an Election and not otherwise, but it shall not be lawful to pay any money or give any valuable consideration to a voter for or in respect of his travelling expenses for such purpose. Part of Section 1, and the whole of Section 2, are repealed by the 26th Vic., cap 29. See page 166. III. So much of Section Thirty-eight of the said first-mentioned Act as defines the words "Candidate at an Election," shall be repealed; and in the construction of the said Act as amended by this Act, the words "Candidate at an Election," and the words "Candidate at "any Election," shall include all persons elected to serve in Parliament at such election, and all persons nominated as Candidates at such election, or who shall have declared themselves Candidates on or after the day of the issuing of the writ for such election, or after the dissolution or vacancy in consequence of which such writ shall have been issued: Provided that nothing herein contained shall be construed to impose any liability on any person nominated without his consent. Third Continuance Act. Anno 23° & 24° Victoria Reginæ, cap. 99. [20th August, 1860.] "The said first-mentioned Act (17th and 18th Victoriæ, cap. 102), as amended by the said Act of the twenty-first and twenty-second years of Her Majesty, shall continue in force until the tenth day of August, 1861." Fourth Continuance Act. Am o 24 & 25 Vic. cap. 122. [6th August, 1861.] Fifth Continuance Act. Anno 25 & 26 Vic. cap. 109. [7th August, 1862.] The Act further continued in force until the 1st day of September, 1863. Sixth Continuance Act. An Act to amend and continue the Law relating to Corrupt Practices at Elections of Members of Parliament. [8th June, 1863.] WHEREAS "The Corrupt Practices Prevention Act, 1854," as amended by an Act of the Session holden in the twenty-first and twenty-second years of Her Majesty, chapter eighty-seven, is limited to continue in force until the first day of September One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and from thence until the end of the next Session of Parliament: and it is expedient further to amend the said Acts and to continue the same in manner hereinafter mentioned: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: I. The expression "The Corrupt Practices Prevention Acts" shall include this Act and the said Act of the twenty-first and twenty-second years of the reign of Her present Majesty, and "The Corrupt Practices Prevention Act, 1854," as amended by the said other Acts. Expenses of Elections. II. No payment (except in respect to the personal expenses of a candidate), and no advance, loan, or deposit, shall be made by or on behalf of any candidate at an election, before, or during, or after such election, on account of or in respect of such election, otherwise than through an agent or agents whose name and address or names and addresses have been declared in writing to the returning officer on or before the day of nomination, or through an agent or agents to be appointed in his or their place as herein provided; and any person making any such payment, advance, loan, or deposit, otherwise than through such agent or agents, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, or. in Scotland of an offence punishable by fine and imprisonment. It shall be the duty of the returning officer to publish, on or before the day of nomination, the name and address or the names and addresses of the agent or agents appointed in pursuance of this section. In the event of the death or legal incapacity of any agent appointed in pursuance of this section, the candidate shall forthwith appoint another agent in his place on giving notice to the returning officer of the name and address of the person so appointed, which shall be forthwith published by the returning officer. III. All persons who have any bills, charges, or claims upon any candidate for or in respect of any election shall send in such bills, charges, or claims, within one month from the day of the declaration of the election to such agent or agents as aforesaid, otherwise such persons shall be barred of their right to recover such claims and every or any part thereof: provided always, that in case of the death within the said month of any person claiming the amount of such bill, charge, or claim, the legal representative of such person shall send in such bill, charge, or claim within one month after obtaining probate or letters of administration, or confirmation as executor, as the case may be, or the right to recover such claim shall be barred as aforesaid: provided also that such bills, charges, and claims shall and may be sent in and delivered to the candidate, if, and so long as, during the said month, there shall, owing to death or legal incapacity, be no such agent. IV. A detailed statement of all election expenses incurred by or on behalf of any candidate, including such excepted payments as aforesaid, shall, within two months after the election, (or in cases where by reason of the death of the creditor no bill has been sent in within such period of two months, then within one month after such bill has been sent in,) be made out and signed by the agent or, if there be more than one, by every agent who has paid the same (including the candidate in case of payments made by him), and delivered, with the bills and vouchers relative thereto, to the returning officer, and the returning officer for the time being shall, at the expense of the candidate, within fourteen days, insert or cause to be inserted, an abstract of such statement, with the signature of the agent thereto, in some newspaper published or circulating in the county or place where the election was held; and any agent or candidate who makes default in delivering to the returning officer the statement required by this section shall incur a penalty not exceeding five pounds for every day during which he so makes default; and any agent or candidate who wilfully furnishes to the said returning officer an untrue statement shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, or in Scotland of an offence punishable by fine and imprisonment; and the said returning officer shall preserve all such bills and vouchers, and during six months after they have been delivered to him permit any voter to inspect the same, on payment of a of one shilling. |