56.—(1) In this Part “member”, in relation to a trade union’s principal executive committee, shall be construed in accordance with Article 47(6) to (8);
“overseas member”, in relation to a trade union, has the same meaning as in Part VI;
“post” has the same meaning as in Part VI;
“proper address”, in relation to any member of a trade union, means his home address or any other address which he has requested the union in writing to treat as his address;
“section”, in relation to a trade union, includes any part of the union which is itself a trade union;
“single transferable vote” means a vote capable of being—
given so as to indicate the voter’s order of preference for the candidates; and
transferred to the next choice—
when it is not required to give a prior choice the necessary quota of votes; or
when, owing to the deficiency in the number of votes given for a prior choice, that choice is eliminated from the list of candidates;
“voting member” shall be construed in accordance with Article 47(9).
(2) Where a member of the principal executive committee of a trade union was elected as such a member, or as the case may be as the holder of a relevant position, at an election held within the period of five years ending with the coming into operation of this Part—
(a)Article 47(1)(a) shall have effect, as if it did not require Articles 48, 49 and 50 to be satisfied in relation to that election; and
(b)the period of five years mentioned in Article 47(1)(b) shall be calculated from the date of that election.
(3) In paragraph (2) “relevant position” means a position in the union by virtue of which the holder is a member of the principal executive committee of the union.
(4) The reference in paragraph (2) to an election held within the period of five years ending with the coming into operation of this Part does not include a reference to an election in which the only persons entitled to vote were persons who at the time of the election were members of the principal executive committee of the trade union in question.
(5) This Part applies only to a trade union which has its head or main office in Northern Ireland.