431.This section provides a mechanism through which either the Counsel General or the Attorney General can obtain a decision by the Supreme Court as to whether a Bill or particular provisions of a Bill are within the Assembly’s legislative competence. This may only be done within the four week period starting with the date the Bill was passed by the Assembly or, in the case of a Bill which has been reconsidered and approved by the Assembly, starting with the date the Bill was approved by the Assembly.
432.If the Counsel General or the Attorney General formally notifies the Clerk that he or she is not going to make such a reference then he or she is afterwards barred from doing so (unless the Bill has subsequently been reconsidered and approved).