Vacation of seat on sentence
31.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, if a member of the Legislative Assembly is sentenced by a court in any country to imprisonment (by whatever name called) for a term of at least twelve months, he or she shall forthwith cease to perform his or her functions as a member of the Assembly and his or her seat shall become vacant at the expiration of a period of thirty days thereafter; but the Governor may, at the request of the member, from time to time extend that period for thirty days to enable the member to pursue any appeal in respect of his or her conviction and sentence.
(2) If at any time before the member vacates his or her seat he or she is granted a free pardon or his or her conviction is set aside or his or her sentence is reduced to a term of imprisonment of less than twelve months or a punishment other than imprisonment is substituted, the seat of that member in the Legislative Assembly shall not become vacant under subsection (1), and that member may again perform his or her functions as a member of the Assembly.
(3) For the purposes of this section—
(a)where a person is sentenced to two or more terms of imprisonment that are required to be served consecutively he or she shall be regarded as serving a single term of imprisonment for the aggregate period of those terms; and
(b)no account shall be taken of a sentence of imprisonment as an alternative to or in default of the payment of a fine.