Statutory Instruments
Northern Ireland
Made
9th December 2010
Laid before Parliament
14th December 2010
Coming into force
10th January 2011
The Secretary of State in exercise of the power conferred by section 31(6) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998(1) makes the following Order:
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Northern Ireland Assembly (Minimum Period) Order 2010.
(2) This Order comes into force on 10th January 2011.
2.—(1) The minimum period for the purpose of section 31(6) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (dates of elections and dissolutions) is 26 days.
(2) Rule 2 of the Assembly Elections Rules(2) applies when computing the period mentioned in paragraph (1).
Owen Paterson
One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State
Northern Ireland Office
9th December 2010
(This note is not part of the Order)
By virtue of section 31 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, ordinary general elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly are held on the first Thursday in May every four years. The predecessor Assembly must be dissolved at the start of the minimum period which ends with the date of the poll for the election and that period is determined in accordance with an Order made by the Secretary of State.
This Order makes provision for the determination of the minimum period which is to be 26 days, computed in accordance with rule 2 of the Assembly Elections Rules (which makes provision for days that are to be disregarded).
1998 c.47; subsections (3) and (5) of section 31 were amended by section 1 of the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections Act 2003 (c.3); subsection (1) of section 31 was amended, and subsection (2) substituted, by section 2 of, and paragraph 2 of Schedule 3 to, the Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 (c.53).
The Assembly Elections Rules are contained in Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 2001 (S.I. 2001/2599). That Schedule was substituted by Schedule 1 to S.I. 2009/256.