Local Elections (Disclosure of Donations and Expenditure) Act, 1999
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Relief for non-compliance. |
15.—(1) In any legal proceedings, where— | |
(a) the national agent of a political party fails to furnish to the specified local authority a statement of election expenses or any part of such statement or a statutory declaration which he or she was required to furnish under section 13 (1)(a)(i) or there is an error, omission or false or misleading statement therein, or | ||
(b) the designated person fails to furnish to the local authority concerned a statement of election expenses or any part of such statement or a statutory declaration which he or she was required to furnish under section 13 (1)(a)(ii) or there is an error, omission or false or misleading statement therein, or | ||
(c) a candidate at an election fails to furnish to the local authority concerned a statement of donations and election expenses or any part of such statement or a statutory declaration which he or she was required to furnish under section 13 (1)(a)(iii) or there is an error, omission or false or misleading statement therein, or | ||
(d) a person referred to in section 6 (7) fails to furnish to the specified local authority or the local authority concerned a statement of election expenses or any part of such statement or a statutory declaration which the person was required to furnish under subparagraph (i) or (ii) of section 13 (1)(a) or there is an error, omission or false or misleading statement therein, | ||
the following provisions of this section shall apply. | ||
(2) Where it is shown to the Circuit Court that the failure, error, omission or false or misleading statement arose— | ||
(a) due to the illness of a party to the proceedings, | ||
(b) where a party to the proceedings is a national agent, due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of any employee or former employee of such agent, | ||
(c) where a party to the proceedings is a designated person, due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of any employee, or former employee of such person, | ||
(d) where a party to the proceedings is a candidate, due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of any employee, or former employee of such candidate, | ||
(e) where a party to the proceedings is a person referred to in section 6 (7), due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of any employee or former employee of such person, or | ||
(f) due to inadvertence or other reasonable cause not involving negligence on the part of such party to the proceedings, or the contravention, knowingly, by such party of the provisions of this Act, | ||
and was not due to any lack of bona fides on the part of such party to the proceedings and where the proceedings are based wholly or partly on the grounds of misconduct on the part of any person, such misconduct was without the approval or knowledge of such party to the proceedings and such party took all reasonable action to prevent such misconduct, then the Circuit Court may, on application to it by such party, on being satisfied that it is appropriate so to do, make such order granting relief for the failure, error, omission or false or misleading statement the subject of the proceedings as it considers reasonable. | ||
(3) An order made by virtue of subsection (2)— | ||
(a) shall relieve the national agent, designated person, candidate, or person, as the case may be, the subject of the proceedings from any liability or consequences under this Act, and | ||
(b) may make the granting of the relief conditional on the furnishing of a statement required under section 13 in a modified form or within an extended period of time and subject to compliance with such other conditions as seem proper to the court in order to give effect to this Act. | ||
(4) For the purposes of this section, the relevant Circuit Court is that which sits in respect of the county where the principal office of the local authority to which an election was held is situated. |