Referendum Act, 1994
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Presentation of referendum petition. |
44.—(1) A referendum petition shall be presented by being lodged in the Central Office of the High Court not later than three days after the grant of leave by the High Court under section 42 . | |
(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), a referendum petition (other than a petition by the Director of Public Prosecutions) shall not be accepted in the Central Office unless the petitioner lodges in the Central Office with the referendum petition security in the sum of £5,000 for any costs of the proceedings in relation to the referendum petition which may become payable by the petitioner. | ||
(b) Where the court is satisfied that a petitioner is unable to lodge the amount specified in paragraph (a) or that the requirement would cause serious hardship, the court may require the petitioner to lodge such lesser amount as the court considers appropriate. | ||
(c) The security required to be given by this subsection shall be given either by recognisance entered into by any number of sureties satisfactory to the court not exceeding four or by a deposit of money, or partly in one way and partly in the other. | ||
(3) The petitioner shall, not later than five days after the lodgement of the referendum petition, give a copy of the petition— | ||
(a) to the Minister, | ||
(b) to the referendum returning officer, | ||
(c) to any local returning officer concerned, and | ||
(d) except in the case of a petition presented by the Director of Public Prosecutions, to the Director of Public Prosecutions. | ||
(4) Where the petitioner fails to comply with the provisions of this section and section 45 the referendum petition shall become and be null and void. |