{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/northern-ireland-assembly-elections-order-2001/article-2",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/northern-ireland-assembly-elections-order-2001/article-2.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/2001/2599",
  "legislation_title": "The Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) Order 2001",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/northern-ireland-assembly-elections-order-2001",
  "path": "article/2",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "2",
  "heading": "Interpretation",
  "text": "Unless the context otherwise requires, in this Order and any provision applied by this Order—\n“1962 Act” means the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962;\n“1983 Act” means the Representation of the People Act 1983;\n“1985 Act” means the Representation of the People Act 1985;\n“1998 Act” means the Northern Ireland Act 1998;\n“1985 Order” means the Local Elections (Northern Ireland) Order 1985;\n“2001 Regulations” means the Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2001;\n“Assembly” means the Northern Ireland Assembly and “Assembly election ” means an election to that Assembly;\n“date of the poll” means the date set by section 31(1) or (2) or 32(4) of the 1998 Act or, in the case of a by-election, the date set by the Chief Electoral Officer under article 7(2) below; and\n“election rules” means the rules in Schedule 1 to the 1983 Act, as applied by Schedule 1 to this Order.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "1962 c. 14 (N.I.)."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f2",
      "text": "1983 c. 2."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f3",
      "text": "1985 c. 50."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f4",
      "text": "S.I. 1985/454."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f5",
      "text": "S.I. 2001/400."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "words substituted",
      "affecting": "uksi/2009/256",
      "affecting_title": "The Northern Ireland Assembly (Elections) (Amendment) Order 2009"
    },
    {
      "type": "appl",
      "affecting": "uksi/2010/2944",
      "affecting_title": "The Northern Ireland Assembly (Minimum Period) Order 2010"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/2599/article/2",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T07:39:46.976007+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}