# The Northern Ireland Assembly (Minimum Period) Order 2010

S.I. 2010/2944 · made 9 December 2010

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.

Made under: Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Section 31)

PDFs: Printed copy https://openlegislation.uk/northern-ireland-assembly-minimum-period-order-2010/pdf/uksi_20102944_en.pdf; Explanatory Memorandum https://openlegislation.uk/northern-ireland-assembly-minimum-period-order-2010/pdf/uksiem_20102944_en.pdf

## Introductory text

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 makes the following Order:

## 1 Citation and commencement

(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 Dissolution of the Northern Ireland Assembly: Minimum Period

(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 applies when computing the period mentioned in paragraph (1).

## Signature

Owen Paterson
One of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State
Northern Ireland Office
9th December 2010

## Explanatory note

(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).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/2944 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/northern-ireland-assembly-minimum-period-order-2010
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.