Article 97 Trial of petitionI1

A Senedd election petition must be tried in open court without a jury.

The prescribed officer must give notice of the time and place of the trial in the prescribed manner, and not less than 14 days before the day of trial.

The trial must, as far as is practicable, be heard on every lawful day until its conclusion, but the election court may adjourn the trial if it is in the interests of justice to do so.

The trial must proceed, notwithstanding a respondent resigning their seat or becoming disqualified from being a Senedd member, such that the seat is vacant.

Unless the court otherwise directs, any charge of corrupt practice may be examined, and evidence in relation to it received, before proof has been provided of agency on behalf of any candidate in respect of the corrupt practice.

When a petition complains of an undue election or return and claims a seat for a person, the respondent may give evidence to prove that person was not duly elected or was incapable of being duly returned in the same manner as if the respondent had presented a petition against the election or return of that person.

When, in relation to a Senedd election petition, it appears that two or more individual candidates or registered political parties have the same seat allocation figure, and that the addition of a vote would entitle any of those individual candidates or any party list candidate of those parties to be declared elected, as provided for in the Senedd election rules, then—

For the purposes of this article, “seat allocation figure” is the figure determined in accordance with section 8 of the 2006 Act^f1.