Members obtaining

leave of absence may one Panel to another.

be transferred from

As to Members

serving, &c.

Vacancies in

L. And be it enacted, That when leave of absence for a limited time has been granted by the House to any Member, the General Committee of Elections may transfer the name of such Member from the Panel in which it has been placed to some other Panel subsequent in rotation if they think fit to do so, having regard to the length of time for which such leave of absence has been granted, and to the number of Select Committees then about to be appointed.

LI. And be it enacted, That whenever any Member of the Chairmen's Panel ceases ceasing to be such or to be a Member of the House, or is by leave of the House discharged from continuing discharged after upon the Chairmen's Panel, or is so discharged by reason of service under the provision herein before contained, the General Committee shall forthwith select another Member to be placed upon the Chairmen's Panel in his room, and in case it shall at any time appear to the General Committee that the Chairmen's Panel is too small, they may select one, two or three additional Members to place upon it, so nevertheless, that the Chairmen's Panel shall not at any time consist of more than eleven Members without the leave of the House first obtained.

Chairmen's Panel how filled.

Petitions to be referred

to General Committee, Select Committees to

who shall chose

try them, &c.
Speaker to
communicate the

necessary information
as to recognizances,
&c.

List to be made.

Proceedings when notice of death,

vacancy of seat, or intention not to

6. APPOINTMENT OF SELECT COMMITTEES.

LII. And be it enacted, That all Election Petitions received by the House shall be referred by the House to the General Committee of Elections for the purpose of choosing Select Committees as hereinafter provided, to try such Petitions, and the Speaker shall communicate to the House and to the General Committee, every proceeding had before him concerning the Recognizances to any Election Petition, and in every case in which any Election Petition is withdrawn, or the Speaker reports to the House that the Recognizances are objectionable, the order for referring such Petition to the General Committee of Elections shall be discharged, and no further proceedings shall be had upon such Petition, and the General Committee shall make out a list of all Election Petitions, in which the Speaker has reported to the House, that the Recognizances are unobjectionable, and in which the proceedings are not suspended, in which list the Petitions shall be arranged in the order in which they were so reported upon; and in every case in which the proceedings in any Petition inserted in such list are afterwards suspended, the Petition shall be struck out of the list, and shall be again inserted at the bottom of the list, at the end of such suspension of proceedings.

LIII. And be it enacted, That when notice of the death or vacancy of the seat of any Member petitioned against, or that it is not the intention of such Member to defend his election or return, is given to the General Committee by the Speaker as herein before defend, shall be given. provided, the General Committee shall suspend their proceedings in the matter of the Petition referred to in such notice, until twenty-one days after the day on which notice of such death or vacancy, or intention not to defend, has been inserted in the Gazette under the provisions hereinbefore contained; unless the Petition of some person claiming to be admitted as a party in the room of such Member be sooner referred to them.

When there is more than one Petition against the same return.

Select Committees to

list, and to report.

LIV. And be it enacted, That when more than one Election Petition relating to the same election or return are referred to the General Committee of Elections, they shall suspend their proceedings in the matter of all such Petitions until the report of the Speaker, respecting the Recognizance upon each of such Petitions, or such of them as have not been withdrawn, is received by them, and upon receipt of the list of such reports, they shall place such Petitions at the bottom of the then list of Election Petitions, bracketed together, and such Petitions shall afterwards be dealt with as one Petition.

LV. And be it enacted, That the General Committee of Elections shall choose the be chosen in order of Committees to try the Election Petitions standing in the said list of Petitions in the order in which the said Petitions stand in such list, and they shall from time to time determine how many Committees shall be chosen in each week for trying such Petitions, and the days on which they will meet for choosing such Committees, having regard to the number of Select Committees which may then be sitting for the trial of Election

Petitions,

Petitions, and to the whole number of such Committees then to be appointed, and they shall report to the House from time to time the days appointed by them for choosing such Committee.

appointment of Select

Proviso: if the

number of Petitions

LVI. And be it enacted, That if Parliament be prorogued after any Election Petition Proceedings in case has been presented, but before the appointment of a Select Committee to try such of prorogation before Petition, the General Committee of Elections appointed in the following Session shall, Committee. within two days after their first meeting, in case the sureties have been then reported unobjectionable, appoint a day and hour for selecting a Committee to try the Petition. so standing over as aforesaid: Provided always, that if the number of Petitions so standing over be so great that the times for selecting Committees to try the whole thereof cannot in the judgment of the General Committee be conveniently appointed within two days after their first meeting, the said General Committee shall within two days after their first meeting, appoint the times for selecting Committees to try so many of the said Petitions as the said General Committee deems convenient, and shall afterwards from time to time, as soon as conveniently may be, appoint the times for selecting the Committees to try the remainder of such Petitions.

LVII. And be it enacted, That notice of the time and place at which the Committee will be chosen to try any Election Petition shall be published, with the principal votes, not less than eight days before the day on which such Committee is appointed to be chosen; and in case the conduct of the Returning Officer is complained of, such notice shall be sent to him through the Post not less than fourteen days before the day on which such Committee is appointed to be chosen, and every such notice shall direct all parties interested to attend the General Committee of Elections by themselves or their agents, at the time and place appointed for choosing the Select Committee; and if after such notice has been published with the printed votes, or sent to the Returning Officer as aforesaid, the proceedings in the matter of such Petition become suspended, notice of such suspension shall be immediately published with the printed votes, and in case the conduct of the Returning Officer is complained of, such notice shall be sent to him through the Post.

LVIII. And be it enacted, That if notice of the death or vacancy of the seat of any Member petitioned against, or that it is not the intention of such Member to defend his election or return, have been inserted in the Gazette by order of the Speaker as hereinbefore provided, and no party has been admitted to defend such election or return, then, if the conduct of the Returning Officer is not complained of in such Petition, it shall not be necessary to insert such Petition at the bottom of the then list of Petitions, but the General Committee of Elections shall meet for choosing the Select Committee to try such Petition, as soon as conveniently may be after the expiration of the time allowed for parties to come in to defend such election or return, and not less than one day's notice of the time and place appointed for choosing such Committee shall be given in the printed votes of the House, and in such case it shall not be necessary to deliver to the Chairman of the Select Committee for the trial of such Election Petition, a list of the voters intended to be objected to as hereinafter is required in other cases, unless the same shall be specially ordered by such Select Committee.

LIX. And be it enacted, That the General Committee of Elections may change the day and hour appointed by them for choosing a Select Committee to try any Election Petition, and appoint some subsequent, or by the consent of all parties concerned, some earlier day and hour for the same, if in their judgment it be expedient so to do, giving notice in the printed votes of the House, of the day and hour so subsequently appointed; and in every case in which any such change is made by them, they shall forthwith report the same to the House with their reasons for making such change. LX. And be it enacted, That notice shall be published, with the votes, of the Petitions appointed for each calendar week reckoned from Sunday to Saturday inclusive, and of the Panel from which Committees will be chosen to try such Petitions, and each Panel shall serve for a calendar week, beginning with the Panel first drawn, 225 and

be very great,

Notices to be given

before the Select in any case.

Committee is chosen

Proceedings when

there is no party who

defends the return.

Day appointed for choosing Committee, may be changed.

Certain notices to be

printed with the

votes.

Select Committee for trying Petition, how

who disqualified.

and continuing by rotation in the order in which they were drawn, and not reckoning those weeks in which no Select Committee is appointed to be chosen.

LXI. And be it enacted, That the General Committee shall meet at the time and chosen, number, &c., place appointed for choosing the Committee to try any Election Petition, and shall choose from the Panel in service four Members not being then excused or disqualified from any of the causes aforesaid, and not specially disqualified for being appointed on the Committee to try such Petition for any of the following causes, that is to say: by reason of having voted at the Election, or by reason of being the party on whose behalf the seat is claimed, or related to him or to the sitting Member by kindred or affinity in the first, second, third or fourth degree, according to the civil law.

Four Members of General Committee must agree in the

choice, otherwise the General Committee adjourn the choice.

Chairman to be chosen from

Chairmen's Panel, &c.

Proviso in case of notice of vacancy of seat or non intention to defend.

LXII. And be it enacted, That if at the least four Members then present of the General Committee of Elections, do not agree in choosing a Committee to try any Election Petition, the General Committee shall adjourn the choosing of that Committee and of the remaining Committees appointed to be chosen on the same day, to the following day, and the parties shall be directed to attend on the following day, and if such following day happen during an adjournment of the House, then on the day to which the House stands adjourned, and so from day to day until all such Committees are chosen, or until the General Committee of Elections is dissolved as herein before provided; and the General Committee shall not in any case proceed to choose a Committee to try an Election Petition until they have chosen a Committee to try every other Election Petition standing higher in the list aforesaid, the order for referring which has not then been discharged, except in the case when the day originally appointed for choosing a Committee has been changed under the provision hereinbefore contained.

LXIII. And be it enacted, That on the day appointed by the General Committee to choose an Election Committee, the Members upon the Chairmen's Panel shall, in the manner hereinafter provided, select one of such Members to act as the Chairman of such Election Committee, and when they have been informed by the General Committee that four Members of such Election Committee have been chosen, they shall communicate the name of the Member so selected by them to the General Committee, but no Member shall be so elected who would be disqualified from serving on such Committee if not upon the Chairmen's Panel; Provided always, firstly, that if with reference to any Petition for trying which they are about to appoint a Chairman, the Members of the Chairmen's Panel receive notice from the Speaker under the provision herein before contained, of the death or vacancy of the seat of the sitting Member petitioned against in such Petition, or that it is not his intention to defend his seat, they shall suspend their proceedings with regard to the appointment of a Chairman to try such Petition until the day appointed by the General Committee of Elections for selecting a Committee to try such Petition; and provided also, secondly, that unanimous or by vote. every such selection of a Chairman shall be either by the unanimous voices of all the Members of such Chairmen's Panel, or in case of the absence of any Member of such Chairmen's Panel, on any such occasion, or of the dissent of the Member proposed to be selected, or of any other Member thereof, from any such proposed selection, then, and in every such case, the Chairmen's Panel, or such of them as shall be present, shall, in the presence of the parties interested or concerned in such Election Petition, their Counsel, or agent, or such of them as shall attend, proceed to select one of such Chairmen's Panel, by lot, to be the Chairman of such Election Committee.

Proviso: choice of
Chairman to be

Subject to this Act,

the Members of the Chairmen's Panel

LXIV. And be it enacted, That subject to the provisions of this Act, the Members upon the Chairmen's Panel may from time to time make such Regulations as they may make regulations, find convenient for securing the appointment or selection of Chairmen of Election Committees, and for distributing the duties of Chairmen among all of them.

&c.

Parties to be called and informed of names of Committee and Chairman.

LXV. And be it enacted, That as soon as the General Committee of Elections has chosen four Members of a Committee to try any Election Petition, and has received from the Members of the Chairmen's Panel the name of a Chairman to serve on such Committee,

Committee, the parties in attendance shall be called in, and the names of the Members so chosen and of the Chairman shall be read over to them.

LXVI. And be it enacted, That after hearing the said names, the parties present shall be directed to withdraw, and the General Committee may proceed to choose another Committee to try the next Petition appointed for that day, and so on, until all the Committees appointed to be chosen on that day are chosen, or until the choosing of any Committee is adjourned as aforesaid; and after any such adjournment, the General Committee shall not transact any more business on that day, except with regard to those Petitions for trying which Committees have been previously chosen. LXVII. And be it enacted, That within one half hour at furthest from the time when the parties to any Election Petition have withdrawn, or if the parties to any Election Petition be then before the General Committee of Elections, then after such other parties have withdrawn, the parties in attendance shall be again called before the General Committee in the same order in which they were directed to withdraw, and the Petitioners and sitting Member, or such party as may have been admitted as aforesaid to defend the return or election, or their agents, beginning on the part of the Petitioners, may object to all or any of the Members chosen, or to the Chairman as being then disqualified or excused for any of the reasons aforesaid from serving on the Committee for the trial of that Election Petition, but not for any other reason. LXVIII. And be it enacted, That if at the least four Members then present of the General Committee be satisfied that any Member so objected to is then disqualified or excused for any of the reasons aforesaid, the parties present shall be again directed to withdraw, and the General Committee shall proceed to draw from the same Panel another Committee to try that Petition; or, if the Member to whom any such objection is substantiated be the Chairman, they shall send back his name to the Members of the Chairmen's Panel, and the Members on the Chairmen's Panel shall proceed to choose another Chairman to try that Petition, and shall communicate his name to the General Committee, and so as often as the case may require.

General Committee

may then proceed to next Petition, &c.

Parties may object to Members, but for certain reasons only, and when.

New Committee men

or a new Chairman objection be sustained.

to be chosen if any

LXIX. And be it enacted, That in the second or any following Committee, the Members not objected General Committee may, if they think fit, include any of the Members previously to may be put on new chosen by them, to whom no objection has been substantiated, and no party shall be Committee. allowed to object to any Member included in the second or any following Committee who was not objected to when included in the Committee first chosen to try that Petition.

LXX. And be it enacted, That when four Members and a Chairman have been chosen, to none of whom any objection has been substantiated, the Clerk of the General Committee of Elections shall give notice thereof in writing to each of the Members so chosen, and with every such notice shall be sent a notice of the general and special grounds of disqualification and excuse from serving hereinbefore mentioned, and of the time and place when and where the General Committee will meet on the following day, and notice of the time and place of such meeting shall be published with the printed votes of the House.

LXXI. And be it enacted, That the General Committee shall meet on the following day at the time and place mentioned in such notice as last aforesaid; and if any such Member then and there prove to the satisfaction of at least four Members then present of the General Committee, that for any of the reasons aforesaid, he is disqualified or excused from serving on the Committee for which he has been so chosen, or if any such Member prove, to the satisfaction of at least four Members then present of the General Committee, that there are any circumstances in his case which render him ineligible to serve on such Select Committee, such circumstances having regard, not to his own convenience, but solely to the impartial character of the Tribunal, the General Committee shall proceed to choose a new Committee to try that Petition in like manner as if that Member had been objected to by any party to the Petition; and if within the space of one quarter of an hour after the time mentioned in the notice, no Member so appear, or if any Member so appearing do not prove his disqualification or excuse to the 225 * satisfaction

Notice to be sent to

Members of Select

Committee, &c.

Members may object to themselves as proceedings if the objection be

disqualified:

maintained..

Appointment of

Select Committee to be reported to the

&c.

satisfaction of at least four Members then present of the General Committee, the Select Committee shall be taken to be appointed.

LXXII. And be it enacted, That at the meeting of the Commons House of Legislative Assembly for the despatch of business next after any such Select Committee has been House, and printed, appointed, the General Committee of Elections shall report to the House the names of the Select Committee appointed, and shall annex to such report all Petitions referred to them by the House which relate to the return or election of which such Select Committee is appointed to try the merits, and such report shall be published with the

Members of Committee to be sworn; how and when.

Members not

attending, &c. to be taken into custody.

Cases excepted.

If the Members do

be taken in time.

votes.

LXXIII. And be it enacted, That at or before four of the clock on the next day on which the House meets for the despatch of business after such report, the five Members chosen to be the Select Committee shall attend in their places, and shall before departing the House be sworn at the Table by the Clerk well and truly to try the matter of the Petitions referred to them, and a true judgment to give according to the evidence, and shall be taken to be a Select Committee legally appointed to try and determine the merits of the return of election so referred to them by the House, and the legality of such appointment shall not be called in question on any ground whatever; and the Member so appointed from the Chairmen's Panel shall be the Chairman of such Committee, and they shall not depart the House until the time for the meeting of such Committee is fixed by the House, as hereinafter provided.

LXXIV. And be it enacted, That if any Member of the said Select Committee do not attend in his place within one hour after four of the clock on the day appointed for swearing the Committee (provided the House sits so long, or if not, then within the like time on the following day of sitting,) or if, after attending, any Member depart the House before the said Committee is sworn, unless the Committee be discharged or the swearing of the said Committee be adjourned as hereinafter provided, he shall be ordered to be taken into the custody of the Sergeant at Arms attending the House, for such neglect of his duty, and shall be otherwise punished or censured, at the discretion of the House, unless it appear to the House by facts specially stated and verified upon oath, that such Member was by a sudden accident or by necessity prevented from attending the House.

LXXV. And be it enacted, That if any such absent Member be not brought into the not attend and cannot House within three hours after four of the clock on the day first appointed for swearing the said Committee (provided the House sits so long, or if not, then within the like time on the following day of sitting,) and if no sufficient cause be shown to the House before its rising whereon the House dispenses with the attendance of such absent Member, the swearing of the Committee shall be adjourned to the next meeting of the House, and all the Members of the said Committee shall be bound to attend in their places for the purpose of being sworn on the day of the next meeting of the House, in like manner as on the day first appointed for that purpose.

Adjournment, &c.

If Members do not

appointed, a new Committee to be chosen.

LXXVI. And be it enacted, That if on the day to which the swearing of the said attend on second day Committee is so adjourned all the Members of the Committee do not attend and be sworn within one hour after four of the clock, (provided the House sits so long, or if not, then within the like time on the following day of sitting), or if on the day first appointed for swearing the said Committee, sufficient cause be shewn to the House before its rising why the attendance of any Member of the Committee should be dispensed with, the said Committee shall be taken to be discharged, and the General Committee shall meet on the following day, or if such following day happen during an adjournment of the House, then on the day to which the House stands adjourned, and shall proceed to choose a new Committee from the Panel on service for the time being in the manner hereinbefore provided, and notice of such meeting shall be published with the

votes.

7. PROCEEDINGS