51Changes to Register of Political Parties

51 Changes to Register of Political Parties (1) A registered political party may apply to the Commission for a change to the Register of Political Parties by— (a) changing the name of the political party to a name specified in the application; or S. 51(1)(aa) inserted by No. 30/2018 s. 14(1). (aa) if a logo is entered in the Register in relation to the political party, changing the logo to a logo submitted in the application; or S. 51(1)(ab) inserted by No. 30/2018 s. 14(1). (ab) if a logo is not entered in the Register in relation to the political party, entering the logo submitted in the application in the Register in relation to the political party; or (b) substituting for the name of the registered officer entered in the Register the name of a person specified in the application; or (c) substituting for the address of the registered officer of the political party that is entered in the Register another address specified in the application. S. 51(1A) inserted by No. 30/2018 s. 14(2). (1A) An application under subsection (1) to amend the Register to change the name of a political party or to enter a logo cannot be made during the period commencing 115 days before the day of the 2018 general election resulting from the expiration of the Assembly, or during the period commencing 120 days before the day of any other general election resulting from the expiration of the Assembly. (2) An application under subsection (1) for a change to the Register of Political Parties— (a) must be in writing, signed by the secretary of the political party; and (b) in the case of an application to substitute the name of a person as the name of the registered officer of a political party, may also be signed by the registered officer; and S. 51(2)(c) amended by No. 10/2004 s. 15(Sch. 1 item 6.2). (c) in the case of a change of name of the political party, must be accompanied by a fee of 50 fee units. S. 51(2A) inserted by No. 30/2018 s. 14(3). (2A) An application under subsection (1)(aa) or (ab) must include— (a) a copy of the logo as a black and white image in a format determined by the Commission; and (b) a declaration that the use of the logo will not infringe the intellectual property rights of any person; and (c) any other requirements determined by the Commission. (3) In the case of an application under subsection (1) to change the name of the political party, sections 46 to 49 apply in relation to the application as if a reference in those sections to an application for registration were a reference to an application for that change. S. 51(3A) inserted by No. 30/2018 s. 14(4). (3A) In the case of an application under subsection (1)(aa) or (ab), sections 46, 47A, 48 and 49 apply in relation to the application as if in those sections a reference to an application under section 45 were a reference to an application under section 51(1)(aa) or (ab). (4) If an application under subsection (1) to substitute the name of a person for the name of the registered officer of a political party is not signed by the registered officer, the Commission must— (a) give the registered officer written notice of the application for the change and invite the registered officer, if the registered officer considers that there are reasons why the change should not be made, to submit written particulars of those reasons to the Commission within 7 days after the date on which the notice was given; and (b) consider any particulars submitted in response to the invitation referred to in paragraph (a). (5) If the Commission determines that an application under subsection (1) may be granted, the Commission must— (a) change the Register of Political Parties accordingly; and (b) give written notice to the political party that the Commission has made the change; and (c) in the case of a change to the name of the political party in respect of which a person submitted particulars in response to the invitation referred to in section 49(2)(b) by virtue of subsection (3) of this section, give written notice to that person that the Commission has made the change, setting out in the notice to the person the reasons for rejecting the reasons particulars of which were submitted by the person; and (d) in the case of an application to substitute the name of a person for the name of the registered officer of the political party, being an application in respect of which the registered officer submitted particulars under subsection (4)(a), give written notice to that registered officer that the Commission has made the change setting out the reasons for rejecting the reasons particulars of which were so submitted; and (e) publish notice of the change in the Government Gazette. (6) If the Commission determines that a political party's application under subsection (1) should be refused, the Commission must give the political party written notice of that determination.