Section 240: Registration of political parties – Appeal from decision of Electoral

240. Registration of political parties – Appeal from decision of Electoral Supervisory Commission – Statutory Interpretation—Where the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC) had declined to register a political party on the ground that its application for registration had been made, not by its “President, Chairperson or secretary” as prescribed by regulation 7 (2) of the Legislative Assembly Elections Regulations 1968, but by its leader. HELD (i) paragraphs 2 (1) and (4) of Schedule 1 to the Constitution had conferred a right on political parties to be registered for purposes of an election to the Legislative Assembly and had empowered the making of Regulations to determine the kind of information or evidence to be furnished by persons making an application for the registration of a party, including information or evidence of their authority to make the application. But that these constitutional provisions had not imposed any restrictions on the class of persons who could act for their respective parties in making an application; (ii) too rigid an interpretation of regulation 7 (2) would result in unduly restricting the class of persons a political party could lawfully authorise to make an application for registration and regulation 7 (2) must consequently be regarded as being directory and not mandatory; (iii) the ESC should, given that the application had been made by the leader of the party who had been duly authorised for the purpose by the party, register the party. Union Democratique Mauricienne v Electoral Supervisory Commission (1982). E. Inspection of papers