THE LAW RELATING TO CORRUPT PRACTICES AT ELECTIONS AND THE PRACTICE ON ELECTION PETITIONS, WITH AN APPENDIX OF STATUTES, RULES AND FORMS, BY MILES WALKER MATTINSON, OF GRAY'S INN, BARRISTER-AT-LAW; JOINT AUTHOR OF "PRECEDENTS OF PLEADING." 66 OF GRAY'S INN, BARRISTER-AT-LAW; AUTHOR OF LAW OF EXECUTORS AND 66 PREFACE. THE sweeping changes in the Law for the Prevention of Corrupt Practices at Elections effected by the Act of 1883 have rendered obsolete existing works on the subject, at the same time that the increased stringency of punishment enacted has heightened the importance of a clear comprehension of the whole subject by all persons concerned in the conduct of elections. In these circumstances the Authors present to the Profession and the Public this work, in which they have sought to engraft what has been newly enacted by the Legislature upon such of the old learning as has been retained, and so to offer a complete view of the whole law relating to Corrupt Practices at Elections as it will prevail throughout the United Kingdom on the 15th of October. The Act of 1883 is not a code of the Laws against Corruption it is only an Amending Act. To grasp the subject resort must be had to four distinct sources, viz., the Common Law of Parliament, the unrepealed sections of the Acts for the Preven→ tion of Corruption prior to the legislation of this year, the Act of 1883 itself, and the reported decisions of the Election Judges. There were two methods open to the Authors in treating of the Laws relating to Corrupt Practices at Elections. One was to follow a course, not uncommon, of merely editing the Act of 1883 |