2.—(1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires:—
“the Act” means the Representation of the People Act 1949, as applied by the European Assembly Elections Regulations 1979;
“Assembly” means the Assembly of the European Communities;
“constituency” means an Assembly constituency for the time being constituted by an Order in Council made under section 3 of the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949(1);
“Divisional Court” means a Divisional Court of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court;
“election petitions office” means the office of the Queen's Bench Masters' Secretary's Department at the Central Office of the Royal Courts of Justice;
“petition” means a petition questioning an election under the European Assembly Elections Act 1978(2);
“rota judge” means a judge on the rota for the trial of parliamentary election petitions;
“returning officer” means the returning officer for the constituency to which the petition relates.
(2) The master of the Supreme Court (Queen's Bench Division) who is for the time being nominated under section 137(4) of the Act, as originally enacted, as the prescribed officer in relation to parliamentary elections shall also be the prescribed officer in relation to Assembly elections, and references in these Rules to the prescribed officer shall be construed accordingly.
(3) Subject to the provisions of the Act and these Rules, the practice and procedure of the High Court, including the rules relating to the discovery and inspection of documents and the delivery of interrogatories, shall apply to a petition under these Rules as if it were an ordinary action within its jurisdiction, notwithstanding any different practice, principle or rule on which the committees of the House of Commons used to act in dealing with election petitions.
(4) Any document required to be filed in proceedings under these Rules shall be filed in the election petitions office.
1949 c. 66; section 3 was applied by paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to the European Assembly Elections Act 1978 c. 10.