32.—(1) If a person to whom this article applies is, without reasonable cause, guilty of any act or omission in breach of his official duty, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(2) No person to whom this article applies shall be liable for breach of his official duty to any penalty at common law and no action for damages shall lie in respect of the breach by such a person of his official duty.
(3) The persons to whom this article applies are—
(a)any registration officer, returning officer or presiding officer;
(b)any other person whose duty it is to be responsible after an Assembly election for the used ballot papers and other documents (including returns and declarations as to expenses);
(c)any official designated by a universal service provider; and
(d)any deputy of a person mentioned in any of sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) or any person appointed to assist or in the course of his employment assisting a person so mentioned in connection with his official duties,
and “official duty” shall for the purpose of this article be construed accordingly, but shall not include duties imposed otherwise than by the law relating to Assembly elections or the registration of local government electors.
(4) Where—
(a)a returning officer for an Assembly election is guilty of an act or omission in breach of his official duty; but
(b)he remedies that act or omission in full by taking steps under paragraph (1) of article 21,
he shall not be guilty of an offence under paragraph (1).
(5) Paragraph (4) does not affect any conviction which takes place, or any penalty which is imposed, before the date on which the act or omission is remedied in full.