Part 5: Disqualification of offenders for holding elective office etc Section 31: Vacation of office etc
Section 31 sets out the process by which a holder of a relevant elective office who is disqualified from holding that office as a result of a disqualification under section 30 should vacate their office. It is modelled on the existing provision in section 173(4) to (8) of the RPA 1983 which governs the process for a person vacating an office as the result of incapacities arising from being convicted of a corrupt or illegal practice (although the new disqualification order is not a corrupt or illegal practice.)
	Subsection (2) provides that the holder’s office is vacated at the end of the 3-month period after the court made the disqualification order or, if earlier, the end of the period during which an appeal against the criminal conviction or sentence is allowed if such an appeal is not made by the person during that period.
	When the office-holder makes an appeal against their conviction or the making of a disqualification order subsection (3) provides that the office is vacated at the end of the 3-month period unless:
the appeal is dismissed or abandoned before the 3-month period expires, in which case the office is vacated at that earlier time; or
the appeal is upheld before the 3-month period expires, in which case the holder is not required to vacate their office.
	Subsection (4) provides that the office-holder is suspended from performing any of the functions of their office from the date that the disqualification order is made until either the date on which the holder’s office is vacated in accordance with this section, or the date within the 3-month period on which a court upholds the appeal against the officeholder’s conviction or the making of the disqualification order (as described in subsection (3)). In the latter case, the holder’s office is not vacated and the suspension also ceases.
	Subsection (5) provides that, where an office-holder’s appeal is successful after their office has already been vacated in accordance with this section, the former office-holder is not entitled to resume that office as a result of that successful appeal.
	Subsection (6) defines the term "order date", which is used in the section.