Page: 20 B. Part 20 of the Act – CONTESTED ELECTIONS [46] Prior to the enactment of the 2000 Act, procedures to overturn election results were In applications under that legislation the presiding Court could exercise both criminal and civil jurisdiction. In the various studies and reports on the former legislative regime, these procedures, requiring a finding of criminal liability, were considered to be cumbersome, costly and timeconsuming and were, for those reasons, rarely employed. The two jurisdictions, civil and criminal, were, therefore, treated separately in the 2000 Act. [47] The criminal process is now left to the Commissioner and the Director of Public Prosecutions who may initiate investigations and prosecutions under Part 19, where justified by the evidence and the public interest. The prosecutions may result in penal sanctions against an individual or individuals. [48] Part 20 of the Act now provides for civil applications to overturn an election. It is a complete code for the validity of an election to be challenged by a candidate or an elector and the result will touch upon the election outcome, not provide sanctions against individuals. The election of a candidate may not be contested otherwise than in accordance with Part 20, and the making of an application to contest an election does not affect any right or obligation of a candidate in that election (s 522). (1) The Act contemplates parallel criminal and civil processes 2013 FC 525 (CanLII) governed by the above mentioned Dominion Controverted Elections Act, a 19th century statute.