March, 2009 should be excluded from the period of computation. If any support is needed for the Court’s position, this is to be found in the judgment of Douglas CJ in Braithwaite v Edwards (1967) 11 WIR 475. In that case, Chief Justice Douglas, as he then was, made some very useful pronouncements at page 480 and 481. [64] It is pertinent to reiterate that at the very latest, the petitions ought to have been presented on 20th March 2009. In view of the Court’s findings and in the face of the undisputed position that both the Greene and the Joseph petitions were in fact presented on the 23rd March, 2009, they were clearly presented out of time and have violated section 45(2) of the Representation of People Act as amended. This is fatal. [65] Service of the Petition The Court is similarly of the view that the provision of the Representation of People Act which speak to the service of the petition is to be stringently observed. As with mandatory nature of the statutory provision for presentation of the petition, so too must the petitioner Mr. Greene comply with the strict provision of the Act in relation to service of the petition. [66] By way of emphasis, the Court finds as a fact that Mr. Greene’s petition was served on Mr. Adams 14 days after it was presented. Section 47(3) of the Act mandates that within 5 days after the presentation of the petition the petitioner shall serve on the respondent a notice of the nature of the proposed security and a copy of the petition. [67] Accordingly, the petition ought to have been presented within five days on which the petition was presented. The Court accepts that since the period is less than six (6) days, section 44(5) of the Interpretation Act is applicable and therefore, Sundays and public holidays were to be excluded in calculating the five day period. [68] In consequence of the fact that the petition was presented on March 23rd, 2009 the five day period had expired on Saturday 28th March; the Court has no doubt that when the petition was served 14 days after the presentation namely, the April 6th 2009, it was not served in accordance with the mandatory statutory requirement. 23