O ver view of t he W il dl if e & Nat ur al Envir onment (Scot l and) Act 2011 Pr of . Col in T. R eid School of Law, Univer sit y of Dundee
Hist or y of Act • No singl e vision or sour ce – UK R eview of Non-Nat ive Species Legisl at ion and Guidance in 2001 – l ef t -over s f r om debat es on Nat ur e Conser vat ion (Scot l and) Act 2004 – issues ar ising f r om mer ger of Deer Commission f or Scot l and wit h Scot t ish Nat ur al Her it age • Consul t at ion Docum ent in J une 2009 • St akehol der meet ings • Sever al pr oposal s dr opped – dut y t o manage deer sust ainabl y, changes in t he l aw on shoot ing deer at night , specif ic of f ence of t amper ing wit h snar es, t ight er cont r ol s on some f or ms of muir bur n
Debat es • Ver y f ul l evidence sessions at St age 1 in Par l iam ent • Big issue of whet her l andowner s shoul d be l iabl e f or cr imes by t heir empl oyees/agent s – incl uded in Act • Pot ent ial f or convict ion by singl e wit ness wit hout cor r obor at ion usual l y r equir ed – necessar y, point l ess or just seek consist ency?
CAUTIO N !! • Cur r ent l y in ver y danger ous per iod • some of Act came int o f or ce on 29 J une 2011 • f ur t her pr ovisions on 1 August 2011 • ot her s st il l t o come (e.g. non-nat ive species) – no dat es announced (as at ear l y August ) • Be car ef ul !
Game • Abol ishes exist ing special r ul es on game and poaching – ser ies of Act s f r om 1772 • Game bir ds br ought wit hin r ul es in W il dl if e and Count r yside Act 1981 Act – pr ovisions t o al l ow shoot ing, cl ose seasons, sal e and capt ive r ear ing of some species – of f ence t o kil l or t ake bir d unl ess l egal r ight t o do so or per mission f r om per son wit h t hat r ight • Abol ishes game l icences – bot h f or kil l ing and t aking and f or sel l ing
Har es and R abbit s • Cl ose seasons f or mount ain har es (M ar ch- J ul y) and br own har es (Febr uar y-Sept ember ) – can or der shor t -t er m pr ot ect ion out side cl ose season • O wner or occupier can act t o pr event ser ious damage t o l ivest ock, cr ops, veget abl es et c. – but not if need f or act ion appar ent in advance and no l icence sought • O f f ence t o kil l or t ake har es or r abbit s unl ess l egal r ight t o do so or per m ission f r om per son wit h t hat r ight – of f ence t o sel l or possess har es or r abbit s t aken unl awf ul l y
Poaching • Al l special r ul es on poaching abol ished al ong wit h r el at ed of f ences of t r espassing • R emoves power s of l andowner s t o appr ehend suspect ed poacher s • M ajor shif t f r om l aws on poaching dat ing f r om 18 t h and 19 t h cent ur ies which put l andowner s at cent r e of t he l aw • Now cover ed by r ul es pr ohibit ing kil l ing or t aking bir ds and animal s wit hout per mission of per son wit h l egal r ight t o do so – suppor t ed by exist ing enf or cement power s under t he 1981 Act
Landowner s’ Liabil it y • Added af t er a l ot of debat e bef or e Comm it t ee • Per son wit h r ight t o hunt bir ds guil t y if som ebody com mit s cr ime whil e act ing as em pl oyee or agent • Def ence if : – did not know of f ence being commit t ed, and – al l r easonabl e st eps and al l due dil igence t o pr event of f ence • Cover s main of f ences of kil l ing wil d bir ds, dest r oying nest s, dist ur bing pr ot ect ed
Snar es • Cont inuing debat es since 2004 Act • New r ul es incor por at e t hose int r oduced by Snar es (Scot l and) O r der 2010 • Act r equir es r eview of snar ing ever y f ive year s • O f f ences t o set snar e wit hout per m ission of owner or occupier • and t o be on any l and in possession of
Snar es: Suf f er ing • O f f ence t o set snar e wher e cal cul at ed t o cause unnecessar y suf f er ing – st ops on noose, set f or f ox (23 cm ) or ot her anim al s (13 cm ) – st aked t o gr ound or f ixed t o pr event dr agging – not so t hat animal l ikel y t o become suspended or dr own • Dut y t o inspect at l east ever y 24 hour s – r el ease or r em ove any animal caught and ensur e snar e st il l f r ee-r unning
Snar e Ident if icat ion • Tag on snar e wit h ident if icat ion number of per son who set it – and specif ying if set f or f oxes or br own har es or r abbit s • Ident if icat ion number issued by chief const abl e – m ust gr ant t his if sat isf ied per son t r ained t o set snar es – number not r est r ict ed t o singl e pol ice ar ea – M inist er ial O r der s t o f ol l ow wit h det ail s of t r aining, appl icat ion pr ocess and f ee, t ags • Pr esume t hat snar e set by per son whose num ber appear s on it
Non-nat ive species • O f f ence t o r el ease or al l ow t o escape any anim al in a pl ace out wit h it s nat ive r ange – except ion f or comm on pheasant and r ed- l egged par t r idge r el eased f or shoot ing • O f f ence t o pl ant or cause t o gr ow any pl ant in t he wil d out wit h it s nat ive r ange • Idea of nat ive r ange cover s isl ands or l ochs wher e animal nat ive t o Scot l and m ay not be pr esent
Code of Pr act ice • Im por t ant r ol e t o be pl ayed by Code of Pr act ice – dr af t issued in spr ing wit h com ment s due by J une • W het her per son com pl ied wit h Code can be r el ied on in est abl ishing l iabil it y • Dr af t guidance st il l ver y vague on m any point s – specif ic on f al conr y and f er r et ing – vague on “in t he wil d” f or pl ant s – danger of mism at ch bet ween what ser ves
Invasive Non-nat ive Species • O f f ence simpl y t o keep or possess cer t ain invasive non-nat ive species l ist ed by Minist er – r educes r isk of escapes of har mf ul species – def ence of r easonabl e st eps and al l due dil igence • Minist er s can make or der r equir ing not if icat ion of pr esence of cer t ain non-nat ive species – Pol icy Memor andum suggest s wil l be appl ied onl y t o of f icial s and
Cont r ol O r der s • O r der act ion against invasive animal s or pl ant s – if l ikel y t o have a signif icant adver se impact on biodiver sit y, envir onm ent al int er est s, social or economic int er est s • Power s t o M inist er s, SNH, SEPA, For est r y Comm ission • O nl y wher e agr eem ent of f er ed t o cont r ol or er adicat e species and no agr eem ent r eached, or non-com pl iance – or cannot t r ace owner or occupier t o make of f er – or emer gency (or der l ast s onl y 49 days)
Cont r ol O r der s (2) • O r der specif ies act ion t o be t aken against species • Det ail s on f or ms of not ice et c. • Appeal t o sher if f against or der • O f f ence if f ail t o compl y • Aut hor it y can st ep in and t ake act ion it sel f and r ecover cost s – power s of ent r y, incl uding t o see whet her or der shoul d be made
Licensing • Licences t o gr ant except ions t o 1981 Act – widen pur poses of l icences t o incl ude “any ot her social , economic or envir onment al pur pose” – so l ong as cont r ibut e t o signif icant benef it in t hose ar eas and no ot her sat isf act or y sol ut ion • Al l l icensing init ial l y in hands of Scot t ish Minist er s – but gener al power t o del egat e t o SNH or l ocal aut hor it y – by wr it t en dir ect ion and consul t SNH
Deer • M er ger of Deer Com m ission f or Scot l and and SNH pr ovided f or in Publ ic Ser vices R ef or m (Scot l and) Act 2010 (in f or ce August 2010) • Deer f unct ions now ext ended t o incl ude int er est s of publ ic saf et y and m anagement of deer in ur ban and per i- ur ban ar eas • St at ut or y Code of Pr act ice – made by SNH f ol l owing consul t at ions and appr oved by Minist er s – dr af t in May seeking com ment s by J ul y
Deer Cont r ol • SNH t o have r egar d t o Code of Pr act ice • Number of changes f or deer cont r ol agr eement s and schem es – cover publ ic int er est s of a social , economic or envir onment al nat ur e – r ef er t o deer management , not just r educt ion of number of deer – annual r eview of agr eement s and schemes t o assess compl iance – adjust ment s t o when move f r om of f er of agr eement t o cont r ol scheme so t hat same basis appl ies – r emoval of r ul e saying t hat owner cannot be r equir ed t o const r uct f ences
Deer : Cl ose Seasons • Com mission/SNH can aut hor ise act ion dur ing cl ose season t o pr event dam age, not just “ser ious damage”, t o cr ops, woodl and et c. • R emove r ight of occupier s t o act wit hout aut hor isat ion against deer ser iousl y damaging t heir l and • O ccupier s, empl oyees et c. not subject t o f it and com pet ent per son scr ut iny t o be aut hor ised
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