S.I. No. 293/2010 - European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) (Control of Recreational Activities) Regulations 2010.
INDEX |
||
Regulation |
||
1. Citation |
||
2. Interpretation |
||
3. Appointment of Authorised Officers |
||
4. Functions of Authorised Officers |
||
5. Search Warrant |
||
6. Functions relating to the Prohibition of Off-Road Vehicles and Recreational Watercraft |
||
7. Erection of Notices |
||
8. Ministerial Directions Prohibiting Specified Recreational Activities in Specified Places |
||
9. Public Notice of Prohibited Recreational Activities |
||
10. Objections Relating to Restrictions on Carrying Out Recreational Activities in a European Site or at Specified Land |
||
11. Damage to European Site |
||
12. Injunctions |
||
13. Threat Response Plan |
||
14. Offence of Aiding or Abetting |
||
15. Offences by Body Corporate |
||
16. Offences and Penalties |
||
17. Prosecution of Offences |
||
18. Cost of Prosecutions |
||
19. Payment of Fines to Prosecuting Authorities |
||
20. Guidelines and Codes of Practice |
||
21. Guidelines and Codes of Practice in Criminal and Civil Proceedings |
||
section 2 of the section 4 of the section 3 of the section 2 of the section 3 of the Section 40 of the Section 40 (1) shall not apply in relation to any destruction of vegetation on uncultivated land so authorised. |
||
Offence of Aiding or Abetting |
||
14. A person who aids or abets the commission of an offence contrary to these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence. |
||
Offences by Body Corporate |
||
15. Where an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a Body Corporate and it is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the Body Corporate, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the Body Corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if guilty of the first-mentioned offence. |
||
Offences and Penalties |
||
16. (1) A person who commits an offence under Regulations 7, 8(7) or 11(2) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000. |
||
(2) A person who commits an offence under Regulations 4, 6, 11(3), 11(5) or 14 is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or both. |
||
(3) A person who commits an offence under Regulations 8(6) or 15 is liable- |
||
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €5,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or both, or |
||
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €500,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, or both. |
||
(4) In imposing any penalty under paragraph (1), (2) or (3), the Court shall, in particular, have regard to the risk or extent of injury to the environment arising from the act or omission constituting the offence, and to the polluter pays principle. |
||
(5) Subject to paragraph (6), a Court of competent jurisdiction may order up to the limit of its jurisdiction that a person guilty of an offence under these Regulations, in addition to any penalty imposed by the Court in accordance with this Regulation, shall carry out all necessary remedial works directed by the Court to be necessary towards making good any damage caused by the offence. |
||
(6) If the person who brought the prosecution is willing to undertake some or all of the necessary remedial work, and indicates this to the Court, the Court may order that the person may do that work, or arrange for it to be carried out on behalf of or jointly with that person, in lieu of the convicted party, and that the cost of the work, undertaken by the person who brought the prosecution, and agreed by the Court to have been necessary work towards making good the damage caused by the offence, shall be payable by the convicted party. |
||
Prosecution of Offences |
||
17. Summary proceedings for an offence under these Regulations may be brought by the Minister or by a member of An Garda Síochána, or by a person who is neither the Minister nor a member of An Garda Síochána with the consent of the Minister or an officer of the Minister nominated by the Minister for that purpose. |
||
Cost of Prosecutions |
||
18. (1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under these Regulations, the Court shall, unless it is satisfied that there are special and substantial reasons for not doing so, order the person to pay to- |
||
(a) the Minister, or |
||
(b) another person, |
||
the costs and expenses, measured by the Court, incurred by the Minister or other person in relation to the investigation, detection or prosecution of the offence. |
||
(2) Costs and expenses referred to in paragraph (1) may include costs and expenses incurred in relation to any one or more of the following: |
||
(a) the taking of samples, |
||
(b) the carrying out of tests, |
||
(c) examinations and analyses and, |
||
(d) the remuneration and other expenses of authorised officers, consultants and advisers. |
||
Payment of Fines to Prosecuting Authorities |
||
19. (1) Where a Court imposes a fine or affirms or varies a fine imposed by another Court for an offence under these Regulations, it shall, on the application of the Minister or other person who brought the prosecution, provide by order for the payment of the amount of the fine to the Minister or other person. |
||
(2) Payment to be paid under paragraph (1) may be enforced by the Minister or other person referred to in paragraph (1) as if it were due on foot of a decree or order made by the Court in civil proceedings. |
||
Guidelines and Codes of Practice |
||
20. The Minister may for the purposes of the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive, issue Guidelines or Codes of Practice in relation to the carrying out of outdoor recreational activities. |
||
Guidelines and Codes of Practice in Criminal and Civil Proceedings |
||
21. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), failure on the part of any person to observe any provision of a Guideline or a Code of Practice issued under Regulation 20 shall not of itself render that person liable to any civil or criminal proceedings. |
||
(2) Where in any criminal proceedings a party is alleged to have committed an offence under these Regulations, being a provision for which there was a Guideline or a Code of Practice at the time of the alleged contravention, paragraph (3) shall have effect with respect to that Guideline or Code of Practice in relation to those proceedings. |
||
(3) Any provision of a Guideline or Code of Practice which appears to the Court to give practical guidance as to the observance of the requirement or prohibition alleged to have been contravened shall be admissible in evidence, and if it is proved that any act or omission of the defendant alleged to constitute the contravention is a failure to observe such provision of the Guideline or Code of Practice, or if it is proved that any act or omission of the defendant is in compliance with such provision of the Guideline or Code of Practice, then such failure or compliance shall be admissible in evidence. |
||
GIVEN under my Official Seal, |
||
18 June 2010. |
||
JOHN GORMLEY, T.D., |
||
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. |
||
EXPLANATORY NOTE |
||
(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation) |
||
These regulations address the European Court of Justice ruling in Case C-418/04 that Ireland had failed adequately to transpose the Habitats Directive in relation to damage being caused to European nature sites by inappropriate recreational activities. They provide that carrying out recreational activities likely to damage a European nature site is an offence and empower the Minister to take measures to address the threats posed to sites and species by such activities and to prohibit or regulate, as appropriate, any recreational activities, including but not limited to the use of quads, scramblers and jet skis in areas where their use is likely to damage sites or species protected under the Birds and Habitats Directives. |