Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 2003 asp 12 | |
The Bill for this Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed by the Parliament on 13th March 2003 and received Royal Assent on 22nd April 2003 An Act of the Scottish Parliament to make provision in relation to the offence of dog fouling, including fixed penalty notices for such an offence; and for connected purposes. | |
1 | Offence |
(1) Subject to section 3, if a dog defecates at any time upon any place to which this Act applies and a person who is in charge of the dog at that time fails immediately to remove the faeces from the place, that person shall be guilty of an offence unless- | |
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(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale. | |
(3) For the purposes of this section- | |
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(4) In any proceedings for an offence under this section it shall be lawful to convict the accused on the evidence of one witness. | |
2 | Places to which Act applies |
(1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), this Act applies to any public open place. | |
(2) This Act does not apply to agricultural land. | |
(3) In this Act- | |
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(4) For the purposes of this section any covered place open to the air on at least one side shall be treated as a place which is "open to the air". | |
3 | Exceptions to offence |
(1) Section 1 shall not apply to- | |
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(2) The Scottish Ministers may by order amend, remove or add to the exceptions listed in subsection (1). | |
4 | Authorisation by local authority of persons to issue fixed penalty notices |
Every local authority shall authorise in writing at least one person and such other number of persons as they consider necessary or expedient to issue fixed penalty notices in their area in accordance with this Act. | |
5 | Issue of fixed penalty notices |
(1) Where- | |
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the officer or, as the case may be, constable may issue that person with a fixed penalty notice. | |
(2) In the circumstances set out in subsection (1)(a), the authorised officer may require the person suspected of having committed the offence to give that person's name and address. | |
(3) When making that requirement, the officer shall inform the person- | |
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(4) A person who has been required under this section to give that person's name and address and, without reasonable excuse, fails to do so shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale. | |
(5) A fixed penalty notice shall be issued as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any case, not later than 7 days after the commission of the offence to which the notice relates. | |
(6) Where a constable has issued a fixed penalty notice, the constable shall send a copy of the fixed penalty notice to the local authority in whose area the offence was committed no later than 24 hours after the notice was issued. | |
(7) A fixed penalty notice may be issued to a person under this section by handing or delivering it to that person. | |
(8) Where an authorised officer or, as the case may be, constable has been unsuccessful in issuing a fixed penalty notice to a person in accordance with subsection (7), the officer or constable may issue the fixed penalty notice by- | |
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(9) Where an authorised officer or, as the case may be, constable has issued a fixed penalty notice in accordance with subsection (7), the officer or constable shall send a copy of the notice by post to that person at that person's last known address as soon as reasonably practicable and, in any case, not later than 7 days after the notice has been issued. | |
(10) For the purposes of subsections (8)(b) and (9), the sending of a notice by post is deemed to have been effected when the notice is posted. | |
6 | Form of fixed penalty notices |
(1) A fixed penalty notice shall- | |
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(2) The Scottish Ministers may by order prescribe the form of fixed penalty notices. | |
(3) An order under subsection (2) may amend, remove or add to the list of information which must be included in a fixed penalty notice under subsection (1). | |
7 | Restrictions on proceedings |
Where a fixed penalty notice has been issued to the person named in the notice in accordance with section 5 no proceedings shall be brought against that person for the offence to which the notice relates unless- | |
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8 | Request for hearing |
(1) A person to whom a fixed penalty notice has been issued may, before the expiry of the period for paying, give notice requesting a hearing in respect of the offence to which the fixed penalty notice relates. | |
(2) A notice requesting a hearing under subsection (1) shall be in writing and shall be sent by post or delivered to the local authority specified in the fixed penalty notice at the address so specified. | |
(3) For the purposes of this section, unless the contrary is proven, the sending of a notice by post is deemed to have been effected at the time at which the notice would be delivered in the ordinary course of post. | |
(4) Where a person has requested a hearing in accordance with this section- | |
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9 | Amount and payment of fixed penalty |
(1) The fixed penalty shall be payable to the local authority in whose area the offence was committed. | |
(2) Subject to section 10, the fixed penalty shall be an amount equal to 20 per cent of level 1 on the standard scale or such other percentage as the Scottish Ministers may by order prescribe. | |
(3) Any fixed penalty received by a local authority shall be treated as if the fixed penalty were a fine imposed by a district court. | |
10 | Increase in fixed penalty |
Where a fixed penalty remains unpaid after the expiry of the period for paying and no request for a hearing has been made in accordance with section 8, the amount of the fixed penalty shall be increased by an amount equal to 10 per cent of level 1 on the standard scale or such other percentage as the Scottish Ministers may by order prescribe. | |
11 | Recovery of unpaid fixed penalties |
Subject to section 13, where a fixed penalty remains unpaid after the expiry of the period for paying and no request for a hearing has been made in accordance with section 8, it shall be enforceable in like manner as an extract registered decree arbitral bearing a warrant for execution issued by the sheriff court of any sheriffdom. | |
12 | Judicial determination of enforcement of fixed penalty |
(1) A person against whom a fixed penalty is being enforced under section 11 may apply to the sheriff by summary application for a declaration that the fixed penalty is not enforceable under that section on the ground that- | |
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(2) On summary application under subsection (1), the sheriff may declare- | |
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13 | Withdrawal of fixed penalty notice |
(1) A fixed penalty notice may be withdrawn- | |
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if the authorised officer, person or, as the case may be, constable determines that the offence to which the notice relates was not committed or that the notice ought not to have been issued to the person named as the person to whom it was issued. | |
(2) Where a fixed penalty notice has been withdrawn- | |
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14 | Effect of Act on byelaws |
(1) This section applies to any byelaw which has the effect of making any person in charge of a dog guilty of an offence where the dog defecates upon any public open place and that person fails immediately to remove the faeces from that place. | |
(2) In so far as any byelaw to which this section applies would, apart from this section, have effect in relation to any public open place, the byelaw- | |
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15 | Orders |
(1) Any power of the Scottish Ministers to make an order under this Act shall be exercisable by statutory instrument. | |
(2) Any such power shall include power to make- | |
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(3) A statutory instrument- | |
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16 | Interpretation |
(1) In this Act- | |
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(2) The Scottish Ministers may by order amend the number of days in the definition of "period for paying" in subsection (1). | |
17 | Consequential repeal of section 48 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 |
Section 48 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (c.45) (dogs: fouling of pavements) shall be repealed. | |
18 | Short title and commencement |
(1) This Act may be cited as the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003. | |
(2) This Act shall come into force at the end of the period of six months beginning with the date of Royal Assent. | |
© Crown copyright 2003 | Prepared 1 May 2003 |