Schedule 3 - Hunting With Dogs: Prohibition
Hunting Bill
4:30 pm
Mr David Lidington (Aylesbury, Conservative)
The amendments would allow for greater protection of someone in the position that I have described than relying on the judgment of police and prosecuting authorities; the Minister implied that that is all that is necessary. We have referred previously to the possibility that malicious reports may be given to the police about how people have conducted themselves. A campaigning group may allege that a person had breached the law. I do not understand why there should be an objection to amendments Nos. 33 and 34, in particular, unless the Government envisage circumstances in which a minority shareholder or someone who did not have a direct interest in the land should be liable for prosecution. Will the Minister deal with such matters at length when he responds to the debate?
Unless paragraph 2 is removed or amended, there will be a risk that a landowner could be liable if he let his land be used for conduct that fell within one of the exceptions under part II of the schedule while he was aware of a risk that the dogs might hunt something else while they were carrying out one of the accepted activities, and indeed did so. If, for the sake of argument, a landowner allowed hunting for the purposes of rodent control, as permitted under part II of the schedule, but knew that there was a possibility that the dogs might hunt other wild mammals during the course of the lawful activity, could he—as the landowner—be in the position of having committed a criminal offence? When granting his permission for the activity that is subject to the part II exceptions, what steps does he need to take to demonstrate beyond doubt that he did not set out to commit the offence?
I tabled the amendments not to have a confrontation with those who disagree with me about the Bill but to tease out the need for the additional offence in paragraph 2 and to suggest ways in which we might define land ownership more tightly than in the schedule.