Schedule 3 - Hunting with dogs: prohibition
Hunting Bill
11:30 am
Mr Mike O'Brien (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; North Warwickshire, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting technical and legal point, but at the end of the process, a court of law with a jury or a magistrates court would have to make a decision on whether the material facts of the case showed that an offence had been committed. It is as simple as that. Lawyers may, as we have seen, put forward spurious, frivolous and merely good technical legal arguments. That can be done with any law, but does not mean that we should not pass laws. We pass laws because we take a view that it is necessary. Parliament has taken the view that the Bill is necessary to stop a particular mischief. It is right to accept that issues may arise later and that we should test those issues in Committee. That is entirely proper, but it does not mean that the Bill should not be enacted.