Clause 17 - Determination by Registrar
Hunting Bill
9:15 am
Mr Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West, Labour)
I urge my hon. Friends to vote against the amendment. It does not incorporate what I would regard under the jurisprudence of England and Wales as ''a sound principle of English law'', as the hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) put it. An applicant who applies to an employment tribunal has to make their case on the balance of probabilities, and the same is true of applications to social security appeal tribunals and to traffic commissioners for licences to operate vehicles.
Winding back to an earlier part of the hon. Gentleman's speech, the amendment is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of clause 8. He said that one has to show that hunting has some utility and is therefore not cruel, which is not how clause 8 will operate.