Clause 17 - Power of entry for section 16 purposes

Part of Animal Welfare Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:00 pm on 24 January 2006.

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Photo of Norman Baker Norman Baker Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 12:00, 24 January 2006

Yes. I am grateful to the Minister.

The Minister is talking about proportionality under human rights law, which is a proper approach to take, but proportionality suggests that a different approach should be taken to, on the one hand, an enclosed building such as a garage or outhouse, where activities may be going on and individuals would not want the police to interfere, and, on the other hand, to a yard or garden, which is by definition open to the public in the sense that people can see what is going on. Therefore, resisting entry to areas that are already visible to the public—so not private in the same sense as an outhouse or garage—is not reasonable.