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 | | From: | J Smytje | | Subject: | Hunting with hounds. Current situation | | Date: | Thu, 25 Nov 2004 09:05:49 +0000 |
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 | http://www.league.uk.com/huntingbill/index.htm
Current situation
Wednesday 24th November 2004 - Legal Challenges and Enforcement
Legal Challenges
It is worth remembering that these challenges are not unexpected. Both
ourselves and the Government have taken legal advice concerning them.
There are two main options available to the hunters:
Challenging the Parliament Act
In respect to possible challenges of the Parliament Act, it is
important to remember the report of the joint commission of the two
Houses of Parliament, which looked into the whole business of House of
Lords reform. Not many things were agreed, but one thing that was was
the role of the Parliament Act. The Act was fully discussed and the
options of scrapping it, reducing the delay before it can be invoked
or of increasing it, were all discussed. The Joint committee of both
Houses of Parliament agreed that the Act should stay as it was, and
thus it was used on 18th November 2004. The decision of the Joint
Committee to retain the Act in its current form makes it all the more
difficult for Lords or hunters to challenge the Act now.
The Parliament act is an ordinary Act of Parliament, and as such it
would be unthinkable for the courts to overturn it. Independent legal
commentators expect any challenge of the legality of the Parliament
Act to fail, and we are confident that they are correct.
The European Court of Human rights (ECHR)
The pro hunters will assert that the Hunting Act 2004 interferes with
their private lives, and that they have a right to compensation. The
same arguments were made before the Scottish courts regarding the
Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, and failed both at the
first petition and on appeal. Both the Scottish Parliament and the
Westminster Parliament are subject to the same ECHR law so it is
highly unlikely that any ECHR case will succeed, particularly bearing
in mind the legal precedents already set in Scotland.
As Rabinder Singh QC of the Matrix Chambers has commented, 'There is
no right in that convention to inflict cruelty upon animals'
Enforcement
Like many Laws, including compulsory seat belts in cars, the Hunting
Act will be resisted by some elements of society. It is, of course,
the right of all citizens to campaign within the democratic process.
However, no one is above the law and those who break it or commit
other illegal acts to highlight their displeasure at the banning of
their blood sport must be prosecuted.
The police will enforce the law. We and our members will bring to the
attention of the police and the authorities any incidents we uncover
of the law being broken. We will be vociferous in our demands that
action be taken to enforce the law.
Friday 19th November 2004 10:45am
Hunting with dogs has been banned! After a final vote in the House of
Lords in which the Commons suggested delay until 2006 was rejected by
a majority of 39, the Parliament Act was invoked by the Speaker in the
House of Commons, and the Hunting Act 2004 gained Royal Assent a short
while later. This is a landmark decision to protect our wild animals
from the cruelty of hunting with dogs, and a major advance that we
welcome as a success of our 80 year campaign.
Thursday 18th November 3:45pm
Following debate in the House of Commons, the votes are as follows:
Alun Michael motion a (delay to 2007) -
aye 46
no 345 not carried
Bradley motion b (delay to 2006) -
aye 283 carried
no 132
So the Bill goes back to the House of Lords with a suggested amendment
to delay implementation to 2006. The Lords can either reject this, in
which case the Bill will become law with a delay of three months, or
accept it, in which case the total hunt ban will still become law, but
only come into effect in July 2006. How long the decision will take is
not yet known, but it must be completed by the end of today.
Thursday 18th November 2004 10:00am
Last night saw another debate of the Hunting Bill in the House of
Lords. During her speech, Baroness Mallalieu stated that the Bills
"foundations are naked prejudice and wilful ignorance. It is without
rationality, without principle". This statement, and the applause her
speech received, demonstrated that compromise was never realistic, and
show exactly why the House of Commons are right to use the Parliament
Act to ensure that the Hunting Bill passes.
The Lords rejected the suggested 18 month delay in implementation,
adding instead an amendment to delay the end of hunting for three
years. This leaves the House of Commons faced with a choice between a
delay of three years or three months. We will today be encouraging MPs
to stand firm; to not give in to the threats and intimidation of the
pro hunt extremists, and to reject the three year delay.
The Bill will return to the House of Commons at 1230 today, and be
debated between 1230 and 1330.
Wednesday 17th November 2004 11:00am
Last night the Commons voted by a large margin to reject the House of
Lords amendments. Despite an appearance of Tony Blair in the division
lobbies, the majority in the Commons also voted to reject the Prime
Minister's preferred compromise of a continuation of hunting under
license. It is important to note that 56 Government Ministers voted in
favour of a total ban, while only 12 supported the compromise line.
The votes were as follows:
Three votes covered the Lords amendments:
343 aye 175 no (disagree with Lords)
344 aye 173 no (disagree with Lords)
334 aye 170 no (disagree with Lords)
One vote rejected the amendments that would turn the Bill back into
the original Alun Michael licensing Bill:
204 aye 321 no (agree with Huw Irranca-Davies amendments)
Today and tomorrow will see a last bout of 'ping pong' between the
Houses of Parliament; allowing the House of Lords the opportunity to
present a Bill which is more acceptable to the Commons. Clearly, the
votes last night are extremely good news, but the fight is not over
yet, and it is vital that MPs are present in the next two days to
continue to support the total ban. Only when it becomes clear that the
two Houses can not agree will the Speaker invoke the Parliament Act
and ban hunting with dogs.
Tuesday 16th November 2004 11:50am:
It is expected that the House Of Commons will be debating the Hunting
Bill between approx 5:45pm - 9pm followed by around 4 votes up until
around 10pm.
Tuesday 16th November 2004 9:30am:
So today MPs vote on the amendments from the House of Lords. There are
50 odd amendments, all specifically designed to allow the cruelty of
hunting to continue. Current intelligence is that MPs are absolutely
determined to support a total ban, and are well organised in this.
Licensed hunting is not on their agenda!
But, if you are not sure about your MP's plans, remember you can phone
them on 020 7219 3000.
BBC on-line, 10:20am, 15th November 2004
" There is a mood in the countryside that if we are going to be
banned, get on with it "
Baroness Mallalieu
Countryside Alliance president
Monday 15th November 2004 9.20 a.m.
The weekend news and this morning's papers widely seem to accept that
the "total ban bill" will become law on Thursday. This is clearly very
likely. MPs understand well that there can be no such thing as "half
cruel" hunting. How can you half a "half cruel" chase or a "half
cruel" kill?
All talk of "compromise" is mere political "spin". At the end of last
week, Alun Michael MP urged the House of Lords to offer a compromise
in its debate this evening. But the list of amendments shows that they
have ignored that advice. And why not? If the House of Lords do not
believe that hunting is cruel, why should they accept the slightest
restriction on it? Thankfully, Britain is a democracy, and MPs will
have the final word.
Friday 12th November 2004
On September 15th 2004, the House of Commons passed the Hunting Bill
with 339 votes to 155. For the last month the House of Lords have
debated the issue, and suggested amendments to change the Bill from a
total ban into a licensing arrangement. On Thursday November 11th the
Lords voted by 189 to 39 against a ban on hare coursing and deer
hunting. They went on to extend the delay in implementation to 1st
December 2007, to allow the hunting of stoats and weasels, and to
allow the use of dogs below ground to protect livestock. Clearly
compromise was not their agenda, and the result is an entirely
unreasonable Bill which is completely at odds with the will of the
democratically elected Parliament.
On Monday November 15th the Lords will give the amended Hunting Bill a
third Reading and send it to the Commons, where it will be debated on
Tuesday. The Commons seem likely to reject all the Lords amendments,
and will send the Bill back to the Lords on Wednesday 17th November.
The Lords may then send back further amendments for Commons
consideration. Assuming the two Houses of Parliament cannot come to an
agreement, the Parliament Act will be invoked on Thursday November
18th, and the Bill sent for Royal Assent. Parliament will be told in
Norman French that "The Queen wills it", and the Hunting Bill will
become the Hunting Act 2004. The Bill includes a delay in
implementation which means that it will not come into effect until
February 2005.
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