Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 (c. 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the Act does not cover the use of dogs in the process of flushing out an unidentified wild mammal,[4] nor does it affect drag hunting, where hounds are trained to follow an artificial scent.[5]
"Hunting ban" redirects here. For trophy hunting bans, see Trophy hunting § Regulations, ban and effects. For hunting contravening bans, see illegal hunting.Long title
The Act came into force on 18 February 2005. The pursuit of foxes with hounds, other than to flush out to be shot, had been banned in Scotland two years earlier by the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002. Such hunting remains permitted by the law in Northern Ireland, where the Act does not apply.
Voting, conflict with the Lords and royal assent[edit]
A bill identical to the one passed by the House of Commons in 2003 was reintroduced to the Commons on 9 September 2004.
On 15 September 2004, the day of the final vote (third reading) on the bill, two protesters staged the first invasion of the House of Commons chamber since King Charles I in 1641. The protesters were quickly removed by Parliamentary officials, but the incident led to a review of parliamentary security, given that it was the second breach of the security of the chamber in four months (Fathers 4 Justice activists had thrown purple flour in the Commons four months earlier). Simultaneously, a demonstration of between 8,000 and 10,000 people, including protesters from the Countryside Alliance filled Parliament Square outside.[26] Later, John Holliday wrote for the Guardian an essay on his actions.[27]
On 17 November, on one of the days of the Parliamentary session, the Lords again insisted on its amendments to the main Bill. In the Commons, the Government's last-ditch attempt to compromise on a delay until 31 July 2007 won the support of only 46 MPs, although the delay until 2006 was inserted in the Bill. The Lords, who would have had to have accepted the Commons' other amendments (including the principle of a ban on hunting) and dues, rejected the proposal by 153 to 114.
With the Lords and Commons unable to come to agreement by the end of the Parliamentary year the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, invoked the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, an infrequently used legislative device that allows the Commons to overrule the Lords where agreement can not be reached.[28] The Hunting Act was only the seventh statute since 1911 enacted using these provisions.[29] The House of Lords was criticised for undemocratically blocking the legislation;[30] however, other newspapers and broadcasters condemned Tony Blair's Labour administration for giving in to what they perceived as the prejudicial views of anti-hunting Labour backbenchers.[31]
The act came into force on 18 February 2005, three calendar months after it received royal assent.[32][33]
Failed challenges[edit]
Challenges to the Act which questioning the legality of the Parliament Act 1949 in the High Court and Court of Appeal failed (for example Jackson v Attorney General). The House of Lords in their judicial capacity agreed with the lower courts in a judgment delivered in October 2005.[46]
An application for judicial review was made to the High Court of England and Wales which argued that the anti-hunting legislation contravenes individual human or property rights protected in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and under European Community law and on grounds of the free movement of goods and services.[47] The application was dismissed by the High Court in July 2005,[48] the Court of Appeal in June 2006[49] and the House of Lords in November 2007.[50] An application to the European Court of Human Rights was ruled inadmissible.[51][52]
Penalties and enforcement[edit]
A person guilty of an offence under this Act is liable on summary conviction to an unlimited fine at the discretion of judges. (The provisions of the law state a penalty not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, however, level 5 currently has no upper limit).[53]
Analysis published in 2015 by pro-hunting pressure group the Countryside Alliance of 2005-14 data from the Ministry of Justice shows that 378 people have been convicted of Hunting Act offences over that period, but only 24 of the offenders were involved with registered hunts. They therefore conclude that more than 94% of Hunting Act convicted offenders were not members of registered hunts but were involved in poaching or other casual hunting activities.[54] Justice Minister Crispin Blunt said in a written answer to Parliament in June 2011 that "it is not possible to separately identify those specific cases proceeded against under the Hunting Act 2004 related to hunts recognised and regulated by the Council of Hunting Associations" since "statistical information available centrally does not include the circumstances of each case."[55] In 2014, the number of successful convictions under the act had risen to 430.[56]
Animal welfare groups such as the RSPCA, IFAW and the League Against Cruel Sports monitor some hunts, which they believe may be breaking the law. Small, local groups of Hunt Monitors, made up of independent, private individuals, also engage in regular hunt monitoring.[57] In 2011 the League Against Cruel Sports complained that "On several occasions over the last few years, we have provided what we believed to be good evidence to Devon & Cornwall Police, but the police haven't even moved from the starting blocks by interviewing suspects. Some cases have run out of time and sometimes the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decide to take no action."[58]
Police forces have said, on a number of occasions, that enforcement of the Hunting Act 2004 like much wildlife crime is a low priority for them, although they say that they will enforce the law. However, the Police's UK National Wildlife Crime Unit has said that policing of hunting should be a priority for forces in some areas of the country, most notably the South West.[59]
Key court cases involving registered hunts[edit]
Tony Wright (Exmoor Foxhounds): 2006–2009[edit]
Tony Wright, huntsman for the Exmoor Foxhounds, was convicted of illegal hunting with dogs in Barnstaple magistrates court in August 2006 in a private prosecution by the League Against Cruel Sports,[60] but was then acquitted by the High Court on appeal.[4] The appeal took place at the request of the Crown Prosecution Service who wished to determine if it is necessary for the prosecution to demonstrate that any hunting taking place was not exempt, or for the defence to prove that it was exempt; also to define what was meant by "hunting". The High Court ruled that it was necessary for the prosecution to prove that the conditions of the exemption had not been met. It also ruled that for the offence of "hunting a wild mammal" to take place there must be an identifiable mammal.[4]
Julian Barnfield (Heythrop Hunt): 2009[edit]
Charges of illegal hunting of a fox between November 2008 and February 2009 brought against Julian Barnfield of the Heythrop Hunt by the Crown Prosecution Service were dropped in March 2009 in response to the earlier High Court ruling in the Tony Wright case that 'searching' for a mammal was not hunting and that "hunting could only be an 'intentional' activity".[61]
Derek Hopkins and Kevin Allen (Fernie Hunt): 2011[edit]
Huntsman Derek Hopkins and terrierman Kevin Allen, employees of the Fernie Hunt from Great Bowden, were convicted of illegal hunting in October 2011.[62] They also lost their appeal, partly based on video evidence collected by the League Against Cruel Sports.[63] It was the third successful prosecution for illegal fox hunting using the 2004 Act.[62]
Crawley and Horsham Hunt: 2008–2013[edit]
In 2008, the Crawley and Horsham Hunt launched a legal action in the High Court for trespass, nuisance, and harassment against Simon and Jane Wild of West Sussex Wildlife Protection and West Sussex Badger Protection Group. The hunt used Timothy Lawson-Cruttenden, an expert in the use of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in such cases. This was viewed as a test case and received support from the Countryside Alliance, the Master of Foxhounds Association and 80 landowners and if successful was planned to lead to a request for an injunction against everyone associated with these groups from interfering with the hunt. The defendants claimed to have evidence of illegal hunting taking place and were asking the court to accept this as a defence to the Harassment Act action. The original judge, Justice Cranston, stepped down in July 2008 due to earlier comments made in support of the ban made while an MP. During the second trial it was reported that the judge dismissed nuisance and trespass, because they had "fundamental defects", leaving only harassment. It was also reported that the protestors, using an undercover infiltrator, had been able to get hold of conclusive evidence that the claimants were engaged in illegal fox hunting. The principal plaintiff, Simon Greenwood, was filmed using his hounds to chase a fox to ground and then call in terrier-men to dig it out and throw it to the hounds. The plaintiffs dropped the case in July 2009, and agreed to pay costs estimated at over £120,000.[64][65]
Officials of the Crawley and Horsham Hunt were found guilty in May 2012 of Hunting Act offences: professional huntsman Andrew Phillis, joint master Neill Millard and the hunt secretary Rachel Holdsworth were convicted on a total of five charges of illegally hunting. Millard and Holdsworth were fined £1000 each and both ordered to pay £2500 costs. Phillis was later sentenced to a £500 fine and £2500 costs.[66]
In September 2013, professional huntsman Nicholas Bycroft pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 1 of the Hunting Act: he admitted illegally hunting a fox during a meet at Angmering Park, near Arundel, West Sussex, on 19 February 2013. He was given a 12-month conditional discharge, £150 costs and £15 victim surcharge.
RSPCA vs Heythrop Hunt: 2012[edit]
In December 2012 the RSPCA took out a private prosecution against Heythrop Hunt Limited. This was a landmark case, as it was the first time that an organized hunt was prosecuted as a corporate body. The Heythrop Hunt, its Huntsman, Julian Barnfield, and its Senior Master, Richard Sumner, all pleaded guilty to four charges of illegally hunting a fox at Oxford magistrates court in December 2012.[67] Barnfield, a former huntsman with the Heythrop and one of those convicted, said that the case had been politically motivated with its links with David Cameron's constituency.[68] The presiding magistrate called the RSPCA's £327,000 costs "staggering";[69] however, Gavin Grant, the chief executive of the RSPCA, said that the organisation would prevent cruelty to animals by all lawful means and had prosecuted 1,341 individuals and secured 3,114 convictions in the past year with a success rate of more than 98%.[70]
Other cases[edit]
Subsequently, three pending prosecutions against hunts, including one brought privately by the League Against Cruel Sports, were dropped[71] and a further two cases which did reach court were thrown out at the conclusion of the prosecution cases when the District Judges ruled that there was no case to answer.[72]
From March to November 2013, staff of six separate hunts were either acquitted of Hunting Act offences or had the prosecutions against them dropped, including three foxhound packs (The York & Ainsty South, the Avon Vale and the Ledbury), a harrier pack (Weston & Banwell Harriers), a staghound pack (The Quantock Staghounds) and a beagle pack (The RAC Beagles).
In September 2013 David Parker, the huntsman of the Seavington Hunt, was fined after he admitted illegally hunting a fox with dogs in Dorset. The prosecution was brought by the RSPCA with evidence from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).[73]
Proposed Coalition review[edit]
The Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement, agreed by the new government following the 2010 general election, aimed to give MPs a free vote "to express its view" on repealing the Hunting Act 2004[104] when parliamentary time allowed; in late 2010, it was thought this might be in "early 2012".[105] The prime minister, David Cameron, explained in January 2012 "I always thought the hunting ban was a pretty bizarre piece of legislation ... I think there should be a free vote in the House of Commons. I think the Commons should make its mind up about this. My problem has always been that it was just taking the criminal law into an area of activity where it didn't really belong."[106] However, in December 2012 Owen Paterson, the Environment Secretary, said that there was no immediate likelihood of winning a Commons vote to make hunting legal again and that supporters of hunting would need to do "more work" to win over sceptical MPs.[107]
Proposed Conservative amendments[edit]
The 2015 Conservative Government proposed "technical" amendments to the Act. These were officially postponed on 14 July 2015.[108]
At the 2017 election Theresa May pledged to hold a free vote on repealing the Hunting Act if the Conservative Party won a majority.[109] These plans were scrapped in January 2018.[110]
At the 2019 election the Conservative Party announced that they would not make any changes to the Hunting Act leading to suggestions that the Conservatives would no longer oppose the Hunting Ban.[111][112][113]