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5 1952

FOYLE FISHERIES ACT, 1952

PART VIII.

Legal Proceedings.

Application of penal provisions of Act.

68. —The provisions of this Act relating to offences apply to—

(a) acts and omissions in the Moville Area by any person, and

(b) acts and omissions in any part of the Foyle Area by a person resident in the State.

Penalties for offences.

69. —(1) Any person who commits an offence against this Act for which a penalty is not provided by any other provision of this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which the offence is continued after conviction.

(2) The Commission may prescribe lower money penalties for breach of a particular regulation than those provided under subsection (1) of this section and that subsection shall, in any such case, be construed as if such lower penalties were substituted for those so provided.

Saving for acts done for artificial propagation, scientific purposes or improvement of fisheries.

70. —Nothing in this Act shall prohibit anything done by the Commission or by a person previously authorised in writing by the Commission in that behalf for the purpose of the artificial propagation of fish, for some scientific purpose or for the improvement of any fishery.

Residence of body corporate.

71. —For the purposes of this Part a body corporate shall be deemed to be resident in the State if it is incorporated under the laws of the State.

Offences by bodies corporate.

72. —Where an offence against this Act was committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, that person shall also be guilty of the offence and may be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Trial of offences.

73. —Notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment, an offence against this Act may be heard and determined by the District Court upon the complaint, oral or otherwise, of the Commission or an officer of the Commission or a member of the Garda Síochána but not of any other person, except with the consent of the Commission.

Evidence of mouths of rivers, boundaries between tidal and freshwater portions of rivers, points of mouths, of rivers to or from which distances are to be measured.

74. —(1) Where any regulations define—

(a) the mouth of a river, or

(b) the mouth of any tributary river, or

(c) the boundary between the tidal and freshwater portions of any river, or

(d) the point or points to or from which distances are to be measured under this Act,

such mouth, boundary, point or points shall for the purposes of any proceedings under this Act be as so defined.

(2) Where any regulations define the space within which it is by or under this Act prohibited to use certain fishing engines, the space so defined shall for the purposes of any proceedings under this Act be taken to be the area within which it is prohibited to use those fishing engines.

Forfeiture of licences.

75. —(1) (a) If the person who is the holder of a licence issued by the Commission is convicted of an offence to which this subsection applies the Court may direct the licence to be forfeited and declare that person to be disqualified for holding a licence of the Commission for such period, not exceeding one year, as the Court may direct.

(b) This subsection applies to—

(i) an offence under any section of this Act,

(ii) an offence under any section of the Fisheries Acts.

(2) Where a person who is the holder of a licence issued by the Commission is convicted by a court of justice in Northern Ireland of an offence under the law of Northern Ireland relating to fisheries and, as a result of such conviction, the licence is declared to be forfeited and that person is declared to be disqualified for a particular period for holding a licence of the Commission, the Commission shall direct the licence to be forfeited and that person shall be disqualified for holding a licence for that period.

(3) Where a licence is directed to be forfeited under this section, it shall thereupon cease to be in force.

(4) Where a person is convicted by a Court of an offence against this Act or under any provision of the Fisheries Acts, the registrar or clerk of the Court shall as soon as may be forward to the Commission a copy of the conviction certified in accordance with the rules of Court.

(5) A document purporting to be a copy of a conviction or order made by a court of justice in Northern Ireland and to be certified in accordance with the law of Northern Ireland shall, for the purposes of this section, be evidence of such conviction or order without further proof, unless the contrary is shown.

Forfeiture of fishing engines, etc., as statutory consequence of conviction.

76. —Where a person is convicted of an offence against this Act, any fish illegally taken by him or in his possession at the time of the offence and also any fishing engine or thing by means or in respect of which the offence is committed shall, as a statutory consequence of conviction, stand forfeited.

Non-obligation of Court to pronounce or record forfeiture.

77. —Where, as a statutory consequence of a conviction under this Act, a particular thing stands forfeited, then, notwithstanding any rule of law, it shall not be necessary for the Court—

(a) to pronounce the fact of such forfeiture at the time of adjudication, or

(b) to record the fact of such forfeiture in the Minute Book of the District Court or in the order of conviction.

Disposal of fines.

78. —(1) This section applies to every fine imposed for an offence under any section of this Act.

(2) Section 51 of the Court Officers Act, 1926 (No. 27 of 1926), shall not apply to a fine to which this section applies.

(3) Every fine to which this section applies shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

(4) Where a fine to which this section applies is remitted in whole or in part after it has been paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer under subsection (3) of this section, such fine or the portion thereof so remitted (as the case may be) shall be repaid out of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

Payments to Commission and Gárda Síochána Reward Fund in respect of fines.

79. —(1) This section applies to—

(a) an offence under any section of this Act, and

(b) an offence under any provision to which section 10 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1949 (No. 18 of 1949), applies committed in the Foyle Area.

(2) Where a fine imposed for an offence to which this section applies has been paid or levied, then, unless the fine has been wholly remitted, the following provisions shall apply—

(a) in case it appears to the Minister that a member of the Garda Síochána was the means of bringing to justice the person by whom the offence was committed, there shall be paid—

(i) to the Commission a sum equal to two-thirds of the fine or, if the fine was remitted in part, of so much thereof as was not remitted, and

(ii) into the Garda Síochána Reward Fund a sum equal to one-third of the fine or, if the fine was remitted in part, of so much thereof as was not remitted;

(b) in any other case, there shall be paid to the Commission a sum equal to the fine or, if the fine was remitted in part, so much thereof as was not remitted.

(3) All moneys payable under subsection (2) of this section shall be paid by the Minister, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, at such times as he thinks fit.

Disposal of forfeitures and payments to Commission and Gárda Síochána Reward Fund.

80. —(1) Where any thing is forfeited under this Act, the Minister may direct that it be sold or otherwise disposed of in such manner as he thinks fit or be returned to the person who appears to him to be the owner.

(2) The net proceeds of a sale under subsection (1) of this section shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

(3) (a) In case it appears to the Minister that a member of the Garda Síochána seized a particular thing forfeited under section 76 or under any provision to which section 15 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act, 1949 (No. 18 of 1949), applies, as a statutory consequence of a conviction for an offence committed in the Foyle Area, or was the means of bringing to justice the person convicted of the offence which resulted in the forfeiture, then a sum equal to two-thirds of the net proceeds referred to in subsection (2) of this section shall be paid to the Commission and a sum equal to one-third shall be paid to the Garda Síochána Reward Fund.

(b) In any other case, a sum equal to the net proceeds shall be paid to the Commission.

(4) All moneys payable under subsection (3) of this section shall be paid by the Minister, out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, at such times as he thinks fit.

Proof of regulations, bye-laws, etc.

81. —(1) In any proceedings, a document purporting to be a copy of any instrument in writing made or issued (whether before or after the passing of this Act) under the Fisheries Acts or this Act in relation to the Foyle Area or any part thereof shall, if it is certified under the common seal of the Commission to be a true copy, be prima facie evidence of the instrument.

(2) Section 4 of the Documentary Evidence Act, 1925 (No. 24 of 1925), shall apply to regulations made by the Commission under this Act.

Inquiries.

82. —(1) The Commission may from time to time hold an inquiry in relation to the fisheries of the Foyle Area or any of them and the best means to be adopted for the management, conservation, protection or improvement thereof.

(2) An inquiry may be conducted by the Commission or by a person appointed by it for the purpose.

Powers in relation to inquiry.

83. —(1) The Commission or person holding an inquiry may—

(a) summon witnesses to attend at the inquiry,

(b) examine on oath (which any member of the Commission or that person, as the case may be, is hereby authorised to administer) witnesses attending at the inquiry,

(c) require any witness to produce any documents in his power or control which the Commission or that person, as the case may be, considers necessary for the purposes of the inquiry.

(2) A witness at an inquiry shall be entitled to the same immunities and privileges as if he were a witness before the High Court.

(3) If any person—

(a) on being duly summoned to attend as a witness at an inquiry makes default in attending, or

(b) being in attendance, refuses to take an oath which he is lawfully required to take, or to produce any document in his power or control which he is lawfully required to produce, or to answer any question which he is lawfully required to answer,

he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds.