Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

The Badgers Act 1973

8 For subsections (2) and (3) of section 1 of the [1973 c. 57.] Badgers Act 1973 (possession of recently killed badgers etc.) there shall be substituted the following subsections—

“(2) If, save as permitted by or under this Act, any person has in his possession or under his control any dead badger or any part of, or anything derived from, a dead badger, he shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (2) above if he shows that—

(a) the badger had not been killed, or had been killed other wise than in contravention of the provisions of this Act; or

(b) the badger or other thing in his possession or control had been sold (whether to him or any other person) and, at the time of the purchase, the purchaser had had no reason to believe that the badger had been killed in contravention of those provisions.”

9 (1) Section 7 of that Act (exceptions for authorised persons) shall be omitted.

(2) In section 2(c) of that Act for the words " subject to section 7(3) of this Act" there shall be substituted the words " save as permitted by or under this Act ".

(3) Section 6 of that Act (areas within which section 7(1) does not apply) shall be omitted.

(4) In subsection (2) of section 8 of that Act (general exceptions) paragraph (c) (1ive badger taken in circumstances in which, by virtue of section 7(1) or (2), the taking did not constitute an offence) shall be omitted.

(5) In section 11 of that Act (interpretation) the definitions of " area of special protection " and " authorised person " shall be omitted.

10 (1) In section 8 of that Act (general exceptions), after subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsections—

“(1A) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under section 1(1) of this Act by reason of—

(a) the killing or taking or the attempted killing or taking of any badger, or

(b) the injuring of any badger in the course of taking it or attempting to kill or take it,

if he shows that his action was necessary for the purpose of preventing serious damage to land, crops, poultry or any other form of property.

(1B) The defence provided by subsection (1A) above shall not apply in relation to any action taken at any time if it had become apparent, before that time, that that action would prove necessary for the purpose mentioned in that subsection and either—

(a) a licence under section 9 of this Act authorising that action had not been applied for as soon as reasonably practicable after that fact had become apparent; or

(b) an application for such a licence had been determined”.

(2) In section 9 of that Act (1icences) at the end of subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(e) for the purpose of preventing serious damage to land, crops, poultry or any other form of property, to kill or take badgers within an area specified in the licence by any means so specified.”

(3) In subsection (2)(b) of that section after the words " paragraph (d) " there shall be inserted the words " or (e) ".

(4) After subsection (3) of that section there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(4) The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State shall from time to time consult with the Nature Conservancy Council as to the exercise of their functions under subsection (1)(e) above ; and neither of them shall grant a licence of any description unless he has been advised by the Council as to the circumstances in which, in the Council's opinion, licences of that description should be granted.”

11 (1) In subsection (1)(c) of section 10 of that Act (enforcement, penalties etc.) for the words from " any badger " onwards there shall be substituted the words " anything which may be evidence of the commission of the offence or may be liable to be forfeited under subsection (3) below ".

(2) In subsection (2) of that section for " £20 " there shall be substituted " £200 " and for " £100 " there shall be substituted " £1,000 ".

12 In section 11 of that Act (interpretation) for the definition of " local authority " there shall be substituted the following definition—

• “' sale' includes hire, barter and exchange and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.”