Agriculture Act 1970

Prosecutions under Part IV

80 Institution of prosecutions

(1) Without prejudice to any other enactment relating to the place where proceedings may be taken, proceedings for an offence under this Part of this Act may be taken in the place where the person charged resides or carries on business.

(2) No proceedings for an offence under any of the following provisions of this Act, namely, sections 68(4)(b) and (c), 69(4)(c), 70(2), 71(2)(b) and 73, shall be instituted by any person other than the Minister unless the prosecutor has given to the Minister a notice of his intention to institute the proceedings, together with a summary of the facts on which the charges are founded, and either a period of twenty-eight days has elapsed since the giving of the notice or the Minister has signified that the proceedings may be instituted before the expiration of that period.

(3) A certificate of the Minister that the requirements of subsection (2) of this section have been complied with in relation to any proceedings shall be conclusive evidence that those requirements have been so complied with; and any document purporting to be such a certificate and to be signed on behalf of the Minister shall be deemed to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.

(4) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall not apply to Scotland.

81 Offences due to fault of other person

Where the commission by any person of an offence under this Part of this Act is due to the act or default of some other person that other person shall be guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this section whether or not proceedings are taken against the first-mentioned person.

82 Defence of mistake, accident, etc.

(1) In any proceedings for an offence under any of the following provisions of this Act, namely, sections 68(4)(b) and (c), 69(4)(c), 70(2), 71(2)(b) and 73, it shall, subject to subsection (2) of this section, be a defence for the person charged to prove—

(a) that the commission of the offence was due to a mistake, or to reliance on information supplied to him, or to the act or default of another person, or to an accident or some other cause beyond his control; and

(b) that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of such an offence by himself or any person under his control.

(2) If in any case the defence provided by the foregoing subsection involves the allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default of another person or to reliance on information supplied by another person, the person charged shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on that defence unless, within a period ending seven clear days before the hearing, he has served on the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person as was then in his possession.