Hunting Act 2004 - Enforcement

Enforcement

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. Animal welfare groups like the RSPCA, IFAW and the League Against Cruel Sports continue monitoring hunts that they believe may be breaking the law and, in some cases, taking private prosecutions themselves.

To the end of 2010 there have been 181 convictions under the Hunting Act 2004, but only six of those relate to registered hunts. 97% of convictions relate to poaching or other casual hunting activities, including at least seven people who have been convicted of hunting rats according to the Countryside Alliance. 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." The most recent successful prosecution of a registered hunt was in October 2011, against two members of the Fernie Hunt. Animal welfare groups have criticised this interpretation of the statistics.

In February 2009, following Exeter Crown Court's acquittal of Tony Wright, huntsman of the Exmoor Foxhounds, overturning his conviction in the Taunton Deane Magistrates' Court, the High Court dealt with a request by the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether defendants have a right to say they are "innocent until proved guilty" when claiming the defence of hunting under an exemption, and what is meant by "hunting". In its judgment, the court ruled that the burden of evidence in "exempt hunting" cases was on the prosecution to prove that the conditions of the exemption had not been met, and that searching for a mammal was not an offence. This confirmed the acquittal of Tony Wright. The court concluded that for the offence of "hunting a wild mammal" to take place there must be an identifiable mammal. Subsequently three pending prosecutions against hunts, including one brought privately by the League Against Cruel Sports, were dropped 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.