Deer (Scotland) Act 1959 (repealed 18.11.1996)

Part IVF12S Enforcement and Procedure

26 Attempts to commit offences.S

Without prejudice to the operation of [F1section 294 of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 3 to, the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995], any person who attempts to commit, or does any act preparatory to the commission of, an offence against [F2section 21(5) of this Act] or against Part III of this Act shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall be punishable in like manner as for the said offence [F3; except that in the case of preparatory acts, the penalty shall be a fine not exceeding [F4level 4 on the standard scale] or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.]

27 Powers of search and seizure.S

(1)A constable may seize any deer, F5. . . liable to be forfeited [F6on conviction of an offence under] this Act.

(2)A sheriff or any justice of the peace, if satisfied by information on oath that there is reasonable ground to suspect any offence against [F7Part III or section 25D(1) or (3)] of this Act to have been committed and that evidence of the commission of the offence is to be found on any premises or in any vehicle or boat, may grant a warrant authorising any constable at any time or times within one week from the date of such warrant to enter, if necessary by force, the said premises and every part thereof or the said vehicle or boat for the purpose of detecting the offence.

(3)A constable authorised by any such warrant as aforesaid to search any premises or any such vehicle or boat may search every person who is found in, or whom he has reasonable ground to believe to have recently left or to be about to enter, those premises or that vehicle or boat as the case may be, and may seize any article found on the premises, or in the vehicle or boat, or on any such person, which he has reasonable ground for believing to be evidence of the commission of any such offence as aforesaid.

(4)Where a constable has reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence against [F7Part III or section 25D(1) or (3)] of this Act has been committed and that evidence of the commission of the offence is to be found in any vehicle or boat, and that by reason of urgency or other good cause it is impracticable to apply for a warrant to search such vehicle or boat, the said constable may stop and search that vehicle or boat and may exercise the like power of search or seizure in relation to the vehicle or boat as might be conferred under subsection (2) of this section by the warrant of the sheriff or of a justice of the peace.

(5)No female shall in pursuance of any search authorised by this section be searched except by a female.

28 Apprehension of offenders.S

If any person shall be found committing any offence against the provisions of Part III or of this Part of this Act, any constable may arrest that person.

[F828A Cancellation of firearms licences.S

(1)In any case where a person is convicted of an offence provided for by any of sections 22 to 25 of this Act the court shall have power (in addition to any other power) to cancel any firearm or shotgun certificate held by him.

(2)Where the court cancels a firearm or shotgun certificate under subsection (1) above—

(a)the court shall cause notice in writing of that fact to be sent to the chief constable by whom the certificate was granted; and

(b)the chief constable shall by notice in writing require the holder of the certificate to surrender it; and

(c)if the holder fails to surrender the certificate within twenty-one days from the date of that requirement, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F9level 2 on the standard scale].]

29 F10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .S

30 Disposal of deer seized under the Act.S

Where any deer seized under this Part of this Act is liable to forfeiture the person by whom it is seized may sell it and the net proceeds of the sale shall be liable to forfeiture in the same manner as the deer sold:

31 Offences by bodies corporate.S

(1)When an offence against this Act or any order made thereunder which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary, or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person purporting to act in such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

F11(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .