Public Health (Scotland) Act 1897

PART IISanitary Provisions.

General Nuisances.

16Definition of nuisances.

For the purposes of this Act,

(1)Any premises or part thereof of such a construction or in such a state as to be a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health :

(2)Any street, pool, ditch, gutter, watercourse, sink, cistern, watercloset, earth-closet, privy, urinal, cesspool, drain, dung-pit, or ashpit so foul or in such a state or so situated as to be a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health:

(3)Any well or water supply injurious or dangerous to health:

(4)Any stable, byre, or other building in which any animal or animals are kept in such a manner or in such numbers as to be a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health :

(5)Any accumulation or deposit, including any deposit of mineral refuse, which is a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health, or any deposit of offensive matter, refuse, or offal, or manure (other than farmyard manure or manure from byres or stables, or spent hops from breweries), within fifty yards of any public road wherever situated, or any offensive matter, refuse, or offal, or manure other than aforesaid contained in uncovered trucks or waggons standing or being at any station or siding or elsewhere on a railway or in canal boats so as to be a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health:

(6)Any work, manufactory, trade, or business, injurious to the health of the neighbourhood or so conducted as to be injurious or dangerous to health, or any collection of rags or bones injurious or dangerous to health:

(7)Any house or part of a house so overcrowded as to be injurious or dangerous to the health of the inmates:

(8)Any schoolhouse, or any factory which is not a factory subject to the provisions of the Factory and "Workshop Acts, 1878 to 1895, or any Act amending the same, with respect to cleanliness, ventilation, or overcrowding, and

(i)is not kept in a cleanly state and free from effluvia arising from any drain, privy, watercloset, earth-closet, urinal, or other nuisance, or

(ii)is not ventilated in such a manner as to render harmless so far as practicable any gases, vapours, dust, or other impurities generated in the course of the work carried on therein that are a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health, or

(iii)is so overcrowded while work is carried on as to be injurious or dangerous to the health of those therein employed:

(9)Any fireplace or furnace situated within the limits of any burgh or special scavenging district which does not so far as practicable consume the smoke arising from the combustible matter used therein, for working engines by steam, or in any mill, factory, dyehouse, brewery, bakehouse, or gaswork, or in any manufacturing or trade process whatsoever:

(10)Any chimney (not being the chimney of a private dwellinghouse) sending forth smoke in such quantity as to be, a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health: and

(11)Any churchyard, cemetery, or place of sepulture so situated or so crowded or otherwise so conducted as to be offensive or injurious or dangerous to health ;

shall be deemed to be nuisances liable to be dealt with summarily in manner provided by this Act: Provided that—

(a)a penalty shall not be imposed as herein-after provided on any person in respect of any accumulation or deposit necessary for the effectual carrying on of any business, trade, or manufacture, if it be proved to the satisfaction of the court that the accumulation or deposit has not been kept longer than is necessary for the purposes of the business, trade, or manufacture, and that the best available means have been taken for preventing injury or danger thereby to the public health; and

(b)in considering whether any dwelling-house or part thereof which is also used as a factory, or whether any factory, used also as a dwelling-house, is a nuisance by reason of overcrowding, the court shall have regard to the circumstances of such other use.

17Duty of local authority to inspect district for detection of nuisances.

It shall be the duty of every local authority to cause to be made from time to time inspection of their district, with a view to ascertain what nuisances exist calling for removal under the powers of this Act, and to enforce the provisions of this Act in order to remove the same, and otherwise to put in force the powers vested in them relating to public health, so as to secure the proper sanitary condition of all premises within their district.

18Power of entry to local authority or their officers.

If the local authority, or medical officer, or sanitary inspector have reasonable grounds for believing that nuisance exists in any premises, such local authority, or medical officer, or sanitary inspector may demand admission for themselves, the chief constable or superintendent of police, or any other person or persons whom the local authority may desire to enter and inspect such premises, and, if necessary, to open up the ground of such premises, or for any or all of them, to inspect the same at any hour between nine in the morning and six in the evening, or at any hour when the operations suspected to cause the nuisance are believed to be in progress or are usually carried on; and may cause the ground or surface to be opened, and the drains to be tested, or such other work to be done as may be necessary for an effectual examination of the said premises: Provided always, that if no nuisance be found to exist, the local authority shall restore the premises at their own expense, and if admission be refused, the local authority, or medical officer, or sanitary inspector may apply to the sheriff, or to any magistrate or justice of the peace having jurisdiction in. the place, stating on oath such belief; and such sheriff, magistrate, or justice may, after intimation to the owner and occupier, or person in charge of the premises, by order in writing, require the occupier or person having the custody of such premises to admit the local authority and others aforesaid; and if such occupier or person refuse or fail to obey such order, he shall, on conviction of such offence, be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds; and on being satisfied of such failure or refusal, the sheriff, magistrate, or justice may grant warrant to such local authority, officers, or person or persons for immediate forcible entry into the premises ; and if no such occupier or person can be discovered, or if no person is found on the premises to give or refuse admission, the local authority or their officers may enter the premises without any order or warrant, and forcibly if need be.

Provided that if no nuisance be found to exist, the local authority shall restore the premises at their own expense.

Any order made by a sheriff, magistrate, or justice, for the admission of the local authority or their officers or other persons under this section shall continue in force until the nuisance has been removed, or the work for which the entry was necessary has been done.

19Information of nuisances to local authority.

Information of any nuisance under this Act in the district of any local authority may be given to such local authority by any person, and it shall be the duty of every officer of such authority, and of any constable or officer of police of the county or burgh, in accordance with the regulations of the authority having control over him, to give that information, and it shall be the duty of the said authority to make the said regulations. The local authority-shall give such directions to their officers as will secure the existence of the nuisance being immediately brought to the knowledge of any person who may be required to remove it, and such officer shall do so by an intimation as herein-after provided.

20Notice requiring removal of nuisance.

(1)On the receipt of any information respecting the existence of a nuisance liable to be dealt with summarily under this Act, the local authority shall, if satisfied of the existence of a nuisance, serve a notice on the author of the nuisance, or, if such author cannot be found, on the occupier or owner of the premises on which the nuisance arises or continues, requiring him to remove the same within the time specified in the notice, and to execute such works and do such things as may be necessary for that purpose, and if the local authority think it desirable (but not otherwise) specifying any works to be executed.

(2)The local authority may also by the same or another notice served on such occupier, owner, or person, require him to do what is necessary for preventing the recurrence of the nuisance, and, if they think it desirable, may specify any works to be executed for that purpose, and may serve that notice, notwithstanding that the nuisance may for the time have been removed, if the local authority consider that it is likely to recur on the same premises.

(3)Provided that—

(a)where the nuisance arises from any want or defect of a structural character, or where the premises are unoccupied, the notice shall be served on the owner;

(b)where the person causing the nuisance cannot be found, and it is clear that the nuisance does not arise or continue by the act or default or sufferance of the occupier or owner of the premises, the local authority may themselves remove the same, and may do what is necessary to prevent the recurrence thereof.

21On non-compliance with notice local authority to proceed summarily.

If the person on whom a notice to remove a nuisance has been served as aforesaid makes default in complying with any of the requisitions thereof within the time specified, and if the nuisance, although removed since the service of the notice is, in the opinion of the local authority, likely to recur on the same premises, the local authority shall proceed by summary petition as hereinafter provided.

22Proceedings by local authority when nuisances are ascertained to exist.

In any case where the existence of a nuisance is ascertained to their satisfaction by the local authority, or where the nuisance in the opinion of the local authority did exist, and, although the same may have been since removed or discontinued, is in their opinion likely to recur or to be repeated, they may apply to the sheriff or to any magistrate or justice, by summary petition in manner herein-after directed, and if it appear to his satisfaction that the nuisance exists, or, if removed or discontinued, that it is likely to recur or to be repeated, he shall decern for the removal or remedy or discontinuance or interdict of the nuisance as herein-after mentioned; provided that if it appear to the sheriff or magistrate or justice that the nuisance arose from the wilful fault or culpable negligence either of the owner or occupier of the premises, and that a notice in respect thereof had previously been served on such author, the sheriff or magistrate or justice may, in addition to making a decree as aforesaid, impose a fine not exceeding five pounds on such owner or occupier; provided that in the cases under sub-sections (6) and (8) in section sixteen of this Act such application shall be made only on medical certificate, or on a representation by a parish council, or on a requisition in writing under the hands of any ten ratepayers of the district of the local authority, and that in these cases and the cases under sub-sections (9) and (10) in said section, it shall be made only to the sheriff; and farther, that in the cases under sub-section (11) in section sixteen it shall not be necessary to cite any person as the author of the nuisance, but such application shall be proceeded with by the sheriff (to whom alone it shall be made) after such intimation to the collector of the churchyard or other dues, or to such other person as to the sheriff shall seem meet; and such person or persons as shall appear after such intimation shall, if the sheriff think proper, be allowed to be heard and to object to such application in the same manner as if he or they were the author of the alleged nuisance within the meaning of this Act.

23Form of interlocutor.

It shall not be necessary to restrict such decree to any special remedy prayed for in the petition, but, as the case shall require, the author of the nuisance or owner or occupier of the premises may be ordained to execute such works or to do or to abstain or cease from doing such acts or things as are necessary to remove the nuisance complained of, in such manner and within such time as shall be specified; and if the sheriff, magistrate, or justice, is of opinion that such or the like nuisance is likely to recur, he may further grant interdict against the recurrence of it, or do otherwise, as the case may in his judgment require; and if the nuisance proved to exist be such as to render a house or building unfit for human habitation or use, he may prohibit such habitation or use until in his judgment it is rendered fit therefor, and on the sheriff, magistrate, or justice being satisfied that it has been rendered fit for that purpose he may declare the house or building habitable, and from the date thereof such house or building may be let or occupied, or the sheriff, magistrate, or justice may do otherwise as the case may in his judgment require.

24Penalty for contravention of decree and of interdict.

If the said decree be not complied with in good and sufficient manner, and within the time appointed, the author of the nuisance, or the owner or occupier, as the case may be, shall be liable, in the case of nuisances under sub-sections (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (7), (10), and (11) in section sixteen of this Act, to a penalty of not more than ten shillings per day during his failure so to comply ; and if the said interdict be knowingly infringed by the act or authority of the owner or occupier, such owner or occupier shall be liable for every such offence to a penalty not exceeding twenty shillings per day during such infringement; and in the case of nuisances under sub-sections (6), (8), and (9) in the said section, the party not complying with or infringing such decree shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds for the first offence, and not exceeding ten pounds for the second, and for each subsequent conviction a sum not exceeding double the amount of the penalty in the last preceding conviction, but no penalty shall exceed two hundred pounds : Provided always, in the case of a nuisance under the said sub-section (9), that if it appears to the sheriff that the best means then known to be available for mitigating the nuisance, or the injurious effects thereof, have not been adopted, he may suspend his final determination upon condition that the author of the nuisance shall undertake to adopt within a definite time such means as he shall judge to be practicable, and order to be carried into effect, for mitigating or preventing such injurious effects.

25Order when structural works are required.

When it shall appear to the sheriff, magistrate, or justice that the execution of structural works is required for the removal or remedy of a nuisance, he may appoint such works to be carried out under the direction and subject to the approval of any person he may appoint; and he may, before making his order, require the local authority, within a time to be specified by him, to furnish him with an estimate of the cost of the required works.

26Local authority to do works on owner's or occupier's default, or if person causing nuisance cannot be found.

In case of non-compliance with or infringement of any decree aforesaid, the sheriff, magistrate, or justice may, on application by the local authority, grant' warrant to such person or persons as he may deem right to enter the premises to which such decree relates, and remove or remedy the nuisance thereby condemned or interdicted, and do whatever may be necessary in execution of such decree; or if in the original application it appears to his satisfaction that the author of the nuisance is not known or cannot be found, then such decree may at once ordain the local authority to execute the works thereby directed ; and all "expenses incurred by the local authority in executing the works may be recovered from the author of the nuisance and failing him from the owner of the premises.

27Articles removed to be sold.

Any matter or thing removed by the local authority in pursuance of this Act may be sold by public roup, after not less than five days notice by printed handbills posted in the locality, except in cases where delay would be prejudicial to health, or in which the matter or thing is not of the value of two pounds or upwards, in which cases the sheriff, magistrate, or justice may, by writing under his hand, order the immediate removal, sale, or destruction of the matter or thing, and the proceeds of the sale shall be retained by the local authority, and applied pro tanto in payment of all expenses incurred under this Act with reference to such nuisance ; and the surplus, if any, shall be paid, on demand, by the local authority, to the owner of such matter or thing; and the balance of such expenses shall be defrayed, if such proceeds are insufficient for that purpose, by the author of the nuisance or the owner of the premises.

28Foul ditches, &c. may be replaced by sewers.

Whenever any watercourse, ditch, gutter, or drain along the side of any street, or between or parallel to rows of dwellinghouses, shall be used or partly used for the conveyance of any water, sewage, or other liquid or matter from any premises, and cannot in the opinion of the local authority be rendered free from foulness or offensive smell without the laying down of a sewer or of some other structure, such local authority shall and they are hereby required to lay down such sewer or other structure within the limits of their district, or, subject to the approval of the Board, where necessary for the purpose of outfall or distribution of sewage, without their district, and to keep the same in good and serviceable repair; and they may enter any premises for such purposes, and use such part thereof as shall be necessary, and for such use shall pay such damages as may be assessed by the sheriff on a summary application, and to such party as the sheriff may direct: Provided always, that no damage shall be payable to any person who has caused or contributed to cause such watercourse, ditch, gutter, or drain to become foul or offensive, unless such person shall satisfy the sheriff that he had justifiable excuse for so doing; and such local authority are hereby authorised and empowered to assess the owners of all the premises (according to the yearly value thereof) from which then or at any time thereafter any material other than pure water flows, falls, or is carried into the said sewer or other structure, for payment of all expenses incurred in making and maintaining the same, and that either in one sum or in instalments, as they shall think just and reasonable, and after fourteen days notice at the least left with the said owners, if resident within the district, and if not so resident with the occupiers of the said premises, to levy and collect the sum so assessed, with the same remedies in case of default in payment thereof as are herein-after provided with reference to the public health general assessment leviable under this Act.

29Local authority may erect public waterclosets, &c.

The local authority may erect such public ashpits, waterclosets, privies, and urinals, and in such situations, as they may think fit, and may defray the expense thereof, and of keeping the same in repair and in good order, and shall cause such privies to be cleansed daily; and the local authority may also, by written notice to the owner or occupier of any schoolhouse, or of any factory or building in which persons are employed in any manufacture, trade, or business, require them or either of them, within a time specified, to construct a sufficient number of waterclosets or privies for the separate use of each sex; and any person failing to comply with such notice shall be liable for each offence in a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

30Penalty for injuring closet, &c. so as to cause nuisance.

If a person causes any drain, watercloset, earth-closet, privy, urinal, or ashpit to be a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health, by wilfully destroying or damaging the same or any water-supply, apparatus, pipe, or work connected therewith, or by otherwise wilfully stopping up, or wilfully interfering with, or improperly using the same, or any such water-supply, apparatus, pipe, or work, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.

31Waterclosets, &c. used in common.

The following provisions shall have effect with respect to any watercloset, earth-closet, privy, or similar convenience used in common by the occupiers of two or more separate dwelling-houses, or by other persons :—

(1)If any person injures or improperly fouls any such convenience, or anything used in connection therewith, he shall for each offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten shillings;

(2)If any such watercloset, earth-closet, privy, or similar convenience, or the approaches thereto, or the walls, floors, seats, or fittings thereof, is or are, in the opinion of the local authority or of their sanitary inspector or medical officer, in such a state as to be a nuisance or annoyance to any of the persons using, or entitled to use, the same for want of the proper cleansing thereof, such of the persons having the use thereof in common as may be in default, or in the absence of proof satisfactory to the court as to which of the persons having the use thereof in common is in default, each of those persons shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten shillings, and to a penalty not exceeding five shillings for every day during which the offence continues after a conviction for the offence.

Offensive Trades.

32Prohibition or regulation of certain offensive businesses, and byelaws as to offensive businesses.

(1)If any person after the commencement of this Act -establishes, without the sanction of the local authority, the following businesses, or any of them; that is to say, the business of blood boiler, bone boiler, manure manufacturer, soap boiler, tallow melter, knacker, tanner, tripe boiler, gut or tripe cleaner, skinner or hide factor, slaughterer of cattle or horses, or any other business which the local authority may declare, by order confirmed by the Board and published in the Edinburgh Gazette, to be an offensive business, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds in respect of the establishment thereof, and any person carrying on the same after a conviction for the establishment thereof shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty-five pounds for every day during which he so carries on the same.

(2)The local authority shall give their sanction by order, but, at least fourteen days before making any such order, shall make public the application for it, by advertisement in one or more local newspapers, or by the posting of handbills in the locality, setting forth the time and place at which they will be willing to hear all persons objecting to the order, and they shall consider any objections made at that time and place, and shall grant or withhold their sanction as they think expedient, and where the local authority grants or withholds such sanction, any person aggrieved may appeal to the Board, whose decision shall be final, but, in the case of a district other than a burgh, the appeal to the Board shall only arise after the county council has given its determination on the matter, and a local authority may appeal to the Board against the determination of the county council.

(3)The local authority may make byelaws for regulating the conduct of any businesses within the meaning of this section, and of section thirty-seven of this Act, which are for the time being lawfully carried on in their district, and the structure of the premises in which any such business is being carried on, in order to prevent or diminish the noxious or injurious effect thereof, and the mode in which the said application is to be made.

(4)Any such byelaw may, in addition to any pecuniary penalty imposed by such byelaw, empower a sheriff by summary order to deprive any person, either temporarily or permanently, of the right of carrying on any business to which such byelaw relates, as a punishment for breaking the same, and any person disobeying such order shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty-five pounds for every day during which such disobedience continues; and the decision of the sheriff under this sub-section shall be appealable to the Lord Ordinary on the Bills in manner provided by section one hundred and fifty-six of this Act.

(5)There shall be charged for an order of the local authority under this section, such fee not exceeding forty shillings as the local authority may fix.

(6)For the purposes of this section a business shall be deemed to be established after the commencement of this Act not only if it is established newly, but also if it is removed from any one set of premises to any other premises, or if it is renewed on the same set of premises after having been discontinued for a period of twelve months or upwards, or if any premises on which it is for the time being carried on are enlarged without the sanction of the local authority; but a business shall not be deemed to be established anew on any premises by reason only that the ownership or occupancy of such premises is wholly or partially changed, or that the building in which it is established having been wholly or partially pulled down or burnt down has been reonstructed without any extension of its area.

33Licensing of slaughter-houses.

(1)A person carrying on the business of a slaughterer of cattle or horses, or knacker, shall not use any premises as a slaughter-house or knacker's yard without a licence from the local authority, and if he does he shall for each offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and the fact that cattle or horses have been taken into unlicensed premises shall be prima facie evidence that an offence under this section has been committed.

(2)A licence under this section shall expire on such day in every year as the local authority fix, and when a licence is first granted shall expire on the day so fixed which secondly occurs after the grant of the licence, and a fee not exceeding five shillings, may be charged for the licence or any renewal thereof.

(3)Not less than twenty-one days before a new licence for any premises is granted under this section, notice of the intention to apply for it shall be advertised as provided in sub-section two of the immediately preceding section by the local authority of the district in which the premises are situate, and any person interested may show cause against the grant or renewal of the licence.

(4)An objection shall not be entertained to the renewal of a licence under this section, unless seven days previous notice of 1 the objection has been served on the applicant, save that, on an objection being made of which notice has not been given, the local authority may, if they think it just so to do, direct notice thereof to be served on the applicant, and adjourn the question of the renewal to a future day, and require the attendance of the applicant on that day, and then hear the case, and consider the objection, as if the said notice had been duly given.

(5)For the purposes of this section a licence shall be deemed to be renewed where a further licence is granted in immediate succession to a prior licence for the same premises.

(6)The local authority shall have right to enter any slaughterhouse or knacker's yard at any hour by day, or at any hour when business is in progress or is usually carried on therein, for the purpose of examining whether there is any contravention therein of this Act or of any byelaw made thereunder.

(7)Where any person carrying on the business of a slaughterer of cattle or horses or knacker at the passing of this Act is refused by the local authority a licence for the premises where such business is carried on, or where any person has been refused a renewal of any licence, such person may appeal to the Board against such refusal, and the decision of the Board shall be final, but in the case of a district other than a burgh the appeal to the Board shall only arise after the county council has given its determination on the matter, and a local authority may appeal to the Board against the determination of the county council.

34Local authorities may provide a slaughter-house.

The local authority of any district other than a burgh may provide, establish, improve, or extend and maintain within or without their district, and two or more such local authorities may combine to so provide, establish, improve, or extend and maintain fit shambles or slaughter-houses for the purpose of slaughtering cattle, and for that purpose may borrow such sums of money as they shall find necessary on the security of the public health general assessment, and of the rates to be taken and levied for the use of such shambles or slaughter-houses and ground on which the same are erected, or on any one or more thereof, and the provisions of section one hundred and forty-one of this Act shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to such borrowing.

35and make byelaws as to pigstyes.

The local authority may make byelaws regulating the construction of pigstyes, the places in which they may be erected, and the mode of cleansing them at proper intervals so as to prevent them from becoming a nuisance or dangerous to public health.

36Duty of local authority to complain to sheriff, &c. of nuisance arising from offensive trade.

(1)Where it appears to the local authority upon a certificate by their medical officer, or from a representation by a parish council, or on a requisition in writing under the hands of any ten ratepayers within the district that any trade, business, process, or manufacture carried on in any manufactory, building, or premises, and causing effluvia is a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to the health of any of the inhabitants of the district, such authority may, if they think proper, and, if required by the Board shall, apply to the sheriff by summary petition, and if it appears to such sheriff that any trade, business, process, or manufacture carried on in such manufactory, building, or premises is causing a nuisance, or any effluvia which is a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to the health of any of the inhabitants within the district, then, unless it is shown that the best practicable means have been used for removing the nuisance, or preventing or counteracting the effluvia, the author of the nuisance, and failing him the occupier and failing him the owner of the premises, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds.

(2)Provided that the court may suspend its final determination on condition that the person so offending undertakes to adopt, within a reasonable time, such means as the court may deem practicable, and may order to be carried into effect, for removing the nuisance, or mitigating or preventing the injurious or dangerous effects of the effluvia.

(3)The local authority may, if they think fit, on such certificate as is in this section mentioned, cause proceedings to be taken in the Court of Session against any person in respect of the matters alleged in such certificate.

(4)The local authority may take proceedings under this section in respect of a manufactory, building, or premises situate without their district, so, however, that the summary proceedings shall be had before a sheriff having jurisdiction in the district where the manufactory, building, or premises are situate.

37Provision as to nuisance created by local authority in dealing with refuse.

(1)The removal of house refuse and street refuse by a local authority when collected or deposited by that authority, or by any contractor or other person authorised by such local authority, shall be deemed to be a business carried on by that authority, or by such contractor or other person, within the meaning of this Act, and a complaint or proceedings in relation to any such business may be made or taken by the county council of the district, other than a burgh, where such business is carried on, or, in the case of any district, by any person authorised by the Board in like manner as if such county council or such person were a local authority.

(2)Any premises used by a local authority, or by any contractor or other person authorised by such local authority, for the treatment or disposal of any street refuse or house refuse, as distinct from the removal thereof, which are a nuisance or injurious or dangerous to health, shall be a nuisance liable to be dealt with summarily under this Act, and for the purpose of the application thereto of the provisions of this Act relating to such nuisances the county council, in the case of a district other than a burgh, and any person authorised as aforesaid by the Board shall be deemed to be a local authority.

Scavenging and Cleansing.

38Appeal against resolution of district committee as to formation of special scavenging, &c. districts.

With respect to the formation of special districts for scavenging and other purposes under section forty-four of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1894, the following provision shall have effect; (that is to say,)

• It shall be competent for any person interested to appeal to the sheriff against any resolution of a district committee or county council, as the case may be, under sub-section two of the recited section, and all the provisions of sub-section one of section one hundred and twenty-two of this Act in regard to an appeal to the sheriff against a resolution of a local authority shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to an appeal against a resolution of a district committee or county council as aforesaid. Provided that in cases to which sub-section three of the said section forty-four of the [57 & 58 Vict. c. 58.] Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1894, applies an appeal to the sheriff shall not be competent unless the resolution has been disposed of by the county council in terms of that sub-section.

Where the boundaries of any burgh are extended so as to include the whole or part of any such special district, then the town council or burgh commissioners shall, as regards the whole of such special district, supersede the district committee or county council as the case may be in the administration of the [55 & 56 Vict. c. 55.] Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, and other powers in regard to cleansing and scavenging upon such terms as shall be agreed between the town council or burgh commissioners and the district committee or county council, as the case may be, or, failing agreement, upon such terms as shall be fixed by the sheriff, whose decision shall be final.

39Scavenging of highways, &c. within special districts.

Where a special scavenging district has been or may hereafter be formed under the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1894, the district committee of the district or the county council where the county is not divided into districts, in which such special scavenging district is or may be situated shall, in their discretion, have power to cleanse and scavenge the highways and the footpaths under their management and control within such special scavenging district, or to pay or contribute out of the assessments raised under the [41 & 42 Vict. c. 51.] Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act, 1878, for a proportion of the cost of cleansing and scavenging such highways and footpaths.

Where within such special district any private street or footway, or part thereof, is not levelled, macadamised, paved, channelled, and made good, to the satisfaction of the district committee (or, where the county is not divided into districts, the county council), such authority may, by notice addressed to the respective owners of the premises fronting, adjoining, or abutting on such street or footway, or parts there of, as may require to be levelled, macadamised, paved, channelled, and made good, order them to do all such works or any of them, and that within a time to be specified in such notice.

If such order is not complied with, the said authority may, if they think fit, execute the works mentioned therein, and may recover in a summary manner the expenses incurred by them in so doing from the owners in default according and in proportion to the frontage and valuation of their respective premises or, in the case of dispute, in such proportion as may be settled by the sheriff.

Provided that it shall be competent to appeal to the sheriff against any such order, and all the provisions of section one hundred and twenty-two of this Act in regard to an appeal to the sheriff against a resolution of a local authority shall, with the necessary modifications, apply to an appeal against such order.

40Houses in filthy state to be purified.

Where it appears to any local authority that any house or part thereof, or any article of bedding or clothing therein, is in such a filthy or unwholesome condition that the health of any person is affected or endangered thereby, or that the whitewashing, cleansing or purifying of any house or part thereof, or any article of bedding or clothing therein, would tend to prevent or check infectious disease, the local authority shall give notice in writing to the owner or occupier of such house or part thereof to whitewash, cleanse, or purify the same, or any such article, as the case may require.

If the person to whom notice is so given fails to comply therewith within the time therein specified, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten shillings for every day during which he continues to make default; and the local authority may, if they think fit cause such house or part thereof to be whitewashed, cleansed, or purified, and may recover in a summary manner the expenses incurred by them in so doing from the person in default.

41Provision for obtaining order for cleansing offensive ditches lying near to or forming boundaries of districts.

Where any watercourse or open ditch lying near to or forming the boundary between the district of any local authority and any adjoining district is foul and offensive, so as injuriously or dangerously to affect the district of such local authority, any sheriff having jurisdiction in such adjoining district may, on the application of such local authority, summon the local authority of. such adjoining district to appear to show cause why an order should not be made for claensing such watercourse or open ditch, and for executing such permanent or other structural works as may appear to such sheriff to be necessary; and such sheriff, after hearing the parties, or ex parte in case of the default of any of them to appear, may make such order with reference to the execution of the works, and the persons by whom the same shall be executed, and by whom and in what proportions the costs of such works shall be paid, and also as to the amount thereof, and the time and mode of payment, as to such sheriff may seem reasonable. .

42Periodical removal of manure from mews and other premises.

Notice may be given by any local authority (by public announcement in the district or otherwise) for the periodical removal of manure or other refuse matter from mews, stables, or other premises, except cattle courts, in any special scavenging district, and where any such notice has been given any person to whom the manure or other refuse matter belongs who fails so to remove the same, or permits a further accumulation, and does not continue such periodical removal at such intervals as the local authority direct, shall be liable without further notice to a penalty not exceeding twenty shillings for each day during which such manure or other refuse matter is permitted to accumulate, and where in any scavenging district it appears to the sanitary inspector that any accumulation of manure, dung, soil, or filth, or other offensive or noxious matters ought to be removed, he shall give notice to the person to whom the same belongs, or to the occupier of the premises whereon it exists, to remove the same ; and if such notice is not complied with within forty-eight hours from the service thereof, the manure, dung, soil, filth, or matter referred to shall be vested in and be sold and disposed of by the local authority, and the proceeds thereof shall be applied in payment of the expenses incurred by them in the execution of this section; and the surplus (if any) shall be paid on demand to the owner of the matter removed, and the expenses of removal by the local authority of any such accumulation, if and so far as they are not covered by the sale thereof may be recovered by the local authority in a summary manner from the person to whom the accumulation belonged, whom failing, from the occupier or owner of the premises.

Unsound Food.

43Inspection and destruction of unsound meat, &c.

(1)Any medical officer or sanitary inspector or any veterinary surgeon approved for the purposes of this section by the local authority may at all reasonable times enter any premises within the district of the local authority, or search any cart or vehicle, or any barrow, basket, sack, bag, or parcel, in order to inspect and examine and may inspect and examine

(a)any animal, alive or dead, intended for the food of man which is exposed for sale, or deposited in any place or is in course of transmission for the purpose of sale, or of preparation for sale; and

(b)any article, whether solid or liquid, intended for the food of man, and sold or exposed for sale, or deposited in any place or in course of transmission for the purpose of sale or of preparation for sale,

the proof that the same was not exposed or deposited or in course of transmission for any such purpose, or was not intended for the food of man, resting with the person charged ; and if any such animal or article appears to such medical officer or sanitary inspector or veterinary surgeon to be diseased, or unsound, or unfit for the food of man, he may seize and carry away the same himself or by an assistant, in order to have the same dealt with summarily by a sheriff, magistrate, or justice.

Provided that in the case of any proceeding Under this section with regard to a living animal the medical officer or sanitary inspector, unless he is himself a qualified veterinary surgeon, shall be accompanied by a veterinary surgeon approved as aforesaid.

The police force of each police area shall have power to search carts or vehicles, or barrows, baskets, sacks, bags, or parcels, and to assist generally in executing and enforcing this section.

(2)If it appears to a sheriff, magistrate, or justice, that any animal or article which has been seized or is liable to be seized under this section is diseased, or unsound, or unfit for the food of man, he shall condemn the same, and order it to be destroyed or so disposed of as to prevent it from being exposed for sale or used for the food of man; and the person to whom the same belongs or did belong at the time of sale or exposure for sale, or deposit or transmission for the purpose of sale, or of preparation for sale, or in whose possession or on whose premises the same was found, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds for every animal or article, or if the article consists of fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, or flour, for every parcel thereof so condemned, unless he proves that he and the person acting on his behalf (if any) did not know, and could not with reasonable care have known, that it was in such a condition, or where the proceedings are before a sheriff, at the discretion of the court, if it finds that he has knowingly and wilfully committed the offence, he shall be liable without the infliction of a penalty, to imprisonment for a term of not more than three months with or without hard labour, and also to pay all expenses caused by the seizure, detention, or disposal thereof.

Provided that if such person proves that the animal or part thereof condemned as aforesaid was within a reasonable time prior to the seizure thereof examined upon the premises where the animal was slaughtered and passed by a veterinary surgeon approved as aforesaid called in for the purpose, and who shall have granted a certificate of passing as nearly as may be as in the next, sub-section provided, or by a veterinary surgeon in terms of that sub-section, he shall be exempt from penalty or imprisonment under this section for such offence.

(3)Each local authority, or two or more local authorities in combination, may, if they think fit, appoint a place or places within its district or their districts, and fix a time or times at which a veterinary surgeon approved as aforesaid shall attend for the purpose of examining any animal alive or dead which may there be submitted to him, and passing or condemning the same, and such veterinary surgeon shall, on receipt of a fee to be fixed by the local authority or authorities and paid by the owner, examine and pass or condemn in whole or in part any animal or carcase so submitted to him; and if he shall pass the same he shall grant a certificate of passing which shall set forth the name of the owner, the date and hour of examination, and such particulars regarding the animal or carcase as the local authority or authorities may prescribe for the purpose of aiding in the subsequent identification of the same; and if he shall condemn the animal or carcase, or part thereof, the animal or carcase or part so condemned shall be retained and be forthwith destroyed by the local authority or authorities or so disposed of as to prevent it from being exposed for sale or used for the food of man, and the owner shall be entitled to the net price realised from the residual product of the carcase or part so condemned, if any, after deducting the expenses of condemnation and destruction. Provided that no carcase shall be submitted for examination, either under this or the immediately preceding sub-section, unless as a whole carcase, including the thoracic and abdominal viscera, in such manner that the examiner shall be readily able to satisfy himself that the organs are those of the carcase under inspection.

(4)Where it is shown that any animal or article liable to be seized under this section and found in the possession of any person was purchased by him or consigned to him from another person for the food of man, and when so purchased or consigned was in such a condition as to be liable to be seized and condemned under this section, the person who so sold or consigned the same shall be liable to be brought to trial in the district in which such animal or article was seized, and on conviction shall be liable to the penalty and imprisonment above mentioned, unless he proves that, at the time he sold or consigned the said animal or article, he and the person acting on his behalf, if any, did not know, and could not with reasonable care have known, that it was in such a condition..

(5)A copy of any certificate, granted by a veterinary surgeon, under sub-sections two or three of this section, shall forthwith be sent by him to the chief constable of the jurisdiction in which the examination of the animal or carcase took place, and the certificate itself shall be sent by the person selling the animal or carcase forthwith after the sale, and not more than seven days from the date of the certificate, to the chief constable of the jurisdiction in which the sale of the animal or carcase took place, and if any veterinary surgeon or person shall contravene this enactment he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

(6)Where a person convicted of an offence under this section has been within twelve months previously convicted of an offence under this section, the sheriff, magistrate, or justice may, if he thinks fit, and finds that the offender knowingly and wilfully committed both such offences, order that a notice of the facts be affixed, in such form and manner and for such period not exceeding twenty-one days as the sheriff, magistrate, or justice may order, to any premises occupied by that person, and that the person do pay the costs of such affixing, and if any person obstructs the affixing of such notice, or removes, defaces, or conceals the notice while affixed during the said period, he shall for each offence be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.

(7)If the occupier of a licensed slaughter-house is convicted of an offence under this section the sheriff, magistrate, or justice convicting him may cancel the licence for such slaughter-house.

(8)If any person obstructs a medical officer, sanitary inspector, or veterinary surgeon as aforesaid in the performance of his duty under this section he shall, where the proceedings are before a sheriff, and where the sheriff is satisfied that the obstruction was with intent to prevent the discovery of an offence under this section, or that the accused has within twelve months previously been convicted of such obstruction, be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding one month in lieu of any penalty authorised by this Act for such obstruction.

(9)A sheriff, magistrate, or justice, may act in adjudicating on an offender under this section whether he has or has not acted in ordering the animal or article to be destroyed or disposed of.