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No wise cracks am only doin me job :angel:

 

 

Chairman’s report:

As you all will know, the bill to ban hunting is now law. From the 18th February it will be illegal to hunt any mammal other than rats and rabbits with dogs in England and Wales. There are some exemptions and these will, no doubt help us to carry on to some degree until we win the challenge to the either the Parliament act, the Human rights act or the law is seen for what it is and repealed. The Countryside alliance has produced a “Hunting Handbook†with the help of the board members of the Council of Hunting Associations including myself, which goes some way in explaining the effect the new law will have. These were available for a minimum donation of one pound per copy. To carry on for now, we can legally hunt rabbits on land where permission has been obtained. Also we can use up to two dogs for flushing hares to the gun. It goes without saying that you must have permission from the landowner/farmer to do these activities and carry a letter proving that you have this permission. It will also be necessary to have a game license, if you use dogs to flush a hare for shooting but not for hunting rabbits and it goes without saying that if you use a gun you will need a gun license. All this is explained in the “Hunting Handbook†so it is recommend that you get one. (Available from the countryside alliance or the A.L.C. for a small charge) A letter of permission for you to use with your farmers has been produced. This letter is self explanatory and is included so please photocopy as many as you need.

Regional Meetings:

There are a number of regional meetings to discuss the hunt ban and please attend a meeting near you to show the hunting community that we are all working together. The list is as follows:

Southern - Addington Manor Equestrian Centre, Addington, Buckingham, MK18 2JR 7:30pm 09/02/05

Wessex south – Digby Hall, Sherbourne, Dorset, DT9 3AA 7:00pm 09/02/05

N. Wales & Cheshire – Bangor race course, Bangor on dee, near Wrexham 7:30pm 09/02/05

Eastern – Tattersall’s Sales ring, The Avenue, Newmarket, Suffolk 7:00pm 10/02/05

Yorkshire – Riley Smith Memorial Hall, Tadcaster, N. Yorks 7:30pm 10/02/05

West Midlands – Worcester Rugby Club, Worcester, ( Just off M5 J6 ) 7:00pm 10/02/05

North West – The Hired Lad Pub, Penrith Auction Mart, Penrith (M6 J40 ) 7:00pm 10/02/05

The speakers will be announced by the Countryside Alliance at a later date.

Accredited Membership

At the last few meetings the Accredited Membership Scheme has been mentioned and once again it was brought up again. Alan has made presentations to the Countryside Alliance, the Police and the National Farmers Union. The Police in Lincolnshire are fully behind the scheme and hope to introduce it throughout Lincolnshire subject to the support of the farmers and landowners. You may think that the accredited membership scheme is no longer valid! But I suggest that it is now more valid. Before, a farmer mostly just said that you could course on his land and that was that. The same farmer has now to protect himself from prosecution. He must also be able to prove that he has only given you permission to hunt rabbits and act within the law. How much easier for you will it b for you to obtain permission if you can produce an identity card with photo, proving that you belong to a bone fide organisation which along side the letter of permission proves that you will act responsibly. The permission that you already have and the permission that you obtain will carry on when coursing is again legal. You should I positive and look on this ban as an opportunity to get permission to legally work your dogs. The accredited membership scheme alongside the permission letter will give you the best start in getting this permission.

Political Update

The best way to give a political update was by reading out the report from Richard Lisack , Here are a few of the main points :-

Parliament Act

Permission to apply for judicial review has been granted, The full hearing will be in public on 25th and 26th January 2005. The two judges are Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Collins. Both are robust independent minded judges of great experience and standing. After the hearing judgment will be given - probably within a week or so and certainly before 18th February After judgement the losing side may appeal to the Court of Appeal (3 or more Lord Justices) From that hearing the losing side may appeal to the House of Lords (5 or more Law Lords)

Interim Relief/Injunction

An injunction is an order which is made pending the conclusion of a case, There is no precedent for an order stopping a domestic Act of Parliament from having effect whilst a case is decided .There is no precedent for an Attorney General indicating a willingness to consent to such an order even before the hearing has started .The court will only make the order if it thinks it is the right thing to do - irrespective of whether the parties agree one should be ordered .Interim relief only arises if and when we lose in January/February

Its precise terms will be important as to what it means for hunting but it looks like the government expect hunting to continue as normal until the litigation is at an end. In the case of the Parliament Act, this means 6 months or so. If the order is granted in the PA case, the CA would also apply in the Human Rights case. If the order were granted in the HR case that may mean an extension of hunting for perhaps 3 years.

Human Rights

A huge amount of work is currently going into preparation of what looks like a compelling case. All claimants are identified and most have provided draft statements. They will cover the hunting of fox, deer and hares and hare coursing. There are no toffs, just a wide variety of hunting people from a range of perspectives .The claim will cover articles 7 8 (maybe 9) 11 and 1 first protocol

The case will commence in late January. The government will then be fighting to defend this Act on two fronts simultaneously all though the run up to the general election

Other matters

Make no mistake: merely because the government has signalled their apparent acquiescence to legal process does not for a moment mean we have won, nor that they have been persuaded by our arguments, nor that we should start to think of victory. We may have won a crucial concession which will help extend hunting through the end of this season and into the next. Time so won must not be squandered ,We must remain law abiding, We must remain resolute and vocal, We must remain focussed upon bringing about reversal or repeal of this Act by legal and political means and in both domains the public perception of us and our cause is crucial

The Government Ministers are spinning “If you want Hunting, vote Conservative “. As was stated at the last meeting, there are at least 50 marginal seats where a Conservative win would help hunting. If this the case in your constituency, why not help your conservative or Liberal candidate? It may make all the difference. If you are in any doubt phone the Countryside Alliance.

ISAH

ISAH is still the governing body for hunting and we must support it. ISAH has done tremendous work for us and has shown the way that a controlling body should work if licensing comes to pass. If this changes due to the Hunting Act We will let you know immediately

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