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DOG RACES (RESTRICTION) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946

DOG RACES (RESTRICTION) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - LONG TITLE

An Act to restrict and control the holding of dog races and trials
of speed of dogs and the use of any premises for or in connection
with the holding of such races or trials; and for purposes
connected with the matters aforesaid.
[29th August 1946]
Restrictions on dog racing, etc.

DOG RACES (RESTRICTION) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 1

1.(1) Save as provided by this Act, no person shall, after such
date as the Minister of Home Affairs (in this Act referred to as
"the Minister") may by order prescribe, use any premises or cause
or knowingly permit any premises to be used for the holding of any
dog race or dog trial within the meaning of this Act:

Provided that nothing in this section shall affect the holding, in
accordance with and subject to the provisions of a licence granted
under the next succeeding section of this Act, of any dog race or
dog trial authorised by that licence.

(2) Every person who contravenes any of the provisions of this
section shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

DOG RACES (RESTRICTION) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 2
Licensing of certain dog racecourses.

2.(1) Subject to the provisions of this section the Minister may on
application being made to him in such form and manner as he may
direct grant a licence to any person authorising the holding of dog
races or dog trials or both by that person on any premises
specified in the licence:

Provided that

(a)a licence granted under this section shall not authorise the
holding of dog races at any premises on more than one hundred and
four days in any period of twelve successive months or the holding
on a Sunday, Christmas Day or Good Friday of dog races or dog
trials;

(b)a licence shall not be granted under this section where

(i)the applicant or, where the applicant is a corporate body, any
director, or manager, has been convicted of any offence under this
Act or of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty; or

(ii)compensation has at any time previously been paid by the
Minister in respect of those premises under section three of this
Act; and

(c)a licence granted under this section shall not prejudice or
affect the operation of any other enactment or rule of law or of
any order, rule, regulation or bye-law under or by virtue of which
any authority or person may prohibit or restrict the use or
development of any premises for or in connection with the holding
of dog races or dog trials.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section a licence granted
under this section shall be in force only during such times and
subject to such conditions as the Minister may specify and different
times and different conditions may be specified in respect of
different licences so however that it shall be a condition of every
licence that the holder thereof shall as far as is practicable
ensure that persons under the age of eighteen years shall not
during the holding of any dog race or dog trial be present on the
premises in respect of which the licence has been granted. Any
person who commits any breach or contravention of any condition
imposed by any licence granted under this section shall be guilty
of an offence against this Act.

(3) An application for a licence under this section authorising the
holding of dog races at any premises which have not prior to the
thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and forty-five, been
used to a substantial extent as a dog racecourse shall not be
entertained by the Minister unless at least fourteen days before the
date on which the application is made, the applicant has given to
the Minister notice in writing stating that it is intended to make
the application on that date and containing particulars of the name
and address of the applicant and a description of the situation of
the premises and has also published such a notice in at least two
newspapers circulating in the locality in which the premises are
situate:

Provided that

(a)the notices to be given under this sub-section shall state the
number and position of the exits provided or intended to be
provided and shall specify the number of spectators for whom
accommodation is provided or is intended to be provided;

(b)the Minister may cause to be made such local inquiry or
investigation as he sees fit in relation to the application and for
the purpose of any such inquiry or investigation sections two
hundred and ten, two hundred and twelve and two hundred and
thirteen of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878, shall apply as
if they were in terms made applicable to those purposes; and

(c)where the Minister causes an inquiry to be made under paragraph
(b) of this sub-section the following persons, in addition to the
applicant, shall (without prejudice to the right of the person
holding the inquiry to hear evidence from any source he may think
proper) be entitled to be heard in person or by a representative,
that is to say, the county inspector or, in the case of a county
borough, the city commissioner, or other officer in charge, of
police for the county or county borough in which the premises are
situate, any person owning or occupying property in the neighbourhood
of the premises, and the governing body of any school or
institution of that neighbourhood.

(4) The Minister may at any time, after giving to the holder of
the licence an opportunity of being heard, revoke any licence
granted by him under this section

(a)if he is satisfied that there has been a breach or contravention
of any of the conditions to which the licence is subject or that
the premises in respect of which the licence has been granted are
being conducted in a disorderly manner or so as to cause a
nuisance; or

(b)if in the case of a licence authorising the holding of dog
races the accommodation for spectators on the premises in respect of
which the licence has been granted has without the approval of the
Minister been substantially increased or the exits from those
premises have been materially altered or serious prejudice to the
preservation of law and order has resulted or will result therefrom;
or

(c)if the holder of the licence or, where the holder is a
corporate body, any director or the manager thereof is convicted of
any offence under this Act or of any offence involving fraud or
dishonesty:

Provided that where a licence is revoked under this section the
Minister may if he think fit at any time grant a new licence in
respect of the same premises either to the former holder of the
revoked licence or to any other person and such new licence may be
made subject to the same conditions as the revoked licence or
subject to such further or other conditions as the Minister may
specify in the new licence.

(5) Where during the currency of a licence granted under this
section the holder of the licence assigns his interest in the
premises to which the licence relates or dies the Minister may by
endorsement on such licence or otherwise empower the assignee or, in
the case of the death of the holder, his personal representatives
or his wife or child to hold the dog races or dog trials, as the
case may be, authorised by the licence during the residue of the
period for which the licence was originally granted.

S.3(1)(4) spent; subs.(5) rep. by 1969 c.16 (NI) s.31(2) sch.3 Pt.I;
subs.(6)(7) spent

DOG RACES (RESTRICTION) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 4
Enforcement.

4.(1) Any person guilty of an offence against this Act shall, on
summary conviction, be liable

(a)in the case of a first offence to a fine not exceeding
twenty-five pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three
months or to both such imprisonment and fine; and

(b)in the case of a second or any subsequent offence to a fine
not exceeding one hundred pounds or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding six months or to both such imprisonment and fine:

Provided that where any offence under this Act has been committed
by a body corporate, then notwithstanding and without prejudice to
the liability of that body, every person who at the time of such
commission was a director or other officer of the body corporate or
was purporting to act in any such capacity, shall be liable to be
prosecuted as if he had personally committed that offence and shall,
if on such prosecution it is shown that he consented to, or
connived at, or did not exercise all such diligence as he ought in
the circumstances to have exercised to prevent, the offence, be
liable to the like conviction and punishment as if he had
personally been guilty of that offence.

(2) If a resident magistrate or a justice of the peace is
satisfied by information on oath that there is reasonable ground for
suspecting that an offence against this Act has been, is being, or
is about to be committed in any premises, he may grant a search
warrant authorising any police officer or constable named therein to
enter such premises at any time, if necessary by force, and to
search the premises and to examine and seize any article, animal or
thing found therein which he has reasonable ground for believing to
be evidence of the commission of an offence.

(3) Without prejudice to the operation of section twenty-two of the
Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, and section eight of the
Accessories and Abettors Act, 1861, any person who attempts to
commit, conspires with any other person to commit or does any act
preparatory to the commission of, any offence against this Act shall
be guilty of that offence and punishable accordingly.

(4) On the conviction of any person for an offence under section
one of this Act the court may in addition to any other penalty
which it has power to impose for such offence, order him within
fourteen days or such extended period as the court thinks just to
remove from the premises in respect of which the offence occurred
all dog racing equipment erected or placed thereon and if such
person neglects or fails to comply with the terms of such order,
he may, in the discretion of the court, be ordered to pay a sum
not exceeding twenty-five pounds for every day during which he is
in default and for the purpose of enforcing payment of any such
sum the court may exercise all the powers (including powers of
imprisonment) exercisable by a court of summary jurisdiction in cases
where default is made in payment of a penal sum.

DOG RACES (RESTRICTION) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 5
Interpretation.

5.(1) In this Act the following expressions shall, except where the
contrary intention appears, have the meanings hereby assigned to
them, that is to say

"contravention" in relation to any provision includes any failure to
comply with that provision;

"dog race" means a race in which an object propelled by mechanical
means is pursued by dogs; and "dog racecourse" shall be construed
accordingly;

"dog racing equipment" has the meaning assigned to it by sub-section
(1) of section three of this Act;

"dog trial" means any test or trial of speed in which an object
propelled by mechanical means is pursued by dogs and which is not
a dog race;

"enactment" includes any provision contained in any Act (whether
public general, local or private) of the Parliament of the United
Kingdom or of the Parliament of Northern Ireland or in any
statutory rule or order made under or by virtue of any such Act;

Definition spent

"Minister" has the meaning assigned to it by sub-section (1) of
section one of this Act; and

"premises" includes any land irrespective of whether or not any
buildings or structures have been erected or placed thereon.

Subs.(2) rep. by 1954 c.33 (NI) s.48(1) sch.

DOG RACES (RESTRICTION) ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1946 - SECT 6
Short title.

6. This Act may be cited as the Dog Races (Restriction) Act
(Northern Ireland), 1946.