THE WRONG BURDEN OF PROOF
Dear Sir or Madam,
Given what I have just found in Hansard could you please supply the
information on what you can do in relation to investigating the
fact that Parliament intended that the burden of proof should be on
the prosecution in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 however it
has been wrongly placed on the defendant for many years?
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/writt...
WILDLIFE AND COUNTRYSIDE ACT 1981: DECISIONS TO PROSECUTE HL Deb 15
March 1983 vol 440 c718WA 718WA
§ Lord Melchett
asked Her Majesty's Government:
Why, in respect of the shooting of a barnacle goose on Islay on
25th October 1982, the procurator fiscal decided that no
proceedings should be taken, and whether the procurator fiscal
decided, as with an incident that occurred on 27th January 1983 on
Islay, that no offence had been committed.
§ The Lord Advocate (Lord Mackay of Clashfern)
In deciding whether the facts as disclosed to the procurator fiscal
justified the taking of proceedings under the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981, the procurator fiscal had to decide whether
an offence had been committed, whether there was sufficient
evidence to prove the alleged offence against the accused and
whether there was any excuse for the accused's conduct. The
decision in respect of the incident of 25th October 1982 involved
the exercise of a judgment by the procurator fiscal taking all the
circumstances into consideration. It would not be appropriate to
give the detailed grounds upon which the decision was taken. I have
examined the circumstances of the case, and am satisfied that the
procurator fiscal exercised his judgment in a proper manner.
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Yours faithfully,
Derek Canning LLB[hons]
Dear Mr Canning
Thank you for your request for information which is copied below. I am sorry for the delay with our response, details of how to make a complaint are provided below.
The information you require is not held by the House of Commons.
You may, if dissatisfied with the treatment of your request, ask the House of Commons to conduct an internal review of this decision. Requests for internal review should be addressed to: Freedom of Information Officer, Department of Resources, House of Commons London SW1 OAA or [House of Commons request email]. Please ensure that you specify the nature of your complaint and any arguments or points that you wish to make.
If you remain dissatisfied, you may appeal to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely
Bob Castle
Head of Information Rights and Information Security House of Commons
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of House of Commons's handling of my FOI request 'THE WRONG BURDEN OF PROOF'.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/th...
Yours sincerely,
Derek Canning LLB [HONS]
Dear Mr Canning,
Please find attached response to your request for an internal review.
Yours sincerely,
Bob Castle
Head of Information Rights and Information Security
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