19.—(1) These Regulations are enforced by the local authority.
(2) The Welsh Ministers may direct, in relation to cases of a particular description or any particular case, that an enforcement duty imposed on the local authority under this regulation must be discharged by the Welsh Ministers and not by the local authority.
20.—(1) An inspector may, on producing a duly authenticated authorisation if required, at all reasonable hours, enter any premises (excluding any premises not containing any horse and used only as a dwelling) for the purpose of administering and enforcing these Regulations; and in this regulation “premises” (“mangre”) includes any vehicle or container.
(2) An inspector may carry out all checks and examinations necessary for the enforcement of these Regulations, and in particular may—
(a)require the production of an identification document and mark it as necessary;
(b)require the production of any horse and mark it for identification purposes as necessary;
(c)carry out any inquiries;
(d)have access to, and inspect and copy any documents or records (in whatever form they are held) relevant to these Regulations, and remove them to enable them to be copied;
(e)inspect and check the operation of any computer and any associated apparatus or material that is or has been in use in connection with documents or records relevant to these Regulations; and
(f)where a record is kept by means of a computer, require the record to be produced in a form which may be taken away.
(3) Where an inspector has entered any premises and it is not reasonably practicable to determine whether documents on those premises are relevant to these Regulations, the inspector may seize them to ascertain whether or not they are relevant.
(4) The inspector may be accompanied by—
(a)such other persons as the inspector considers necessary, and
(b)any representative of the European Commission acting for the purpose of the enforcement of a Community obligation.
(5) It is an offence to deface, obliterate or remove any mark applied under this regulation except under the written authority of an inspector.
(6) In this regulation and regulation 21 “inspector” (“arolygydd”) means a person appointed as such by a local authority or the Welsh Ministers for the enforcement of these Regulations or under the Animal Health Act 1981(1).
21. It is an offence—
(a)intentionally to obstruct an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations;
(b)without reasonable cause, to fail to give to an inspector acting in the execution of these Regulations any assistance or information that the inspector may reasonably require under these Regulations;
(c)to furnish to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any information knowing it to be false or misleading; or
(d)to fail to produce a horse, document, record or identification document when required to do so to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations.
22. A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations is liable—
(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or
(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
23.—(1) Paragraph (2) applies where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under these Regulations, and that offence is proved—
(a)to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the body corporate, or
(b)to be attributable to any neglect on the part of an officer of the body corporate.
(2) The officer, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of the offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(3) In this regulation “officer” (“swyddog”) means—
(a)any director, manager, secretary or other similar person of the body corporate, or
(b)any person purporting to act in any such capacity.
(4) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, this regulation applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were an officer of the body corporate.
24.—(1) Proceedings for an offence under these Regulations alleged to have been committed by a partnership or an unincorporated association may be brought in the name of the partnership or association.
(2) For the purposes of such proceedings—
(a)rules of court relating to the service of documents are to have effect as if the partnership or association were a body corporate;
(b)section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925(2) and Schedule 3 to the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980(3) apply in relation to the partnership or association as they apply in relation to a body corporate.
(3) A fine imposed on a partnership or association on its conviction for an offence under these Regulations is to be paid out of the funds of the partnership or association.
(4) Paragraph (5) applies where an offence under these Regulations committed by a partnership is proved—
(a)to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner, or
(b)to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a partner.
(5) The partner, as well as the partnership, is guilty of the offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(6) Paragraph (7) applies where an offence under these Regulations committed by an unincorporated association is proved—
(a)to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the association, or
(b)to be attributable to any neglect on the part of an officer of the association.
(7) The officer, as well as the association, is guilty of the offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(8) In this regulation “officer” (“swyddog”) means—
(a)an officer of the association or a member of its governing body, or
(b)a person purporting to act in such capacity.
(9) In this regulation “partner” (“partner”) includes a person purporting to act as a partner.
25. The Horse Passports (Wales) Regulations 2005(4) are revoked.
1925 c. 86. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 33 were repealed by the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (c. 55), section 132 and Schedule 6; subsection (3) was amended by the Courts Act 1971 (c. 23), section 56(1) and Schedule 8, Part II, paragraph 19; subsection (4) was amended by the Courts Act 2003 (c. 39), section 109(1) and (3), Schedule 8, paragraph 71 and Schedule 10; subsection (5) was repealed by the Magistrates' Court Act 1952, section 132, Schedule 6.
1980 c. 43. Sub-paragraph 2(a) was amended by the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (c. 25), section 47, Schedule 1, paragraph 13, and was repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), sections 41 and 332, Schedule 3, Part 2, paragraph 51, sub-paragraphs (1), (13)(a), and Schedule 37, Part 4 (with effect from a date to be appointed); paragraph 5 was repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (c. 53), sections 25(2) and 101(2) and Schedule 13; paragraph 6 was amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003, section 41, Schedule 3, Part 2, paragraph 51, sub-paragraphs (1) and (13)(b) (with effect from a date to be appointed).
S.I. 2005/231 (W. 21).