Part 5Marine protection and enhancement: the Scottish marine protection area
Offences
I197Exceptions to offences under section 94, 95 or 96
1
A person is not guilty of an offence under section 94, 95, or 96 if the act which is alleged to constitute the offence—
a
was an exercise of functions carried out in accordance with section 82(2) by a public authority,
C1C2C3C4C5C6C7C8C9b
was expressly authorised by an authorisation granted by a public authority or was necessarily incidental to an act so authorised (and this paragraph is not disapplied in relation to the offence by virtue of section 85(4)(a)),
c
was done in accordance with—
i
a permit of the kind described in section 92(1), or
ii
an authorisation of the kind described in section 92(3),
d
was necessary—
i
in the interests of national security,
ii
in the interests of the prevention or detection of crime,
iii
for securing public health.
2
It is a defence for a person who is charged with an offence under section 95 or 96 to show that—
a
the act which is alleged to constitute the offence was—
i
an act done for the purpose of, and in the course of, sea fishing, or
ii
an act done in connection with such an act, and
b
the effect of the act on the protected feature or (as the case may be) the marine historic asset in question could not have reasonably been avoided.
3
The Scottish Ministers may by order amend this section so as to remove, or restrict the application of, the defence provided by subsection (2).
4
For the purposes of this section, “act” includes omission.