Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002

8 Proceedings and penalties

(1) A person guilty of an offence under this Act is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for up to 6 months or a fine of up to level 5 on the standard scale or both.

(2) If an offence by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or as a result of neglect by, an officer of the body, the officer as well as the body is guilty of the offence.

(3) “Officer” means a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer, and includes a person purporting to act in that capacity or in accordance with whose directions or instructions the officers of the body are accustomed to act.

(4) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (2) applies to the conduct of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were an officer.

(5) If an offence committed by a partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or as a result of neglect by, a partner, the partner as well as the partnership is guilty of the offence.

(6) In proceedings for an offence under section 1(2) or (3), it is a defence for the person charged to prove that at the time of the alleged offence such person reasonably believed that section 5(1) applied (or would apply) to the hunting in question.