The Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

Powers of entry, etc., in connection with Article 13 N.I.

47.—(1) In relation to any disease to which Article 13 applies the following persons are authorised officers for the purposes of this Article, namely—

(a) an officer of the Department;

(b) a veterinary inspector; and

(c) any person who, not being such an officer or inspector, is authorised by the Department to exercise the powers conferred by this Article.

(2) Where an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting, in the case of any area, that there exists among the wild members of any species in the area a disease to which Article 13 applies, he may enter any land in the area and—

(a) take samples of the wild members of that species, or of their excreta, or of any materials (whether or not forming part of the land) with which wild members of that species may have been in contact;

(b) carry out any other investigations which he considers necessary for the purpose of determining, as regards that species and that disease, whether an order under Article 13 should be made in respect of the whole or part of the area in question.

(3) An authorised officer may at any time enter any land in the area to which an order under Article 13 applies for any of the following purposes, namely—

(a) to carry out the destruction of any wild members of a species to which the order relates that may be on that land;

(b) to take any such measures as are mentioned in paragraph (5) of that Article;

(c) to ascertain, as regards any wild members of a species to which the order relates, whether destruction has been effectively carried out.

(4) Where in pursuance of an order under Article 13 destruction of wild members of any species to which the order relates has been carried out on any land in the area to which the order applies, then, for the purpose of ascertaining—

(a) whether the land has been, or is being, recolonised by wild members of that species; and, if so,

(b) whether there exists among them the disease to which the order applies (or, if the order has been revoked, to which it previously applied),

an authorised officer may enter the land and take such samples of, or relating to, that species as are mentioned in paragraph (2) (a); so, however, that an authorised officer shall not enter the land or take samples under this paragraph at any time more than two years after the revocation of the order in question.

(5) Nothing in this Article shall authorise any person to enter a dwelling house.

(6) A person entering any land in the exercise of powers conferred on him by this Article shall, if so required by the owner or occupier or person in charge of the land—

(a) produce to him some duly authenticated document showing his authority; and

(b) state in writing his reasons for entering.

(7) Without prejudice to paragraph (6), an authorised officer—

(a) shall not demand admission as of right to any land forming part of a nature reserve (within the meaning of[F1 Article 2(2) of the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985]) maintained or managed by the Department of the Environment under that Act unless seven days' notice of the intended entry has been given to that Department; and

(b) in exercising any of his powers under paragraph (2), (3) or (4) on any such land shall, as far as possible, do so in accordance with such reasonable requirements for minimising damage to flora, fauna or geological or physiographical features within the reserve as may have been notified by the Department of the Environment to the Department.

(8) In this Article, “species” means any species of animals or poultry; and reference to wild members of any species in an area are references to members of the species in the area that are neither domesticated nor held in captivity.

(9) The preceding provisions of this Article are without prejudice to any other powers conferred on inspectors or others under this Order.

F1 1985 NI 1