TWO FARMERS who allegedly allowed their sheep graze on protected land in Co Mayo did not need to have consciously intended to breach EU conservation regulations aimed at preventing overgrazing before they could be prosecuted for such breaches, a High Court judge has ruled.
Mr Justice John Hedigan said the regulations would be “largely ineffectual” if the State had to prove beyond reasonable doubt a person had such an intention.
He was ruling on a legal point arising from the dismissal by a District Court judge of a prosecution against farmers Michael Joseph Leneghan and Patrick McHugh, Ballycroy, north Mayo, over allegedly allowing nine sheep and 10 lambs to graze on May 2nd, 2007, in an area known as Tarsaghaun More within the Owenduff/Nephin special protection area.
It was alleged the farmers breached the EU (Conservation of Wildbirds) Owenduff/Nephin Complex Special Protection Area 2005 regulations designed to prohibit overgrazing. They were prosecuted by the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government in Ballycroy District Court in February last year when Judge Mary Devins found that a conservation ranger had seen the farmers’ animals grazing on the lands.
The farmers did not go into evidence in the District Court and their lawyers argued the Minister was required to prove an element of intent to breach the regulations had first existed. The Minister’s lawyers submitted that the State was not required to show intent and there was a strict liability on the farmers not to be in breach.
Judge Devins found the Minister had failed to rebut the argument about the need to prove intent and dismissed the charges but agreed to refer a case to the High Court on the point of law raised.
In his judgment, Mr Justice Hedigan said it was clear the offence of the farmers must be one of strict liability. Although the offence did not carry the social stigma of other criminal offences, the regulations undoubtedly performed an important regulatory function, he said.