Commentary on Sections Section 2 – Power to make order in respect of person convicted
11.Section 2(1) inserts a new section, section 1A, into the 1953 Act. New section 1A provides for an additional penalty that may be imposed on a person convicted of the section 1 offence (whether that person is the owner of the dog or the person who was in charge of it at the time).
12.Subsection (1) of new section 1A allows the court, by order, to disqualify the convicted person from owning or keeping dogs, or to require the person to prevent any dog the person is in charge of from going onto land on which livestock is present or is likely to be present, or both. The length of the disqualification or requirement is for the court to determine (and if the court imposes both a disqualification and a requirement, these may be for different periods of time).
13.Subsection (2) of new section 1A requires the order to be treated as a sentence, so that it can be appealed in the same way as a sentence can be appealed.
14.Subsection (3) of new section 1A provides that a breach of such an order is punishable by a fine of up to level 5 on the standard scale (currently set at £5,000).
15.Subsections (4) and (5) of new section 1A entitle the convicted person to apply to the court to have the order discharged in whole or in part, but only if at least one year has elapsed since the order was made. It will be for the courts themselves to prescribe, in rules of court, how such an application is to be made.
16.Under subsection (6) of new section 1A, if the application (to have the order discharged) is refused, the convicted person may appeal the refusal to the Sheriff Appeal Court. The person may, separately, apply again to have the disqualification order discharged, but (again) only if at least a year has elapsed since the previous refusal.
17.Section 2(2) prevents an order under new section 1A being applied retrospectively, for example to someone who is convicted after the date the court gains the power to make an order, but for an offence that took place before that date.