Law Commission Submission Closing Date

Closing soon is your opportunity to submit your ideas on which areas of the law you think would benefit from reform.

The Law Commission questionnaire can be found online here -
http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/13th-programme-of-law-reform-consultation/

You can ask the Law Commission to examine a specific issue of concern - for example, breed specific legislation - found within the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and its associated Amendments and Statutory Instruments, for their 13th Programme of Law Reform.

If you feel that there is a problem in an area of law that would benefit from reform, you can tell the Law Commission, they are interested in examining laws which are:

• causing substantial unfairness;
• widely discriminatory or disproportionately costly; or
• caused by laws or policies that are complex, hard to understand or have fallen out of step with modern standards.

"For a law to be fair - it must be capable of being understood."

The Law Commission is independent of any department and does not necessarily accord with the position of the Government of the day.

Send your completed questionnaire to:

 Email: programme@lawcommission.gsi.gov.uk.

Our reply received from the Law Commission - November 2016:

Thank you for responding to our consultation regarding the Law Commission’s Thirteenth Programme of Law Reform. I apologise for the delay in acknowledging your email.

We will now carefully assess the details of your proposal on reforming the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. The Law Commission is very grateful to you for the work that has been undertaken to produce your proposal.

We will contact you regarding the outcome of your proposal in due course.

Marking 25 Years of BSL UK 1991 ~ 2016

Global End-BSL Rally and Protests

Dog defenders to rally at Westminster in peaceful protest against failed law that targets types of dog – breed specific legislation (BSL).

Peaceful protests have been organised around the world for July 2016 – the Westminster event takes place on the 16th July at Old Palace Yard, Westminster, SW1P 3JY at 1pm to 5pm. Other UK events have been organised for Wales, Northern Ireland, Herefordshire and the South West of England.

Ontario, Quebec, Winnipeg, Victoria, Ottawa Canada and Germany also have protests panned for the same day as part of a global movement to repeal breed specific laws.

The London event is organised by DDA Watch and will mark 25 years of failed legislation – the UK introduced breed specific legislation in the Dangerous Dogs 1991 Act and campaigners say the law continues to cost millions of pounds in taxpayers' money to enforce and does nothing to protect people nor dogs alike, neither does it promote responsible dog ownership.

Thousands of pets continue to be put to death or deemed ‘dangerous’ based on their physical appearance, the law makes no sense, is barbaric and is long overdue for repeal, dogs continue to be ripped apart from their families even though they have never put a paw wrong.

People are coming together, making a stand and speaking out in defence of ALL dogs regardless of what shape or size they happen to be.

Leading animal welfare charities have disagreed with and openly discredited BSL for many years, outlining the fact that dogs cannot be labelled 'dangerous' for their looks alone and they have called for an end to this outdated legislation.

The peaceful protest takes place at Westminster, London UK on the 16th July, event details can be found on the DDAW event page on FB.

Dog Microchipping - New Law:

Compulsory dog microchipping comes into force this month - applying to all dogs.

From 6 April 2016 all dogs in England, Scotland and Wales will be legally required to be microchipped and their up-to-date details registered on one of the authorised databases. (Northern Ireland has already introduced this measure.)

From the 6th of April 2016, all dogs must be microchipped and registered to an approved database by the time they are 8 weeks old.

If a keeper of a dog which is not microchipped gets served with a notice requiring them to have the dog chipped, they will have 21 days to do this.

There are no exemptions regarding age. A dog will be legally exempt from being microchipped only when a vet certifies that it cannot be microchipped for health reasons and this needs to done on a form approved by the Secretary of State.

Your dog is considered microchipped when:

~ implanted with a microchip

and

~ the correct details are registered on an approved database. 

If you do not get your dog microchipped or your details registered on an approved database, then it will be considered as not complying with the regulations and a notice may be served. If the keeper does not microchip their dogs within 21 days of the served notice, then you will be liable to pay a fine of £500.

If any dog keeper subsequently moves address, changes contact telephone number, etc. then they must keep their database details up-to-date.  Failure to do so means that enforcement can be taken and a notice served. If the keeper does not get their details up to date within 21 days of the served notice, then you will be liable to pay a fine of £500.

EFRA Inquiry on Animal Welfare:

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Sub-Committee will be holding a series of short inquiries on animal welfare over the course of this Parliament.

The first inquiry will focus on domestic pets, including cats, dogs and horses. The Committee will consider issues surrounding exotic pets at a later date.

In the UK, about 1 in 2 households own a pet with around 21 million pets owned (excluding fish). The UK pet population is estimated at nine million dogs, approximately 8 million cats. The Animal Welfare Act places a legal obligation on owners and keepers of animals to care for them properly.

The inquiry will examine the effectiveness of the Act and its enforcement with regards to domestic animals.

The inquiry will also examine whether that Act and other existing legislation remains fit for purpose in the age of the internet with regards to the sale of domestic pets.

The proposed terms for inquiry are:

• The effectiveness of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 with regard to domestic pets;

• Regulation surrounding the sale of domestic pets, including online sales and advertising;

• Enforcement of current animal welfare legislation, including prosecution of offences by the police, local authorities, the RSPCA and others:

• Comparative approaches to enforcement in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The Committee asks for written submissions by noon on Thursday 17 March. Written submissions should be made via the Animal welfare: domestic pets inquiry page on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website.

As a guideline submissions should state clearly who the submission is from e.g. ‘Written evidence submitted by xxxx’ and be no longer than 1500 words, please contact the Committee staff if you wish to discuss this.

Submissions must be a self-contained memorandum in Word or Rich Text Format (not pdfs). Paragraphs should be numbered for ease of reference, and the document should, if possible, include an executive summary.

Submissions should be original work, not previously published or circulated elsewhere. Once submitted, your submission becomes the property of the Committee and no public use should be made of it unless you have first obtained permission from the Clerk of the Committee. Please bear in mind that Committees are not able to investigate individual cases.

The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to publish the written evidence it receives, either by publishing it on the internet or by making it publicly available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure; the Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.

The personal information you supply will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 for the purposes of attributing the evidence you submit and contacting you as necessary in connection with its processing. The Clerk of the House of Commons is the data controller for the purposes of the Act.