Weeds (Jersey) Law
1961[1]
A LAW to provide for preventing the
spreading of injurious weeds
Commencement
[see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
(1) In this Law –
“Minister” means the Minister for the Environment;
“occupier” means in the case of unoccupied land the person
entitled to the occupation of the land.[2]
(2) This Law applies to the
injurious weeds specified in the Schedule to this Law and to such other
injurious weeds as may be prescribed by Order made by the Minister.
2 Power
to require an occupier of land to prevent the spreading of injurious weeds
The Minister, if satisfied that there are injurious weeds to which
this Law applies growing upon any land, may cause to be served on the occupier
of the land a notice in writing requiring him or her, within the time specified
in the notice, to take such action as may be necessary to prevent the injurious
weeds from spreading.
3 Default
powers of the Minister
Where the occupier of any land on whom a notice under Article 2 has
been served fails to take the action required by the notice within the time
specified therein, the Minister may, without prejudice to any proceedings in
respect of such default, take that action and, in such a case, may recover from
the occupier, as a civil debt, the expenses incurred in so doing.
4 Entry
on land
Any person authorized in that behalf by the Minister may, on the
production if so required of evidence of his or her authority, enter on and
inspect any land and take on any land any action which by this Law the Minister
is authorized to take:
Provided that the powers conferred by this Article shall not be
exercised in respect of any land unless there has been served on the occupier
of the land a notice of the date on which they will be exercised.
5 Service
of notices
(1) Any notice authorized
by this Law to be served on any person shall be duly served if it is delivered
to him or her, or left at his or her proper address, or sent to him or her by
post in a registered letter.
(2) Any such notice
authorized to be served on a body corporate shall be duly served if served on
the secretary or clerk of the body.
(3) For the purpose of this
Article and of Article 7 of the Interpretation (Jersey) Law 1954, the proper address of any person
on whom any such notice is to be served shall, in the case of the secretary or
clerk of a body corporate, be that of the registered or principal office of the
body, and in any other case be the last known address of the person in
question.
(4) Where it is not
practicable after reasonable enquiry to ascertain the name or address of a
person on whom any such notice is to be served, the notice may be served by
addressing it to him or her by the description of “occupier” of the
land (naming it) and delivering the notice to some responsible person on the
land or by affixing it, or a copy of it, to some conspicuous object on the
land.
6 Offences
(1) Where a notice has been
served under Article 2 on the occupier of any land and that person unreasonably
fails to comply with the requirements of the notice, he or she shall be liable,
in the case of a first offence, to a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[3]
(2) Where a failure in
respect of which a person is convicted under paragraph (1) is not remedied
within 14 days after the conviction, he or she shall be guilty of a further
offence under that paragraph and shall be liable to be proceeded against and
punished accordingly.
(3) If any person wilfully
obstructs a person in the exercise of his or her powers under Article 4, he or
she shall be liable to a fine of level 1 on the standard scale.[4]
(4) Where an offence under
this Law committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with
the consent or the connivance of, or to be attributable to any negligence on
the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of that body
corporate, he or she as well as the body corporate shall be deemed to be guilty
of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.
7 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Weeds (Jersey) Law 1961.