Cap. 439 чл. 47Administrative penalties.

(1) When the Authority or the Director for Animal Welfare have reasonable cause to believe that:

(a) an offence against this Act and any regulations made thereunder has been committed by any person; and

(b) it would be more appropriate to impose a penalty under this article, they may by means of a notice in writing in accordance with sub-article (2) notify such person:

Provided that in the case of a person who has already been found guilty of an offence under this Act, the provisions of sub-article (1) shall not apply and criminal proceedings shall be instituted in case of a second offence under this Act.

(2) A notice under subarticle (1) shall specify -

(a) the date and nature of the offence;

(b) a summary of the facts upon which the allegation that an offence has been committed is based (being a sufficient summary fully and fairly to inform the person of the allegation against him);

(c) any other matters (not being previous convictions) that the Authority or Director for Animal Welfare consider relevant to the imposition of a penalty; and

(d) the amount of the penalty due, and where the penalty due depends on a previous conviction, the date of such conviction, and shall be endorsed on a statement setting out the provisions of this article.

(3) Any person on whom a notice under sub-article (1) is served may, within thirty (30) days after such service by notice in writing in the appropriate form, served on the Authority or Director for Animal Welfare, require that proceedings in respect of the alleged offence shall be dealt with by the Court, in which case the following provisions shall apply:

(a) no further proceedings shall be taken under this article by the Authority or Director for Animal Welfare; and

(b) this article shall not be construed to prevent the institution of any proceedings in respect of the alleged offence or the conviction of the person for the offence by the Court or the imposition of any penalty or forfeiture under this Act upon such conviction.

(4) Any person on whom a notice under sub-article (1) is served who does not want that proceedings in respect of the alleged offence shall be heard by the Court may by notice in writing served on the Authority or Director for Animal Welfare:

(a) admit the offence, and

(b) pay the amount of the penalty to the Authority or the Director for Animal Welfare within thirty (30) days after the notice of the penalty is served or after such subsequent period as the Authority or Director for Animal Welfare may determine.

(5) Where under this article a person admits an offence, the Authority or the Director for Animal Welfare shall impose a monetary penalty on that person in respect of the offence, being a penalty not exceeding eighty thousand euro (€80,000).

(6) The penalty imposed under subarticle (5) shall be due as a civil debt enforceable by the competent Court of civil jurisdiction in favour of the Government and the declaration by the person on whom the penalty is imposed that he admits the charge shall constitute an executive title for the purposes of article 253 of the Code of Organization and Civil Procedure in the same manner as if it were a judgement of the competent Court of civil jurisdiction.

(7) Where a person on whom a notice under subarticle (1) is served does not, within thirty days after the notice is served on him, admit the offence, the Authority or Director for Animal Welfare shall institute proceedings or cause proceedings to be instituted before the Court in respect of the alleged offence.