Further success for Howard Shaw in the Divisional Court on Animal Welfare Law

Following on from the case of Riley & Others v CPS [2016] EWHC 2531 (Admin), [2017] 1 WLR 505, in which Howard successfully argued that the CPS is the ‘Prosecutor’ for the purposes of the extended time limitation provisions of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in slaughterhouse cases, Howard has again been successful in legal argument on the time limitation and certification provisions of that Act.

The Divisional Court, sitting at Leeds, recently heard the case of CPS v Woodward & others [2017] EWHC 1008 (Admin) and held that

• where a s.31 Prosecutor’s Certificate is defective, the Prosecution may issue a further certificate that complies with the statutory requirements;
• in the absence of a valid s.31 Prosecutor’s Certificate, the Court should consider ‘extrinsic’ evidence, such as documentary evidence, whether or not such material is attached to a witness statement.

This decision should also apply to other legislation in which Prosecutor’s Certificates are issued in respect of extended time limitation provisions.

Howard Shaw is regularly instructed in cases brought by DEFRA involving farming matters and animal welfare in slaughterhouses.

Contact Howard’s clerk

Please contact Madeleine Gray on 0113 202 8603